From the category archives:

Pre-Trip Planning

Three Travel Secrets: Gear, Lodging and Food

by Keith on December 27, 2009 · 2 comments

My friend Gillian at One Giant Step, challenged us in a blog challenge to reveal our Three Travel Secrets. So, here are three things that Amy and I have learned about travel.

Secret #1) Essential Gear: If we were to provide one recommended piece of gear that might not be so obvious for long-term travel we would say to be sure to bring a dry bag. With its waterproof properties, a dry bag is essential.  Its uses go well beyond keeping important stuff like laptops and cameras dry.  We carry three dry bags with us.  The two smaller ones are great for protecting our laptop and Dry Bag as Laundry machinecamera while traveling between destinations and also work great as beach and day bags.  The larger, 20-liter bag is the most versatile.  Its primary function is as a way to pack all of our liquids in our packs to ensure that if the bottles open they do not create a mess.  One of the best uses for this large dry bag, however, is for laundry.  When traveling for extended periods it is often necessary to do your laundry by hand.  Several attempts at doing laundry in our washroom sinks resulted in clothing that was only sort of clean and in a very messy and wet washroom.  So we took to using the waterproof properties of the dry bag to do laundry.  Simply add dirty clothes, laundry soap, and hot water.  Seal up the bag and shake vigorously for 10-15 minutes.  After a good agitation, drain the dirty water and refill the bag with clean hot water for a rinse “cycle.”  Not only do your clothes get much, much cleaner than hand washing in the sink, your washroom will not be a sopping wet mess.

Secret #2) Lodging Hidden Gem: Lodging in Turkey can be a bit pricey, with many double en-suite rooms costing over $50.  This is especially true in the bigger cities.  One of the best values we found while in Turkey forWhite Garden Pension - large lodging was the White Garden Pansion in Antalya.  At $34 per night for a double en-suite room with A/C this was an affordable and attractive lodging option.  Located in the heart of the old city, it is quite an easy walk to all of the tourist attractions.  The best part may have been the breakfast buffet included in the price of the room.  Most places we stayed in Turkey included a typical Turkish breakfast of a hardboiled egg, bread, processed cheese wedge, olives, cucumber and tomato.  While quite good, the spread at White Garden put all the rest of them to shame.  With real feta and Gruyere cheeses, fresh fruit including pomegranate, and cereal it was a great and filling start to the day.  A final plus for this hotel is that the breakfast is served in a beautiful interior garden courtyard.  White Garden Pansion is a corner of tranquility within the busy streets of the old city.
Contact Information: White Garden Pansion, Kaleici Kilicasian mah., Hesapci gecidi No 9, Antalya, Turkey; +90 242 241 9115, whitegardenantalya@yahoo.com

Secret #3) Best Pad Thai in Bangkok: Street food in Bangkok can be a little overwhelming for many Western Pad Thai Stalltourists.  Many of the stalls and carts Best Pad Thai - Bangkokhave food that is unfamiliar with unique aromas wafting from them.  But do not let that prevent you from partaking in one of the absolute best and most delicious parts of Thailand.  We found a vendor that is a short three-minute walk from the entrance to the Grand Palace, one of the key tourist stops in Bangkok.  Simply head towards the Chang River Taxi Pier when leaving the Grand Palace and before you reach the pier, in the center aisle, in front of the 7-11, you will find two ladies selling Pad Thai and Phad-See-Eew for only 40B ($1.20).  Ordering one each makes for a filling and delicious lunch for two.  Made to order, they were the most beautifully plated and delicious Thai noodle dishes we had while in Bangkok.

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Travel Challenges: Banking While Abroad

by Amy on December 18, 2009 · 4 comments

We thought we were well prepared.  More than well prepared.  I’s were dotted and T’s crossed.  We had figured out health insurance – domestic and foreign coverage.  The ink was dry on our lease and management agreement for the rental of our condominium.  Our wills were prepared and deposited in our newly opened safe deposit box at the bank, with my mother back home signed up as our agent and in possession of a copy of the key.  Power-of-attorney (POA) documents were drafted, executed and distributed.  Banks and credit card companies were notified of our impending travels and our records noted with requests not to freeze our accounts for unusual activity abroad.  Title to our car was signed and notarized for transfer.  We even prepared a sealed doomsday document with all of our electronic account information and passwords, just in case.  A bit excessive perhaps, but the Eagle Scout and lawyer in us thought it better to be safe than sorry.

Turns out that these preparations were not excessive enough.

A stack of legal documents inches thick giving someone back home access to your accounts isn’t much use when it comes to banks and health insurance companies that refuse to accept them.  Twice my mother has tried to utilize the financial and health care POA documents that we had our estates attorney prepare last summer before we left.  Twice those institutions came back requiring us to complete their own paperwork in addition to the legally binding and valid POA.

With our health insurance company, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, they at least sent us one form that hopefully, when it arrives in the States a month from now (international mail is not exactly swift), will give my mom the ability to do all of things that she should be able to do now based on the POA – access health information on my behalf, pay bills, etc.

TD Bank has been another story…

In addition to freezing our bank account nearly every time we enter a new country (and imposing a $65/day ATM withdrawal limit in Thailand – which is a cheap country, but not that cheap!), we have spent nearly a month getting the runaround on trying to send a wire transfer either from abroad or having my mom do it via her POA.  It went something like this:

Call customer service.  Be informed that we have to write a letter of explanation.  Email and scanned copies are not acceptable. Prepare letter. Print letter. Fax letter. Await response. Await response. Await response.  Call customer service. Be informed that there is no record of said letter, and that we need to call our local branch. (Use social media to vent frustration about the ineptitude of TD Bank customer service). Call local branch. Be told we must physically be present in the branch for them to be of any assistance.  Send mom to local branch. Be informed that we have to write another letter.  Prepare letter. Print letter. Fax letter. Have lawyer call TD Bank to follow up on letter. Await response. Await response. Have local TD Bank branch manager inform lawyer that everything is worked out and the POA will be respected as valid.  Have same local TD Bank branch manager inform my mom that POA will not be respected as valid.  Be informed that we need to fill out yet another form. (Immediately withdraw large chunk of money from TD Bank and transfer to a bank that seems to actually know what they are doing.) Print form. Fax form. Await response.  Await response…

While I suspect that eventually TD Bank would have to accept the POA as is and without any additional forms (the non-litigator lawyer in me thinks that there must be some kind of court-based legal action that could be taken to enforce the POA, no?), I can’t imagine the stress of being in this situation when there is an emergency need to access our accounts or if Keith and I were incapacitated.

Word to the wise: if you will be traveling abroad for an extended period of time, be sure to get and sign all of the required forms from all of the various institutions you interact with before you go.  It might be a pain to have to go to all of your various banks/insurance companies, but it’s better than wandering around looking for a fax machine when you should be on the beach. Oh, and don’t use TD Bank.

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Is world travel good for your health?

by Keith on November 23, 2009 · 4 comments

In the style of Morgan Spurlock and Super Size Me, our readers will be able to see what the health impact is from a year of world travel.  Because Amy and I applied for universal life insurance policies right before we left, we have a pretty robust record of our physical health due to the required physicals and blood tests for the applications.  Now that we have a baseline I am interested to see what changes after a year of travel.  Below is a summary of our key metrics.  We plan on getting these redone upon our return to see what has changed for better and for worse.

Heath Summary – Pre Trip

ATW Health Tracker - Pre1

*Note: as you should never reveal a lady’s weight Amy will only be posting positive changes.

I do have a couple of theories about what will change and the causal factors. And to prevent revisionist history I will put them in writing now and we will see how right or wrong I am.  Feel free to provide your own thoughts in the comments below.

  1. I think we will lose weight, due to a couple of factors including the somewhat restricted access to food – there is no stocked kitchen 10 feet away and getting food for the most part requires effort, limiting mindless snacking.  Also our budget has us eating less animal protein so far, this has to help. Finally there has been a significant increase in our physical activity – so far we are walking significantly more than we did at home.  We have a pedometer and the record day so far was in Cappadocia at 22,000 steps.  For at least me, as I did not walk to work, getting to 10,000/day at home was a real challenge
  2. Improved cholesterol (Keith).  While I have never had great cholesterol (my mom had a report from grade school where I was tested and had over 200 at age 8 ) 268 is by far the worst I have ever had, and it has been getting steadily worse for the last 8 years. My cholesterol was only ~220 4 years ago.  If it does not get better and I do lose weight and am less stressed it seems there are genetic factors at play.  Good thing Lipitor goes off patent in 2010.
  3. Allergies getting worse (Amy).  Amy was tested for allergies before we left and was found to be allergic to nearly everything and is on Allegra-D almost constantly to help control them.  Her one season of relief was winter and due to our itinerary until New Zealand we are avoiding winter.  She was found be borderline asthmatic and was supposed to start allergy shots, but did not have enough time before we left.  The constant exposure to smoky and smoggy air will probably not help this.

Any other predictions?

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