Long Awaited Trip Schedule

We have attempted to plan our trip and have devised the following schedule.  Of course every place and date is subject to change but here is a start:

March  Monument Valley, Montrose Colorado, Vail Colorado

April Moab, Sun Valley (possible), Portland, Seattle

May Jasper/Banff, Glacier National Park Montana, Sturgis S. Dakota, Wisconsin, Chicago, Cleveland

June All of the East Coast and New York

July Spain

August France

Sept Italy (maybe junkets to Greece, Croatia and Montenegro)

October China and Hong Kong

Nov Bali, Australia

Dec Australia, New Zealand

Jan Argentina

Feb Chile, Peru

March  Costa Rica

March RT to USA and drive southern route of US

Please let us know where you want to meet us!!!  We have several takers already for Italy so join quickly.

Still in Phoenix

Well we had good intentions to get out of Phoenix on the 15th but as the story goes. . . .  we are still in Phoenix and will be here until Thursday.  My motorcycle did not arrive when it was supposed to so we have to wait a few more days.  It is teaching us to be flexible and in doing that we have changed our calendar a bit.  third time is a charm though and we like this route even better.

The time in Phoenix has been incredible but we need to hit the road because we are blowing our budget.  I have everything set up in Mint.com (which by the way is an excellent free website to track your budget and expenses and investments) and I continually get alerts that we have blown our "meals" "cash withdrawal" budgets for the month of March and we are only half way through the month.  Definitely a lot of peanut butter and jelly going forward.  It is $3 burger night tonight at Mazee's so we might be okay.  

While in Phoenix we got lucky and got to attend the "build it green" conference at the convention center and attended a lecture on Paolo Soleri who built "Arcosanti" and was a pupil of Frank Lloyd Wright.  Incredible architect and artist.  If ever in Phoenix make it a priority to go see Arcosanti.  The first true sustainable community.

We bought a new tent and camp stove for the trip along with a bike rack off of Craig's list.  Next is trying to find Roby a new travelling guitar.  We have to get him playing so we are able to earn some money on this trip.

This past weekend was our good friend Kathy's 50th birthday and we were so glad we were delayed to be able to go and celebrate with her.  John, her husband did it 1st class.  We all went out in a limo and had dinner at Lon's at the Hermosa Inn (another great restuarant-put it on your list) and then drinks at the Sanctuary(again, put it on your list)  I feel like I am on the Travel Channel.  In all a great evening-with remnants in the morning unfortunately!!!

We have a few more days in Phoenix and we are hoping to get in a spring training game for the Indians and then hit the road.

Re-Define Confirmation

I receive a blog from one of my investment sites and this one fit perfectly into our plan.  I wanted to share it with everyone because it confirms that this is the year "to get off the pot".  So follow the advise and "live your life"

It's Never Too Late to Escape
by Dr. Steve Sjuggerud

You have to make some major changes in your life, right now.

Fortunately, making those changes doesn't have to hurt...

My friend Grant Pecoff made big changes in his life. He and his wife Layne used to live in San Diego. They had a nice three-bedroom house, three cars and every modern convenience. But he got tired of trying to keep up.

He realized he didn't need all that stuff.

Today, the Pecoffs have a one-bedroom house. And they share one car. But their quality of life is outstanding... and they're much happier. They're living on the water, on the island of Eleuthera in the Bahamas. My wife and I visited them over the weekend.

"A lot of people don't realize that you can choose your life," Grant told me.

"We realized that we had lost our priorities along the way. So we got out of San Diego to reconnect with what's important to us. It's a lot less stressful here in the Bahamas, and I get lot more work done."

Grant is an artist. He lives in the Bahamas, but he still has his gallery in San Diego. Other galleries feature his art as well, like the Wyland Gallery in Key West (where I first saw his work).

While life as an artist might sound glamorous, it's stressful. Just think about it... Mortgage payments and car payments are fixed. But art sales vary... Your income goes up and down. So Grant did the smart thing. He got rid of his old fixed payments.

Grant told me taking that initial leap and moving was huge. "That initial leap gave us the confidence to take more steps - to make more choices. When you think about it, the definition of leap is that there is some moment where both feet are off the ground."

He told me, "Here, you can choose to never put shoes on all day... or to shower outside naked... or to walk for hours on the beach. It's up to you. We don't have fancy restaurants here or a hundred channels on TV. But they're not important to us."

The Pecoffs' new lifestyle is not for everyone... The house sits on a point, with water on two sides. But when they bought it, it had no electricity or running water. Even now, if you want a hot shower, you have to wait until the afternoon, when the sun has heated the water pipes on the roof. There's no air conditioning... You have to rely on the sea breezes. When it gets too hot, you take a dip in the ocean.

To read his story and see more of his work, visit: www.pecoff.com

Grant's life is different than it was in San Diego. He made the leap. He made wholesale changes. He got rid of the anxiety. He got rid of the need to keep up with the neighbors.

If you're stressing right now about money, you ought to consider making some changes. With Grant Pecoff as an example, the changes you make don't necessarily have to hurt as bad as you might think.

Grant escaped this market. He went down from three bedrooms to one... and from three cars to one. If you want to remove the anxiety, if you want to improve your quality of life, consider following Grant's lead.

You don't have to move to the Bahamas or go without electricity. But keep Grant's words in mind: "You can choose your life."

Take a moment to reflect on your priorities and see if you're living by them. If you're not, consider what changes you should make. Then...

Leap!

Steve

TOTO We are Home

The drive from Del Mar to Phoenix is an easy straight shot and only about 5 hours. A good test of how we would do together in the car for an extended period of time because for the previous three years we never had to be in the car for more than an hour and a half. Along the 8 Highway we came upon our first sighting of a "sustainable" project. A huge wind turbine farm. As part of our goal to find our next landing spot, we are searching for all things "green". It is all just fitting into place.

As we left the great state of California and crossed the border into Arizona, we had our first feeling of dejas vu. (A blast of 90 degree heat in the sand dunes of Yuma). Almost as if we were coming out of a dream and questioning whether our last three and a half years really happened. We were driving on I-10 in our own toyota truck heading to our house. Toto say it isn't so.

Everything feels the same but at the same time feels different. I am not sure if we will ever be able to put our finger on how the drive into town affected us. Our friends are probably the only thing that is a familar constant and they have made our transition back to the mainland wonderful. Great Friends, Great Food, Great Fun (at reasonable prices!!) You cannot ask for anything more. We do not know what we would do without our bestest friend Kelly. She opens her home to us every visit and lets us treat it like it is our own. She is the ultimate friend. Everyone should have a Kelly in his/her life.

Most of our time in Arizona has been spent getting ready for the trip. The truck got new tires. We would have gotten funny looks driving around with red tires. Our container arrived and with the help of our friend Darryl, Roby and he unloaded it into our storage unit.

Roby flew up to Seattle for a few days to spend some time with his Dad who is fighting cancer. So everyone say a little prayer for him. Roby will return on Thursday March 11th and the radical sabbatical will begin. Our first stop-Montrose Colorado.

"Ain't got no worries because ain't in no hurry!!!"

Officially Homeless

As we embarked on our journey back to the mainland, Roby and I looked at each other and realized we were homeless. Where were we to tell people we lived. How do we explain our story. We have a car with Hawaii license plates, an Arizona mailing address but no house to live in anywhere. So we decided to make up a story because the real one would take too long and be too confusing because we are not even really sure of what it is. We are keeping it simple. We are from Kauai and we are retired (sounds much better than unemployed) and travelling the world. A friend told us that once you get the "red dirt" on your feet it gets into your soul and you are a Kauaian forever. Our Toyota truck will forever be a Kauaian!!!

Our first leg of the radical sabbatical was more than we could have asked for and if the rest of the trip goes halfway as well we are in for a treat. Part of our goal is to find our next "Kauai". It is going to be much more difficult than anticipated. We visited four places in California and at each one we said, "we could live here." But, we were able to at least rank them. First is Del Mar. Perfectly located and a perfectly planned community and not too much smog. Not to mention we have friends there. Our buddies Kendall and Christine showed us the town. First night an awesome concert at a great bar called Belly Up in Solana Beach. We got to see "English Beat" and dinner at a great mexican restuarant. A real night out!! (sorry Brenda, the English Beat was just a bit better than the "used car salesman band" at Joe's) We thoroughly enjoyed our weekend with them and it only solidified our belief that friends will always be friends regardless of how far apart you are.

Next on our list of possible new homes is Santa Barbara. Do I need to say anything else. Then it was a tie between Pasadena and Pacific Palisades. Both have great things to offer but the smog is a bit too much for us so you would have to "twist" our arms a bit to get us to live there. (okay only a little). Pasadena such a cool town. You do not even feel like you are in LA and we had a great host and hostess. Our friend Bryan from Kauai who now lives in Wyoming was going to be in LA at the same time. What a coincidence that his Jeep which had been on Kauai for over a year and half was going to be on the same barge as our truck so we decided to have a rendevous in LA. Even better, his mom lives in Pasadena so she opened her home to us for a few days. She lives in a great little neighborhood in La Canada where you can actually walk on the streets and not get run over or break an ankle. We truly appreciated her opening her home and "refrigerator" to us. Missy you are the best!!

Final destination was Pacific Palisades/Malibu area. Again, must we say anything else. My good friend Gabi and her husband and children live in the area so we were able to spend an evening with them and see their newly remodeled home.

Throughout our time in California we continually got subliminal messages tugging us back to Hawaii. Pictures of Dave Kalama in Nordstrom advertisements, a Hawaiian island bumper sticker, a radio station giving away a free trip to Hawaii and at the "Diners, Drive-in and Dive" pizza restaurant in San Diego some guy was wearing a Koloa Fish Market t-shirt. Kauai will be with us forever.

Oh-just another goal of ours on the trip is to try and stop at as many of the Food Networks Diners, Drive-ins and Dives across the United States. For those going to San Diego-Pizzeria Luigi near the gaslamp district not in it but near it in the hood, definitely worth trying. You know me, always need to have goals!!

Farewell to Hawaii

To commerate our adventure we thought it fitting to spend a day in Oahu soaking up the sun and surfing the famed Waikiki beach. Also, I don't think I could have handled another day saying goodbye to everyone. It was much more difficult than I had anticipated. Roby and I decided we had to say our farewell to Hawaii on our own and what better place than our favorite hotel the Moana Surfrider.

Getting there was a different story. For some reason maybe the Hawaii Gods were trying to stop us from leaving but we had nothing but a fiasco relating to our move off the island. First, the moving company decided to cancel the appointment to load our container. Little did they know we had only one day to get out of our house and have the container to the harbor. Miraculously with the help of another company we were able to accomplish the move, but with just a little hiccup. Oh, they estimated incorrectly and my motorcycle did not fit in the container. Thank God we had an extra week on the island to arrange for shipment of the bike. Then as we arrive at the airport, guest what, they failed to schedule us on the flight even though I had spent over 30 minutes on the phone with the reservationist the previous day and even had a confirmation number. See what happens when you outsource!! But that was not our only problem with flights, the flight from Honolulu to Los Angeles was not entered properly either.

We started questioning ourselves. Maybe we were not supposed to be leaving. All worked out and we had an incredible relaxing day in Honolulu, had a drink at the Mai Tai bar at the Royal Hawaiian and a nice dinner in town. The best part was the incredible shower. We figured being homeless we would not get to experience such a delight any time soon. The Surfider had no hot water after we left.

A fitting farewell!

Kauai Bucket List

When we learned our incredible journey was coming to an end on Kauai we reacted as if we had received our "death sentence" and huriedly put together our Kauai Bucket List of all the things we said we were going to do while on island but had not gotten around to because we thought we had more time. Thankfully, Roby and I took full advantage of our time and probably saw and accomplished more than most of the locals, like our good buddies Paulie and Brenda. We could not believe with all the kayaking we had done (Kipu, Kalalau and southshore) we had never kayaked the Wailua River or been to Secret Falls. So, as all good "retired" people we woke up on a Wednesday and decided to spend the afternoon on the river. We picked a perfect day and ventured for about 3 hours enjoying the scenary. Definitely a worthwhile trip. Next up was to explore all the beaches on island. Everyone gets accustomed to the beaches closest to home and we were guilty of it too but we now were on a mission. What an eye opener. Although some of the northshore beaches were worth the drive; we cannot understand why we did not spend more time at Secret Beach near the lighthouse. What an incredible spot. So all of you procrastinators please do not delay get up to this beach as often as you are able. You will not regret it.

The last few things on our list included biking the Tunnel in Koloa, Diving Sheraton Caves, and hiking the Kaualau trail. We accomplished the first two but decided we would save something for our return. Otherwise, we have "done" Kauai.

Our time was coming to a close and we desparately tried to see our friends as often as possible. We had to do one last round of golf at Poipu as a kama aina, hike Mahalepu, and savor our last Koloa Fish Market Plate lunch.

Saying goodbye is never easy and after two hours of "puffy red eyes" we chose to spend our last night on Kauai alone at the Kukuiula Harbor watching the sunset. A perfect ending to a perfect chapter in our life.

Aloha to our friends. We love and miss you all