Miami Skyline
Having a stop in Miami, Florida for a day is not one of the more exotic ports of call one can have on a cruise boat. Especially since I’ve visited several times before. However, I’m not yet to the point where I will not disembark and explore whatever the port may be.
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We are now in the final stages of preparation for our 2016 cruise to Barcelona, Spain. We will explore Spain and Portugal for about 90 days then we will depart from Barcelona for a flight to possibly Romania or Bulgaria. We will travel in a clockwise fashion from Barcelona around Spain and Portugal. The curved line on the map is a flight and the straight lines are trains and bold lines are planned car rentals. Continue reading
As bad as the above cartoon is, I would be happy if it depicted our Obamacare situation. Our health insurance reality is worse. I’m offering this analysis as background which lead our decision to use the Obamacare exemption which requires us to be on foreign soil for a period of 330 days. Yes, we are Obamacare Escapees, Bon Voyage……..
Preparing to travel out of the country for six months or more at a time takes a lot of preparation. Everybody has different needs so this list is not one size fits all, rather this list applies to our needs and travel. However, the list below includes some basics which would apply to all.
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Sunset Trails
It may sound extravagant that we choose to take a 16 night cruise to Barcelona vs. flying to start our extended European visit. However, when home free, we must pay to live somewhere and the trans-Atlantic cruise takes care of our room and board for two plus weeks.
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OBAMMACARE
What if, over a period of 4 years, the US Government raised fuel taxes causing gasoline to increase from $3.50 to $12.32 a gallon and called this the Affordable Petroleum Act? Percentage wise, this is exactly what has happened to my Affordable Care Act insurance premiums since I retired in 2011.
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9-11 School Children’s Poster
It is a sad situation, but it seems that in the US we do memorials very well. From the Oklahoma bombing to the Vietnam Memorial our memorials seem to be very fitting tributes to the heroes who lost their lives. The 9-11 Memorial in New York is no exception.
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Icebergs and Northern Lights
I was fortunate to have a photographer friend in Springdale, Utah, Seth Hamel, invite me on a November trip to Iceland at the same time as I was exploring my own winter Icelandic adventure. It eventually all just fell into place and I was soon flying IcelandAir on my way to Reykjavik.
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Smokey the Balloon
The Albuquerque International Balloon Festival attracts nearly one million visitors during the nine days of this annual event. My family would attend several days a year whenever possible, and we were especially interested in the special shape balloons. I have attended at least a dozen days of the early morning balloon lift-off events.
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Cut off the ends of a plastic hangar to make two bag clips.
Upon checking out at a local discount clothing store (euphemism for the dreaded Wal-Mart) the cashier mentioned what she does with the plastic hanger pants are clipped to for display purposes.