Dear So and So

BEcause I had sleep disruption and have had to attend to realigning my sleep patterns after my concussion, I find now that if there is a time zone difference of over 2 hrs.or more, I need to be more conscious of my sleep needs.

I'm the sort of traveller that likes at least knowing general travel plans to areas I don't know ..meaning things that we might see along the way, if right weather conditions, cycling, snowshoeing or hiking. I am not a totally outdoor traveller...ie. I want to escape to the wilderness for many weeks. After a few hikes and then in the evening, if there is no Internet, I get bored. Reading a book is nice, but doing many evenings of this, I wonder what else I am missing in the area that I'm visiting.

I do find people, culture, history and art very interesting to learn about an area. I like wilderness activities and trips which ALSO include an outing to a town, an historic point, etc. For instance in the Canadian mountain regions..there are historic markers for the Gold Rush, building of the national railway, Japanese-CAnadian internment camp sites during WWII, wineries, rail trails...all marks of human touch.

I understand some folks just want to see wild animals, vegetation, etc. in a foreign country outside of North America. Yes, the wildlife safari in Africa, etc. But you know, it almost sounds insulting, not even learn abit about the local culture nor meet the locals who live there. (beyond a local safari guide) To me that's ironic, and very "protected" way of travelling....NOT meeting the reality of locals and their real culture.

Wherever I travel, I like dropping by local bike shops, a local art gallery/arts/crafts centre, bookstore (because local books are not marketed heavily online) or if there's a farmers' market. The latter you really get a flavour of locals and foods, particularily outside of North America...but also in different regions....New Mexico market is very different from British Columbia different from Quebec! And may I add, Hawaiian farmers' market is totally different.

The best part of our recent trips were the farmer's markets in Provence and in Lisbon. I just used up the tapenade I bought in Provence.
I agree, Shooting Star. I also like to learn about local culture, even while on a bike trip. That's why things felt a little "off," on our trip to Provence. The cycling was all we hoped for, the scenery outstanding, and the food/wine, the best. But, we didn't really get to explore a lot in the 2 towns we stayed in. Some was because when we got back from riding, we wanted to chill out from riding in the heat; others did walk into town. But this was built in much more to our other trips. Having espresso at a cafe in a tiny little Portuguese village while riding was something you could not replicate in any other way. We even had to avoid a donkey that had broken lose from its owner and was running down the street, as we cycled out of the town!

We are musuem junkies, we've found just about any wide spot in the road has a museum/historical markers/historical societies... So fun to discover those tiny little places on our adventures!

We like learning about local culture, visiting local restaurants & farmer's markets, walking, hiking, and watching birds, and cycling in different areas (but of course)! We rarely travel more than one time zone at a time. On road trips, which is mostly what we do, we do short days and spend 2-3 days in each town/city, usually, if not a week or a month, so one time zone at a time. And where we are in Mexico is either 0 or 1 hour off from Eastern time, depending on the time of year. So I do get that. I feel icky when crossing more than one time zone too.

The last time we flew back east from Hawaii, I started having visual anomalies that next morning (after pretty much losing a full night of sleep traveling), and I was only 30 then! All was cured with a good night's sleep, but I had to take an extra day off work I felt so "off" and didn't even trust myself to drive. I can only imagine how well I'd do in my 50s. I decided after that trip that I'd prefer island destinations closer to home, so when we have gone to the tropics since, it's been the Caribbean.

Having lived in NC most of my life, over the pat few years I have been surprised to learn what a nomadic subculture there actually is out there. In addition to the obvious (RVers and sailboat cruisers), when we moved to Belize, we learned about other couples and families who were moving around nomadically with no set home base. We met two couples there who were living this lifestyle, which was all new to us. One couple moves to a different place every three months (they're now in Malta), and the other stays from 6 months to 2 years in any one place (they're now in Bali). And meeting them opened our eyes to how many others are doing just that -- from digital workers in their 20s to retirees. There are a ton of blogs written by these various nomads.

Since we have a dog, it's much harder to travel internationally, and thus we've limited our travels to within the US, plus Belize and Mexico so far, both of which are easy to take a dog in and out of. Most of the nomads we know of are traveling without pets unless they are doing it in an RV.

Crankin, I don't think there's a thing wrong with you for wanting to limit your travels to 1-2 vacations a year. I think most people feel just like you: they are ready for the comforts of home after being away for awhile. We're the odd balls -- not you! :cool:

Maybe, Emily...
One good thing, is that now that I've traveled to Europe quite a bit, when I go to California, the 3 hour time difference doesn't bother me half as much as it used to. That is good, since my son/DIL, former exchange student, and brother live there. We are planning a family vacation in Morro Bay for next August, so I don't think there will be any international travel this coming summer. But, you never know. I think we have some BA miles that have to be used soon, or we lose them, so that might be incentive for a quick trip.

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Originally Posted by emily_in_nc

over the pat few years I have been surprised to learn what a nomadic subculture there actually is out there. In addition to the obvious (RVers and sailboat cruisers), when we moved to Belize, we learned about other couples and families who were moving around nomadically with no set home base. We met two couples there who were living this lifestyle, which was all new to us. One couple moves to a different place every three months (they're now in Malta), and the other stays from 6 months to 2 years in any one place (they're now in Bali). And meeting them opened our eyes to how many others are doing just that -- from digital workers in their 20s to retirees. There are a ton of blogs written by these various nomads.

Since we have a dog, it's much harder to travel internationally, and thus we've limited our travels to within the US, plus Belize and Mexico so far, both of which are easy to take a dog in and out of. Most of the nomads we know of are traveling without pets unless they are doing it in an RV.

Crankin, I don't think there's a thing wrong with you for wanting to limit your travels to 1-2 vacations a year. I think most people feel just like you: they are ready for the comforts of home after being away for awhile. We're the odd balls -- not you! :cool:

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It's probably easiest to let go the idea of owning a lot of personal possessions. Just keep the bank account solvent.

As for moving and travelling, living in different countries, I could see myself doing it for 2 yrs. And after awhile, it would wear me down. For sure, I'm not into longtime camping, chopping your own wood, wilderness living:

I think this is heavily influenced from raised in a poor, large family. I know what it is like and how tough, disciplined it can be not to have certain home conveniences. Imagine not having a dryer for a family of 6 children. This is in Ontario. I don't think I have to invent living back to the basics...when already I don't have a cellphone nor TV. :)

After several wks. of travelling, I like coming home.

Living a car-free life for last few decades, the whole idea of wilderness living and camping long term...doesn't turn my crank. But certainly RV'ing you can bring along creature comforts.

As a cyclist, RVs scare me. I really don't like being near them on the road when we're bike touring.

Crankin, I agree that last trip of yours overseas, would been even nicer to wander around in town among the locals. But I understand the feeling of being exhausted after a bike trip and resting.

Haaaaaaaaa!!!!! :eek:

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Originally Posted by Pax

We are musuem junkies, we've found just about any wide spot in the road has a museum/historical markers/historical societies... So fun to discover those tiny little places on our adventures!

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You might enjoy a peruse around my mom's blog - she hasn't had it going all 20 years… but enough that she's got a large collection of tiny places catalogued and mapped
http://rollinginarv-wheelchairtraveling.blogspot.com

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Originally Posted by shootingstar

As for moving and travelling, living in different countries, I could see myself doing it for 2 yrs. And after awhile, it would wear me down. For sure, I'm not into longtime camping, chopping your own wood, wilderness living

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Believe me, none of the people I mentioned are chopping their own wood or living in the wilderness! Most are renting very civilized flats and villas with electricity, heat, and indoor plumbing. :D But all are on a budget as one has to be to travel unless one is very wealthy. Still, there are plenty of budget-friendly accommodations out there that are nice. We also know one couple personally and know of several others who are "professional" house-sitters. They get to stay in houses that are often much nicer and larger than they could afford, while the owners travel.

As for RVing, we are interested in smaller ones, not the ones that scare you (and us!) when cycling on the road. If we do buy one, we won't be doing any wood chopping (we plan to follow warm weather) nor sleeping on the ground as in traditional "camping", but we will be living without a washer-dryer. That is an inconvenience to be sure, but is hopefully more than made up for by the places we'll get to travel to. A lot of RV parks and campgrounds have laundry facilities. We are already used to no dryer as we hang our clothes out here in Mexico and love how nice they smell after drying in the sunshine and breeze.

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There are definitely trade-offs with any lifestyle. I am sure we will not be nomads forever, but for now, we have no real reason to be tied to one place -- we're retired and don't have children, so we might as well travel while we're healthy and able. And one big advantage for us is to be able to stay far away from winter but still visit places that have cold winters in the summer, if we so desire. We have yet to find one single place where we like the weather year-round, so we may always live in at least two places even when we finally do settle down. We met a lot of folks in Belize who were doing just that: six months in the US or Canada, six months in Belize.

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Originally Posted by emily_in_nc

There are definitely trade-offs with any lifestyle. I am sure we will not be nomads forever, but for now, we have no real reason to be tied to one place -- we're retired and don't have children, so we might as well travel while we're healthy and able. And one big advantage for us is to be able to stay far away from winter but still visit places that have cold winters in the summer, if we so desire. We have yet to find one single place where we like the weather year-round, so we may always live in at least two places even when we finally do settle down. We met a lot of folks in Belize who were doing just that: six months in the US or Canada, six months in Belize.

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I'm sure you and hubby will find a place one day. I agree if one is healthy, go for it. Always better to travel when one is healthy.
I gave up camping for several nights on ground..about 15 years ago. On long distance bike touring, it just became an energy drainer after 3-4 consecutive days....after cycling for 5-6 hrs. with our loaded panniers, set up camp, rest and then next morning, de-camp. I always made sure such long trips by bike, 50% of accommodation was in hotel/motel/b'n b. On such trips one is so acutely reminded of Canada's vast terrain!

Just today, my former boss told me she sold her 3 bedroom house (after making sure her 2 adult children found their own rentals), sold/gave away her furniture (which meant removing frosted glass doors, etc. that the buyers didn't want) and whittled down her assets to 2 large suitcases. Rest in a rented storage rm. size of 1 small bedroom. She retired just 2 wks. ago. She's off to live temp. in Italy, then Greece and Paris.

She's not sure where she will land permanently. She did live in Greece for a few years with her lst child.

I admire her guts to sell everything. I'm not quite like that: I know a close friend who is close to 80, always been single her whole life. She has owned a home. But sold it about 15 yrs. ago.

Now...she's running out of money..she's had to downsize to a cheaper apartment that she doesn't really care for but has no choice. I know she must be living on the line because she's very careful to order modestly when we have coffee together.

I've watched my parents struggle so hard financially for us and saw that when my father died last year, at least my mother still has a warm home to live in that's hers.
At this time, I prefer just to consolidate my stuff in 1 city but that will not happen until after I retire. Much of my travel budget is spent jockeying between seeing my partner and also visiting family. Because Canada is so big and there are distinct regional differences, I do consider it as form of "travel" because I actively seek to see new things in cities /areas where I used to live (things do change!) and when I'm visiting people I know. My personal blog is one of the few blogs that blends in pacific northwest coast, prairies and Eastern Canada with very recent photos all in single blog post...because I continue to be in all those regions nearly each year and so I might as well showcase what I know/see in those regions.

British Columbia is a beautiful province and there are things I continue enjoy seeing ..and miss/know I would like to see at least once.

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Originally Posted by Eden

You might enjoy a peruse around my mom's blog - she hasn't had it going all 20 years… but enough that she's got a large collection of tiny places catalogued and mapped
http://rollinginarv-wheelchairtraveling.blogspot.com

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Too funny, small world time, I've been following her blog for a long time, and I "know" her from another forum.

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Originally Posted by Pax

Too funny, small world time, I've been following her blog for a long time, and I "know" her from another forum.

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Oh my - that is funny

Dear Small Town Florida Employers,

It seems a bit short-sighted to ignore highly qualified candidates for positions because a) they don't have enough community connections yet, b) they just moved here, or c) your cousins nephews daughter needed a job (so you rewrote the qualifications and then reopened the job).

Sincerely,

Highly Qualified Applicant (you've passed over repeatedly)



I'm having zero luck with finding a professional job here, so it's (with any luck) back to part time retail for me Just got done filling out the online application for Home Depot, uploaded my resume and answered about 25 resume related questions. Then I got to answer the "assessment questions", 145 multiple guess questions to see what I know about customer service, work culture, tools, and home repair.

I just can't, for the life of me, imagine 90% of the people at my local HD answering those questions even remotely correctly.

Well that stinks. I hope you're able to land something good soon.

Thanks, I'm just perplexed. Why would they hire a 20 something for a library job when they could hire someone with years of excellent library experience at one of the top three libraries in the world? Just really confusing.