RTW

Self-Drive Safari, Week One

enjean2013 1 Comment

We’re not sure we will have Internet access while on our safari, so we’ve scheduled a few posts like these to automatically go out.

During the first week of our safari, here is where we are planning to be:

Day 1 – July 8:

We will pick up our truck at the Bushlore office, and drive to the campsite at the Waterberg Wilderness reserve.

Day 2 – July 9

We cross into Botswana and head to the Khama Rhino Sanctuary.

Day 3 – July 10

Drive to Makagadikgadi Pans National Park. We will spend the night at the Khumaga campsite.

Day 4 – July 11

Drive through Maun and into Moremi Game Reserve, spending the night at the Third Bridge campground.

Day 5 – July 12

We will explore more of Moremi, then head just outside the park to spend the night at the Khwai community camp.

Day 6 – July 13

We will spend another night at Khwai community camp, so we will have the day to explore more of Moremi

Day 7 – July 14

We leave Moremi and head north to the Savuti area of Chobe National Park. We will spend the night at the Savuti reserve camp

The Hamptons

enjean2013 4 Comments

Our flight to New York arrived on Sunday, but our flight to Africa didn’t leave until Wednesday. Luckily, Della’s uncle Richard had graciously offered to let us stay with him and Kathy out at their place in the Hamptons. We figured this would be a great place to relax after all of the stress of packing up the house in June.

We didn’t have a big itinerary in mind for our time out there. Richard and Kathy took us out to eat at Oakland’s restaurant near the inlet, which was fun because we got to sit on the patio and enjoy the sea breeze and views of the boats passing by. They also took us on a driving tour of all the fancy neighborhoods, but it seemed like most of what we saw was the giant hedges everyone seems to use.

We also had a little bit of time to head to the beach. The water was a little too cold to want to swim in, but we dipped our toes in and relaxed on the sand. For our last dinner in the US, their houseguest Freddy took us out to their favorite local sports bar. Della told Eric he had to get one of these sports-themed burgers seen below. Can you guess which one he chose? 🙂

CAM00383

All in all, the 2 days in the Hamptons were exactly what we needed to get mentally and physically ready to do some globe gazing! 🙂

CAM00052

IMG_9087

Denver to New York via Dallas

globegazers 2 Comments

The very first leg of our journey involved a very early trip to the airport. Our flight from Denver left at 5:50 am, so we were up by about 3:30. We had everything packed the night before, so it wasn’t too bad. The only almost problem was that Eric couldn’t find his watch. It took the whole family searching (we had stayed at Della’s parents’ house the night before) frantically to find it at the last minute!

We were able to have a short layover in Dallas which was excellent. Eric’s sister Suzanne made the drive out to the airport so we could spend a little time with her. We enjoyed seeing her, especially because next time we do she will be a mom!

image

We arrived into LaGuardia in NYC where we took the M60 bus into Manhattan.  From there we were able to get on the 6 line to meet Jon (a friend of ours from college). We had an enjoyable afternoon with him, seeing his apartment, meeting his dog, and eating at the Third Avenue Ale House where we both sampled local brews from New York.

In the evening, we took the 6 to the E out to Jamaica where we caught the LIRR out to Bridgehampton where we will spend our first few nights away from home with Della’s uncle Richard! We have never been to the Hamptons before and are excited to relax by the beach and pool.

We’re On Our Way!

globegazers 1 Comment

The last few weeks have been quite a whirlwind! We both finished our jobs on June 6. Della had her last day of school, which was a little bittersweet. It is obviously exciting to anticipate our trip, but she will miss her students greatly. Even going back next year, there will be a class of students who have left PBA who she will regret not seeing off. Eric also enjoyed a goodbye from work. He is excited that his job also offered him a general leave of absence. The leaves allow both of us to feel comfortable knowing that we have a job when we return home and helps to make some goodbyes easier!

We had originally thought that we would be able to leisurely get ready, pack the house, and prepare ourselves in the three weeks following June 6. We also had great plans of being able to do some of the great CO stuff that one should do if not working during the day: visions of hiking, spending days at the cabin, and laying by Cook Park pool danced in our heads. However, we quickly realized that there was way too much to do and not enough time to do it in! I won’t rehash our to-do list, but we will reiterate that it was extensive! The worst part however, was realizing each day that we not only had to cross stuff off, but we had to keep adding and adding! Luckily, we are proud to report that all things got done! We were able to hand off the keys to a clean and packed house to our renter on Sat the 28th, feeling pretty good. (Special thanks to Della’s parents for help with the final packing and for overseeing the house while we’re gone, to Regina with her mad vacuuming skills and awesome vacuum, to Chelsea for her attention to detail and attacking the massive cleaning job of the kitchen, and to Elizabeth for braving the spiders to help make the basement presentable!)

People kept asking how we were feeling, so we wanted to address that a bit. It is a hard one to answer though! We were stressed obviously, anticipating everything we had to do to prepare. We were nervous, knowing that we are about to leave everything familiar behind. We were anxious to just get started! It was hard to predict exactly what we would need until we were actually on the road. At the same time, we felt like we needed more time to get ready. When the time came to leave, we were grateful that we have a few days in NYC to help ease our minds and repack
the absolute essentials.

We are happy to say that as of 5:50 am on Sun the 29th of June, 2014 (another thanks to Della’s parents for the early morning airport ride) we are departed from Denver!!! Let the RTW begin!

image

Posted from WordPress for Android

One Week: To Do

globegazers 3 Comments

So, we know the blog has been pretty quiet the last few weeks. When you take a look at our to-do list you’ll understand why! We have both been out of work since June 6th. We thought we would have a leisurely time packing up and knocking items off the checklist. Little did we know that we would be working all day every day to get everything done! If you look close at the list, you’ll notice a lot more things are marked DONE, but there are a lot more things on it too… things we didn’t know we had to do until now. ACK! But luckily, we are on schedule for our June 29th departure to NYC.

PLANNING

  • Contact and plan our safari – DONE
  • Make lodging arrangements for Johannesburg – DONE
  • Explore Travel Insurance Options & select/purchase policy – DONE
  • Add pages to both passports  – NOT NEEDED TILL ASIA
  • check visa/passport requirements for all countries – DONE
  • Get passport photos taken for visas (have several printed) – DONE
  • Scan all documents into digital format and save to both emails
  • Gather all CC contact numbers, embassy numbers, etc. – download app? – DONE
  • Get new international drivers licenses – DONE
  • Get family and friends setup with Skype/Viber – HALF DONE
  • set temporary change of address with post office
  • Finalize packing lists
  • Put together med kit – HALF DONE
  • figure out how to unlock Eric’s phone – DONE
  • Figure out what to do with Della’s phone – DONE
  • decide on final packs – DONE
  • decide on final plug options (give dad others to return) – DONE
  • purchase plane ticket to NYC – DONE
  • decide where to stay while in NYC – DONE
  • purchase plane ticket to South Africa – DONE
  • purchase plane ticket to Prague – DONE
  • purchase train ticket Johannesburg to Capetown – DONE
  • Collect travel planning documents (scanned/packed) – HALF DONE
  • Contact insurance company related to cars – DONE
  • fill out power of attorney documents (general and medical)
  • Copies of Safari Info to parents
  • Finalize Safari – DONE
  • Book Air BnB Prague

HOUSE/STUFF

  • Rent our house – DONE
  • write a lease for our house rental – DONE
  • Donate stuff not worth selling – HALF DONE
  • Make arrangements for storage of the amount we plan to keep – DONE
  • Pack up the house
    • Study – DONE
    • Master Bedroom – HALF Done
    • Guest Bedroom 1 – HALF DONE
    • Guest Bedroom 2 – DONE
    • Kitchen – HALF DONE
    • Living Room – HALF Done
    • Basement big room – Mostly Done
    • Basement sound room – DONE
    • bathroom 1 – DONE
    • bathroom 2 – DONE
    • master bathroom – HALF DONE
    • garage
    • utility room – HALF DONE
  • Sell extra clothes on ebay – HALF DONE
  • discontinue utility services – DONE

PETS

  • Texi to vet – DONE
  • Texi to TX – DONE

MEDICAL

  • Make a visit to our travel doc for meds/vaccines – DONE
  • Dentist appointments – DONE
  • Final doctors appointment – DONE
  • Eye exams – new glasses (della) – DONE
  • figure out when insurance ends – DONE July 1
  • Della – get new orthodics – DONE
  • Fill prescriptions – DONE

MONEY$

  • Finish up credit card minimum spends – DONE
  • Cancel unnecessary credit cards – HALF DONE
  • decide which cards to continue gaining miles on – DONE
  • notify all cards of international travel – HALF DONE
  • set up venmo – DONE
  • Get updated credit/debit cards – HALF DONE

TO BUY

  • External Hard drives – DONE
  • wire padlocks (TSA) – DONE
  • space on the cloud for storage (decide what spaces we will use: dropbox, google drive, other??) – DONE
  • rain covers/travel covers for packs – DONE
  • drain plugs – DONE
  • extra camera batteries (della) – DONE
  • buy more camera memory cards – DONE
  • Good walking/hiking/zumba shoes – DONE
  • good sandals – DONE
  • travel clothing – DONE
  • New phone for Della – DONE
  • VPN – DONE

EVERYTHING ELSE

  • Get website up and running – DONE
  • Photo website up and linked into our Blog – DONE
  • Della – figure out how to pack/transition classroom – DONE
  • Buy new washer – DONE
  • Buy new dryer – DONE
  • Install washer/dryer – DONE
  • Have going away party – DONE
  • Eric – learn/practice driving stick shift
  • Eric – transition to shaving with bladed razor – DONE
  • Eric- get LASIK – DONE
  • Della – new driver’s license – DONE?
  • Eric- New driver’s license – DONE?
  • Della – renew license plates – DONE?
  • Modify Netflix Subscription
  • Clean house
  • Clean cars

Shots, Shots, Shots: Our Visit to a Travel Clinic

enjean2013 2 Comments

Part of our trip preparations was to get some shots!

Actually Lil Jon, we don’t mean those kinds of shots. We mean vaccinations!

There are a lot of nasty diseases out there in the world that we don’t want to contract. So, we decided to get ourselves preotected from those dangers.

Rather than try and figure out on our own what we needed, we decided to visit a travel clinic. They wanted to see us six weeks before our trip, so we went and visited the second-to-last week of May.

During our visit to the clinic, we first went over our itinerary with them to identify the different entry requirements the country might have and the different risks we would be exposed to while in the country. Once we had gone through all of the itinerary, they gave us recommendations of what we should get, and we decided what to accept. In the end, we went with most of their recommendations.

  • Hepatitis A: Eric needed this one. Della had it in 2007
  • Typhoid: Both of us got this. It is actually taken as an oral vaccine now
  • Japanese Encephalitis: Both of us had to get this one. We felt a little unprepared to decide on whether we needed it, but we decided better safe than sorry. We will need to get a second dose of this in June
  • TDAP: Eric needed this one. Della had it in 2007
  • Polio: Required for entry to Israel and India, so both of us got it

So in the end, Eric got four shots (two in each arm) and Della got two (one in each arm).

We also got a few prescriptions for some pills:

  • Doxycycline (malaria): this seemed like the best choice among the different malaria pills. Still going to be a pain though. Based on the time we will be “at risk,” we have to each get 220 pills!
  • Cipro: Anti-diarrhea antibiotic treatment outside of Asia
  • Zithromax: Anti-diarrhea antibotic treatment in Asia
  • Diphenoxylate (Lomotil): Anti-diarrhea treatment similar to Imodium

There were a few immunizations we declined:

  • Rabies: they said we only needed this if we would be outside reach of medical care for over 24 hours. We don’t think this will be the case very often, so we declined. Plus, this was a pretty expensive shot…
  • Meningitis: recommended for group living situations. We will be in hostel dorms some nights potentially, but we didn’t think this would be often enough to justify the cost

In the end, the cost of this was quite high, but this was mitigated somewhat by the fact that we each have an HSA that we were able to use for payment. Also, probably better to pay the high cost than get the disease later!

 

Ode to Texi

Videoglobegazers 3 Comments

One week from now we will be saying farewell to our kitty for the year that we are gone. She will be well taken care of, but it will still be quite hard to say goodbye. She’s a strange cat, but we love her anyway. Here is our Ode to Texi.

Two Months: To Do

globegazers 2 Comments

As of May 2, we are two months from our departure date! There is so much to do. We decided to make a list to help us celebrate what we’ve done and keep track of what is left.

PLANNING

  • Contact and plan our safari – DONE
  • Make lodging arrangements for Johannesburg
  • Explore Travel Insurance Options & select/purchase policy
  • Add pages to both passports  – NOT NEEDED TILL ASIA
  • check visa/passport requirements for all countries
  • Get passport photos taken for visas (have several printed)
  • Scan all documents into digital format and save to both emails
  • Gather all CC contact numbers, embassy numbers, etc. – download app?
  • Get new international drivers licenses
  • Get family and friends setup with Skype/Vyber
  • set temporary change of address with  post office
  • Finalize packing lists
  • Put together med kit
  • figure out how to unlock Eric’s phone?
  • Figure out what to do with Della’s phone
  • decide on final packs
  • decide on final plug options (give dad others to return)
  • purchase plane ticket to NYC
  • purchase plane ticket to South Africa – DONE
  • purchase plane ticket to Prague – DONE
  • purchase train ticket Johannesburg to Capetown
  • Collect travel planning documents (scanned/packed)
  • Contact insurance company related to cars
  • fill out power of attorney documents (general and medical)

HOUSE/STUFF

  • Rent our house – HALF DONE
  • write a lease for our house rental
  • Sell books on amazon?? (eric)
  • Donate stuff not worth selling – HALF DONE
  • Make arrangements for storage of the amount we plan to keep
  • Pack up the house
    • Study
    • Master Bedroom
    • Guest Bedroom 1
    • Guest Bedroom 2
    • Kitchen
    • Living Room
    • Basement big room
    • Basement sound room
    • bathroom 1
    • bathroom 2
    • master bathroom
    • garage
    • utility room
  • Sell extra clothes on ebay
  • discontinue utility services

PETS

  • Texi to vet – SCHEDULED
  • Texi to TX – SCHEDULED

MEDICAL

  • Make a visit to our travel doc for meds/vaccines – SCHEDULED
  • Dentist appointments – SCHEDULED
  • Final doctors appointment – SCHEDULED/DONE
  • Eye exams – new glasses (della) – DONE
  • figure out when insurance ends – DONE July 1

MONEY$

  • Finish up credit card minimum spends – DONE
  • Cancel unnecessary credit cards
  • decide which cards to continue gaining miles on
  • notify all cards of international travel

TO BUY

  • External Hard drives – DONE
  • wire padlocks (TSA)
  • space on the cloud for storage (decide what spaces we will use: dropbox, google drive, other??)
  • rain covers/travel covers for packs
  • drain plugs
  • extra camera batteries (della) – DONE
  • buy more camera memory cards – DONE
  • Good walking/hiking/zumba shoes
  • good sandals – DONE
  • travel clothing – MOSTLY DONE

EVERYTHING ELSE

  • Get website up and running – DONE
  • Photo website up and linked into our Blog
  • Della – figure out how to pack/transition classroom
  • Buy new washer
  • Buy new dryer – DONE
  • Install washer/dryer
  • Have going away party
  • Eric – learn/practice driving stick shift
  • Eric – transition to shaving with bladed razor – DONE
  • Eric- get LASIK – DONE
  • Della – advertise student blog

First Goodbyes

globegazers 4 Comments

We are getting closer and closer to the departure date of our trip. We’ve definitely been getting swept up in the anticipation. Luckily, a lot of things are coming together for us: we have both spoken to our jobs and have a start date for our leaves, we have someone potentially lined up to rent our house, we have a plan for our kitty, we have major plane tickets booked and a safari planned! But, there are definitely some things we are not looking forward to. I had to face one of those tonight.

IMG_5649

Today I taught my last Zumba class at Dancing the Soul. It is a wonderful dance studio where I have worked for almost the last three years. It’s a strange thing to say goodbye to something that has been a constant part of your world and routine for so long. It was also time to say farewell to some of the wonderful women I have been dancing with every Wednesday!

Saying goodbye is never an easy task. I know that this will be the first of many goodbyes we will have to undertake before we leave in just over 2 months. It will be goodbye to family, friends, routine, familiar faces and places. While I am so excited for the adventure this trip will be, I am dreading the part where I have to do things like this.

But enough with the sad stuff for now… back to the anticipation. Even though I will be leaving Dancing the Soul, I hope to not give up Zumba for the year. One of our goals is to attend Zumba classes in as many different places as we can! Just keep your eye out for posts tagged Zumba Round the World and I’ll let you know what it’s like to Salsa in Slovakia or Cumbia in Kathmandu!

For those of you who can’t wait to dance around the world, check out this song!  Zumba Round the World (All Around the World by Paulina Rubio)