In three weeks time (January 4th 2014) Jacky and I will be sailing down the English Channel on the first leg of our round the world adventure. I am filled with different emotions both positive and negative. Filled with trepidation at what I am leaving behind but a youthful sense of adventure as well.
130 days of travel to all corners of the world via ship. plane, train, hire car, walking and possibly cycling. This first leg takes us by cruise on the Aurora to Auckland New Zealand. 37 nights taking in the Azores, Antigua, Panama Canal, San Francisco then onto the South Pacific to arrive in mid February in Auckland.
We then have 28 days touring New Zealand's three largest Islands - North, South and Stewart Island. There then follows a short stay in Australia before barding the Ocean Princess to arrive in Singapore in early April. The final leg takes us home on the Queen Mary's 10 anniversary cruise back to Southampton to arrive on the 9th May...
We then have 28 days touring New Zealand's three largest Islands - North, South and Stewart Island. There then follows a short stay in Australia before barding the Ocean Princess to arrive in Singapore in early April. The final leg takes us home on the Queen Mary's 10 anniversary cruise back to Southampton to arrive on the 9th May...
My blogs will not be so much a travel blog in geography terms, but rather a reflection on who we meet, the world we are visiting and how it changes me as a person in the first blossom of retirement. Now 66 years I am retired now a year and in many respects missing the pace and excitement of my work life in film and television production.
What does one pack? What arrangements does one make with the house and security during the winter away. We can really only pack as much as we are allowed on our one and only plane journey which is between New Zealand and Australia. I fancy travelling light just to see if I really need the clothes and other items I always end up taking whenever I go away, even if its for a weekend!
I have not written a blog before and do not want to be a bore showing pictures of packing items, endless words repeated like so many blogs. Sometimes, no matter how well intended, watching friends holiday snaps or listening to travel experiences over the dinner table can be a right turn off. I will try to be different and hopefully interesting to whoever wants to share my blog. Excuse my method of expression and grammar - I come from a Scottish background which may not be exactly perfect English but hopefully you will get my drift.
If there is anybody out there who is contemplating a senior 'trip of a life time' this series of posts over the next five months may be helpful. I am no writer or author but always had a hankering for writing a drama script so this will be good practise for my keyboard skills if nothing else.
Jacky has worked hard over the past eighteen months to put the whole 130 day itinerary together including over night accommodation, travel and excursions. I take my hat off to her for her research, communication skills and business like approach to all the preparation. All the overnight stops are now booked, at the last count, not including the cruises it was around 30 B&B's, and other sleeping arrangements.
Mistakes were made by us in the process of booking this adventure and if it helps others not to fall into the same holes as we did then I offer the following advice.
Be very careful if you are using Travel Agents to book cruises, trips and travel. Many Agents simply do not have the worldwide knowledge they advertise, they use the same web sites and booking lines through web pages as you can enter yourself. Now this is OK if you simply don't want the hassle but there are draw backs. An example is in booking cruises, you believe the booking contract through the Agent is with the cruise line but it is actually the booking conditions and rules of the Agent you are signing up to.
We originally booked a cruise to some remote South Pacific islands with an American cruise line which meant flying to South America to pick up the embarking port. In order to get the best cabin deal we booked over 15 months in advance but the flight could only be booked 9 months in advance. The cruise line conditions of booking was that it could only be booked through a travel agent which I thought very strange in this day and age.
To cut a long story short for various reasons we decided to (a) book all the cruises and travel through the travel agent and (b) decided to change a couple of the legs of the trip when the flight costs and travel times came through. You could say this was bad planning and a lack of research but we took travel agent advice on cancellation fees only to discover that in the end it was the agents conditions of sale that took precedence over the cruise line.
Due to this error we had to also cancel the second leg cruise due to date changes and discovered that again the charges were not as initially described by both the Agent and the cruise line. We complained only to discover in some very obscure legal small print we had no rights to claim any full cancellation fees back. They all differed and one cruise would only accept a cancellation if you booked another cruise with them there and then.
Nearly £2000 was lost in our naivety, a lesson learnt indeed. I am not saying the Agent was incompetent or the Cruise line fraudulent, but in our inexperience of travelling to this complicated schedule we did not read the small print regarding cancellation charges. Big costly mistake. Lesson here is (1) - if using an agent make sure they have the specialist knowledge you require, ask questions of their experience and check out those hidden fees. (2) - Be careful to tie in flights and embarkment times if not using traditional packaged fly / cruises methods.
Another stressful concern for us was getting travel insurance. Another world of intrigue and a complete blog in itself! Most insurance companies baffle you with science anyway and what you think you are covered for is not actually what you are going to get - 'caveat emptor' let the buyer beware!
Both Jacky and I are over 65 but not over 70. I have some previous but not serious medical conditions and we are on a single trip exceeding 90 days (actually away for 130 days). I challenge you all to find a travel insurance that will fit the bill and not break the bank into the bargain. Also one has to wait till around 9 months before a trip to get a realistic quotation, yet one has to book cruises etc well over a year in advance to get dates, cabins and connections right on round the world trips.
Medical expense cover - repatriation conditions - cancellation small print is different from curtailment etc. It has been a real challenge and and eye opening experience. Then you have your own home insurance which is null and void if the house is left empty for more than 60 days. Arranging house sitters, mail changes, phone and other services notifications, getting the right jabs, the list is endless.
Regarding travel insurance - we found a company in the end which is not perfect but will cover most of our requirements. Please remember that the companies that sell these insurances in 90% of cases are not the same companies who handle claims or organise the emergency procedures for air lifting casualties or repatriation. Read reviews of claimants, telephone handling problems, payout times before making your final decision.
Packing list(s) is what I started this blog with and I will finish with it. Not having been on any cruises before meant we had to research what was good to take to apparently be useful aids on board. Clothes lines, pegs, adaptors, torch, cough medicine, baby wipes, washing tablets, 'walky talkies', are just some of the endless advice items we were given. We have taken this onboard (my first holiday pun!). I will let you know what we took and how useful they were in blogs I post from time to time.
There is much much more I can say, advice I can offer, not being a geek, what electronic equipment do we need, a kindle, skype for grand kids ( who will be missed terribly), lap top, ipod, ipad. The list is endless and it all is starting to be boringly long and that was not the intention. When and if you are however contemplating such an epic adventure as we are about to embark on, I wished there was a blog that I could get on a wavelength with, that we could empathise with, that we could share thoughts and ideas with. I could not find a suitable one but I am sure there are many out there.
I will miss the Grand Kids but Jacky will miss them ten times as much for she sees them almost weekly. I will miss my bowls as I play almost every day indoor and out in the summer and have done so for some 5 years now since coming to Nottingham. I am on various committees, in several groups, an active member of our church. You can see why I have mixed emotions. In fact there is a 'book' circulating at the bowls club taking bets on whether I will return early such is the extents of my local commitments. There are some very special persons I will miss, I hope they will miss me and keep in touch.
This is a real challenge but all in all it will change me one way or the other. Jacky on the other hand is really up for it and already knows what she will be doing. I think she has all 130 days mapped out including walking tours, lectures, hobbies etc. Her glass is half full and I admire that greatly.
Stay logged in, keep in touch and it would be lovely to hear from you. Join me (us) on our trip of a lifetime. The family silver is now sold, its getting close, I cannot believe it is nearly time to go.
DKT - 16th December 2013
A follow up (never published blog) which I wrote just after the New Year......
I have not written a blog before and do not want to be a bore showing pictures of packing items, endless words repeated like so many blogs. Sometimes, no matter how well intended, watching friends holiday snaps or listening to travel experiences over the dinner table can be a right turn off. I will try to be different and hopefully interesting to whoever wants to share my blog. Excuse my method of expression and grammar - I come from a Scottish background which may not be exactly perfect English but hopefully you will get my drift.
If there is anybody out there who is contemplating a senior 'trip of a life time' this series of posts over the next five months may be helpful. I am no writer or author but always had a hankering for writing a drama script so this will be good practise for my keyboard skills if nothing else.
Jacky has worked hard over the past eighteen months to put the whole 130 day itinerary together including over night accommodation, travel and excursions. I take my hat off to her for her research, communication skills and business like approach to all the preparation. All the overnight stops are now booked, at the last count, not including the cruises it was around 30 B&B's, and other sleeping arrangements.
Mistakes were made by us in the process of booking this adventure and if it helps others not to fall into the same holes as we did then I offer the following advice.
Be very careful if you are using Travel Agents to book cruises, trips and travel. Many Agents simply do not have the worldwide knowledge they advertise, they use the same web sites and booking lines through web pages as you can enter yourself. Now this is OK if you simply don't want the hassle but there are draw backs. An example is in booking cruises, you believe the booking contract through the Agent is with the cruise line but it is actually the booking conditions and rules of the Agent you are signing up to.
We originally booked a cruise to some remote South Pacific islands with an American cruise line which meant flying to South America to pick up the embarking port. In order to get the best cabin deal we booked over 15 months in advance but the flight could only be booked 9 months in advance. The cruise line conditions of booking was that it could only be booked through a travel agent which I thought very strange in this day and age.
To cut a long story short for various reasons we decided to (a) book all the cruises and travel through the travel agent and (b) decided to change a couple of the legs of the trip when the flight costs and travel times came through. You could say this was bad planning and a lack of research but we took travel agent advice on cancellation fees only to discover that in the end it was the agents conditions of sale that took precedence over the cruise line.
Due to this error we had to also cancel the second leg cruise due to date changes and discovered that again the charges were not as initially described by both the Agent and the cruise line. We complained only to discover in some very obscure legal small print we had no rights to claim any full cancellation fees back. They all differed and one cruise would only accept a cancellation if you booked another cruise with them there and then.
Nearly £2000 was lost in our naivety, a lesson learnt indeed. I am not saying the Agent was incompetent or the Cruise line fraudulent, but in our inexperience of travelling to this complicated schedule we did not read the small print regarding cancellation charges. Big costly mistake. Lesson here is (1) - if using an agent make sure they have the specialist knowledge you require, ask questions of their experience and check out those hidden fees. (2) - Be careful to tie in flights and embarkment times if not using traditional packaged fly / cruises methods.
Another stressful concern for us was getting travel insurance. Another world of intrigue and a complete blog in itself! Most insurance companies baffle you with science anyway and what you think you are covered for is not actually what you are going to get - 'caveat emptor' let the buyer beware!
Both Jacky and I are over 65 but not over 70. I have some previous but not serious medical conditions and we are on a single trip exceeding 90 days (actually away for 130 days). I challenge you all to find a travel insurance that will fit the bill and not break the bank into the bargain. Also one has to wait till around 9 months before a trip to get a realistic quotation, yet one has to book cruises etc well over a year in advance to get dates, cabins and connections right on round the world trips.
Medical expense cover - repatriation conditions - cancellation small print is different from curtailment etc. It has been a real challenge and and eye opening experience. Then you have your own home insurance which is null and void if the house is left empty for more than 60 days. Arranging house sitters, mail changes, phone and other services notifications, getting the right jabs, the list is endless.
Regarding travel insurance - we found a company in the end which is not perfect but will cover most of our requirements. Please remember that the companies that sell these insurances in 90% of cases are not the same companies who handle claims or organise the emergency procedures for air lifting casualties or repatriation. Read reviews of claimants, telephone handling problems, payout times before making your final decision.
Packing list(s) is what I started this blog with and I will finish with it. Not having been on any cruises before meant we had to research what was good to take to apparently be useful aids on board. Clothes lines, pegs, adaptors, torch, cough medicine, baby wipes, washing tablets, 'walky talkies', are just some of the endless advice items we were given. We have taken this onboard (my first holiday pun!). I will let you know what we took and how useful they were in blogs I post from time to time.
There is much much more I can say, advice I can offer, not being a geek, what electronic equipment do we need, a kindle, skype for grand kids ( who will be missed terribly), lap top, ipod, ipad. The list is endless and it all is starting to be boringly long and that was not the intention. When and if you are however contemplating such an epic adventure as we are about to embark on, I wished there was a blog that I could get on a wavelength with, that we could empathise with, that we could share thoughts and ideas with. I could not find a suitable one but I am sure there are many out there.
I will miss the Grand Kids but Jacky will miss them ten times as much for she sees them almost weekly. I will miss my bowls as I play almost every day indoor and out in the summer and have done so for some 5 years now since coming to Nottingham. I am on various committees, in several groups, an active member of our church. You can see why I have mixed emotions. In fact there is a 'book' circulating at the bowls club taking bets on whether I will return early such is the extents of my local commitments. There are some very special persons I will miss, I hope they will miss me and keep in touch.
This is a real challenge but all in all it will change me one way or the other. Jacky on the other hand is really up for it and already knows what she will be doing. I think she has all 130 days mapped out including walking tours, lectures, hobbies etc. Her glass is half full and I admire that greatly.
Stay logged in, keep in touch and it would be lovely to hear from you. Join me (us) on our trip of a lifetime. The family silver is now sold, its getting close, I cannot believe it is nearly time to go.
DKT - 16th December 2013
A follow up (never published blog) which I wrote just after the New Year......
Christmas has gone, A New Year is here and that clock is ticking away in double time till Saturday 4th. Less than two days till the journey begins.
It was great to get your comments to my first blog effort and its given me heart to continue in my quest to keep you informed and hopefully entertained on my journey. I appreciate it was a bit long and more pictures etc are required to break it all up but did you really want to see pictures of my luggage and my undies!
My life has not exactly been quiet recently, Christmas and New Year parties, family and Grand kids - all lovely as always., now its final preparations on the trip and yet more packing. Then guess what, I unpack because I cannot fit it all in the bag on wheels and the obligatory hikers back pack. Then I repeat the process, taking out one small item, curse and go and have a drink and start all over again.
The Insurance issues I thought were resolved came back again. House and Buildings to be exact - The house has to be maintained at 14c or drain the system in order to maintain the Policy while we are way. It is the definition on the word 'unattended'. Having temporary residents or regular check up's mean nothing to underwriters, If the 'Policy Holders' are away for over 60 consecutive days, those are the rules or they will not cover for any leakages, frozen pipes etc. We have to oblige, there is no way around it.
There is something about having time away, getting ready for something quite out of the ordinary. It is natural for a person to exited by a holiday, a break, a restful alternative to being on the go all the time. Why therefore is this not feeling the same for me. I do want to go, see the world from a different prospective rather when I was working and just popping into countries - filming or doing a recce, having a meeting and then coming home again.
I think my fear is that in being away for a huge length of time is what happens when I get back, will life as I know it have changed, will I have changed. This may sound negative but I do not want this to be just a holiday but rather a way of reflecting and changing both physically and mentally. Why should this be? For nearly all my life as far as I can remember I have been 'on the go', changing houses, working away, changes in personal circumstances etc. Between my birth in 1947 and moving to West Bridgford in late 2006 I have lived in over 50 different residences in all parts of the UK. I have been an active full member of everything and everywhere - getting involved, sometimes too involved, leading to all sorts of messes and heartaches.
Now that I have a chance to go on holiday and be active, on the go, see the world why do I feel different about this trip. Only because I want to come back not just from a holiday but changed!
You may think that this is all too doom and gloom but you would be very wrong. I have travelled extensively, I have sat in the sun, boozed holidays away, eat till I dropped, walked miles around cities, seen historical sites, museums, churches , interesting architecture - Not wanting to go on this type of holiday again does not mean I do not want to go or not wanting to enjoy myself - this would be very unfair to Jacky if nothing else.
Going for over four months will be more than a holiday, it has to be a life changing experience. I will be doing many of these again and in different places - but underneath it all will be for me to come back with an objective to take me through the senior phases of a most interesting temporal visit on this earth.
That is the adventure filled with trepidation that I talked about on my first blog.
Hopefully all will be well and my future blogs will be full of positivity on this trip of a lifetime.
DKT
New Year 2013/14
The Insurance issues I thought were resolved came back again. House and Buildings to be exact - The house has to be maintained at 14c or drain the system in order to maintain the Policy while we are way. It is the definition on the word 'unattended'. Having temporary residents or regular check up's mean nothing to underwriters, If the 'Policy Holders' are away for over 60 consecutive days, those are the rules or they will not cover for any leakages, frozen pipes etc. We have to oblige, there is no way around it.
There is something about having time away, getting ready for something quite out of the ordinary. It is natural for a person to exited by a holiday, a break, a restful alternative to being on the go all the time. Why therefore is this not feeling the same for me. I do want to go, see the world from a different prospective rather when I was working and just popping into countries - filming or doing a recce, having a meeting and then coming home again.
I think my fear is that in being away for a huge length of time is what happens when I get back, will life as I know it have changed, will I have changed. This may sound negative but I do not want this to be just a holiday but rather a way of reflecting and changing both physically and mentally. Why should this be? For nearly all my life as far as I can remember I have been 'on the go', changing houses, working away, changes in personal circumstances etc. Between my birth in 1947 and moving to West Bridgford in late 2006 I have lived in over 50 different residences in all parts of the UK. I have been an active full member of everything and everywhere - getting involved, sometimes too involved, leading to all sorts of messes and heartaches.
Now that I have a chance to go on holiday and be active, on the go, see the world why do I feel different about this trip. Only because I want to come back not just from a holiday but changed!
You may think that this is all too doom and gloom but you would be very wrong. I have travelled extensively, I have sat in the sun, boozed holidays away, eat till I dropped, walked miles around cities, seen historical sites, museums, churches , interesting architecture - Not wanting to go on this type of holiday again does not mean I do not want to go or not wanting to enjoy myself - this would be very unfair to Jacky if nothing else.
Going for over four months will be more than a holiday, it has to be a life changing experience. I will be doing many of these again and in different places - but underneath it all will be for me to come back with an objective to take me through the senior phases of a most interesting temporal visit on this earth.
That is the adventure filled with trepidation that I talked about on my first blog.
Hopefully all will be well and my future blogs will be full of positivity on this trip of a lifetime.
DKT
New Year 2013/14
