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. 😥

June 15, 2018 - Nomads

Mid-June, Travel:  We started our nomadic life in June, 2018, with the intent to travel 9 - 11 months a year.

Mid-April to Mid-June 2018 - Downsizing and Moving

Mid-April - Mid-June, Downsizing and Moving:  We established residency in Nevada where our daughter and her family live.  We allocated 2 months after the sell of the house to establish residency, obtain new drivers licenses, register the cars, get new medical insurance, register to vote, etc.  Plus to finish several projects we had not gotten to.  A lot of which was getting photo albums and pictures scanned and getting those organized and named.  And downsizing from a desktop and a laptop to just one laptop (yet to see how that works).   Needless to say, we will need another two or three months to finish.

During this time we took a good hard look at what we hopefully would be storing for years and after much discussion decided to donate most of the rest of the furniture, keeping a few cherished items.  And gave some to the kids and donated a lot of kitchen and other items.

We still have a lot of boxes!

May 2018 - Notes on suitcases

Suitcases:  In the past, when we started traveling to Asia, we found a need for more space:  taking all the medicines and toiletries you might need for the trip and taking lots of toilet paper.  (Note on toilet paper:  you really need to carry your own in Asia.  But you can save a lot of space by getting TP marketed for camping/backpacking...they don't have the central core so they save a lot of space.)  Plus we now carried cell phones, upgraded to larger cameras and multiple lens, started bringing a laptop, external backup drives, and all the associated equipment, power blocks, and cords for these.  We also needed extra room to bring back presents - we actually bought a duffel bag on one trip.  

So, we now each bought a 25 inch suitcase to check and an 18 inch suitcase to carry on - and still they are full (nature abhors a vacuum syndrome).  And most of the electronics are carried in one backpack, since sometimes we have to check or gate-check the 18 inch suitcase.  

One goal is to get all the electronics into the carry-on suitcases, but still pack the backpack in case we need to transfer the electronics to it for carry-on.  So far, that has not happened.

Hints on luggage allowances:  Regional airlines in Asia are particularly stingy when it comes to carry on luggage allowances.  Before heading out you should check with your carriers to be sure that you will be able to take your carry on into the cabin.  

April 16, 2018 - Selling the house

April, Selling the house:  After a nervous moment when the first potential buyer showed up and they didn't even get out of the car - too much yard for them, we think - the house sold a week after it went on the market with multiple offers and for over the asking price.

January - March, 2018 - Downsizing

January - March, Downsizing:  We spent the first three months of 2018 getting the house ready to sell.

Our kids took some of our furniture, for a total of about 3 mostly bedrooms gone.   It turned out that neither our kids, consignment shops, nor antique shops wanted the master bedroom set nor any of our antiques (with two exceptions) or the rest of our furniture.  It was not the right style, and there was no market for it.  We did sell a few pieces to individuals and gave some furniture away.  And Goodwill got a lot of stuff.

We packed everything else, and had movers move our stuff to our son-in-law's warehouse near Las Vegas.  As the movers unpacked our stuff and piled it higher and higher, we were amazed at the amount of furniture and boxes we still had.  39 years in the same house saw us accumulate lots of stuff.

We then had repairs done to the house, the interior painted, new carpet laid, the house cleaned, and the house staged.

2012 - 2017 - Traveling and Downsizing

Traveling and Downsizing:  With all the traveling we have been doing, that led to a discussion in 2017 of downsizing and how many dollars a smaller house would save a year to be spent on travels.  Then a discussion of where to buy - near where we lived, near our daughter, or near our son.  Eventually Mary suggested we just downsize to suitcases - she would retire and we would sell the house (more money for travel) and not buy or rent another - basically traveling full time. 

We had a last holiday party at the house in early December, 2017.   And then a last Christmas at the house with both our kids and their families.

December 2017 - Travels and People

Traveling:  Paul retired in 2012, and with Mary being able to block out dates she will not take her consulting work, we traveled more.  In fact for 2014 - 2017 we traveled 5-6 months per year.  

People:  In all of our travels all over the world we have met only wonderful, friendly people...Buddhists, Sikhs, Hindu, Christians, non-believers, Jain, Jews, Muslims...you name it.  They all want exactly what we want...security and safety for their families.  Food on the table and a roof over their heads.  And a better future for their children.  It doesn't matter the language spoken or the color of their skin or their religion or any other superficial trait...we are all, under the skin, the same.

2001 - 2011 - Travels and Photos

2001 - 2011:  We did a lot of traveling, some just us, some with our grown or almost grown children or other relatives.  We tried to do one big trip a year for 4 weeks, and maybe some short ones.  Roughly 50 - 50 between international travel and US travel. 

Photos:  With digital cameras, the good news is one can take as many photos as you want, no cost of film (just the cards) and no processing cost (just our time).  The bad news is the same.  We started taking a lot more photos.  Early on in our traveling we would keep a lot of photos, then managed for a while to keep only 20 or so photos a day.  We now try to keep only 12 or so photos a place (but sometimes more), even though generally there are several places a day. So averaging 30 - 45 photos a day.

After 2001 - Suitcases and Hotels

Suitcases:
After 911, we managed to put everything into the 21 inch and backpack and still carry everything on.

Hotels:  At some point, as we get older, we decided to upgrade our hotels, to something like 3 stars - still wanting to save money on hotels to apply to days traveling.  And an occasional 4 or 5 star to splurge or when there was only high end or low end and nothing in between.  And an occasional no/low star when that was necessary, for example - jumping ahead in time - a couple of places in China, Tingri in Tibet, and near the Sundarbans in India.

Before 2001 - Travel and other notes

Travel:
Both international and domestic, before kids.  With the kids when younger, mostly our travel was US based with a lot to our parents and a couple of trips to Europe.  For the Europe trips, we generally would rent a car.

Hotels:  In Europe, we would stay at inexpensive hotels, pensions, and a couple of hostels.  Bathroom down the hall in many places.  We preferred to spend our money on more days traveling and sightseeing and less on fancy hotels, as long as the hotel was clean and safe.

Suitcases:
We would each (including kids) travel with a 21 inch roll a-board and a backpack, and Mary and Paul also had a fanny pack and cameras, all as carry on luggage.  

Photos:
We like to take photos.  Using film, we would try to limit our shots, as film and the subsequent processing was expensive.  Still, we would keep lots of photos.  Later, we tried to keep only 15 - 20 photos or so a day.  

Planning:
We plan our trips ourselves, and do all the bookings.  And we read up on the history and culture of the places we are going.  We prefer to travel independently, or on private tours if doing that makes sense.