Internet was down for a day…

Posted by worldwide-admin on with 0 Comment
We sure have plenty of tomatoes (pomodori) to last through our remaining eight days of cooking before we leave to travel to Africa. Yesterday, I had none and today, we have more than we can use.  After Santina left this morning, I discovered this glass bowl filled with tomatoes in the kitchen.  With the substantial batch, Lisa picked for us yesterday in the steep yard, we’re well stocked with tomatoes. 

It’s amazing how lost we are without the Internet, bringing to mind our dependency on technology to assist us through our days.  Would we ever have ventured out on this year’s long journey? I doubt it.

Tom is more wrapped up in being able to get online these days than I. Other than writing and posting photos here, banking and paying credit card bills, and responding to email, hours of being online is less important to me.

My interest began to lessen after leaving Minnesota on Halloween last year, after spending 8 to 10 hours a day for nearly a year researching our upcoming travels, all of which I thoroughly enjoyed. In the future, I’m sure I’ll enjoy it again as the time nears to arrange the next leg of our journey.

For Tom, he busies himself looking up possible future cruises, reading stock information, managing our inventory, and reading an endless array of emails from old friends; some political, some funny, some disgusting and heartwarming, only a few of which he shares with me. I don’t care to read passed along jokes and stories unless they really touch a nerve. Tom knows which is worth sharing with me.

Most of my email consists of family and friends, readers asking questions, or making comments or statements from various financial institutions. With little junk mail these days, after unsubscribing on 100’s of sites, each email I receive warrants reviewing.

Yesterday while literally cut off from the world with the Internet, we played Gin, read our books on our phones, and watched the few news channels we’re able to receive in English on the outdated TV. 

Need I say again that Tom is slaying me at Gin?  Always priding myself on being a competent Gin player, I’ve suffered greatly in his hands (literally and figuratively). I can’t stand to lose! 

He’s so ahead of me at this point that I can’t possibly catch up. Thoughtfully, he’s agreed to start a new tally when we arrive in Kenya which hopefully will begin on our upcoming flight, providing we’ll be able to sit next to one another. (We’ll find out on the 26th when we call as instructed).

Yesterday, I packed a little, disposing of no less than 25 pounds of stuff I’m willing to say goodbye to, much to my surprise.  We’ll give it to our “people” here to keep for themselves, to donate, or to share with their family and friends. Tom will do the same over the weekend. The rest? We’ve decided to pay the excess baggage fees and be done with it. After all, we’ve spent so little money while in Italy, our budget’s slush fund is overflowing in the $100’s.

Yesterday, in perusing the budget, I determined that the cost of food in Italy has been the lowest anywhere.  Choosing the finest ingredients, much organic, we’ve spent an average of $22 per day during the 75 days in Boveglio. In the US, we usually spent anywhere from $800 to $900 per month at the grocery store, again seldom dining out.

We’d budgeted $30.66 a day for the time in Italy including dining out. This difference, to our benefit, should cover the excess baggage fees.  The savings are a result of not dining out and the excellent prices on food in Italy.  For groceries alone, we spent from $100 to $200 per month less than in the US.

With the distance traveling on the steep winding road without guardrails, the time it takes to reach any restaurants, along with my food restrictions inspired us to dine in. Enjoying each of our homemade meals caused us to realize how impractical it would have been to dine out in Italy, based on the high carb pasta, grains, starches, sugar, and the bread that comprise most meals in restaurants. 

In Kenya, based on the restaurant menus we’ve been able to find online, the food is more “continental” consisting of a portion of meat, fish or poultry, vegetables, and salads, all easier for us to enjoy. Of course, we’ll leave out the potatoes or starchy side dishes, bread and desserts. We shall see how that goes, reporting back as to what we’ll soon discover.

At this point, we’re ready to move on. Oddly, we don’t feel as if we’re going on yet another vacation as we prepare to head to a new location. Long ago, we anticipated that we’d experience the giddy excitement of an upcoming vacation.  With the experience of the potential for unknown events, we feel a bit anxious about getting the traveling part completed. 

Leaving on September 1st (with one overnight at a hotel in Venice) and scheduled to arrive at our house in Kenya around 6:00 am on September 3rd, it’s a very long haul. 

Traveling at night has always been hard for me, unable to sleep well sitting up while despising the feeling of lack of sleep as we must maneuver through three separate flights over 17 plus hours. It will be equally trying when we leave Kenya almost three months later to go to South Africa and again, three months later to fly to Morocco, all very long overnight flights. There’s no need to think about that at this point.
 
Reminding myself that this is the life we chose and that, once we’re settled these thoughts will waft away, allowing us the total immersion into our new lives in a new location.

This morning when Santina arrived to clean the house for the second to last time, I wrote the following in English to translate into Italian in Google Translate:

“Thank you so much for such a wonderful job you have done for us. Your kindness will stay in our minds and hearts forever. Next Friday will be the last time and then we will say goodbye.”

This translates in Italian to:

“Grazie mille per un lavoro meraviglioso che hai fatto per noi. La tua gentilezza rimarrà nella mente e nel cuore per sempre. Venerdì prossimo sarà l’ultima volta e poi ci dirà addio.”

She read my note while leaning over my computer at the kitchen table, smiling from ear to ear.  When done she placed her fingers to her lips for a kiss to toss through the air to me. I caught it, immediately returning it to her. 

As she left today and each past week we’ve kissed goodbye, one cheek, then the other with a heartfelt, “arrivederci” wishing we could speak to understand one another. 

Yesterday, when the produce truck hadn’t arrived at its usual 3:30 time and place, I was frustrating wondering where I’d get tomatoes for our planned Mexican dinner this weekend. I’d bought a few at the grocery store on Wednesday which we’ve since used. What was I thinking only buying a few tomatoes when I knew we’d need more? 

Would we have to forego tomatoes or once again make the 70 minute round trip up and down the treacherous mountain roads?

As I looked around the parking lot for the truck I ran into Lisa, the wife of the delightful owner pair of Lisa and Luca, as she spoke to a neighbor. Noticing my inquisitive look, she approached me inquiring as to my dilemma.  Asking her where I could get a few tomatoes (Pomodoro) nearby since ours on the patio have yet to mature.

Grabbing my hand she steered me to the backyard, asking me “quanti?” for “how many?” I held up my fingers for “two” while saying “due,” Italian for two.  She shrugged her shoulders, looking at me raising her eyebrows, asking “due?”

(Only two?)  I shrugged holding up four fingers while saying “quattro,” sensing she thought I was foolish for asking for only two.(As it turned out many of the tomatoes were rather small. No wonder she flinched at my request for only two or four).

At this point, I knew she was to find our tomatoes in the massive garden down several tiers which I hadn’t yet tackled with the uneven steps and no handrail. I handed her the cloth bag I still had in my hands when hoping to buy the tomatoes from the now missing produce truck.

Off she went (she’s 35 years younger than I) flying down the uneven steep steps to return minutes later with a bounty of ripe tomatoes nearly filling my bag. I couldn’t have said “grazie” with more enthusiasm. Here again, I wished we could have somehow carried on a conversation. Her warmth and thoughtful demeanor left me longing to understand her.

Lisa and Luca couldn’t have been more helpful during our time in Boveglio, responsive, and kind. They’ve literally jumped to our every need. Of course, we’ve never attempted to take advantage in any manner, as in my request for such a small number of tomatoes or our inquiry to stay one more night beyond our contract (for which they refused to accept payment when we offered to pay on multiple occasions).  So gracious, they have been!  Most assuredly, we’ll be leaving five-star reviews on their listing in Homeaway.

Our two missing boxes of prescriptions haven’t arrived. The company has agreed to replace them at no charge sending them to our mailing service in Nevada. When we can receive mail somewhere down the road, the mailing service will forward them to us. For now, we have an ample supply for the next 10 to 11 months.

Late yesterday afternoon, almost 24 hours later, the Internet signal returned. Almost time to make dinner while still entrenched in a fierce game of Gin, I decided to wait until today to write. Yes, he won again! 

Stay tuned folks. Thanks for reading our mindless drivel. Hopefully, soon, we’ll step it up a notch or two when we arrive in Kenya. 

Writing our blog…What it takes…What it does for us…What our readers mean to us…The interesting and the mundane…

Posted by worldwide-admin on with 2 Comments
Lizard in the house.

Writing this blog began on March 15, 2012, almost 18 months ago.  You can read the first post by searching the archives on the right side of the page.  This requires about three clicks as you go further back to that date.

As we put “pen to paper” on that date, we had no idea that it would grow beyond the scope of our own sphere of influence; family, friends, and co-workers.  Little did we imagine that we’d have unique visitors worldwide, including such countries as Uzbekistan, Croatia, and Taiwan.

How did they find us?  Most likely it was the keywords we’ve used that you see at the bottom of each post that are the words users enter in search engines, such as Google, Bing, etc.  Suddenly our webpage appears.

For example:  If right now, you go to Google.com and search the word:  “Boveglio, retiree” you’ll find that our blog pops up as the first five entries.  (This changes by the minute, so if it’s not at the top, scroll down and you’ll find it). Type the word “waftage” and you’ll discover the same phenomenon. In essence, in many cases that is how worldwide readers find us or find any site they research.

Another way others find us, is by sending the link, by copying and pasting, www.worldwidewaftage.com to a few friends or to their entire contact list.  Their contact reads the blog once or not and if it appeals to their interests they either sign up to receive an automatic email each time we post (few people seem to do this in fear of being bombarded with other emails, which is not the case) or they bookmark our site and visit it each day or from time to time to read the latest posts at their leisure.

For some, reading the details of the lives of a retired couple that they don’t know, traveling the world for years, is of little interest. Many people don’t travel and have little interest in traveling. That was us only a few short years ago. My, how we’ve changed!

Some readers have asked us how we manage to sit down and write almost every day. Actually, when we have interesting experiences, the words flow easily. When it’s quiet and we’re feeling a need to stay put, it becomes more difficult, similar to the times when we lived in the US when life was fine but not necessarily interesting each day. 

Let’s face it, none of us are interesting all the time. We all have periods where life is comfortable but mundane; enjoyable for us, dull to others. That’s how life is, giving us each the opportunity to experience pleasure with more gusto and passion as the mundane subsides for a period of time.

During quiet times, as these have been by our choice lately, we’ve continued to share those mundane details that we all experience. Some readers, based on our appreciated and continually growing readership, enjoy small details. It reminds us of the small details we tend to share with those in our household:  we visited a store, we went for a walk, we read the mail, we stubbed our toe, all minuscule in the realm of things.

Here in Italy most days, as we sit on the veranda, I write while Tom does research in the background, to hopefully ensure any facts that we share are from reliable sources and as accurate as possible.  At times, we falter in this area. Let’s face it; if we find information online, it’s certainly no guarantee that it’s accurate, even if found at reliable sites. 

How long does it take to write?  Without photos, usually under two hours.  With 12 photos or more, over two hours since photos are time-consuming to insert into the blog.  At times, when we’ve had over 20 photos, we’ve posted over a few days as Part 1 and Part 2.

Do we enjoy posting or does it feel like a “job?” It’s always enjoyable. My fingers literally fly across the keyboard, often with one of those sh_ _ eating grins on my face, difficult to stop.

In reality, we have added advertisers to hopefully defray some of the costs of maintaining this site over the long haul. Clicking on any of our links if you so choose, rewards us in tiny increments, more like small change than in dollars.  The price a reader would pay for any products they purchase through our site is the same price they’d pay going directly to that site on their own.  Readers can still use any coupon codes they’ve otherwise discovered online.

Photos?  We realize that readers love seeing photos and we appreciate this as we observe that readership skyrockets when we do.  Unfortunately, in this remote location, high in the mountains, it is unsafe to walk on the narrow roads (let alone drive) leading in and out of Boveglio. 

Our only photo opportunities while staying put, are any scenes we find appealing in the confines of our immediate neighborhood, some of which we’ve posted more than once.  Normally, we only post newly taken photos rather than those from past posts, although the scenery may be familiar.

What does it mean to us?  There are several layers to this answer.  Knowing that our family members always know where we are and can Skype us at any time, gives us peace of mind.  Knowing that our friends, old and new, can see what we’re “up to” avoids the writing of endless descriptive email messages about our travels when all are described here in detail. 

However, we love hearing from family and friends.  For example, Bruce, a co-worker and friend of Tom’s whom he’s known for over 40 years, sent an email yesterday, suggesting they Skype last night.  Tom couldn’t have been more thrilled when last night, he and Bruce connected on Skype, chatting for some time.  With the time difference of 7 hours, he was calling around 1:00 pm his time in Minnesota, which was 8:00 pm our time in Italy.

Nothing in the world thrills us more than seeing our family and friends on  Skype.  But, if we can’t connect, they can easily find our most recent posts for an update.  For us, the greatest benefit of the Skype call is that we get an opportunity to hear how they are doing while seeing their faces as well.  What a treat!

To look at the stats each day to see how many readers worldwide are visiting our site each day, each month, and collectively is a reward that nothing can describe. Honestly, it adds so much to our experience that I can’t imagine traveling without it. 

Every few days, a reader will post a comment by clicking on the comment link at the bottom of each day’s post.  At times, it is a question. At other times, it’s a suggestion or an observation. At other times, a weirdo makes inappropriate comments. Luckily, we have control over posting comments or deleting them. We see no reason to subject our readers to inappropriate or malicious comments. All others we do post, responding to the posted comments within 24 hours.

For this, we thank each and every reader for taking the time to share this journey with us whether family, friends, acquaintances, the many readers, we’ve met aboard our eight cruises and the thousands of readers worldwide who have stumbled across our site. 

So bear with us folks, the mundane will only continue for a short period and then, in 11 days, we’ll begin the adventure of our lives as we head to Africa, where we’ll live for almost a year, for me, a dream come true. 

Tom’s also excited about Africa as long as I don’t let any warthogs into the house or any zebras visit to watch him take a shower or swim in the pool.  We shall see…

Oh, oh, packages didn’t arrive!…Are we running out of time?…

Posted by worldwide-admin on with 0 Comment
The four of six boxes we received from the pharmaceutical company. We’re awaiting the two missing boxes, hopefully to arrive or be replaced before leaving Italy in less than two weeks.

When living in the US we rarely gave a thought to our few prescriptions.  Ordering online through Medco it was a relatively painless process with the large white plastic bags arriving about a week after placing a refill order.  Once a year we visited our doctor to get newly written prescriptions to comply with insurance requirements.

Now, traveling the world, taking literally everything we own with us everywhere we go, all of our supplies, prescriptions and otherwise, take on a new meaning. It’s not to say that we’re preoccupied with these items. However, we must stay mindful and proactive to ensure that we have everything on hand as needed, avoiding a crisis and its resulting stress.

Early in July we ordered a year’s worth of prescriptions for both of us through ProgressiveRX, a reputable, prescription required, highly rated BBB online pharmacy with the best prices we’ve found so far.

Between us, we take a small handful of medications. Running out of them could be a problem. Having purchased enough to last us the first year in our travels, now  gone since Halloween, 10 months have passed.  We’d have run out while in Kenya.

Tom’s vitamin and pill cases.  Originally, we had four of these cases, allowing me to restock them once a month. Having to ditch two of these to make more room, I now have to refill them every two weeks. Mine is similar. We carry on all of our meds and few vitamins after the incident in Belize when security confiscated all of our vitamins for 24 hours. Lesson learned.

After considerable research and reading online posts, we felt it was too risky to receive a package through USPS while in Kenya with its reported high risk of never arriving or of getting caught up in customs, all of which is less of an issue in Italy. Ordering in July, with our plan to leave Italy on September 1st, made all the sense in the world. 

Unfortunately, ProgressiveRX process is to send a variety of the prescriptions in a variety of small boxes.  With us needing more Z-Pak (antibiotic) since I’d used one in Dubai when I was so ill, extra malaria pills and our few combined prescriptions, six small boxes were due to arrive. 

Two weeks ago, four of the six boxes had arrived, leaving two missing. “OK,” I said, “Let’s give it a little more time.” 

Becoming concerned last week, I contacted the company by email, receiving a prompt response. They suggested we give it a little more time.  By the end of last week, the two missing boxes had yet to arrive. The rep at the company asked that we wait until today to put in a request that the two boxes be replaced and shipped the quickest method available. With only nine business days until we leave Italy, this plan in itself is risky.

Yesterday, I went through the four boxes that each contained a variety of the medications counting every pill, all individually wrapped in childproof shrink wrap plastic packages, to determine exactly what we’re missing. Once completed, I checked the stock against the original order coming up with a list of the missing items.

As suggested, I sent them an email with this list this morning, suggesting that they quickly resend the missing meds. We shall see how this rolls out over the next several days. In my email this morning, I suggested that if the boxes, missing and new, arrive before we leave, we’ll either return the extras or pay for them, preferring to keep them, thus avoiding the necessity of finding a place to mail them.

We have no complaint with the company. They are responsive, providing quality products. This company was recommended to us by the wife of a delightful mature newlywed couple (they hooked up on Facebook after having dated in high school many moons ago) that we met the day after their wedding while in Belize.  She had a home in San Pedro, Belize  but they had decided to have their honeymoon at our resort, LaruBeya in Placencia. Gee, we loved that place. 

In any case, I took her recommendation for the online pharmacy seriously. As an American citizen, she too required a handful of meds having found ProgressiveRX to be ideal for ordering from afar. 

The names of the prescriptions, although containing the exact same ingredients, are different in some cases.  This is important to know to ensure a patient knows precisely which named prescription replaced the familiar name to avoid incorrect dosing.  Should any of our readers’ order through this company, please be careful in observing the named differences. Their website is helpful in defining these different names.

With the time differences in between Italy and the US, it may be hours before we hear back as to what they will do to get the missing meds to us as quickly as possible. We’ll report back here once we know.

Today, our plan was to grocery shop. After looking in the refrigerator and freezer noting the additional meat products we have on hand and seeing our delicious leftovers for tonight from last night’s dinner of Chicken Breasts stuffed with homemade pesto (from the garden on the patio), Parmesan cheese, wrapped in Prosciutto, we’ve decided we can wait until Wednesday. We’ll recalculate our grocery list to get us through 11 more days, instead of the original 13 days.

Perhaps today, a little refining of our items to be packed is in order, a task I thoroughly dread, among other “moving” tasks.”  Oh, I can’t wait to be sitting on the large veranda overlooking the gardens at the house in Kenya; the packing, the excess baggage fees, the three flights, the trip from the airport to the house in the middle of the night and the unpacking will all behind us. 

Tom’s online football experience…

Posted by worldwide-admin on with 4 Comments
The haze in the hills continues day after day with the high humidity.
After signing up at NFL.com in order to watch the Minnesota Vikings games, which we wrote posted on August 8th.  At that time, he had yet to watch his first game.
Last Saturday, after the game had occurred the previous night, he watched the first preseason game.
In his words, “I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.  I’m not happy that I paid (US) $169 to watch the Vikings games.  Every time there’s a commercial, which has been removed, there’s a black screen. Either I sit there and watch the black screen for the length of the commercial or I can click ahead in either slow-moving, 10-second increments or by using the scroll bar to try to find the spot when the commercial ended.”
With the lack of rain, few flowers remain.

We all know how long those commercials can be. This task is annoying and cumbersome for three-plus hours, definitely taking away from the enjoyment of watching the game. Tom’s expectation in purchasing a prepaid package from the NFL, was that it would be similar to watching an on-demand program minus any intrusion by commercials. 

When originally booking the house in Boveglio online comments seemed to indicate that this old hotel’s bar was still open. Unfortunately, the bar and the hotel both closed a while back.
This room at the end of the hotel was once used as a ballroom.

One would assume that in this day and age with advanced technology, that this type of issue would have been resolved prior to offering such a package for sale to the public. Will he cancel?  No. 

He’ll continue to watch the game the morning after they’ve occurred with the ongoing frustration associated with this poor system. Isn’t it frustrating enough that the Vikings have yet proven to be the team that loyal fans have fantasized about for many years?

The local residents frequently place flower pot at this neighborhood shrine.

Although not a football fan, I certainly empathize with him over this issue when encountering poor technology by major corporations.

It’s no wonder that we can hear lively Italian conversations and toilets flushing in the tight little neighbor.  All the plumbing pipes are on the outside of the buildings.

Most recently, one of our credit card companies was sold out to a larger credit card company, resulting in the necessity of the customer set up an online account at the new company. Should be easy, right? Oh, no. 

Each day there appears to be a new stack of prayer candles at this shrine across the street from our house.

After trying to create an online account for this card over a period of the past 5 days, only to have the screen require me to enter the same information over and over, I’m left with no alternative but to call. Yes, I can use a toll-free number on Skype without having to pay for the call.  But the issue is the time difference and the loss of my time in making this call. 

Regardless of the drought-like conditions, homeowners continue to regularly water their outdoor plants. With no lawns to tend to, plants fulfill their desire to connect to nature.  Community gardens are within walking distance in which some neighbors participate.

After trying various numbers, I’ve been informed I must call during regular business hours, 9:00 am to 7:00 pm, Pacific time.  With this time difference, I must call after 6:00 pm here, a time when we’re busy getting dinner ready with the expectation of enjoying a stress-free evening. Being on hold for 10 to 15 minutes only adds to the frustration.

The vantage point from the road heading southwest.
This is across the street from our main entrance, looking up from the road. In most neighborhoods, homes across the road aren’t located so high up!

Wherever we may be, we aren’t free of the time-consuming tasks of managing our daily lives. There’s literally no way that one can choose to be “off the grid” if they require any type of insurance, banking, handling of their assets, managing their credit cards, and paying taxes.

The road as I returned home from my walk.  We’re located a few doors down on the right.


To my left in the lower level as I entered the house.  The laundry room is located behind the curtain.

Years ago, I heard a motivational speaker say, “Everywhere you go, there you are.” So true. So true.

Walking gingerly is a must on these step stone steps to the basement.  The Homeaway listing for this house clearly stated that this property is not intended for the older population due to the many steps required to get from one end to another down the long hallway and the tricky access to the patio on the right of this stairwell.

Turning off the brain long enough to sleep…

Posted by worldwide-admin on with 0 Comment

As a poor sleeper most of my life, a few years ago I went on a rampage researching methods to improve my ability to fall asleep and stay asleep. 

Discovering nothing new or life changing, the frustration over the scientific research extolling the virtues of a variety of solutions for improving sleeping found me with little relief.

Some of these suggestions included:
1.  Using light as a means of resetting one’s biological clock (circadian rhythm) by increasing waking light and reducing evening light.  This method, although described in brief here, increasing the production on nighttime melatonin, the miracle sleep adjusting hormone.  This means, no TV or computer before attempting to sleep.
2.  Reduce nighttime noises or wear earplugs.  
3.  Don’t exercise at night before bed. 
4.  Don’t go to bed on a full stomach, allowing two hours for food to digest before lying down.
5.  No caffeine late in the day, preferably after 2:00 PM.  Mostly done but usually have ice tea up until dinner, water after.
6.  No stimulating activities before bed. 
7.  Drinking less fluids at night, reducing necessity of getting up during the night. 
8.  Comfortable bed, blankets, pillows and bedtime attire. 
9.  No biting, noise making, annoying flying things buzzing one’s head at night.
10. No negative conversations or thoughts that instill anger, excitement or frustration before retiring for the evening. 
10.  No worrying about not sleeping which in itself can be a deterrent to a good night’s sleep. 
11.  Turning off the brain at night!

Most certainly, there are hundreds of other suggested solutions to poor sleep but these appeared to be most applicable in my world.  Trying them collectively or one by one, I found some relief but frequently awaken between 2:00 am and 4:00 am each night, struggling to fall back to sleep.  This is a common phenomenon many have described, particularly as one ages. 

For years while a working person, I awoke at 5:30 am every morning, never needing an alarm clock to get up to ready for work.  Now, as a retired person, my self imposed waking time is blissfully, hopefully at 7:00 am.

Tom, on the other hand, has less trouble sleeping, seeming to fall asleep as soon as he puts down his ebook, possibly waking a time or two during the night, usually falling back to sleep easily.  I’m less fortunate, needing a few “crutches” to make it happen:

1.  Falling asleep:  If I don’t try to fall asleep at the first indication of sleepiness, I find it difficult to do so a few hours later.  Now, when the sensation overtakes me, I succumb, putting down my smart phone ebook.

2.  Awakening during the night:  Five out of seven nights, I awaken during the night, either from a sound or a dream.  If I don’t fall back to sleep in 10 minutes, I pull my smart phone off the nightstand and read until sleepy again. 

If after 10 more minutes, I’m still not sleepy, I take a dose (two for me or three for a person over 200 pounds) of a safe homeopathic, non-addictive over the counter remedy, called Formula 303 containing Valerian and magnesium, suggested by the doctor that was instrumental in my changing my diet to low carb, sugar, starch and grain free. Within 20 minutes, I fall back to sleep. This safe product doesn’t result in drowsiness upon awakening, as do often dangerous and addictive prescription medications.

3.  Awakening too early in the morning:  Following the above in point #2, if it is before 6:00 am, usually reading for a short while will lull me back to sleep, immediately putting the book down the minute sleepiness becomes evident.

Overall, following these methods, I am able to sleep a total of seven hours each night, certainly enough for a well-rested day.  In many of the studies I’ve read, there was emphasis on the fact that seniors usually require less sleep.  Why?  Most believe it is merely due to the reduced amount of physical and mental energy utilized during waking hours.

Here is a listing of thousands of sleep research performed at various universities, such as Harvard.  It is from these resources that I spent many hours looking for answers to a lifelong problem, now seemingly under control.

Overall, the biggest issue I’ve found, is turning off my brain at night.  That’s the most challenging.  At night, we seem more vulnerable to negative thinking as our strength and determination to be positive dissipates as we become tired. 

Right now, I could be engaged in a load of negative thinking. Is it safe to fly to Africa? To live in Kenya?  Will we be able to arrange our seat assignment on the upcoming three flights to Kenya on order to sit together? How will we feel with no sleep when we fly with layovers for over 15 hours, arriving in Kenya the middle of the night?  It goes on and on. 

Turning off these thoughts at night is a commitment I’ve made to myself to ensure a good night’s sleep. So far, its working, especially when there’s no flying things buzzing my head at night!

Twenty days…Leaving Boveglio…Future travel plans…

Posted by worldwide-admin on with 0 Comment
The archway in our yard that ventures out to the winding, hilly roads, kept locked for privacy.   these small villages in Tuscany it is difficult to determine where a house and yard begins and ends with most houses “stuck together.”

It’s hard to believe in less than three weeks we’ll be leaving Boveglio to drive to Venice to fly to Kenya the next day, the 3rd. 

We’re reminded that fall is near, by the pumpkins and gourds in our yard.

It will be the beginning of almost a year of living in Africa, ending with two and a half months in Madeira, Portugal, an island located off the northwestern coast of Africa.

A pepper plant growing in the lower garden. These are most likely too hot for our taste buds.
With an open space in time from August 1, 2014, until November 30, 2014, Tom has been busy searching as to how we’ll fill this gap in our travels. At this point, the biggest challenge we have in booking this gap period is the result of a few crucial factors:

1.  What are the most enjoyable and sensible means of us traveling back across the Atlantic Ocean toward Hawaii when we’ll be getting together with our adult kids and grandchildren at our upcoming rental house in Kona, Hawaii at Christmas time in 2014?
2.  With the added expense of airfare for 13 family members, how can we spend this period most economically to perhaps offset a portion of the cost?
3.  Do we want to stay in Europe until December 1st when our rental begins in Hawaii, as we end the upcoming one year stint from Portugal?
4.  Are there cruises available to use as a means of travel, which we prefer?

The doorway and patio of a house below us where we heard cheerful Italian chatter last night.

Tom has been spending considerable time at Vacations to Go and Cruise Critic in an effort to determine our best options. Once we pin down possible cruises, we’ll contact our representative, Joaquin at Vacations to Go to book our chosen cruises. 

How dry and brown the yard is becoming with a lack of regular rain.

The further we continue into our world travels, we’ve determined that we love cruising for several reasons:
1.  Cost-effective in many cases with housing and meals included.
2.  No enforced luggage restrictions.
3.  Ease of living:  no cooking, no cleaning, no laundry (although it does pile up)
4.  Meeting new people almost every day while meandering on the ship and during meals.
5.  Date night every night with the option of ordering included room service. (After eight cruises, we’ve yet to order room service).
6.  Opportunity to visit many countries in a short period of time with the numerous scheduled ports of call.
7.  Movies on board. 
8.  Exercise facilities on board.
9.  Often interesting classes on board.
10. Chefs on cruise ships make every effort to accommodate my restrictive diet. Although boring and bland at times, it’s much easier than trying to communicate my restrictions in a new restaurant with possible language barriers.

The herb garden in the yard, separate from our patio garden.

After extensive research these past days, we’ve finally come to the conclusion that we’ll wait until the 90-day ticker begins (until sail date) with discounted cruise fares for 2014. In reviewing the ticker for cruises in the next 90 days we’ve seen how beneficial it is to wait with discounts as high as 82%. 

Impatiens growing in an old wooden barrel in the yard.

Yes, by waiting we run the risk of a particular cruise being sold out. Willing to take this risk, we accept the reality that if our means of transportation by cruise is sold out, we can always fly to our next preferred location.  In a rare position for this flexibility, it makes sense for us to proceed in this manner.

A cozy corner of one of the covered garden areas.

With most of our first two and a half years traveling well planned in advance, we now feel experienced and confident enough, after almost a year to attempt last-minute planning. Doing so opens the opportunity for us to experience cruises normally priced beyond our budget, at suddenly lower pricing.

The morning sun filtered through the covered garden.

As we’ve mentioned in the past, Vacations to Go has a policy whereby they will honor price reductions on cruises up to 90 days before sailing. If one watches the pricing on their pre-booked cruises, one can request the reduction which becomes effective immediately which will be guaranteed through sailing. However, neither the cruise lines nor Vacations to Go will watch this for a customer.  One must do this on their own.

Few roses remain as summer winds down.  Often, I wanted to make a bouquet for the kitchen table, deciding against it, knowing it would attract bees indoors.

Learning the nuances of enhancing the quality of our travels is an ongoing process. Many have asked us why we booked so much in advance for the first two and a half years. The answer is simple. 

Last year, we left Minnesota to begin our travels on Halloween.  It seems so long ago.

As neophytes, if we weren’t able to find and book the next desired leg in our travels, we may have become frustrated questioning why we ever took this enormous life-changing challenge.  With bookings planned and deposits paid, we were committed which proved to bring us comfort, excitement, and peace of mind as we learned the ropes.

These variegated green and white leaves are vinca vine, always a favorite of mine when planted to hang over a rock wall.


This planted shoe could easily have been in this yard for over 100 years.

Now, it is becoming clear to us that we can patiently wait.  Unless, of course, some amazing opportunity presents itself that we cannot turn down. 

After all, the world is a big place.

Winning Powerball…What would we do?…

Posted by worldwide-admin on with 0 Comment
Santina brought us more vegetables when arriving to clean the house on Friday that we’ll be using tonight in our homemade taco salads (minus the shells).

No, we didn’t win nor did we purchase any Powerball tickets, although Tom was an avid weekly player while we lived in Minnesota. I’d always shrugged, somewhat disinterested, having watched a few reality shows depicting how winning destroyed many people’s lives.

“Money is the root of all evil,” so they say.  Without enough to survive, our lives are wrought with misery and sorrow. With the sudden acquisition of too much money, life may also be equally unhappy.

As we read the news story about the Powerball winner in Minnesota this week, who lives a mere 35 minutes from our former area, we wondered what would eventually become of this winner and other winners making the news this week. Would they wisely invest to secure their future or would they become like many past winners, bankrupt a few years later, after lavish wasteful spending?

Yesterday, Tom asked the question, “How would we change our current lives traveling the world if we won the Powerball with money suddenly to became no object?” 

We chuckled over the prospect as many couples do, fantasizing over winning tens of millions of dollars. Yea, yea, yea, we’d give money to family, donate to our favorite charities, set up investments for our future. La la la.  The usual. 

But, the big question remains…would we continue in our travels? Our definitive answer is “yes,” with some changes, of course. 

Zucchini we picked from our small garden on the patio. Soon we’ll have Pomodoro (tomatoes).

Here’s our combined list of 10 factors we’d be inclined to change:

Tom
1.  Flying:  First Class airline tickets
2.  Cruising: Select the best cabins and services or all-inclusive smaller luxury cruises.
3.  Bring the family to visit more often
4.  Buy all new clothes and personal items each time we’d arrive at a new location, to be donated when departing, carrying only our laptop bags with digital equipment.  No checked luggage.

Jess (in addition to Tom’s above four items)
5.  Ship favorite food items to our current location enabling me to cook more varied meals.
6.  Pay the extra weight checked luggage fees without concern.
7.  Hire a maid to clean, twice a week as opposed to once.
8.  Maintain the availability of a driver with an air-conditioned roomy vehicle to transport us at any time, to locations of our choosing.
9.  Maintain our budget while increasing spending in most categories.
10. Purchase clothing and personal effects online to be shipped to our current location.

To some degree, we are able to do a portion of the above, except for the opportunity to fly first class or cruising on $1000 per day/per person cruises.

However, reviewing the above list doesn’t leave us drooling over what we wish we could do differently.

When one has a massive amount of money, their “job” becomes managing it and ensuring that the professionals they’ve hired aren’t making bad decisions on their behalf. At that point, one would have a life consisting of “working.” We’re living this life we choose to avoid feeling as if we’re working. I wouldn’t change that for anything!

Does the fire at the Nairobi airport have an effect upcoming flight to Kenya?

Posted by worldwide-admin on with 0 Comment

As reported in the today’s news, a fire at Kenya’s main airport in Nairobi has shut down the airport. 

Watching the news on TV on the few English speaking channels we have access to in Boveglio, Italy, inspired us to consider how this may have an effect on our upcoming flight to Kenya on September 2, 2013, only 26 days from today.

Departing from the Marco Polo Airport in Venice, Italy, we’ll have two layovers on our flight, luckily none of which are at the Nairobi International Airport. 

Here’s our flight itinerary:

9/2/13 – Departure   2 stops
Total travel time: 15 h 25 m
custom air icon
Venice
Istanbul
2 h 25 m 
VCE  10:45am
IST  2:10pm
Terminal I
 
Turkish
Airlines 1868
Economy/Coach (S)
| Confirm seats with the airline *
Layover: 4 h 5 m
custom air icon
Istanbul
Kilimanjaro
6 h 55 m   3,110miles
IST  6:15pm
JRO  1:10am
+1 day  
 
Turkish
Airlines 673
Economy/Coach (S)
| Confirm seats with the airline *
Layover: 1 h 0 m
custom air icon
Kilimanjaro
Mombasa
1 h 0 m   180miles
JRO  2:10am
MBA  3:10am
, Arrives on 9/3/13
 
Turkish
Airlines 673
Economy/Coach (S)
| Confirm seats with the airline *

In a prior post I had mistakenly quoted our flight as being 17 hours long (please excuse the error) when in fact it is only 15 hours and 25 minutes. That’s good news! 

Reviewing our itinerary once more, it makes me cringe at the long wait, we’ll have on the second layover. How in the world will we stay awake, waiting at the Kilimanjaro airport for almost 7 hours?  Yikes.  If we were on the plane, we could sleep.  I guess we’ll find out soon enough.

The only issue for us could be any delay when we arrive in Mombasa, Kenya at 3:10 am if flights are still being diverted to other airports. As it is we’ve read online that any arrivals in Kenya may result in long waits going though customs and acquiring visas for our extended stay. 

Bottom line, if we arrive in Mombasa safely, subsequently to arrive at our rental house, however many hours later, we’ll be grateful.

With all the embassies and consulates closing in various parts of the world, there is no doubt cause for concern for travelers. Kenya was not included in these closings, which provided us with a little peace of mind.

The world is a scary place.  We don’t take any of our travels lightly. With neither of us fans of flying, preferring cruise ships as a means of transportation, the less commotion, the better.

Hopefully, less than a month from now we’ll be comfortably situated in our vacation rental in Diani Beach, the ocean a mere 300 steps from our door, feeling content, and looking forward to arranging a safari to see the Great Migration, our major motivator for visiting Kenya.

How the budget working for us so far?..Revealing numbers to share…

Posted by worldwide-admin on with 0 Comment

Toward the end of every stop in our travels, we’ve worked on the budget recalculating several factors:

1. The funds required until the end of our established bookings thus far. We will continue on from May 14, 2015, the date when our set bookings at this point will end. But for the purpose of the budget, our calculations end on that date. Once we book beyond that day, we will extend our calculations accordingly. Based on these calculations, we have 646 days remaining.

2.  Readjust future expenses, according to realities we’ve continued to experience. For example, the cost of food, car rental, actual travel costs, etc.  Estimates were used until we actually “booked that flight” or “paid for that excursion.”

3.  Based on the above figures, I calculate a monthly and daily total incorporating those fixed expenses:  insurance for personal property, health insurance, MiFi rental, clothing replacement, personal effects, and a monthly/daily total without these fixed expenses to illustrate what the travel portion is actually costing.

When we began this process these estimates were based on an amount of money we were willing to shell out each month, the same amount we would have been willing to spend we had a nice condo in a warm climate along with the associated living expenses, leaving enough money out of our monthly income for savings, unexpected expenses, and emergencies. 

The goal was simple in our minds.  Only spend as much money per month/per year to avoid worrying about money, a goal most of us have all of our lives.  It’s ironic that for us, it took retiring to achieve that goal. 

After a lifetime of “stuff” we came to realize how easily we could live without car payments, house payments, property taxes, maintenance, boats, cable TV, outrageous insurance bills, and on and on. 

At this point, much to our delight, we are holding our own, maintaining the budget as we’d planned, preventing any surprises. Of course, we realize, we don’t “spend” much money beyond our living expenses, by our choice to avoid stress, a state of being on which we place a high premium.

Today, our intent is to share with you our average costs to date, from the day we left Minnesota on October 31, 2012, until our current bookings end on May 14, 2015.  As we book into the future beyond 2015, we will continue to share these expenses in US$, best represented by the following:

1.  Average daily expense:  $158.71
2.  Average monthly expense: $4827.43
3.  Average daily fixed expense: $19.60
4.  Average monthly fixed expense:  $596.17
5.  Our average total including fixed expenses, living and travel expenses: $5423.60

These numbers may be surprising to some and expected by others. Often, there is a perception that one must be “wealthy” to travel the world. No, not the case. But, one must be frugal, staying within a tight budget if they are not wealthy. Those that are outrageously wealthy must stay “home” to manage their assets, taking occasional vacations.  It is only the circumstances that we’ve engineered in our lives to be able to do this. For this, we are grateful.

Why share these numbers?  For us, if there is one person or one couple that may benefit by knowing these possibilities, that ultimately may inspire them to live their dream, whether its travel or not, then we’ll happily share. If that is YOU, feel free to email us privately or post comments with any questions you may have. 

We don’t have all of the answers but after over nine months of living on the road, we feel confident that we’re beginning to have a handle on it.

Dental care traveling the world…What are our options?…

Posted by worldwide-admin on with 0 Comment
These Brushpicks have been instrumental in reducing tooth decay.


Although this looks too large to fit between teeth, it actually is the size of a toothpick, easily maneuvered in between each tooth providing a clean feeling after each use.

The last time we had our teeth cleaned was in Henderson, Nevada in December, eight months ago. Having always had our teeth cleaned frequently due to a propensity to excessive tartar build-up, I can’t seem to brush my teeth enough to rid myself of the reminder that the time has come.

Up until arriving in Italy, we had a bottle of unrefined organic coconut oil in our possession, used daily, as a 20-minute mouth wash that helped reduce tarter. Having to toss it when packing for our first flight from Dubai to Barcelona in June, I anticipated we’d have no trouble finding coconut oil in Italy.

Not the case. There is no coconut oil in any of the grocery stores we’ve visited thus far and I doubt we’ll be able to find it in Kenya. I need a dentist. 

Looking online I found a dentist in Pescia on Facebook to whom I wrote a message inquiring as to availability and pricing. A half-hour drive from Boveglio, with an appointment prior to grocery shopping, we’d be killing two birds with one stone.

Hopefully, they see my message. If no response within a few days, I’ll call on Skype with Google Translate up and running. Most likely, they don’t speak English.

Fortunately, we both had all of our major dental concerns addressed before we left the US with the final laser cleaning fine-tuning those results. What I’d give right now for that amazing dentist in Henderson, Nevada, a referral from son Richard. We’d immediately made an appointment at Dr.Patrick Simone’s office once we’d arranged to spend Christmas in Henderson, having the best cleaning in our lives.

Oddly, as mentioned in the post of December 20, 2012, his receptionist handed us a giant apple pie as we walked out the door. Tom ate the entire “Costco sized” pie in a few days. Piglet.

Over the past few years, both Tom and I have used these little plastic tooth cleaners we found at CVS Pharmacy and online.  After their regular daily use, our dentist commented on a major improvement in both of our periodontal issues.

Years ago, both of us had to have those awful appointments with the periodontal dentist for extreme cleaning.  Now, using these little sticks, we’ve been able to avoid any further procedures. Making a point of using them after each meal has became an easy habit. With aging, there appear to be more spaces between teeth inviting decay and tarter. 

Also, using baking soda in addition to toothpaste twice a day seems to keep my teeth white, but doesn’t appear to have the ability to reduce the tarter. 

We shall see if we can get a dental appointment before we leave Italy in a month.  If not, there are a few options in Diani Beach, Kenya that we’ll contact once we arrive.

The day to day concerns we took for granted in the US become challenging as we travel the world. Whether a doctor, a dentist, a haircut, or a grocery store, it becomes far removed from the reality we’ve experienced in the past. 

For us, it becomes a part of the adventure, more living outside the box, stretching ourselves to try “the new” and “the unfamiliar” that which we so much resisted in the past that we now welcome into our future.