December 2019 - Non-sightseeing time

We had a couple of weeks of no sightseeing in India, and managed to finish the photos and blog for India.  From that experience, it would seem we need 1 week of non-sightseeing for every 4 weeks of sightseeing just to do photos and blog.  And we need more days off to deal with the normal living stuff, as we are not just vacationing, we are living as we travel.

And we need downtime just like we were living at home.  

So we need to extend our sightseeing days by 25% just to do the photo stuff (not working 8 hours a day, though), and maybe another 10% - 25% to do everything else.  So sightseeing time needs roughly a third to a half more, or, for example, for three weeks of sightseeing we might need 4 - 4 1/2 weeks; or for 4 weeks of sightseeing, we might need 5 - 6 weeks.  We need less when we travel by ourselves, since we can do some work in the evenings on sightseeing days.  That occurs less when we are on a tour.

August 29, 2019 - Suitcases

Suitcases:  We both have two very good 25" suitcases and two very good 18" suitcases - they will last a long time.  However, those suitcases weigh a lot, taking up weight we could use for the contents.

So Mary bought a light weight 25", but narrower than the other 25".   We will see how that works out, and maybe Paul will get one also.

August 22, 2019 - Laptop

Laptop:  We finally decided we need two computers.  So Paul got a 2-in-1 laptop/tablet - small and light.  Not as powerful as Mary's laptop, so not doing any photo or video editing, but it is enough to do other things.

August 15, 2019 - Travel

Travel:  From mid-June, 2018 to mid-Aug, 2019, we traveled 13 of those 14 months.  We have both traveled a lot in the United States, but for now we will be traveling mostly internationally while we still are healthy and able, with occasional USA travel now, with more later.

So far, so good.

We do not like being in a tour group on a big bus.  Too crowded, no say on the itinerary, no say on time spent at a site, and sometimes just not a good tour.  However, we have had some good big bus tours, 10 days in Japan, and several day tours here and there.  But also a lot of mediocre and a few bad tours. 

While we prefer to travel by ourselves with a rented car or by public transport (Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, US, and Canada, mostly) or on a private tours in other countries, we now also like to travel on small group tours, 12 or less people, with our travel agent, who always does a fantastic job of gathering compatible travelers, planning itineraries, and generally making the trips awesome. 

Laptop:  On the laptop, in general having only one laptop has been ok, but not great.    Hopefully  that will get better as we catch up by completing the process of going through previous travel photos and re-organizing our folder system.

January 10, 2019 - Things we are learning

Things we are learning:

A.  We need time not only to travel and sight-see, but also to:

1. Plan and research our future travels.  
• We have a fantastic travel agent who does a lot of that now, but we still need to initially identify the places we want to go (our travel agent has suggestions as well), the sites to see, activities to do, and how long to stay in any given place.  And then our travel agent makes suggestions about the season to go, places and sights to see, length of stay, etc.  Once we are all on the same page re the itinerary she then does her magic.  We also like to read up on the history and culture of the places before we visit.  And research practical matters like weather, currency, tipping, driving rules, etc.  
2. Process our photos and create our blogs.
3. Handle normal life stuff as it comes up.  We can no longer put it off until we get back home, because home is wherever our suitcases are.  For example:
• Track and manage finances, ensure bills (at this point it is mostly credit cards) are paid, handle the paperwork associated with life, keep the technology updated and working, etc.
4. Exercise - before starting our travels, we had personal trainers we would see three times a week.  Now, although we walk a lot, we still need to do other exercises.
5. Have some downtime.
• One way to do all this is to have an extra down day or two at most places.  And sometimes to just go someplace (with good internet) for a couple of weeks and do very little sightseeing.  We are still working to figure out a good balance.  It looks like maybe a ratio of 4 or 5 days sightseeing to two days doing all the other stuff might suffice.  But have yet to achieve that.

B.  Managing the turnaround time when we do come home for visits to the dentist, doctor, optometrist, and vaccination clinic.  Visiting friends and relatives.  Doing taxes, repacking, and other sometimes time consuming tasks.  We think the turnaround time at home should probably be at least a month.

C.  Since we eat out all the time, managing our weight is necessary (and difficult).

D.  Between trips "home", if possible, we should travel only to warm places, or only to cold places, in order to limit the amount of clothes and other items we need to pack.  We also might consider shipping some clothes, if it comes to that.  This also we have yet to manage.

E.   Not much, if any, time for movies or TV.  

F.   We travel on some small regional airlines, and the carry-on weight restrictions can be limited:  generally one bag  7kg (15.4 lbs) plus a personal item.  In one case it was 5 kg (11 lbs).  We have to pack the electronics, medicines, etc. in the backpack carefully, since the backpack could easily weight 10 kg (22 lbs).  Although only twice have they actually weighed a carry-on.  

And checked bags - sometimes no free bags, so we need to pay for excess bags.  And we need to watch the weight as well, especially on smaller airlines.

So a goal is to get down to one checked bag and one carry-on each, with a small personal item.😅  Not happening so far as we always need a relatively full daypack as well. 😥