Green Around the Globe » Pre-Trip Planning

Three Travel Secrets: Gear, Lodging and Food

Keith — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 12:02:23 +0000

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 camera 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 for 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 tourists. Many of the stalls and carts have 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.

Travel Challenges: Banking While Abroad

Amy — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 12:01:06 +0000

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.

Is world travel good for your health?

Keith — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 12:00:27 +0000

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

*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.

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
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.
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?

Hypochondriacs? $8,343.44 for Healthcare

Amy — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 17:47:00 +0000

Vaccines: $2,586
Medications: $690.89
International Travel Insurance Premium: $1,034
Domestic Health Insurance Premium: $4,723.44
Peace of Mind: Priceless

With all of the debate going on about reforming healthcare in the United States, it seems appropriate to add a post about the steps we have taken to stay as healthy as possible while traveling. Obtaining a litany of vaccines and medications (almost none of which were covered by our employer-provided health insurance plans) and maintaining both domestic and international health insurance while traveling can be a complete budget buster. However, in my opinion, the peace of mind is worth every penny.

Vaccines
Keith – 7: Yellow Fever, Meningitis, Polio, Flu, Japanese Encephalitis (2) and Hepatitis A and B combo
Amy – 10 (with 1 more to go): Yellow Fever, Tetanus, Meningitis, Polio, Hepatitis A and B combo (3 so far, 1 more upon return), Flu and Japanese Encephalitis (2)
Keith and Amy – Typhoid (4 pills each)

We didn’t skimp when it came to rolling up our sleeves and transforming our arms into human pincushions. Taking health precautions for a year of world travel is not for the faint of heart or needle-phobic. Luckily neither of us has an issue with needles and Keith had already gotten several of the vaccines so we were able to save our arms and wallets on a few of the shots. We also had no reactions to any of the vaccines.

After researching which vaccines were required and which merely recommended, we decided to err on the side of caution. For example, many travelers to Asia pass on the Japanese Encephalitis vaccine, relying instead on mosquito bite prevention techniques like using DEET, mosquito nets and limiting exposure during certain times of the day. Personally, it seems that no matter how much bug spray I use, I’m still a mosquito magnet, so while the JE vaccine was one of the most expensive, I’d rather not be freaking out every time I get a bite while waiting ten days to see if my brain is going to swell. We also ended up with some vaccines that are for places that we have since dropped from our itinerary, but we like having the flexibility knowing that we can change our plans at the last minute and not face any restrictions.

Health Insurance
One of the most striking features of the vast majority of people who are able to take a year off from work and travel the world is that they come from countries with socialized medicine. These travelers can simply pick up an inexpensive international policy that covers emergency care and medical evacuations while they are abroad. For routine care while abroad, it is usually pretty cheap so many just pay out of pocket and don’t even bother submitting claims.

For Americans contemplating an around the world adventure, the cost of healthcare is a more weighty consideration. Employer provided health insurance is the most affordable, if not the only affordable option available to most Americans. Add a preexisting condition and your rates for independent health insurance skyrocket, if you can get coverage at all. And if you have a 63-day gap in your health insurance coverage and can’t get insurance through your employer, you may just be completely out of luck and have to rely on the keeping-your-fingers-crossed that you don’t ever get sick again approach. Christine Gilbert has a great post on her blog almostfearless.com summarizing different health insurance options for Americans traveling abroad.

It took months of research and the assistance of an insurance broker to figure out the most affordable option that provided us with creditable coverage – the industry term for a health insurance policy certified as legitimate by the state in which it is provided and that is recognized by other insurance companies for the purpose of satisfying the continuous coverage requirements – and wouldn’t reject us based on preexisting conditions. And to be honest, despite our various degrees and working with an expert, we still wouldn’t say that we completely understand all of the fine print.

It might seem excessive to get coverage that is only good in a country that we don’t intend to spend any time in during the next year. But we needed a domestic policy for two reasons: first, in the event we unexpectedly return to the United States and need medical care, and second, in the event we return to the United States at the end of our trip and don’t immediately transition back into jobs with employer provided coverage. While we are basically still young and healthy, we know of peers who have rolled the dice on maintaining health insurance coverage and ended up with a $30,000 case of appendicitis. We ultimately decided on a fairly bare-bones policy compared to the policies we were used to from our employers (i.e. one with coverage limits and without a prescription plan) that we can upgrade if necessary when we return home at the end of our trip. After figuring out this piece of the health insurance policy, choosing an international plan from World Nomads was an easy decision to make.

Still, I think we’ll keep our fingers crossed just in case and hope that we don’t need to use either policy during our travels…and that there is a resolution to the health care reform debate by the time we return to the States.

Are we being health care hypochondriacs? Is it worth the $8,343.44 we have spent before even purchasing our first plane ticket? What do you think?

End of an era

Keith — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 21:34:58 +0000

One of the things I was most looking forward to during this year of travel to mostly warm places was the ability to wear my super comfortable Rainbow Sandals nearly everyday. I bought them at a surf shop in California in 2002 and they are by far the most comfortable sandals I have ever owned. In fact when I finally wore through the rubber soles in 2007 Amy had them resoled for me. Every year I regret when these finally go into the closet for the winter.

These sandals are so well made and last so long that Rainbow markets them as sustainable. Proving, as Tide Cold Water does in a new TV spot, that value and sustainability can often be found in the use and longevity of a product. As a note I feel that the $10 savings per bottle for Tide Cold Water is a pretty compelling claim.

As you can see my sandals were very well used but unfortunately the leather had finally started to fall apart. However any shoes you can get 7+ years of use out of I consider a success. So with my original sandals retired, what was I going to do for sandals on the trip?

Never fear, after a quick stop into the local City Sports and $26 later (thanks to a 40% end of summer discount) I walked out with a new pair of Rainbows to break in before we leave. This time I went with the black leather, since Amy has a brown pair I felt the need to be at least a little different. No one likes matchy-matchy traveling couples.

So now that you know my story what are your favorite shoes? Have you had shoes or another piece of clothing that was super comfortable and seemed to last forever? Lets hear about it in the comments below. At the risk of getting some odd pictures, send me a picture of your favorite long lasting clothing to me at keith-at-greenaroundtheglobe.com. If I get some good submissions I will post them here in a follow-up post.

*As a note I did not receive any compensation or free goods from Rainbow for the above endorsement. I hope in the future to have enough readers to receive free gear to review. If that does happen I will be sure to disclose it fully.

[Oct 14th Addendum]
Casey Miller, per his comment to this post sent in two pictures of his favorite t-shirt. The second shot is a close up of the collar to highlight the multiple holes in it. Good work in getting your money’s worth from that one Case.

Casey's T-shirt

Close-up of the Collar

Gear Review – Two Months In

We have a winner!

Amy — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 15:22:18 +0000

As you can see above, we have chosen a winner for our logo contest. We had many excellent submissions on 99designs, and would absolutely recommend that anyone in need of a design give it a try. It was addictive checking everyday to see what new designs had been posted. Even though we had over 100 designs submitted we kept going back to the green and blue knot. This design’s simplicity succeeded in capturing the two aspects of our trip, traveling and research, and was a front-runner from the start of the competition. It’s also a reader favorite. Many thanks to all of you who helped us narrow down the options – we really appreciate all of your thoughtful feedback.

Lists to keep along the way

Keith — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 23:56:58 +0000

Different lists kept along the way seem to be a pretty popular thing for travel bloggers to do, especially as a final post at the end of a trip. So I thought Amy and I should think through what we want to keep track of along the way so we can start from the beginning. Some of the lists are pretty standard, counties traveled to, books read and summaries of the different types of transportation used. Some of the lists can be a bit obscure, but I find those the most interesting. I marvel that the authors had the foresight to keep track of that information from the beginning. Either that or they made it up after the fact. Some of my favorites include Globe Decker’s two universal souvenirs that were spotted in 37 of 40 countries and the 27 kinds of fish eaten by Aaron and Deanna.

Below is my proposed list for Amy and me. Let me know what you think in the comments below, especially if you think I missed anything important we should be tracking from the beginning.

Continents, countries & cities visited
Number of trips in/on: airplanes, boats, trains, animal caravans
Total miles traveled
Different types of animals eaten
Books read or listened to (I love audio books)
Countries where we saw renewable energy being utilized (windmills, solar panels, geothermal, etc)
Days snowboarding (Keith) lodging (Amy) – this is likely to be the same number
Sporting events attended

Crowd sourcing a new, professional logo

Keith — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 23:41:12 +0000

While I am sure that everyone is enamored with the demonstration of my amazing graphic design and skillful Inkscape software abilities that are showcased in the logo on this site I was never quite happy with it. I played with Inkscape for hours, but at some point you really just need to throw in the towel and admit when you need to call in the pros. But the problem is I don’t have the budget for a big (or any) agency.

So that is when I turned to 99 Designs. For about $250 ($200 goes directly to the designer) you can have thousands of designers submit their ideas. It is very simple and I recommend you check out the site if you have any upcoming design needs. After drafting a simple brief with only five sections; project title, brand, about you, target and requirements, you sit back and wait for the designs to come rolling in. I also want to point out to my marketing friends out there, that three of the sections; about yourself, target and requirements are limited to 1,400 characters or 200 words each – forcing you to keep it single minded, no one likes a 5 page brief.

Also for my agency and design friends, this should be a little scary. 99designs estimates for a project like the one I am running we will get 20-30 unique designs. This equates to an average of $6-$10 average cost for each design submitted. Not sure how long these designs are taking to create but even if it is 30 minutes, that is less than $20/hr if you win an average number of contests. And even with that the designers are very responsive to feedback and really take great pride in their work. I have been really happy so far. The best part is the entire thing is completed in 7 days, talk about fast turnaround!

But now I need your help, we have had 34 submissions, which represent ~10 unique designs so far. Click here to see them all and leave your comments and favorites here. I look forward to your feedback.

Below is one of the front runners right now; but there still are 4 days remaining in the contest and more designs are being submitted all the time.

Image copyright of kj359; designer on 99designs.com

We have a winner!