Finally! A plan for my Panama travels...

I finally decided on my itinerary for Panama.

There is a flight on Aeroperlas Regional airline (the TACA affiliate) from Tocumen International airport in Panama City at 3:39 pm that puts me in Bocas del Toro at 5:14 pm.  I will have roughly three and one half hours to get through immigration and customs before the flight to Bocas.  That is probably way more time than I will need, but I would rather waste an hour on arrival than spend too much time driving over the next several days.

Arriving in Bocas del Toro late afternoon/early evening leaves plenty of time to get settled into my hotel, wander around town, grab dinner and have a few beers before enjoying a good nights rest at my hotel on the shore of the Caribbean.  I will stay in Bocas for three nights and catch the 8:45 am flight on the 6th back to Panama City and arrive at 10:20 am.  There are similar flights from the Albrook commuter airport on Air Panama at roughly the same cost, but I would have to pay $30 to $50 for a cab to get from one airport to the other and would gain nothing.

Once I am back in Panama City I will pick up my rental car and head west on the Pan-American highway towards Azuero Peninsula with stops in Coronado, San Carlos and Santa Clara along the way.  While I haven't yet figured out where in the Azuero Peninsula I will stay (Chitre, Las Tablas and Pedasi are all good candidates), it will be for at least three nights.  I'm leaving myself one day of flexibility so I could spend that roaming around David and Boquete, drive up to the Costa Rica border and make a side trip to Puerto Armuelles, spend another day in the peninsula or go back and take a closer look at Coronado and environs.  How I will use that "flex" day will be made once I am on the ground and have a better feel for things.

Finally, I will drive back to Panama City on Thursday the 10th and then spend the last two days seeing the Panama Canal and Darien before leaving at 8:00 am on Sunday the 13th to go home.  Arriving home in Florida around mid-afternoon will leave plenty of time to do the laundry and sort through the mail.

This plan feels good and appeals to my peripatetic soul; enough time to accomplish the goal of my trip while allotting enough time to just wander around and play tourist.  My next installment will address where to stay.  In the meantime I need to change my car reservations and book my Aeroperlas flights. 

Choosing a hotel in Bocas del Toro, Panama...

I still don't have my itinerary locked down, but I did quite a bit of reading and research over the weekend to narrow down the possibilities and that included searching for hotels.  Actually, some of the places I looked at don't really fit the description of "hotel" as much as B&B or guest house.  A number of the homier, less expensive places are family owned or just down right funky.  Since I am not looking for luxury, a place to lay down that is clean and has at least tepid shower water will be good enough.  I'll have my netbook with me so I'm not quite ready to settle for a backpacker's hostel (for security reasons), but one step above that is fine with me.

I'll start with Bocas del Toro.  There are a lot of really cool and funky places on the island and at reasonable rates.  Trip Advisor provided me with a list of lodging establishments to look at  and after reading through a lot of reviews and taking a look at their web sites I narrowed my choices down to three:  Hotel Olas, CalaLuna Hotel and Hotel Angela.

Hotel Olas is a colorful place (literally… the paint job is amazing) and is right on the water.  The rooms all have AC and include internet access as well as breakfast.  They keep their costs down by accepting cash only -- $40.00 per night for a standard room, $60.00 for ocean front.  From what I can tell, Hotel Olas is close to everything in town.

My other pick that is on the ocean is Hotel Angela.  With only thirteen rooms, Angela also offers free breakfast, a restaurant on site, AC in every room, internet and decent prices:  $50.00 to $80.00 per night.  Trip Advisor includes them in the list of establishments with internet but I didn't see it mentioned on their web site.  I sent them an email and got a response within about 30 minutes (a good sign in itself) assuring me that wi-fi is available throughout the property.

My last choice is not on the water, but still in the heart of town and only a block or so away from the ocean.  CalaLuna Hotel is an Italian owned property with a restaurant on site (they reportedly have excellent, authentic pizza), internet access and have rooms for as little as $45.00 per night.  They also have a small bar and a ping pong table.  One of the things about CalaLuna that may appeal to folks who don't sleep well with noise in the background is that the AC is a mini-split system instead of the through-the-wall units found in many inexpensive properties.  The advantage of the mini-split system is that they are quieter and probably more reliable than wall units.  Although, if they break down you can't just pop a new one in the wall -- they require an HVAC technician to fix them.

I am leaning towards Hotel Angela or Hotel Olas.  Both are really cool properties and appear to be clean and well maintained.  All of the properties offer to help with booking activities.  When I owned my B&B in Key West, all of the boats and dive shops paid an incentive for booking them.  I am not sure if that is the case here, but I know that most guest house owners took a lot of pride in booking the best activities in town and wouldn't let their guests go out on just any boat.  After all, their recommendation reflects back on them and they want every guest to be a return guest.

One of the curious things I found in many lodging web sites throughout Panama  is that they proudly proclaim that they have orthopedic mattresses.  Apparently Panamanians place a high value on a good night's sleep!

A few of the other web sites I used to read up on Bocas del Toro as well are Panama Info,  Extreme Panama and what touts itself as the "official" Bocas del Toro web site, bocas.com.  Panama Info covers all of Panama and includes information on hotels, restaurants, activities and has regional descriptions of the country and much more.  Two other websites that include information on Panama but are really geared towards future expats like myself are Escape from America Magazine and The Escape Artist.

Next up will be the information I found on lodging establishments on the Azuero Peninsula including Chitre, Las Tablas and Pedasi.

Bocas del Toro by air or by ground?

As I have worked on the itinerary for my Panama trip, I have tried to find ways to save time by flying between some towns or flying to a town in the west and picking up a rental car.  For instance, I thought if I could fly to Bocas del Toro and then pick up a rental car I could save quite a bit of time and still see the same territory.  One of my concerns is that I don't like the idea of leaving my rental car on the mainland while spending a couple of days on the islands.  There are flights to Bocas del Toro on the commuter airlines, but no rental cars in any of the nearby mainland towns so that idea is out.

OK… what about flying to Bocas del Toro and then on to David and pick up a car there?  That is doable, but the flight from Bocas to David is around $250.00 and there is a $180.00 drop-off fee to pick up the car in David and return it in Panama City.  $430.00 is a lot of additional cost just to save a few hours. Plus, if you add in the time waiting at airports to the flight time, you really don't save that much.  When all is said and done, the savings would cost me $75.00 to $100.00 per hour, which makes the decision pretty easy.

There is one other alternative.  I can fly round-trip from my arrival airport (Tocumen International in Panama City -- PTY) to Bocas on Aeroperlas Regional (a TACA affiliate) for $234.00.  If I were to arrive at Bocas late afternoon of the 3rd and go back to PTY the morning of the 5th or 6th I could pick up a car and still explore the area from roughly Coronado to Puerto Armuelles over the next several days before returning to Panama City to check out the canal and do a one-day trip to Darien Province.

It looks like there are two reasonable choices for what I want to see and do:  1) Fly to Bocas del Toro and back and then explore the whole south coast by car or 2) Use the original plan of getting a car in Panama City and doing the whole trip on the ground.  At least my choices are getting narrowed down.  I've got less than seven weeks to get everything nailed down and I'm starting to get a bit nervous.  I did a lot of research over the weekend on lodging in Bocas and the Azuero Peninsula, I'll be sharing that information next.

Have map, will travel...

One of the things you need when traveling in a foreign country is a good map... especially in the hinterlands.  If I am driving around the back roads of California, Florida or Minnesota and get lost I could just stop and ask some one for directions.  I can do the same in Panama but will they understand what I am asking for and will I understand the answer?  Even if I spoke fluent Spanish I think a good map would be wise.

On my trip to Belize I got a really great map made by the German map makers, Borch GmbH; it is heavy duty and small enough to use while driving yet big enough to show the details I needed.  Unfortunately, Borch doesn't make a map of Panama.  So I went to Amazon and ended up buying three maps.  Trust me, I didn't want three maps.  The first one I got is the National Geographic Adventure Map.  Sounds like just the thing for a trip that will take me to the four corners of Panama, right?  Well, it is a good map (waterproof and tear-resistant) but it is also big enough to keep a family of four totally dry in a Cat 5 hurricane.  I will use it extensively before going and bring it along, but it is not the kind of map I want sitting in the passenger seat of my Suzuki Jimmy as I head down the Pan-American highway.

So I went back to Amazon and bought two more maps:  The Panama International Travel Map and the Mapi: Panama map.  The second one is exactly what I was looking for -- complete yet handy and durable; this is the one that will be next to me in the car.  The International Travel Map is much like the National Geographic map, but not quite as good.  Fortunately the two maps together cost only about $15.00.

I have the National Geographic map spread out on the dining room table and I'm trying to figure out my route.  Now I just need to figure out if my initial plan is still a good one or if, now that I have the maps, I should use an alternative.   Until I finalize my itinerary I can't make lodging reservations or set up meetings with realtors.

"Map out your future - but do it in pencil.  The road ahead is as long as you make it.  Make it worth the trip." -- Bon Jovi

Airline options for intra-Panama flights...

As I come across new online resources for my Panama trip I will be sure to share them here.  My itinerary continues to develop and  it occurred to me that maybe flying in to Panama City and immediately catching a plane to Bocas del Toro would save some time if I could pick up a car in BT and then drive south to Chiriquí Province and from there follow the coast back to Panama City.

Is it possible?  I don't know yet but I did come across three local airlines that may make that an option.  First is Nature Air, which is a Costa Rican airline that seems to only have flights from CR to Bocas del Toro.  This won't work for me this time but could be an option for short hops to and from CR on future trips.

The second airline is Air Panama.  Air Panama has a varied fleet of 15 aircraft ranging from the 9-passenger Britten Norman Islander twin prop to the 50-seat De Havilland Dash.  They serve 22 locations throughout Panama.  The only drawback for my particular needs is that they fly in and out of Albrook airport, which is the commuter, general aviation airport of Panama City and I am not sure of how much time it takes to go from one to the other.

The third option is Aeroplas Regional airline and they fly through both Panama City airports.  Using my idea above of flying to Bocas del Toro, I would have a several hour layover in the airport before continuing on to Bocas del Toro and arrive around 5:15 pm.  Now if I can get a car there that might be worth the $116.00 for the flight.  This is definitely worth checking out.

Since most of the major car rental agencies operate in Panama along with some local groups I have never heard of, I would think that renting a car in Bocas del Toro would be an option.  Using this strategy could save me a couple of days travel and allow me to spend more time really looking at the areas I am most drawn to.

I'll let you know what I find out.  Either way it makes the most sense to spend the last few days in and around Panama City so that part of my initial plan remains in tact.

The world's best places to retire?

The September edition of International Living magazine includes their annual Retirement Index and I am glad to see that two of my top choices are ranked near the top.  Now, as IL readily admits, the rankings are based on a weighting of eight factors and then totaled, but the various factors and how important they are to you is what is most important.  Would I make a decision based on this index?  No way -- but it does provide interesting indicators of how countries compare against each other.

The index categories are:  real estate, special (retirement) benefits, cost of living, culture, health, infrastructure, safety/stability and climate.  The scoring for each of these items is based on data provided by multiple sources including international and individual government abstracts.  Each of the categories have huge areas of interpretation and giving a single number to a whole country clearly is not meaningful since every country, even tiny little Belize, has wide fluctuations within its borders.  For example, giving a single number to "real estate" regardless of whether you plan to buy or rent and regardless of where within that country you intend to live is a bit absurd.  But, as already noted, the comparisons between countries still warrant a look.

The top five countries by total score are:  Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Spain and  New Zealand.  The index only lists 23 countries but does include many of the other destinations I have under consideration such as Costa Rica, Columbia, Brazil, Belize, Honduras and the Dominican Republic. 

An example of the difficulty I have with some of the scoring is in the area of climate.  Mexico is assigned a score of 99 while Belize is assigned a score of 62.  I don't get it.  The two countries are right next to each other; both have highlands with more moderate temperatures and both have Caribbean coasts that are warm and humid.  Is it the Pacific coast that is so much better?  Honduras is just to the south of Belize and rates an 83.  Again, something seems amiss here.  Another area I have a problem with is assigning a number to "culture."  Granted, France (with a score of 100) has a great culture -- a great history, amazing food and wine, widely acclaimed museums, etc.  But to assign a 75 to Uruguay seems a bit much for a country that has great colonial architecture and is frequently referred to as "little Europe."  Anyway, you get my point.

Since IL provides the annual Retirement Index to subscribers I won't reproduce it here, but you can get a copy by subscribing to their Postcards, an email teaser to their magazine and special reports.  It doesn’t cost you anything and before becoming a subscriber myself, I found many intriguing articles and information about locations I had not really considered before.  Yes, they occasionally try to sell you special seminars and other information, but just ignore those if you are not interested and let your mind wander to exciting new places with each email you receive.

Dealing with the details...

Well…  August was a busy month.  In addition to dealing with my health issues I had three weeks of continuing education at work so I was a bit off my usual routine.  I followed that up with a four day trip to Key West and I am now back on schedule and beginning to work on the details of my trip.

I picked up a bit of information from my friends Craig and Joyce, who used to live in Panama for a while as an interlude to their sailing.  We met up with a couple of their friends (ex-military) who also used to live there and continue to make occasional trips to Panama City.  Based on their collective feedback I gleaned the following general pointers:

• Colon is a cess pit full of crime and other than some cool colonial architecture, there is not much to see.
• The canal and its workings are a must see.
• Since I am looking to see if I can live here, concentrate my time and efforts on the Pacific side.

• A guided trip to the Darien jungle and possibly a visit to the Embera tribes would be worth while.
• Bocas del Toro and environs is worth the trip.

Once I returned from KW, I booked my airline tickets (30,000 points on American) and will arrive at Tocumen airport outside of Panama City at about noon on November 3.  I also made a car rental with Thrifty for $192.00 including taxes and fees for the 3rd through the 12th; I reserved the same vehicle I used in Belize -- a Suzuki Jimmy.  I depart Tocumen at 8:00 a.m. the morning of the 13th.  I am thinking of spending the last few days in and around Panama City, so I may reduce the total time of the car rental since it may be more practical to rely on taxis and tour operators on those days instead of driving around a major city I am unfamiliar with.

I made the car reservation with my Citibank AAdvantage card that earns American Airline miles and covers the CDW.  I also bought travel insurance through American Airlines for a pittance (I think it is about $25.00); the insurance is through Access America, which is a reputable travel insurance company and has been around for a long time.

So now I just need to figure out what areas to visit, how much time to spend in each place and what side trips to take.  Once I have an itinerary, I can book hotels and research restaurants, etc.  I bought a couple of road maps on Amazon.com today and that should help in figuring out distances and time of travel.

I will also correspond with two or three realtors to set up half day property viewings to get a feel for what is available and at what price.

Cleared for take-off: Beginning the plans for my trip to Panama

As you begin thinking and planning about moving abroad for retirement, one of the big issues is health care.  Good bad or indifferent, we all have notions about the quality of health care where we are and what it might be like where ever we end up.  Anybody who is looking to live in another country and says they are not concerned about health care is nuts.

I happen to think that American health care is great… the delivery system via a hamstrung insurance system is horrible, but the quality of care is excellent.  My biggest gripe is that US doctors rarely spend enough time with you and that leads to future medical problems instead of fixing them before they become problematic.  For that reason I have three doctors; one for "everyday" concerns and my annual check-up; my neurologist because I have had a history of epilepsy since I was a child; and a third holistic practitioner that I go to a few times per year and pay through the nose for, but she keeps me on track and spends a minimum of thirty minutes with me to answer all of my questions and suggest alternative approaches to keeping me healthy.

Other than my epilepsy I have been pretty healthy my whole life -- I have never broken a bone and have yet to have any type of surgery.  When my cholesterol began creeping up my GP prescribed a statin drug that I immediately tossed in the garbage.  I instead ate oatmeal for every breakfast and lived on beans in various forms, fish, broccoli and salads for two months.  I dropped my cholesterol from 254 to 209 in eight weeks. 

Well, three weeks ago, while volunteering at a back-to-school wellness event with a couple of colleagues,  all was going well when I collapsed around 11:15 a.m.  I woke up to find two EMTs and my colleagues hovering over me and I was being wheeled out to an ambulance.  My colleagues informed the EMTs of my history of epilepsy (I had a seizure in November 1979 and a second one in February 2009) and coupled with the short-term memory loss I was experiencing, they naturally concluded that I had had another seizure.  As I was recovering on the way to the emergency room I came to the same conclusion.  The ER ran an EKG, did a CAT scan and did other routine tests and ultimately released me after a few hours.

Once I got home and the gravity of the matter began to sink in I was absolutely devastated.  After my last seizure I couldn't drive for a year.  It was a total pain in the ass but having to go without driving now that I am living alone would be very difficult.  I admit it is an ego thing because I don't like having to depend on others… it makes me feel useless and lacking control over my life.  The next morning I noticed that the pill box I use to hold my collection of prescription medicines and supplements was missing my seizure medication.  I use two pill boxes (one for morning and one for evening) that hold two weeks of medications each and I was 11 days through the boxes -- 11 days without taking my  anti-seizure pills.  So, not only was I exhausted from working hard and getting very little sleep, I had unwittingly gone cold turkey from my meds.  On the one hand this is good news, but on the other hand I still might have to quit driving depending on what the doc said.

Not only would this have a big impact on my November travel plans since I would have to use public transportation instead of driving -- this could be a total game changer.  What would the inability to drive do to my retirement plans?  Would I have to live in a city instead of on the water?  Would I have to give up my plans of moving abroad altogether?

Waiting a week to get in to see my neurologist seemed an eternity as I dealt with various waves of emotions.  I went from just starting to feel good about my life again after losing Andrea to feeling depressed and full of self pity at the prospect of seeing the rest of my life altered -- again!   I did not want to put off my Panama trip so I asked the folks at International Living to suggest a reliable guide.  I provided a general outline of what I wanted to do and see, and received an estimate of approximately $2500.00 for ten days.  That may not be a bad price, but it is more than what I wanted to pay.

After describing my collapse and the week that led up to the event, my neurologist said he does not believe I had a seizure.  He is not exactly sure what happened and ordered up a series of tests to first rule out heart problems (an echocardiogram and a 24-hour ambulatory heart monitor) and to get a fresh reading on my brain (an ambulatory EEG).  Fortunately his admin was able to get these scheduled for the same time so I was able to complete the echocardiogram this past Monday morning and get wired up for 24 hours for the other two tests, and returned on Tuesday morning to get  un-wired.  Hopefully all these tests will be revealing since I am sure I will still bear some significant cost even after what the insurance pays.  The most immediate and critical impact of my doctor's conclusion is that I can still drive.  I will go see my in-laws this weekend (they live about an hour or so south of me) and do some long-term shopping just in case he changes his mind.  I am convinced that the lack of medication and border-line exhaustion caused a collapse and I am not concerned about a relapse.

Anyway, that fact that I can continue to drive has put me back into Panama trip research mode.  I am now down to flying American via Miami for only 30,000 miles and will pick up a rental car at the Panama City airport.  I can get a Suzuki Jimmy from Thrifty for about $200 for the ten days and a bit less for a Toyota Yaris.  Gas prices are about the same I pay in Florida.  I am still placing flights on hold until I am 100% sure I want to move forward with this trip.  American allows you to place five-day holds so I have been leap frogging my holds with the intent of actually booking when I return from Key West.

The next task is to make up an itinerary and book hotels.  I may want a guide around the canal and in Panama City to make sure I get the most of it.  I have the names  of a few real estate folks that I will ask to show me a few representative properties in several areas along both coasts.  I am really getting excited as I get closer to my trip.

Off to explore Panama on November 3...

Now that I have finally decided that I will be going to Panama I will be copying my posts from this blog on a separate one dedictated solely to the trip, Ten Days in Panama.  There, I will enter the posts in reverse order so anyone who is interested can read from beginning to end, from planning through the actual travel including the day-by-day account of my journey complete with photos.

I had read a lot about Belize and decided this would be my first country to explore.  I spent eight days exploring coastal Belize last February, which placed it firmly on my list of possible future homes.  Now I will do the same in Panama between November 3 and 13. 

As with my Belize trip my goal in Panama is to do a bit of sight-seeing but mainly just wander around through various coastal towns, see what the stores are like, check out some real estate, have a few beers with the locals and generally just get a feel for whether or not this is a place I would feel comfortable living for my remaining years.  If I like what I see I will come back in the future after doing more research on specific locales.  Outside of Panama City a major interest will be just how difficult it is to get along without Spanish.  While I intend to learn Spanish at some point, who knows how much I will be able to absorb.

Over the coming weeks I will post information as I come across it and start to plan my trip.  I'll give you the links to important web sites and lay out my thought process as I finalize the details.  And finally I will do a day-by-day posting of my trip along with many pictures.  I learned a lot when writing my Belize blog (Belize in Eight Days) and hopefully will do better this time.  I imagine my readers will be a handful of friends and others, like me, who are interested in eventually retiring in Panama or just going there for a vacation.  If you have been there and have some advice or want me to check something out while I am there, please leave a comment -- I would love to hear from you!

A potential game changer...

I haven't written for a while because I had a seizure on August 6th and a lot has been happening since then.  At least I thought I had a seizure.

I was volunteering at a back-to-school wellness event with a couple of colleagues.  All was going well when I collapsed around 11:15 a.m.  I woke up to find two EMTs and my colleagues hovering over me and I was being wheeled out to an ambulance.  My colleagues informed the EMTs of my history of epilepsy (I had a seizure in November 1979 and a second one in February 2009) and coupled with the short-term memory loss I was experiencing, they naturally concluded that I had had another seizure.  As I was recovering on the way to the emergency room I came to the same conclusion.  The ER ran an EKG, did a CAT scan and did other routine tests and ultimately released me after a few hours.

Once I got home and the gravity of the matter began to sink in I was absolutely devastated.  After my last seizure I couldn't drive for a year.  It was a total pain in the ass but having to go without driving now that I am living alone would be very difficult.  I don't like having to depend on others… it makes me feel useless and lacking control over my life.  The next morning I noticed that the pill box I use to hold my collection of prescription medicines and supplements was missing my seizure medication.  I use two pill boxes (one for morning and one for evening) that hold two weeks of medications and I was 11 days through the boxes -- 11 days without taking my  anti-seizure pills.  So, not only was I exhausted from working hard and getting very little sleep, I had unwittingly gone cold turkey from my meds.  On the one hand this is good news, but on the other hand I still might have to quit driving depending on what the doc said.

Not only would this have a big impact on my November travel plans since I would have to use public transportation instead of driving -- this could be a total game changer.  What would the inability to drive do to my retirement plans?  Would I have to live in a city instead of on the water?  Would I have to give up my plans of moving abroad altogether? 

Waiting a week to get in to see my neurologist seemed an eternity as I dealt with various waves of emotions.  I went from just starting to feel good about my life again after losing Andrea to feeling depressed and full of self pity at the prospect of seeing the rest of my life altered -- again!

After describing my collapse and the week that led up to the event, my doctor said he does not believe I had a seizure.  He is not exactly sure what happened but has ordered up a series of tests to first rule out heart problems (an echocardiogram and a 24-hour ambulatory heart monitor) and to get a fresh reading on my brain (an ambulatory EEG).  Fortunately his admin was able to get these scheduled for the same time so I will go in next Monday morning to have the echocardiogram and get wired up for 24 hours for the other two tests, and I will return on Tuesday morning to get un-wired.  Hopefully all these tests will be revealing since I am sure I will still bear some significant cost even after what the insurance pays.  The most immediate and critical impact of my doctor's conclusion is that I can still drive.  I will go see my in-laws this weekend (they live about an hour or so south of me) and do some long-term shopping just in case he changes his mind.  I am convinced that the lack of medication and border-line exhaustion caused a collapse and I am not concerned about a relapse.

I am not exactly sure how I came to my decision, but I am booking flights to Panama for November using miles on either Delta or American.  I will go on November 3 and return on November 13.  I will keep playing the booking hold game until it is evident that I won't be able to get a Delta flight for 45,000 miles since the Delta schedule is not as good as the American one and I only need 30,000 miles on American.  Saving the Delta miles also makes sense if I am able to use them next year for that trip to Morocco, which I r-e-a-l-l-y want to go on.

So… Panama it is.  I will start a new blog in tandem with this one to track my planning and the trip itself.  More to come.

Morocco... maybe not

OK…  I got a quote from a Morocco tour guide that came highly recommended on TripAdvisor.  For a comprehensive 10-day tour including lodging, a guide all to myself, transportation, most meals and an overnight trek into the Sahara desert via camel the cost comes to (drum roll) €​2180 or $3100.  That is more than I want to pay.  Actually, that probably isn't bad for what you get but it is more than I can afford.

I will check out a few more guides and see what I can find.  It may not make any difference since the hold I have on a flight to Rabat expires tonight.  I checked and there are no miles flights available on Delta or American today.  I searched for itineraries through Rabat, Marrakech and Casablanca… nothing.  If it doesn't happen I am OK with that.  I have done some decent research and at least know that it is a possibility for the future and could go next year or the year after.

If Morocco doesn't pan out I will go back to Plan A and go to Panama.  I have flights on hold on American for both Panama City and Belize City and I place new flights on hold every few days.  So the absolute worst that could happen is that I go to Panama or Belize at a cost of 30,000 frequent flier miles.  There are flights from time to time available via Delta for 45,000 miles, which I would prefer since I am less likely to use my Delta miles.

By now you must think that I am a total yo-yo…  I'm going to Panama; no, definitely Mexico; no, wait it's off to Morocco to ride camels; no, I really should go to Panama.  Yes, I am being more than a bit fickle.  My last big trip (to Belize) was easier because I was so focused on that possibility as a retirement destination.  Now I am torn between just going on an amazing trip and buckling down to some serious research.  I realize what I should do, but can't quite bring myself to pull the trigger.  Maybe I am still upset about the house situation and I am looking for some escapism.  Whatever it is, the decision will likely be made for me in short order if a miles ticket is no longer possible to Morocco.

Another reason I am looking forward to my Key West trip is that Craig and Joyce have suggested we all go to the Amazon next year.  Between the prospects of exploring the upper Amazon by river boat and talking about Panama, it is sure to be a fun trip.

Heading to Key West in August...

I need some downtime to relax and just kick back.  So I'm headed to Key West for five days at the end of August.  I thoroughly enjoyed flying on SeaCoast Airlines last time so I'm going with them again.  If you fly down at the beginning of the week and back before the weekend you can fly each way for $99.00; you can't beat it.  On top of an inexpensive fare, you fly at a low altitude and hug the coast until you hit the Everglades so you can see turtles, rays and sharks in the Gulf below.

Last time I stayed with my friends John and Bonnie and I met up with them at Siesta Key this last weekend as well.  This time I will be staying with Craig and Joyce.  Craig has promised we will go bug hunting (catching lobsters, for the uninitiated) and I look forward to picking both their brains about my eventual trip to Panama.  Craig and Joyce both lived there back in the early 90's and still have friends there.  They can tell me the best places to look and what to avoid.

I'll have to make a list of folks I need to see while I'm down there.  There are several former guest house owners, a couple of bar owners and folks in the sail/dive/fishing industries I need to look up.  Last time I got to see photographer Alan Maltz at his shop on Duval Street.  Alan is an amazing photographer who did the photo shoot for our first brochure for Duval Gardens B&B.  If it weren't for Alan and his ideas to make the property photos really pop, I'm not sure we would have done as well as we did our first couple of years.

In the mean time, I still have tickets on hold with Delta.  I wish Delta's system were more like American's.  At least with American you can tell when the hold will expire.  I tried to place a new hold on a ticket to Casablanca, Rabat or Marrakech today but nothing was available.  If my hold expires tonight and I can't get a new ticket then I guess Panama will be my home for ten days in November.

Morocco it is... for now

I realize I am a bit off course from doing my long-term retirement research, but I may not have another shot at going to north Africa so as of today I am going to go for it.  I have tickets on hold to depart via JFK on November 3 and return on the 13th.  Every couple days I place another ticket on hold and release the old one.  I will keep doing that and keep my options open while continuing to research.  At some point I will no longer be able to place the reservation on hold and I will have to make a decision.  I am a little nervous that the layover at Charles de Gaulle is only an hour and a half, but I think it is doable and there is another flight on Air France a few hours later.

The way I figure it, my travel costs to get there are zero.  If I rent a car and explore on my own, the car would run around $400.00 plus add the cost of gas, hotels and food.  I am trying to think this through while I have tickets on hold and I have concluded that wandering around Belize, Spain, Hong Kong and elsewhere is one thing, but Morocco on my own may be totally different.  I've been to Tangier and I am fairly certain I would have been totally lost in short order without a guide.  The inner city of Seville is reportedly "laid out" (that is to say, no plan at all) much the way the inner cities of Morocco are.  Seville was at times difficult even with a map (and my wife spoke Spanish), so I think it is fair to assume Marrakech, Fez, Rabat, et al would be near impossible.  If I wanted to spend three or four days in each location, that might be different but not at one to two days per city.  I also want to leave time for a desert trek of a day or two.

On the other hand, there are many tours that may run only a bit more than the cost  for a car, gas, hotels, etc.  The other advantage to a tour is that I would pack more in during the time I have; a guide would ensure I move between places of interest as efficiently as possible.  I'm not talking about a tour in a big air conditioned bus with a couple dozen other tourists… I am looking at a customized tour just for me like I did in Burma.  Tour guides in Morocco, like many countries, must be licensed and their vehicles are inspected twice yearly.  I understand it is probably not the same as having an inspection by Mr. Goodwrench, but just the same there is some control over who you end up with.  I will check out reviews and advice on TripAdvisor and elsewhere to make sure I am getting someone solid.

Morocco, instead...

I know what I said earlier about my finances and doing the trip on the cheap, but I found a deal flying on Delta miles to Morocco -- 60,000 miles round-trip.  I started looking at renting a car but it might be just as cheap to hire a guide that will include ground transportation everywhere I want to go.  I can fly into Casablanca or Rabat.  Either would be a good starting point, but Casablanca has a better schedule.  I would fly through JFK and have a short layover in Paris.

Traveling on my own means I can stay in simple, low-budget lodging and make the most of every dollar.  When traveling with Andrea we always had to stay at upper mid-level hotels because she figured it would guarantee cleanliness and a higher quality experience.  I don't care that much.  I don't want to stay in filth, but I don't demand the same level of luxury she did.  Now it was different when she had her travel agency because we wrote off everything.  Staying in a 5-star hotel in Bangkok didn't cost as much since we deducted it against her income.

Ever since we took the ferry over from Algeciras, Spain to Tangier for a day trip several years ago, I have always wanted to go back.  Exploring the souks and Kasbahs of Fez and Marrakech, driving through the Atlas mountains and riding a camel into the western Sahara have always been on my travel to do list.   This could be an opportunity to spend time in a safe Muslim country and soak up the culture; who knows what things might be like in a few years.  While we all hope Muslim extremists are overwhelmed by moderates, that hope seems to be fading fast. 

So, I have flights on hold and will spend a day or so researching the on-the-ground costs of such a trip.  

Go on a date? Seriously???

There must be something in the water at work. Over the last couple weeks two different friends came to me asking if I would like to meet their friend or sister-in-law. Yes, it has been over a year since Andrea died but I was still surprised that they thought this was a good idea. I have been thinking about the possibility and am not opposed to it, but have held off on acting on my desires because I want to make sure I am doing it for the right reasons. Nonetheless, I remain surprised that these two women think it is time. Both of them are Latin, one from Columbia and the other from Dominica, so maybe there are cultural differences that come into play.

I have to admit I have also been concerned that others might think it is too soon and haven't paid as much attention to what I feel.  As I have toyed with the idea of dating again the biggest road block is how to tell my in-laws. I think my brother-in-law and his wife would be fine with it and my sisters would think it is great. My concern is telling my father and mother-in-law, who have over the years become my parents since my mother and farther have both passed on. This is a toughie.

Anyway, my reaction to these dating overtures was interesting. I didn't laugh and suggest it was a silly idea.  I wasn't horrified at the prospect.  I was actually excited about the idea of dating again. You know how you may be thinking about something but it isn't until someone else suggests it that you get a true gauge of your emotions. My emotions about dating are... good. My loneliness has lessened over time and I think I can honestly scratch that off my list of hindrances (in other words I would not be dating to sooth the pain of being lonely).

I don't think you ever truly "get over" the loss of your spouse, you just allow it to affect your life less as your heart heals. You move on and find a new woman take into your life and your lost spouse becomes a fond but dwindling memory while you build a new life. I knew a couple in Key West that faced serious challenges because she remarried when she should not have; she wasn't over the loss of her husband and brought him up in conversation all the time. She just wasn't ready.

I find myself both excited and terrified at the prospect of dating again. It's been twenty years since my last date and I'm having to remember how to do this. Maybe it's like riding a bicycle... you never fully lose the ability to make a total fool of yourself in front of the woman you're trying to impress. That should tell you a bit about my dating skills in years gone by. Wish me good luck!