Have Love, Will Travel

One lazy afternoon after lunch and acres before supper, we were out on the lanai, enjoying the uncommonness of actually being within smiling distance of each other.  We were enjoying the breeze and listening to birds and chickens and the odd random car struggling up the road, when a mosquito of an idea began buzzing around.

Now this idea, flitted about for a few days before it landed and bit and hung on.  With that bite I pulled out some paper, pushed the breakfast dishes to the side of the table, yanked my calculator from my pocket and feverishly began to write, and figure.  I wrote and added, punched the minus key a zillion times, and after running the numbers several times, and coming up with the same number (a math miracle) it was time to let TH in on my tremendously scary, and yet terrifying exciting idea.

This is how the conversation went.  (more or less)

"Ok, so my lease on the Arizona apartment runs out the end of next May, yours the end of November.  Your last day ever of work is January 1st, right?"

He agreed with me, with a worried look beginning to form.

"We'll need a short term place to rent for that summer in Alaska, but then what?  You don't want to live in Arizona, and I refuse move back to Alaska full time.  We both are fairly young for retirement, 57 and 55, and in great health.  This is our time!  What would you say about stuffing our belongings into a storage unit and heading out and travel for a while?"

"Do you want to buy a motor home or just drive around in my truck?"

"Neither!  Let's save seeing the States for later, I'm thinking much further away.  What would you say if we packed a few bags, grabbed our passports and took off to see the world?  No matter what, we have to have a place to live, right?"

Slowly, and hesitantly he nodded his head, yes.

"What's to stop us from living where ever we want?  You want to go back to Japan and see Kyoto and spend time in New Zealand, why dont we live there?  Or any other place that takes our fancy?"

"Are you saying we wouldn't have a house to come home to?"

"No house. Just two storage units and my car George and your truck."

"But?  No apartment?  Nothing?"

"Nothing!"

"But......we'll need someplace to live!"

"We will live where ever we wish.  Look renting an apartment is cheaper than hoteling it.  We can't eat out a great deal due to my food allergies, so that saves us a ton of money right there!  I pulled out my phone and called up Airbnb and found perfectly wonderful apartments in Kyoto for 2K a month."

And just like that the idea caught fire in TH and we began to discuss it, and started researching things like transportation costs, average food prices.  Our liking of Asian cuisine will really be a boon in Asia as rice and fish and veggies are much cheaper than milk, cheese and bread.  In South Korea we could actually save money by living there, which would be helpful if there is something pricy we want to do.  Charter fishing, helicopter rides, etc. Or we could be Scrooges and just save the bloody stuff.  Staying in one country for 3 months, the average length of time most countries allow foreigners to remain in their country for leisure travel, would allow us to experience each country and really get to know and learn the country.

We have batted the idea back and forth, talking about what we wanted and how difficult we think certain things might be.  Talked it over with the boys, who are very excited, and think its a great idea.  We have offered a blanket invitation that any of them may come and stay with us where ever we happen to be.  The only proviso is that they must let us know before we book the apartment so as to have enough sleeping space.

And just like that, we are planning for a grand adventure!  First stop Japan.  When I come back to Arizona in September, I hope to have a lady I met during Table Talk help me with my Japanese.  Orginally our plan was to keep the hops as short as possible and go from Japan to South Korea, to an few days lay over in Singapore then off to Australia and New Zealand.  But I'd like to be able to say more than hello in Korean.  And it is a bit wearing to not understand most of what is said.  We are thinking that Australia and New Zealand will fall between Japan and South Korea.

After we visit the Pacific area whats next?  No clue, and thats half the fun isnt it?




I've really been digging the bands from Australia lately!