Scotland Here We Come Finally!

Scotland Here We Come Finally!

 

Scotland here we Finally come.  Our next destination for July/August.   Darla has dreamed of Scotland for years, the land of both our heritage. (and hot men in skirts!)

Darren and I have been on Ancestry.com for quite some time and tracked our family trees back to the Scottish Isles and are looking forward to going to actual towns that we have found our heritage to be from.
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This is Darren’s Grandfather in full regalia!  What a handsome fellow!

and Darren’s grandma,  who was born in Glasgow.

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How cool will it be to maybe be able to go to local archive offices/churches and see if we can confirm what we have done on line and find our ancestors home towns.

Can’t wait to hear Scottish music and drink a pint in a good OLD old pub.  stay tuned.

Bella is Hanging On the Isle of Wight With the Wild Life!

Bella is Hanging On the Isle of Wight With the Wild Life!

Bella is surrounded by all kinds of wildlife, not just the ones coming for the Isle of wight Festival!

(think of a modern day Woodstock) Fleetwood Mac be darned she says.

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She much prefers the company of pheasants and grouse and badgers and flocks of sheep and rabbits, oh the rabbits, heh heh.  Even blind she knows they are here and loves to get excited and riled up!

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She is doing really well and loves to roll down the grass hills.  She loves to roll into pubs in her Royal Pram and join us for a pint!

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Traveling While Staying True to Your Organic Diet/Food Way of Life

Traveling While Staying True to Your Organic Diet/Food Way of Life

img_0961As a vegetarian (newly for only 5 months) and 100% organic, Non GMO for 4+ yrs my food is my lifestyle not a “diet” and I am very concerned and focused on maintaining organic and non gmo.

I have spent hours and hours cracking the code in grocerers in England and here is what I have found so far:

Most all of the stores as of May 2015 are still 99% Non Gmo as England and Europe have stayed on the No Monsanto path. HOWEVER just late 2014 there was a break thru for the evil chemical company and England at least, has now folded its strong arms against GMOs and is allowing/letting a crack form in its grocery stores to carry GMO products under force of Monsantos evil ways. The top grocers are No longer standing true and stating they are 100% non gmo any longer

I can save you a lot of time shopping: do NOT shop at Sainsbury or M&S and parts of Tesco. they are no longer standing by their word and carrying Non gmo products. so its a crap shoot if you shop there.

Waitrose is the only one I have found so far that is standing by its word that no GMO products will enter their stores thus far May 2015.

Depending on what township you are in, there ARE small tiny independent grocers that are also non gmo and you have to google them for each spot you are in.

Organic? now that is an entire different rabbit hole and the very hardest one to find. Even in the tiny non gmo grocers, they won’t and don’t carry all organic. and it is a never ending search for my food on a daily basis! just when you think you found the best mom/pop shop on a tiny island BAM no, they are not organic 🙁

Waitrose again wins the war (and it is war on our food supplies in my opinion) of having the most Organic sections Usually. it totally depends on the township you are in, how much the grocer carries, some more than others.

But for me for now, we only shop at Waitrose as much as possible. In a pinch we go to Tesco and then you have to search and search for their Organic markers but you can find them.  You just have to Really want/and mean your food to matter to you;  I am finding here in England.  The Blank faces we get when we ask is it Organic? is it Hormone free? shows us that England is educated as America was in 2000 not 2015 🙁  sorry to report negative.  And even when they know Organic/non gmo means their following comment is its too expensive! and its REALLY not that much more, 20 pence maybe and yet you choose pesticides for you and your family over 20pence? really?

At the stores, the clerks have NO clue 99% of the time and we search it out together. So far in both Waitrose and Tesco their staff is highly misinformed and don’t trust what they say, do your own research. I found in both stores I cracked their codes and figured it out Before the employee came back to tell me what a manger said!

The secrets of Organic :

Waitrose, look on the shelf tabs that are white for an upper left corner of Green circle showing organic. Mainly only items that are organic are fruits/veggies. some Breads, yogurt, jellies, pasta and pasta sauces are the main categories I have found. NO chips,cereals or other products have been in the stores we’ve been to.

Tesco, NO shelf markings and usually never together, you have to look at every single package of veggies/fruit and its on the actual package in bold letters ORGANIC but they will be in each section of food products not all in one. they ONLY have organic fruits/veggies and some meats and once only, orange juice.  No breads/yogurt/juices nothing organic only produce.

Sometimes they will have the fruit box itsIMG_0807elf that is white and says organic on it and makes it easier to find. Only at Tesco.

HINT: most Organic foods that are produce: fruits/veggies are in plastic bags (which makes me crazy–earth pollution with all the plastic and you take a gorgeous organic item and place it in plastic to get hot and off gas!)  sorry I digress, but whereby most NON organic produce is loose American styled, the organics will be wrapped in plastics.

Morrisons:  again search every single plastic bag and there is a tiny, dime sized (pence) green apple that says Organic on the apple. you will need your glasses for this company! also they do not group items together so its a search in each category and we are ONLY talking produce. we found NOTHING on the shelves that was organic at all so ONLY produce/fruit/veggies here.

Hope this helps saves you tons of hours that I have spent figuring this all out.  It can be done and you feel so Victorious after scoring a good healthy lode but wow it takes a lot of time and your husbands won’t be happy!  Now we know what we are looking for and just rebuy the same thing over and over.  But even on the tiny Isle of Wight where local produce is a big thing, none are organic 🙁  I had really hoped we would get here to the mom/pop shops and find them all organic non gmo but so far not good. will update if I score!

Having a Bath in Bath!

Having a Bath in Bath!

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Never seen a more consistant Architectural town than Bath with its Gorgeous 18th century Georgian buildings. Wow very nice.

Centuries of Romans and Noblemen and ladies, have take the “waters” of Bath.  After a 30 yr hiatus once again since 2008, IMG_4705you can now take the hot springs “waters” again. No longer able to use the real Roman Bath site, a newer very modern building was built in 2008 using the same waters (supposedly) bubbling up next door at the ancient Roman Bath.

Thermal Bath spa is the only place in Bath you can actually get in the infamous waters.  Not what your really expecting,its very very modern more Danish in style than Ancient Rome.  the interior is a bit disappointing for aesthetics in my opinion but the views from the roof top deck are great.

There is no smell as they are not sulphur springs but also we didn’t really feel like they gave you the benefits of other hot springs mineral spas, no soft baby skin afterwards and in fact felt a bit dried out so have to wonder if there is chlorine added to them?  But when in Rome, eh er, well when in Bath you have to do the Bath’s right? good one time but probably wouldn’t go back.  Plenty enough to do in town shopping, site seeing, architecture touring etc.  Beautiful town, great shopping

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How to Make Yourself at Home in Someone Else’s Kitchen!

How to Make Yourself at Home in Someone Else’s Kitchen!

Traveling and staying in other people’s home for free; sounds Great right?

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Well it is-  But there are some challenges such as trying to cook dinner in a kitchen you don’t know where everything is and everything is different.  Simple things like a really good knife are not always found in other’s home.  And most/all kitchens don’t look like this one!

More like this one in Europe:

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Rice cookers and toaster ovens are more random but two items that are really important to me when cooking and have yet to find them in anyone else’s kitchen in Europe.  simple enough just buy your own right? well yes and no. First off they are expensive and you only have so much space in the car but some things are a must.

For us, its the rice cooker and the good knives so purchasing was required.  There are just some things that make life easier and if you cook, knives are the biggy.  As you cannot fly on a plane with these in the luggage that is something that must be purchased once you get wherever you are going.

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Danger, Electrical Hints and Beware’s When Traveling Abroad

Danger, Electrical Hints and Beware’s When Traveling Abroad

Ok, so the biggest thing to think about and know before you pack all those electrical items and ship them clear across the world:

England has the wackiest plug-ins and your American or even European appliances won’t plug in!  so you have to pay 5-6pounds to buy adapters to plug them in; so either you plug/unplug every time you need to use one with the one adaptor or you have to buy several of the items you use the most.  do the math and figure out if its worth shipping them over, because shipping cost money too and its done by weight.

And a scary lesson learned today:  the outlets in the UK or 220 voltage and some small appliances cannot handle this if the amperage is not right. Trust me because I KNOW, I just blew up my heating pad that I put in the socket with the trusty adaptor and BAM black smoke, light flash and popped the main breaker and thank god, only turned off the tv not blew it out!

Scared me to death!  Now I paid to ship over my trusty heating pad and now just got off the page at Argos appliance store, ordering a new one after almost burning my husband with an exploding heating pad!  My advice, maybe just leave those non UK small appliances at home and know you get brand new ones here.  Or maybe find a second hand store and buy used but either way is a better idea I am thinking!

Lands End- Rhossilli Bay in Gower

Lands End- Rhossilli Bay in Gower

Sand dunes, surfers and campers. Huge stretch of beach at the end of the peninsula opposite Swansea, Wales.

Voted #1 Beach in UK for several years but Beware, tiny one lane roads to get there so drive careful!

  Met a self proclaimed “hippy” surfer named Cosmic (Jeff) Smiles. Very cool lots of local knowledge. The entire area is owned by one family to this day. Rather like Hearst Castle in central California. Great pub and live music up the hill called the Kings Arms

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Lots of Chemtrails.  Watched them balloon into clouds that stole the sunset. Seriously. Why are they being allowed to do this?  It’s our sky too!

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Hanging With the Welsh Coastal Locals!

Hanging With the Welsh Coastal Locals!

Sun came out so we did too, ha ha! Port Eynon for mussels and traditional Welsh Cawl(soup). Pretty place off the beaten path.

Winding roads to get there and Amazing amounts of locals camping out for a 3 day holiday weekend (which is quite frequent in the UK).  Not a lot to do other than beach.  This is for sand pales and sun bathing with a few restaurants thrown in and clean beach bathrooms nothing much else.  But it was fun and sunny.

Previously however, this area was quite the hot bed of activity with “supposed” smuggler/pirate caves dug under the town under to the sea for quick get aways.  WW2 this was a well hidden secret of shipping soldiers to practice storming the beaches before D-Day and Normandy.  Not many photos and history as it was all kept very top secret.

Like all of Wales, HUGE tidal shifts from low to high, so before you head off, check the tide charts or you may find it way way out like we did which is great for beach combing.

How Many Castles Can You See In One Day?

How Many Castles Can You See In One Day?

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Its good to plan your trip with the most famous/largest but along the way to those,  be on the look out for the road markers that say Castle and be prepared to stop on a turn and find ones that don’t rank for the maps!    What a great day of finding all we could but we missed quite a few too! ( 591!)11053264_10205571165432583_6760235716583176191_o10861127_10205540842114519_3779102957717977307_o

Sometimes Neighbors Are the Best!

Sometimes Neighbors Are the Best!

 

Met a new friend today at the house in Wales. Came running over to see who we were and loved the carrots we offered.

so cool to have four legged friends in the city, Loving the Wales lifestyle of livestock in town

Bella’s Story: the MIRACLE Dog!

Bella’s Story: the MIRACLE Dog!

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Cat’s aren’t the only ones with 9 lives, as Bellas has proven over and over, she too has them.

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Bella was the healthiest, fastest dog on the beach, great White Hunter until tragedy struck and she was picked up in our backyard, in suburbia San Diego, by an owl.  It lacerated her shoulders down to the muscle and emergency surgery was required at 4am.  She survived the attack with the torn shoulders and recovered nicely Until…..5 months later when she started losing weight, not eating, having major health issues that went on for 45 days.  MULTIPLE trips to 5 different vets trying to find out what was wrong with her and No vet could figure it out.  We kept asking about the owl attack and they all said no way.  Additionally, we had just given her a chicken jerky treats from Costco that said it was Made in the USA but when we looked super closely at the bag, in the back lable tiny tiny print, Made in China DISTRIBUTED in America!

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The only two new things in her life was the owl attack and these jerky treats so we will never know if they contributed or caused her health decline but we think they did.  Long story, shorter, Bella pretty much died several times in the course of our discovering what was wrong with her, but managed to survive numerous times.  We spent well over $18,000 in the next 3yrs stabilizing her and learning thru trial and error what works for her.  Final diagnoses was:  Addisons disease (body makes no cortisol), Pancreatitis, Diabetes and later, Anemia and Septic arthritis.

MOST dogs with pancreatitis and Anemia die within 90 – 180 days!  Bella has completely beat both those diseases and no longer has them.  She still has Addisons which we give daily pill and 1x per month shot.  Diabetes is 2x per day insulin shots and it did make her go blind with sugar cataracts.  Diabetes also gave her a UTI (urinary tract infection) that led her to have septic arthritis which has made her partially crippled.

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And yet, Bella is going strong, loving life and loving us and has now become a World Traveler with her very own Blog to chronicle her journey.  We had planned our move to Europe for 3yrs and part of what kept us not leaving, was Bella and her health as we didn’t want to bring her with us.  And in fact, our trial move over, we made the heart wrenching decision to leave her with best friends.  She did great with them, but we suffered tremendously.  Returning to California to sell a house, we decided we were going to bring her with us (see posts about bringing a dog to Europe) and she is actually THRIVING in Europe.    In fact, we just came from a new English vet and her diabetes blood insulin levels are the BEST they have ever been in 5yrs.  So low in fact, we had to reduce her insulin by 3 units as her body is doing so much better with a  wonderful organic food we found here, Lily’s Kitchen.  Evidently the ingredients are even better than the wild game meats we cooked for her, each meal.

She loves traveling in the car (her rolling condo) and in her new Range Rover buggy;  experiencing all our new adventures.  We are so excited to go to Scotland to let this little Highland Terrier return to her family roots, as we return to ours!

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Keep in touch to witness the Miracle Dog, Bella’s Travels.  We are Blessed to have her with us, and know every day is a gift and we intend for her and us to live it to the Max!

How Do You Bring a Dog To Europe/UK?

How Do You Bring a Dog To Europe/UK?

IMG_0635Not Easily, that’s how, but it obviously can be done!  First of all it depends on where you are coming from? and where you are headed to? in this case of course, From the USA to the UK.  The UK has the strictest rules vs Europe, so it would be actually easier to go to France than London.  We decided that the best thing to do was go for the hardest that way, we had more than enough credentials when we do go to Europe

NO there is no quarantine any longer or we would have never brought Bella along. Simply in your home before you leave, is the required quarantine period.  Dogs are required to have a Rabies shot, Tape worm shot and be approved by a Vet certified to do so, as healthy.  Then, with all that documentation you get to drive to your local USDA office, in our case, Los Angeles and wait in line for 2hrs to have a girl in the window look over all your documents and decide if you have done it all right, and if not they send you away!  If you are good, then they stamp your papers to authorize that they have approved all and you can leave the country and fly on an airplane within 5 days.  They DO NOT guarantee you will get into the country you are flying to, that’s your responsibility. Whew, its hard work and we paid extra to have the vet do ALL the paperwork so we knew it was done right.

IMG_2952Then you have to decide on the best/right crate for your dog because NEVER ever let your dog fly in cargo, you have to get an Airline that allows dogs in cabin in a crate.  Norwegian is the new kid on the block in Airlines and the one with best- cheapest dog friendly rules and Bella could fly in the cabin.  We decided to bump to first class Just in Case there were any issues, we figured we might be treated better if we were in first class and it did make it much smoother.  Norwegian doesn’t have Real First Class its really like Business class but two big wide seats so the under storage was quite wide as you can see here.

Make sure you have dog bowls/water/toys (trusty best friend Pony was there to help with nerves) dog food,treats and weewee pads just in case. (these are puppy training pads that look like a human diaper bigger)

We did a trial run at LAX taking Bella all thru the airport in her cargo crate to get used to the smells/noises and to meet the airline employees to ensure we were doing everything right a week before we flew.  I’m a freak for details I know;  but I didn’t want anything to go wrong and wanted to ensure we had it all right.   I think it really helped and I highly recommend it.  We met with the Manager before we flew and when we arrived, luck has it that it was his day off but we had his name to drop and a desk agent remembered us.

Without the long details and delays, because nothing goes that easy right(we did have small hiccups but all resolved out),    We made it to the first class lounge in time for a relaxing glass of champagne and time to take Bella to the doggy outdoor pee areas.    Note:  do NOT bring canned dog food sealed, this was the hiccup at security, they freaked out over a sealed wet dog food canned because it was bigger than the 3 ounces!  stick to dried food and maybe put wet food in a baggy Not in a sealed canned, who knew? I thought the sealed canned proved it was nothing security risks but NO not the case!

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The big moment arrived and onto the plane we went.  Secured Bella under the seat in her crate with her crate shut for takeoffs.   Mid flight we were able to let her out at our feet at first and then on our laps after everyone was settled in.  We also recommend, and we took, the red eye over night flight so she would just sleep anyway and not have to go to the bathroom;  but just in case,  we were prepared with weewee pads for dogs and luckily didn’t need them until we got to the airport the next morning.  We had an 11 hr flight and she slept/held it the whole way 🙂 LOVE this dog.

 

 

Her first steps and pee on British soil!

This is the crate we chose as it rolls just like luggage but lay it down and its a bed. I didn’t want a crate you have to carry them vs wheel them.  it was a bit too narrow in width but overall worked out well and now we use it as her car crate flat in the backseat and she likes her little house. so it was money well spent.

We also rented an Air BnB house for 3 weeks to allow for plenty of detox time and getting used to everything for Bella.  We brought 2 weeks of food (dog food is really heavy) to ensure no change over food right away.  Had already researched similar foods offered as American dog food is not plentiful, so we knew which brand we were looking for soon as we arrived. Bella has special needs and eats only the very best organic,non corn, non chicken food so we were extra prepared.  All went well and in fact, we swear, she is doing BETTER here than in California.  Pretty sure this Scottish Highland dog loves being in her mother land!

Bella’s Coming With Us!

Bella’s Coming With Us!

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Bella has decided to get her passport and travel with us.  This creates an entirely different set of circumstances that allow us to learn a plethora of new things.   We tried coming alone in October and we missed her terribly, so this time we made the HUGE decision to go thru all the STUFF you have to do for legally bringing a dog not only on an airplane but into the UK and EU.   We will do the best we can to document our adventures,  so if any of you chose to travel with your animals, you can share in our insight and attained knowledge.  Wish us the best of luck!

 

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Where’s David??   Not Where’s Waldo But Equally Hard to Find!

Where’s David?? Not Where’s Waldo But Equally Hard to Find!

We found David!  I had been to Florence once before and could Not find David! Seriously, he is not just hanging out easy to find.  Down a winding small street and not marked very well is the museum that David now resides. He is no longer in his original outdoor spot but in a museum that is hard to find and you need to know where you are going but we were victorious this time!  and Wow Wow Wow is about all you can10835332_10205546635374291_6029557776208988778_o 10856508_10205546634894279_5583737898818080048_o say.  Enormous tall and details in the marble make you feel he’s going to start talking and breathing. He is beautiful and worth the search10873408_10205546634374266_2592065138822592893_o 10655438_10205546636494319_8816809991621175768_o 10710432_10205546636134310_1166047582266489359_o 10749990_10205546636814327_811256748025844222_o 1417540_10205546637734350_8068293225683177998_o .

Rome, Circus Maximus

Rome, Circus Maximus

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Circus Maximus, we’ve all seen the movie, Ben Hur and watched Charleton Heston race around the track.  When you yourself get to walk down that exact same soil, you can feel the thunder under your feet!

And then as a Huge surprise, we got gifted with Real horses thundering down the track.  My body and brain screamed to be let on a horse so I could really feel the thunder under my body.   Alas, I don’t yet know Italian, nor do I know who or why these people were allowed to do this wonderful Sunny Sunday horse day?  I was SO jealous and so thrilled at the same time!

We never did find out who or why they were there and we asked and googled a lot with no headlines of any sort.  One day however, I will get my Ben Hur day! one can hope right?

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England’s Pub Crawl, Oldest Pubs in Every Town! You KNOW You Want to TOO!

England’s Pub Crawl, Oldest Pubs in Every Town! You KNOW You Want to TOO!

Our first trip to England one of my favorite things so far is the Old old Pubs, like Really Old.  Made it my goal to visit each towns oldest of old and have a pint. found some really great ones and had a great time researching all the old ones and their history.

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The oldest in Salisbury was 898 and the newest was 1714!  I love the history, the wonky floors, the giant wood beams but always Beware when going to the Loo, its usually up or down a tiny tiny winding staircase and the stair is for shoes size 6 or smaller!  Truly watch your Ps and Qs!!!

(Points to those who know what a Ps and Qs is?  Do you know?)  private message me if you don’t know 🙂

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Champagne France, Does it Get Any Better? No!

Champagne France, Does it Get Any Better? No!

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Champagne Ardenne Valley is something to see and a must on your list.  Champagne Caves and how the whole process is done by the names you’ve always seen:  Moet, Tattinger, Veuve Cliquot and more. Super cool information on my favorite subject: Champagne!

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It is well worth the monies and the time to go thru the caves and see how its all done and how it all started.  And even better, there’s always the tasting at the end of the tour!

We went thru several: Veuve Cliquot, Tattingier,Castellane and Many local ones as well.  The big houses give the best underground tours, but they all have great tasting tours.  Its a must for anyone’s bucket list and I highly recommend it.  There are two main cities to go to and they are about 40 min apart.

REIMS:  The largest and a quite big city but the majority of the Champagne area and the Old City are small and very walkable.  The Grande Dames of champagne are here:  Veuve Cliquot, Mumm, Tattinger, Pommery,Martel and more.  Additionally to the Champagne houses is the other very important site, the Unesco World Heritage Notre Dame (the Other Notre Dame) and the statue of Joan of Arc.

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Epernay is the smaller of the towns but also bigger than you think with lots of shopping and plenty more houses:  Moet, De Castellene, Bollinger, Pol Roger, Pierre Jouet.

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Marne Valley, France

Marne Valley, France

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We just arrived in Champagne France and the Marne Valley, for our first European house sit and the beginning of our life abroad.  Its so appropriate that we would start our journey in Darla’s favorite thing/place on earth–Champagne!

Just down the road from where we are staying,  is a gorgeous Mansion/Manor with the most beautiful park like setting.  the Perfect Fall environment especially for newly landed Californians who never see fall colors.

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France Helpful Hints! Don’t Leave the Airport Without Some Euros

France Helpful Hints! Don’t Leave the Airport Without Some Euros

foreign-currencyOne of the biggest Hints to know in a foreign country, not just France, Never leave the airport without some local money.  Not too much because the exchange rate at the airport is way too high usually,  BUT you do Not want to get in a rental car and take off without any local cash.

Case in point:  We arrive our first day to Paris, getting our rental car and heading to drive to the Champagne Region.  After a crazy flight, crazy depart from the airport (we drove around twice before finally figuring out what/where the Exit sign was; seeing how it was in French we didn’t know what Exit was!

(Sortie by the way, (Exit)  is the sign you are looking for)

We hopped on the motorway only to discover it was a toll road.  We are whizzing along feeling all smug and happy we had figured out how to rent/drive/leave the airport and get to our destination on our own UNTIL……

The toll booth!  UnManned toll booths that is!  And all in French!  No clue what to do, out on a lonely stretch of motorway, with no one there but us (thank goodness hindsight) and we had No cash at all except American money!

Fat lot of good that will do you in Europe. (not just at toll booths but anywhere in Europe – NO they do Not want American monies so don’t bring much)

ok sorry back to the toll booth:  Having no idea what to do, we sat reading the signs on the booth like somehow we would all the sudden read and understand French!   Nope that doesn’t work;  we finally figured out the little tiny pictures were a diagram of a credit card.  Victory, they take credit cards!

We stick our American Visa into the slot and hold our breaths, Hoping it will work.   We are in the middle of nowhere it felt like, green grassy fields everywhere your eyes look but no people anywhere and a giant bar across the toll road, no way around it.    Viola, it worked!   woohooo Victory as the bar lifts up and the box returns our credit card to us.

So, either be sure to have money OR be sure you have a credit card!  Seriously though, get at least $20-$40 of local money no matter where you go, before you leave the airport:  taxis/trains/toll booths or cafe, they won’t take American monies so be Prepared, plan ahead.

What NOT to Bring to Europe From America

What NOT to Bring to Europe From America

YES this is our Real Luggage we brought over! and it was Way too much.  Originally we were going to ship 21 large boxes with full kitchen/household linens/accessories and personal clothing items.  I spent days and days and even weeks trying to figure out a shipping company that was legit and never found anyone and it was going to be around $2000!

We gave up on that idea and I can save you a ton of time and money; if you aren’t being moved by a company or the military the cheapest way to move is the dumb airlines luggage overage charges!  you can get ALOT in luggage and the price of airline fees is cheaper than ANY shipping that isn’t a full container.  If you have less than a container than there truly is no cheap way, forget postal/fed ex no longer does it and I never found any other way.

BUT, however, if you are moving over, I would recommend taking Half of what you think you want/need!

What not to bring?  First and foremost, too much clothing!  Trust me there are stores here with tons of cute fashion!

Electronics, they won’t work here without an adapter and even then they might not work (see my post about the blown up heating pad)

Shoes, there are Tons of GREAT shoes, better shoes in some cases than in America.

And if you are going mobile traveling and not renting a flat, then you REALLY need 1/3 of what you think you want/need.  What you use/need in America is Not what you need here.  and it becomes a major burden to lug all this stuff with you. Find a way to keep it back home until you have been over here awhile and KNOW you are staying forever.  Know you miss it enough to think about it while traveling, and then bring it over.

Meantime keep it simple and bring only the basics.

The #1 Question We are Asked as Ex Pats???

The #1 Question We are Asked as Ex Pats???

“WHY would you want to move HERE??”  “You’re from California? Oh I’ve always wanted to go there.  Wait, why would you want to move here!?”

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Those are the two sentences we hear the very most living abroad!  Obviously, after they ask you where you are from, that is the immediate response by almost all. Why do you leave San Diego and America.  Because we CAN?  That seems to be my immediate response in my head. Because we wanted to.  Because there is SO MUCH more out there that we have to see.  Time is short and there are so many cultures, foods, sights, sounds and we want them all.  Oh, and unknown to us, WE have accents, ha ha.  For some reason people guess Canada first then America.Thumbnail_1000_Places

“1000 Places to see before you die” is my Bible and my guide.  A friend bought it for me back in 2000 and I have drooled over it and carried it with me on every trip ever since! As a guideline of areas/places I would have never thought of, never even heard of; it enhanced my already wander lust and made it my burning desire to ensure I highlight every page before I die!  (I use a yellow or pink highlighter and cross out destinations, each time we go somewhere in the book.)   A deep sense of satisfaction comes over me with every area highlighted.  Thanks to this book we have had some crazy adventures like our road trip to Oklahoma and going to “Truth or Consequences, New Mexico” because it was in the book.  (pretty sure Darren tried to burn the book after that holiday. Sorry to New Mexico and the book, but that is one page/stop we can help you to skip!)

 

 

downtownTruthorConsequences-with-happy-cloudsBut other amazing adventures have been had due to the book leading us there.  San Miguel De Allende is one of those places. Spectacular.

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And Amazing New friends are met, that you would have never known if you stayed in one place.

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Back to why we would leave California and San Diego specifically; really for me,  its because my feet feel like a  gypsy.bowagon  Travel is my drug, its what gets me excited, its what got me thru the worst economic collapse where we had to Fight to stay alive and keep our houses and business going.  The reward was always the trip at the end, the money to get to go on the trip.  Until I realized, 2-3 weeks per year just wasn’t enough to get it all done and I wanted to get started before I couldn’t hike, sail, jump on trains, etc physically any longer. I wanted to see it all and it was always my answer when I asked the question:  “If you were told you had 1 yr left to live, what would you regret the most?”  My answer was always, “all the things I missed seeing, all the places I didn’t get to go”.  My bucket list was HUGE for travel so I had to get started Now! 10733387_10204095564743488_2428940571303395820_o There was a time that we thought we would never leave California, but with each and every destination and trip we took, we realized regardless of how nice California is, it was time for us to get going thruout the world and of course, EUROPE was our go to destination, as it is for most people.  Where else can you road trip to other countries not just another state?  Until we can cross off all those countries off in THE book, we are UK/Europe tethered.  I want to be at a cafe talking to other ex-pats and when they say:  “have you been to …….” I can say YES, and we find that common denominator for all world travelers;  Great stories of those exotic places you have both been to.  Fabulous stories of the locals, the food, the smells and the joy of discovering something new and being able to share those stories with others that have gypsy feet like me. IMG_3211 10704208_10204109922862432_7744364367300381409_oi_1 We can’t wait to see what each new destination brings: people/food/experiences.  You never know when you are on a random island and someone asks you to crew on a 160 foot Yacht! Never know when you find yourself at dinner in Champagne, France with an entire group of non English speaking people, using your iPhone to translate an entire dinner conversation and it works!   You never know………..there are so MANY adventures awaiting and we are so excited to see what that might be.

The incredible adventure of having No Idea what is around the corner,  that is really Why you leave the comforts of home, the love of family and holidays together. Those smells of a new city, the feel of a new guidebook in my hand, learning new languages and more, that is why we we left and how do you explain that in one sentence when someone asks?  Why would you leave California?

You can do it too, even if you start as a one week traveler at a time, who knows when the gypsy bug will bite you and you too will say, How can I leave and do this full time?  The question from us to you?  Why Not?  and When? Come join us at some point on the journey, we would love to see you! And the great news, if you find its not what you want to do forever, Home is always where Family is, and you can always go back!

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Sometimes Your Timing Doesn’t Work! Plan B

Sometimes Your Timing Doesn’t Work! Plan B

 

Looking back at our original posts we had such hopes and dreams of being in Europe in 2013; well that plan got delayed. Don’t you love when you Think you Know what is going to happen and it goes totally different?

Well in this case the house did Not sell like we thought right away.  Well it did, in that we got an offer, opened escrow and buyer backed out.  We never got another offer and finally pulled the house off the market 🙁   Took a break from all the house showings and making the house perfect and had to take a mental break.

Instead we decided to explore America since we couldn’t get to Europe, so ROAD TRIP here we come……wooohoo.

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Oklahoma was the final destination But with a lot thrown in:  Vegas, Zion National park, Four Corners, New Mexico, Colorado and parts unknown.  We road trip’d down the Great Route 66 part of the time and saw the craziest things on purpose and some as total surprises.  Thanksgiving in Durango, Colorado was Gorgeous; Christmas time in Santa Fe and Taos NM was awesome.  Mind numbing highways of brown dirt/mesas led to crazy singing and driving on the Real live but hugely abandoned Route 66 in some places.

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It was tons of fun, seedy motels as we had no itinerary or dates and therefore no reservations, crazy food eaten and Bella Rocked it all the way.  Rolled into my college town of Norman Oklahoma – GO SOONERS GO BIG RED and had a great time hanging with family.  On to mom and dads house for the GREAT CHRISTMAS ICE FREEZE of 2013!!!!  HOLEY COW I might have been born in Oklahoma but this girl has been in California for 20yrs and I don’t LIKE cold!  However, I did like finally be in Tulsa for the holidays with family as it had been YEARS.IMG_1588

All wasn’t fun and games and food, we also stayed and built mom and dad a brand new Master Bath in 9 degree temps!! Although it turned out fabulous I might say, we won’t be doing that ever again in December.

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Stonehenge, Dancing With the Druids At Sunrise!

Stonehenge, Dancing With the Druids At Sunrise!

1274027_10202066343249163_1484685738_o     Fact: you can only touch the stones at Stonehenge 4x per year! Normally there is a rope holding you a football field away as the site is now run by the Historical Society and there are rules in place. No more just showing up.  And you have to park far far away and take buses into the site now.  Very Disneylandish.

As we started our England adventure flying to Philadelphia, we were bumped from our flight and flew in late, arriving around 9pm when we were suppose to have arrived at 12pm the day before!  We got our rental car and headed to Salisbury which is closest town to the stones, About 1.5hrs away from Heathrow.  We couldn’t just show up at our B&B at midnight,  so we decided to go on to the Stones and sleep in our car!  Having no idea if you could actually do that, if it was legal or what, but we didn’t have a choice really so off we went.  Darren driving a car on the right side steering wheel on the Left side of the road for the Very First Time!  pitch black, 10pm at night with SatNav telling us how to get there!  Its a wonder we didn’t wreck or die!

Arrived at midnight and managed to find the entrance in the pitch black dark and pulled right up to the gate and parked.  With about 50 other cars parked along a country type lane in the middle of the field, we could see in the distance some gates and buildings but had no clue what they were.   We could see people walking about and some out tailgate style of the cars,  with fires and singing songs but all very calm and quietly, not a big Party scene so we settled in to our car to try and sleep after 2 Very Long Days of travel.  But we had Made it, Universe and Airlines be damned, we made it to Stonehenge for Fall Equinox as planned.

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At 6am everyone started stirring about and more cars started arriving.  The guards wouldn’t let anyone in early, so be prepared as the restrooms are Inside the gates!  And no services are open so no coffee either! By the time they let us all in, there were about 150 people and many Druids dressed in style: top hats, Highland costumes, bagpipes, drums and more!  We all marched in together to the beating of the drums and the  wonderful bagpipes piping.  What a surreal feeling.

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In a typical UK fashion, there was falling mist, it was still dark and rainy but no one seemed to mind, we just all bundled up and away we all went.  Straight up to the stones.  Amazing experience but no wonderful sunrise this morning unfortunately.  No great photos of lights thru the stones that we had seen on the internet,  but many fun times were had and we got to walk all around and touch and feel the stones.

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London:   Our First Time, and WOW Its Amazing

London: Our First Time, and WOW Its Amazing

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We finally made it across the pond and to London, our first trip and we packed it all in, in just a few days. There is so much to see and so much to do.  Everything you’ve seen in the movies and there you are!  The double decker buses, the black taxi cabs, Big Ben and Parliament, its all in front of you and so bizarre and we Loved it

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Europe Here We Come!

Europe Here We Come!

We are about to start the second half of our life with a BIG adventure of becoming Flex Pats living in Europe as American’s!  Europeans think nothing of “hey lets move to the U.S” and yet very few American’s think, (except for backpacking college kids), I want to move to Europe and learn/live a different way.

Well Darren and Darla have talked about this for YEARS and now we are finally going to go for it.  We have an advantage of moving there and being able to work in two ways:  Darren is a British citizen due to his father and grandparents being born in England, making him an automatic UK citizen.  We have worked on finding about all of this for years, and finally secured his UK passport 3 yrs ago and still have not used it! Well now is the day and we are on the beginning of our adventure.

IMG_2387We are selling our house in Carlsbad as Major Step 1.  So wish us luck as we will be listing it this week.  We’ve been prepping, upgrading, beautifying for a few weeks and this is the week to go live on the realtor MLS.  Wondering how long it will take and whom will love our house as much as we do?

We joined a UK online tutorial group of a married couple in London who have traveled and worked abroad for 6yrs.  They are hopefully going to share and teach us the pitfalls, pros and cons of how to do all of this, and how to work and travel as well.

Our first adventure travel, is we are going to England for 10 days this Fall/Sept/October to check it out and work on getting our credentials for living in England first. Setting up bank accounts, getting their version of Social Security #s etc etc.  and identifying WHERE in England do we want to become our home base for a minute.

But first things first, and that is selling this house, selling our cars, and most all our furniture and possessions as I don’t want to lug anything across the pond.  we will start anew.  So if you know anyone that wants a beautiful ocean view house in Carlsbad CA and furniture to go with it? just drop me a line!

From Whence We Came, San Diego California USA

From Whence We Came, San Diego California USA

Current operating environment

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This was where we began to dream of letting go of most of our worldly possessions (and good lord we had ALOT of stuff)  and taking up the mantle of “World Travelers”.    Our beautiful home in Carlsbad Ca/San Diego.   Two people with a burning desire to explore the world and evolve into our higher selves through open communication, meeting new people/cultures and shared experience. Learning all along the way thru experience.  Taking a 10 day holiday once a year or even twice a year just isn’t enough anymore!    Join us as we do our best to document this incredible journey.

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