I have to say that being married to Brian has increased my intake of animated films, pleasantly so. After all, I would have missed Hookwinked, if it hadn't been for him! I just wish I had a quarter of the reaction Twitchy does to my cup of Joe in the morning! I hope you enjoy this clip!!
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Sunday, January 29, 2012
What a Process!
I've mentioned that we have a new adventure ahead of us, namely selling the house and looking for our new home. It all started 13+ months ago!
Did we decide to move that long ago? Absolutely not! It began by randomly watching a House Hunters International show - a fractional ownership of a vacation home. I didn't know such a thing existed. I'd heard of timeshares but had no interest in that. It's important for Brian to travel during the bad weather months, perhaps then get some relief. He can at least be warm, and there comes an emotional renewal with the traveling even if it's not a cure. In any case, we travel. Can we spend less in the long run with fractional ownership than by spending money on hotels and restaurant food? An interesting prospect and I went to work researching.
No such luck finding that kind of ownership in the area we liked to return and visit. Hmmm. Could we buy something out right and then rent it the rest of the time, having it pay for itself? We like the Caribbean, doesn't everyone?! Checked out that for awhile but couldn't seem to make that work either. The prices were just on the edge of possible, but the consistency of rental income was doubtful.
Shifting gears and locations, we found some other areas that were beautiful, more affordable and quite rural. I thought, "Why not? This area is nice, too!" Then, one evening Brian and I "took a walk" via Google maps, and looked up and down the streets. Yup, very rural, no cute little cafes, and seemingly very quiet, too quiet. I'm not so big on the nightlife scene at this point in life but even I think I would be bored there. The beach is wonderful but...
Brian had always talked about this city about 20k inland, though I had never paid much attention. It was inland. I wanted the beach. Maybe I should take a look. After all, it's only 20k away from the beach. What's a half an hour travel?!
The process, thus far, takes us about 5 or 6 months into the past 13+ months. To be continued. :-)
(It did get continued! See Adventure's Roadmap - The Process Part 2)
Did we decide to move that long ago? Absolutely not! It began by randomly watching a House Hunters International show - a fractional ownership of a vacation home. I didn't know such a thing existed. I'd heard of timeshares but had no interest in that. It's important for Brian to travel during the bad weather months, perhaps then get some relief. He can at least be warm, and there comes an emotional renewal with the traveling even if it's not a cure. In any case, we travel. Can we spend less in the long run with fractional ownership than by spending money on hotels and restaurant food? An interesting prospect and I went to work researching.
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| The Internet is Great for Research! |
Shifting gears and locations, we found some other areas that were beautiful, more affordable and quite rural. I thought, "Why not? This area is nice, too!" Then, one evening Brian and I "took a walk" via Google maps, and looked up and down the streets. Yup, very rural, no cute little cafes, and seemingly very quiet, too quiet. I'm not so big on the nightlife scene at this point in life but even I think I would be bored there. The beach is wonderful but...
Brian had always talked about this city about 20k inland, though I had never paid much attention. It was inland. I wanted the beach. Maybe I should take a look. After all, it's only 20k away from the beach. What's a half an hour travel?!
The process, thus far, takes us about 5 or 6 months into the past 13+ months. To be continued. :-)
(It did get continued! See Adventure's Roadmap - The Process Part 2)
Sunday, January 22, 2012
WOMEN ON THEIR WAY - Local Nation
An opportunity appeared in my email inbox. The subject line for the email read: Share your travel knowledge and enter for a chance to win! I often delete mail like that but I do have some travel knowledge and I was curious - win what? Well it wasn't thousands of dollars - bummer! As I understand it at the moment, I win the points/funds to take two trips to the Sponsor's properties and then I write for their travel blog about my experience. Not a bad deal and I get to say I'm a winner!! :-) Part of the entry is to write a 350 word "essay" (I hardly call a few paragraphs an essay but...) about travel and why I should get this privilege. Below is what I submitted.
"Traveling gives me such an appreciation of so many different things - old and new. Meeting people from other areas or countries, new sights and sounds, the food and photo opportunities are just some of what I love in the adventure of traveling, Sure, an adventure can get a bit messy, like an off-road excursion. Or, an adventure can produce conflicting reactions, for example, when scaling the heights of a mountain and you are awe-struck and unnerved at the same time. This is all metaphorically speaking since I do neither four wheeling nor climbing!
Nonetheless, the travel adventures of trying new foods, activities, customs and taking in the sites stretches me and usually enlarges my world. Life is too short to live in a small place! It's good to get away from the regular routine no matter what kind of routine it is. There is something about unfamiliarity to stimulate creativity, or open up new thought patterns or finally just relax! It's easier to see life in a slightly (or vastly) different way when out of our element.
Whether it's enjoying the shopping and energy of a big city or village life which is designed to slow you down; whether you drink in the sites from a cafe and people watch or plan your day filled with art, history and a 5 star restaurant, it's all about the experience. Travel is about allowing yourself the freedom to let go, be curious, find new passions, be surprised and reflect.
I've had the privilege of traveling to China, and many places throughout the Americas, as well as, living for over 10 years in Europe. My background is in architecture and I love photography. Photos can capture street scenes, people going about their daily lives, imposing and magnificent structures, calm and inviting beaches, any variety of landscape. They are wonderful memories and a glimpse into another world. I also enjoy sharing the world as it expands before me though word pictures because I want others to get a taste of my experience and be encouraged to go find their own travel adventure!"
What do you think? You can actually vote for me if you'd like. The voting period is in March - below is the link! :-)
Women on Their Way
"Traveling gives me such an appreciation of so many different things - old and new. Meeting people from other areas or countries, new sights and sounds, the food and photo opportunities are just some of what I love in the adventure of traveling, Sure, an adventure can get a bit messy, like an off-road excursion. Or, an adventure can produce conflicting reactions, for example, when scaling the heights of a mountain and you are awe-struck and unnerved at the same time. This is all metaphorically speaking since I do neither four wheeling nor climbing!
Nonetheless, the travel adventures of trying new foods, activities, customs and taking in the sites stretches me and usually enlarges my world. Life is too short to live in a small place! It's good to get away from the regular routine no matter what kind of routine it is. There is something about unfamiliarity to stimulate creativity, or open up new thought patterns or finally just relax! It's easier to see life in a slightly (or vastly) different way when out of our element.
Whether it's enjoying the shopping and energy of a big city or village life which is designed to slow you down; whether you drink in the sites from a cafe and people watch or plan your day filled with art, history and a 5 star restaurant, it's all about the experience. Travel is about allowing yourself the freedom to let go, be curious, find new passions, be surprised and reflect.
I've had the privilege of traveling to China, and many places throughout the Americas, as well as, living for over 10 years in Europe. My background is in architecture and I love photography. Photos can capture street scenes, people going about their daily lives, imposing and magnificent structures, calm and inviting beaches, any variety of landscape. They are wonderful memories and a glimpse into another world. I also enjoy sharing the world as it expands before me though word pictures because I want others to get a taste of my experience and be encouraged to go find their own travel adventure!"
What do you think? You can actually vote for me if you'd like. The voting period is in March - below is the link! :-)
Women on Their Way
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Life with Brian - Part 2
Today I thought I’d continue a bit with “Life with Brian” (and living with someone with a chronic illness.) We are well into the winter season which does change our pace of life and possible expectations. Can I say our life is more volatile? I don’t think that’s an inappropriate word for the season, but only because of the storms - and I’m talking about the weather, folks!! No, we do not become more volatile with one another! :-) That would just be wasted energy - no room for that!
Weather patterns during the winter are just more unpredictable so Brian’s energy, pain and motivation levels fluctuate a lot more. Therefore, frustration with the situations, and blahs can dictate more than we’d like. (Of course, I can have my own blahs during the winter, too.) There are two aspects during Brian’s challenging season for me that are the most difficult. The first is that I can’t do anything to “fix” the situation. I would love it if I could suggest something or do something that would make him feel better. I don’t know exactly what he feels since I’m not inside his body, but even if I could know I still can’t change it. It’s always difficult to watch someone you love suffer. I can be there for him and listen IF he wants to talk but no expectations.
Secondly, there are times when I miss him. Oh, he can be sitting right next to me but he’s not himself. His pain, or fatigue, or blahs require his full focus just to get through the rough spot. Thankfully for all, those times don’t last too long - a day or two. I probably I miss him more during those tough times than when we are actually apart. I think that’s true because it is then that both difficult aspects come together for me.
All in all, I have no complaints because health issues are our only issue. We are both easy going and have a sense of humor. In my opinion, those are a couple of the key factors in a successful relationship. We appreciate the little things in life, look forward to the good times, try to live in the present, and be thankful - especially for each other!
Saturday, January 07, 2012
Hold On!
I continue to engage in my sedentary pursuit of foreign real estate browsing. I mentioned Panama and Ecuador before and Mexico is also on the list with Nicaragua trailing in distant fourth. I also talked in my last post about changes on the forefront. Put those two things together and Brian and I have come up with selling the house and moving somewhere warmer and cheaper. (A few places in the States are also in the running!) Surprising? I'm still a little surprised at how quickly and radically our thinking has changed in the last six weeks. Perhaps you ask - why? Boiled down, the financial upset towards the end of the year caused us to drastically rethink the direction we want to move regarding our finances. By the way, the financial upset is resolved, and more positively than we had hoped! Thank God!
No specifics. No decisions. This, too, is a process. During one of my browsing times, I did run across a coffee plantation for sale in Panama :-). It's located in the Chiriqui province. I know I don't know how to pronounce that name correctly, but in my mind it sounds vaguely like "cheery." So when I teased Brian that we could buy a coffee farm, naturally the name of our product would be Carol's Cheery Coffee. Does it get any better than that?!
I doubt that buying a coffee plantation is in our future, :-) but we are open to new possibilities. After all, life is an adventure!
No specifics. No decisions. This, too, is a process. During one of my browsing times, I did run across a coffee plantation for sale in Panama :-). It's located in the Chiriqui province. I know I don't know how to pronounce that name correctly, but in my mind it sounds vaguely like "cheery." So when I teased Brian that we could buy a coffee farm, naturally the name of our product would be Carol's Cheery Coffee. Does it get any better than that?!
I doubt that buying a coffee plantation is in our future, :-) but we are open to new possibilities. After all, life is an adventure!
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