Even the Best of Plans Can Be Disrupted

 The title says it all.  We've waited for what seemed like an opportune time.  We have the houses sold and most of our "stuff" sold off, donated or put into storage.  What we take with us, we take as backpacks.  Imagine that, our entire world of possessions in a backpack.  Well, we don't really have to imagine it because two years ago we spent four months taking cruise ships as transportation to South America and to Spain and Africa.  We found we had enough "stuff" to either enjoy a hot-tub on a cruise ship, or enough winter clothing to manage a trip into snowy areas, enough to hike a mountain or just the right accoutrements for a formal dinner invitation by the city president of a Spanish exclave (Melilla).

So packing is not our problem.  Getting our responsibilities reduced by divesting ourselves of houses (and lawn mowers, cars, hot water heaters, heating bills, etc.,) has not been part of the problem.  Money to travel is not a problem.  We travel cheap.  How cheap?  How about a balcony cabin on an 18 day cruise from Miami to Turkey for $800.  Yeah.  It would cost more to live in an apartment somewhere and I wouldn't have the free meals that I have on the ship.  So transportation is not inherently expensive. We plan to couch-surf in people's homes and Air BnB where we can grab in room in a house somewhere.  We've done that before in a variety of countries and it was a way better experience to stay with people than it ever was staying isolated in a generic hotel.

 No... The real problem is the one that the politicians are creating.  The middle east is burning and there is no sign, as I write this, that the destruction will be arrested anytime soon.  Where we will be traveling will be to areas classified by the state department as level 1 (super safe) to level 2 (mind yourself).  Those levels are equivalent to any one of us visiting a Vermont ski slope (level 1) or wandering the Freedom Trail in Boston (level 2).  Once things to get to level 3, if they get to level 3, we will be concerned.  Level 4 and 5 are good indicators that we should re-route our destinations to safer areas.  For now, we are fine.  We will be close to the action, likely close enough that we will be meeting refugees fleeing Iran but we won't be in any target areas by the Iranians.... at least for now.  Things could change and we will be smart about what we do and where we go as a result.  In any case, it will be an adventure nonetheless. 

 Even the best of plans can be disrupted, so we will keep that in mind as we move forward with our (very loose) itinerary.

 It's time to get back to work.  I have more plastic bins to fill with my remaining personal belongings that will be going into storage in a garage somewhere.  Then it's time to make the rounds to tidy up all the loose ends, like tax returns, saying goodbye to friends in a variety of states on a small road-trip, checking in on our sailing vessel, Athena, to make sure she is stable in the yard while we are gone, and to lock the doors and shut the lights.

The most important takeaway from my posting is that this is not a "vacation".  It's a pilgrimage to find my roots.  It's a shopping spree to find a new home to retire to, and it's a chance to connect with people in other parts of the world to share their view of what it is like to live on their plots of land on Planet Earth.  We are, after all, all neighbors.  We've got a lot of countries to visit and a few continents to visit and to revisit. We're not getting any younger so, it's well past time to get this journey started.

  

 

 

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