Roaming About

A Life Less Ordinary

Category: Lifestyle (page 36 of 46)

Wordless Wednesday – Mystery of the Flip Flops

February 14, 2018 / / 62 Comments

The last time I published a Wordless Wednesday post, two weeks ago, Suzanne from Global HousesitterX2 suggested in the comment section to call this feature “Worth a Word Wednesday”. I’m all for that, since I have a hard time keeping things wordless (and sticking to rules). Thanks, Suz! The theme of this week’s Daily Post photo challenge, which I like to integrate in my WW posts if possible, is “sweet”.

A devastating discovery!

My flip flops pictured above, were sweet to me. They were comfortable, robust, and my go-to footwear wherever and whenever possible.  They have been my reliable friends for over two years and had a lot of life left. Then, “this” happened…

Mark and I went to bed in Zesty, being boondocked in the Arizona desert, and left our “shoes” outside as usual. When waking up in the morning, yesterday, three of the four flip flops were gone! A quick search in the area revealed these sad-looking flip flops. We never located Mark’s second shoe.

This is where it happened…

Can you solve this mystery?

(Next week, I’ll share our theory of what we think might have happened.)

Monthly Expenses – January 2018

February 12, 2018 / / 20 Comments

Expenses - image

Every month, I post a report of our expenses to show that it is possible to live a comfortable, exciting and relatively adventurous life without breaking the bank. The less money you spend, the less you need to make. 🙂 That being said, Mark and I seem to manage one big expense a month for some reason, whether it is camper, plane, travel or computer-related. Luckily, we live totally rent-free, wherever we end up.

This report includes ALL of our expenses, in US$, for the two of us. Under groceries we incorporate all the food, produce and non-alcoholic drinks predominantly bought in supermarkets. Toiletries belong in that category as well. Dining out means eating at a restaurant/event or purchasing take-out food. The health category covers non-prescription medicines and Mark's vitamins and supplements; medical contains prescription drugs and doctor's visits.

Health insurance and costs are related to my health care as a permanent resident in the US. Mark is still eligible for free health care in the state of Massachusetts as of today. If a non-emergency were to happen outside of that state, it will be expensive! For check-ups, we both return to the East Coast. I still pay a small quarterly fee in Belgium for health care (required to retain citizenship), which I mention in my year report.

We finally did it... We stayed under $1000. A good start for 2018. But, it was an unusual month. Most of January, Mark and I stayed in Newburyport, Massachusetts, instead of San Diego, California, to take care of his parents. So much for a warm winter! On a financial note, life is generally cheaper there (except for wine), our plane tickets were "bought" with miles, fuel and parking were paid for, and the grocery costs were shared.

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IWSG Writing Update February 2018 – The Editing Process

February 7, 2018 / / 61 Comments

Every first Wednesday of the month, the IWSG (Insecure Writer’s Support Group) encourages writers to share their fears, thoughts, progress, struggles, excitement, encouragement or anything really about their writing. A different question is posed each month, as a writing prompt for IWSG members. Answering it is optional. For February, the question is “What do you love about the genre you write in most often?”

This amazing, supportive group of writers was founded by Alex J. Cavanaugh. Today, the co-hosts are Stephen Tremp, Pat Garcia, Angela Wooldridge, Victoria Marie Lees, and Madeline Mora-Summonte. Feel free to swing by their sites and see what they are up to.

My answer to the question

I have only written in one genre so far: non-fiction. My published articles had to do with the sailing life and living aboard our 35ft catamaran Irie for eight years. Other than the joy of leafing through my work in print and making an extra buck, I love sharing my stories and photos with readers, while at the same time encouraging them to live a life less ordinary.

I don’t like research, so the thing I love most when working on my current memoir is recalling all the memories and reproducing these real-life stories in a compelling manner. Continue reading

Wordless Wednesday – Joshua Tree National Park

January 31, 2018 / / 45 Comments

It has been a long time since I posted a Wordless Wednesday blog; since the spring of last year to be precise. I frequently used Wednesdays to showcase a gallery of colorful mementos, collected during our travels on water and on land, in an “almost wordless” fashion. The weekly Daily Post photo challenge acted as a theme. This week, I am joining those ranks once again.

Joshua trees can be found in the Mojave Desert part of the park, which is higher and cooler than the Colorado Desert section
The perfect Joshua tree 🙂
Free campsite for two nights
One of the hikes in the desert revealed old and abandoned automobiles

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On Call for Three Weeks

January 24, 2018 / / 51 Comments

Things weren’t looking great for my mother-in-law by the time I arrived in Boston, the first week of the year. My husband Mark jumped on a plane a few days earlier, because listening to her ordeal from afar without being able to help was frustrating. When it comes to health care (and many other things), one needs to stay on top of everything, following up on procedures, discussions, plans, and promises. When the person who usually is in charge of that ends up hospitalized, someone else has to step in and be present to advocate. Full-time. We already lost a precious week over the Christmas period, because of misconceptions, wrong actions and holiday (non-)schedules. All out of the family’s control.

Winter in New England
Snow fall after the blizzard of the century
Walking, and even driving, can be treacherous

After being bed-ridden and connected to a plethora of machines for a month, screens being monitored and tubes being adjusted every 20 minutes, the good news arrived. Continue reading

Expense Report 2017

January 15, 2018 / / 23 Comments

Expenses - image

Every month, I post a report of our expenses to show that it is possible to live a comfortable, exciting and relatively adventurous life without breaking the bank. "The less money you spend, the less you need to make" is my motto. 🙂 2016 was the first full year that Mark and I lived on land as house and pet sitters, which means there is no rent to pay, wherever we end up. You can find my yearly expense overview of 2016 here. What follows is the break-down of how we spent our money in 2017.

This report includes ALL of our expenses, in US$, for the two of us. Under groceries we incorporate all the food, produce and non-alcoholic drinks predominantly bought in supermarkets. Toiletries belong in that category as well. Dining out means eating at a restaurant/event or purchasing take-out food. The health category covers non-prescription medicines and Mark's vitamins and supplements; medical contains prescription drugs and doctor's visits.

Health insurance and costs are related to my health care as a permanent resident in the US. Mark is still eligible for free health care in the state of Massachusetts as of today. If a non-emergency were to happen outside of that state, it will be expensive! For check-ups, we both return to the East Coast. I still pay a small quarterly fee in Belgium for health care (required to retain citizenship), which I mention in my year report. The utility cost refers to fees we paid for Skype, until we changed over to Google voice as our main phone service.

To be quite honest, I am disappointed and somewhat surprised at how much Mark and I spent in 2017. It is similar to our years aboard our sailboat Irie (2007-2015), and we don't even have those expensive boat repairs anymore. But, we bought a camper van this year (its purchase price is the only cost NOT included in this post), and fixing-up, equipping and "feeding" Zesty is not cheap. The car category covers money used for our Prius, which we sold in July, and our camper.

Swapping our Prius for an Airstream Westfalia camper van

All our plane rides from the West Coast to the East Coast and from Massachusetts to Belgium belong in the travel category.

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Roaming About in 2017 – Our Year in Review

January 4, 2018 / / 50 Comments

The end of the year is a good time for reflection. In the past, Mark and I would do so by recalling the islands visited, the people met, or the countries explored. The last two years, we look back at the house sits we fulfilled; new places we discovered in the US and animals we took care of. To give this review of 2017 a bit more depth, I am combining Donna’s and Peta’s idea of breaking the post down in months and Janis’ end-of-the-year focus by incorporating what I am grateful for.

January 2017 – Hospitality of others

In the beginning of the year, Mark and I finished a three-month dog sit with Herk in the Sacramento area, California. After that, we faced a short gap between house sits. Thanks to the home owner, who let us stay a few extra days, and a blogging friend offering up her guest room, we did not become homeless. Friends happily hosted us at other times during the month as well, keeping our accommodation free. During our 2+ years of house and pet sitting, Mark and I never paid for a hotel room.

Dinner with our hospitable home owner
Cuddling with Pixel, while staying at our friends Kathy and Steve’s house in the SF Bay Area for the night
Walk with Terri and Aero in Sacramento, where she and husband Hans housed us for two nights

February 2017 – The warmth of Southern California Continue reading

IWSG Writing Update January 2018 – New Intentions

January 3, 2018 / / 53 Comments

Every first Wednesday of the month, the IWSG (Insecure Writer’s Support Group) encourages writers to share their fears, thoughts, progress, struggles, excitement, encouragement or anything really about their writing. A different question is posed each month, as a writing prompt for IWSG members. Answering it is optional. For January, the question is “What steps have you taken or plan to take to put a schedule in place for your writing and publishing?”

This amazing, supportive group of writers was founded by Alex J. Cavanaugh. Today, the co-hosts are Tyrean Martinson, Ellen @ The Cynical Sailor,Megan Morgan, Jennifer Lane, and Rachna Chhabria. Feel free to swing by their sites and see what they are up to.

My answer to the question

I haven’t taken any steps, made any resolutions or put any writing goals in place yet. As a matter of fact, I have barely been able to think about the end of 2017 and new beginnings in 2018. I am way behind with my blogs, emails and any other writing, but as January unfolds, I hope to get going again. If circumstances allow.

Work in progress

The IWSG question of this month “forces” me to think about what I want to achieve, realistically, in the new year. Ideally, I write every morning in my memoir – the second draft that is – and save all other work, tasks and chores for the afternoons. In the past, this has been tough, so I assume I will need to readjust my focus. Sternly. I do hope to finish my memoir and, if at all possible, publish it in 2018. It is now or never!

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Things to See and Do in San Diego, California

December 16, 2017 / / 71 Comments

When Mark and I started our current three-month house sit in San Diego, we knew we couldn’t go on weekend trips with our camper van like other times. Frida and Elvis, the two Italian Greyhounds we are taking care of, are relatively old – 12 and 10 years respectively – and home buddies; their owner prefers them to remain nearby. In a city like San Diego, that is not a problem at all! There is so much to do and see in this area that we could spend many weekends exploring and discovering. Here is a selection of what we visited over the last six weeks.

San Diego skyline with moored boats

San Diego Safari Park

We contemplated a visit to the safari park in Escondido, about 20 minutes north of the city, for my birthday (November 28), when our friend Amy (who recently graduated as a zoologist) gave us four free tickets that expired within a week. So, one Saturday, Mark and I set out to the park earlier than planned and had a fantastic time. Not as fascinating as the real thing in Africa, of course, but not a bad alternative! We were especially intrigued about the relationship between cheetahs and dogs. Every young cheetah is paired up with a dog and they become buddies for life.

Expansive safari park
You can take a free “tram” ride around the park
Can you find the baby cheetah among the teddy bears?
Tiger cubs
Having a (pricey) drink overlooking the rhinos. Cheers!
Dog and cheetah: companions for life – the cheetah run was impressive to watch

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IWSG Writing Update December 2017 – Finished First Draft

December 6, 2017 / / 70 Comments

Every first Wednesday of the month, the IWSG (Insecure Writer’s Support Group) encourages writers to share their fears, thoughts, progress, struggles, excitement, encouragement or anything really about their writing. A different question is posed each month, as a writing prompt for IWSG members. Answering it is optional. For December, the question is “As you look back on 2017, with all its successes and failures, if you could backtrack, what would you do differently?”

This amazing, supportive group of writers was founded by Alex J. Cavanaugh. Today, the co-hosts are Julie Flanders, Shannon Lawrence, Fundy Blue, and Heather Gardner. Feel free to swing by their sites and see what they are up to.

My answer to the question

I am a woman of few regrets, living my alternative life quite deliberately, so this is a tough question. On hindsight, we probably would all do things slightly different, because we are wiser now. But, I don’t want to feel bad about the decisions I make. Those are sometimes hard enough. When it comes to my writing focus in 2017, of course I hoped to work on my memoir more. I do write all day, every day – emails, diaries, blogs, comments, chapters, articles, notes, business documents, translations, reviews – but I wish I could have removed myself from social media and all the “unimportant” scribbles, to make more room for writing in my book. Continue reading

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