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.