Health Insurance for Travel

Being that Luke and I are no longer employed at WSU, we are also no longer eligible for awesome state health-care benefits through Group Health. If we were taking off around the world as young newlyweds we could probably skip health insurance, but since we are traveling with two young kids we decided to get some health insurance. Luke found a good policy through Blue Cross and Blue Shields called "InterM". Isn't that a cute name for insurance for people in limbo?

The purpose of the insurance is to tide you over between two life events. (The loss of one job and the start of another, the end of a career and the start of Medicare benefits, etc.). Because it is only an "interim" policy, you can only have it for up to six months. However, it is very affordable even at a family rate.

We will go ahead and purchase the insurance to cover the time we are abroad even though most of the countries we are visiting have free or subsidized health care, even for foreigners. We also have an international policy through Medex which is provided by Semester at Sea. Our US health insurance policy will be for a circumstance that would cause us to return to the US, in which case we would definately want to have some kind of insurance.

Ideally Luke will have a job by the end of the summer, just about the time our "InterM" policy would run out.

Moving Day???!

Here's the story. We planned our move so that we could leave sometime around the 21st -- we would just pick a day when it wasn't snowing. Ha! It has snowed every day since Wednesday, with no sign of letting up any time soon. This means we have to add another item to our moving budget -- chains for a moving truck, to the tune of $100. Hopefully we can turn around and sell those puppies fast, as it looks like it should be a pretty snowy winter.

We have family coming in and going out to help with the move, but the airport has been closed on and off on either end. If my mother-in-law doesn't get here with chains for our car, then we may be unable to move until roads are reopened, as there are checkpoints to make sure tires have chains and travel without chains is not allowed for part of our trip at the moment. We could go buy chains ourselves...but they are all sold out everywhere. So, we may be knocking at your door sometime in the upcoming week as our whole house is almost packed and we are out of an apartment as of the 23rd.

Please pray for our safe travel!

Semester at Sea Itinerary Change for Spring 2009 Voyage

I updated our itinerary to reflect the changes that have been made recently. Our ship is no longer sailing through the Gulf of Aden due to pirate activity there. Recently a cruise ship was chased by pirates with guns. As 17 ships are currently held by pirates in the Gulf of Aden, I'm not that disappointed to miss out on the pirate infested waters. However, pirates, if you are reading this I am so mad at you for making me miss out on a trip to Egypt. We just watched the Swiss Family Robinson - we know how to take care of pirates. Watch out. Any pirate that stands in the way of me and a bowl of gelato better have made peace with his maker.

For the non-pirate audience, this change of itinerary means the itinerary no longer includes Italy, Turkey, or Egypt. Instead we will travel all the way around Africa and sail to Morocco, Namibia, South Africa and Mauritius. I think that is an alright consolation prize! We'll have to do some more investigation into kids activities in each of those countries, but I already have a few things in mind for adult activities -- maybe this time we can have a case of wine shipped back from Stellenbosch!

I am writing from Oklahoma. We're visiting my family before we make our big move. Abi is going to stay with my parents in Oklahoma from the 13th until the 17th. This will give us a little time to pack up without her help. (Not that she isn't an exceptionally helpful three year old, but sheesh, she's a three year old!) In just one week, we will be throwing all of our worldly posessions into the back of a moving truck and heading for Oregon.

Making Use of a Good Pantry

I think the hardest thing to pack is my kitchen. I've spent three years building my pantry, but it isn't really practical to store most of it as we won't be cooking for 5 months.

A good pantry simplifies life significantly. With ingredients on hand to cook for unnexpected company or to cover for a missed trip to the grocery store, food is rarely on the "urgent" list. Most recipes can be accomplished without buying a lot of extra ingredients, which means we can incorporate a greater variety of foods into a week without straining the grocery budget at all. Best of all, it is no longer essential to plan every meal for the week -- sometimes I just come home and say "I feel like eating 'x' food tonight -- let's see what I can come up with." (Last night: Pesto Bowtie Pasta with Shrimp, Sundried Tomatoes and Carmelized Onions)

It took a long time to build a really diverse pantry full of flavor and family favorites. The spices and grains and canned foods I've collected are like a metaphor for community relationship. The longer we've been here, the more we've spread out our shopping to several small stores that carry things we like. A search for affordable saffron was what got us started at the Moscow Food Co-Op, while a desire to recreate Vietnamese spring rolls was what led us to the International Store in downtown Pullman. Even the big Winco discount grocer in Moscow has a unique place in our food lives -- there is one checker that is so kind and helpful with the kids that I wait any amount of time just to be in her line. In the food world I've always encountered helpful people that have shared all kinds of advice, from how to freeze herbs to how to clean a crab. I think food people are just about the nicest folks you can find -- they always want to share. (Except maybe that chef guy on "Hell's Kitchen" - he doesn't seem so friendly. But don't you think they made him up?)

I'm doing my best to use everything in the pantry that I possibly can, which is why I have been on Recipezaar lately. I made a list of the random odds and ends remaining in the fridge, freezer and pantry. I've been typing various ingredient combinations into the Recipezaar narrowing recipe search. Who knew that the leftover orange jam sitting in the fridge for the past six months would rise again as "Stovetop Orange Marmalade Porkchops".

There are several recipe websites I use, like Epicurious and Allrecipies, but I like that Recipezaar allows you to search for a variety of ingredients and then makes suggestions of typical additional ingredients used in recipes with your leader ingredients. It makes it easy to find meals you will like using ingredients you already have. (Just for the record, Recipezaar has nothing that combines ground beef and frozen cherries: suggestions anyone?) At the end of the month or season, it is fun to spin those remaining ingredients into new dishes.

Our "stocked" pantry looks something like this:

-Spices that reflect our favorite types of cusine
-Pastas, grains, and dried beans (or frozen cooked beans)
-pre-cut/shredded veggies that are frozen in the state typically used. (e.g. shredded carrots kaffir lime leaves and sliced ginger for stir-fry, small dice onion, celery and carrot for soups, sliced peppers amd herbs. When fresh veggies are starting to look sad, turn them into frozen cut or pureed veggies!)
-frozen fruits for breakfast and dessert
-the ingredients for favorite scratch breakfasts and desserts (for us that's brownies, chocolate chip cookies, pancakes and biscuits)
-Salsa, Ketchup, Dijon Mustard and Barbeque Sauce
-Vinegars, Wines, and Broths according to preference

The Moving Truck...and other shameless plugs

It's official -- after two days on the phone and some wheelin' and dealin' by Luke and I, we've got the moving truck scheduled. In the process, I stumbled on a website that I think rocks! If you are ever about to purchase something, go to http://www.retailmenot.com/ first! People post codes for coupons, and you just enter the name of a store you want to shop at and see what comes up. When I was buying stuff for a baby shower, I put in "Babies-R-Us" and got a code for an automatic 20% off my order. As I've browsed I found coupons for airline tickets, hotels, and almost any retail store. Especially if you are about to purchase something on-line anyway, it makes sense to check and see if you can find a code to use before you check-out.

There is more than just coupons though. When I put in the names of the moving companies we were considering, there were some instructions for getting your cost lowered. Not a coupon per se, just a strategy of using the phone to make your reservation, getting your second-favorite mover down to a low price, and then seeing if your favorite mover will match it. In the end, we saved $70 off our first quote, and got to keep the truck for three extra days.

In a coupon-related note, if you are in the market for disposable or cloth diapers, or really anything for a baby/toddler, consider going to http://www.diapers.com. Despite the diaper-specific name, the store is really more like a Babies-R-Us. My daughter's daycare gets a discount for every new customer that enters referral code PCCC. The code gets you an automatic $10 off your order of $50, plus free shipping. I thought they just carried disposable diapers, but they actually sell all kinds of products for kids for very reasonable prices. Once you place an order, you'll get a referral code that will save you money when people use it. How awesome is that!

India Outsources Visa Process to Travisa

Our Indian Visa applications are now in the mail. I hope we have as good of luck getting those back as we did with the China Visas. What I found humorous about this process is that India has outsourced their visa process. It is now impossible to go to a consulate and just apply in person. Everyone must submit their application to Travisa and pay the $13 processing charge. To their credit, Travisa had a pretty slick and straightforward website.

Random Travel Updates

Hey - since some folks might be interested in learning about the travel planning aspect of this adventure, here are some updates:

-We got our visas back from China Travel Service quite promptly. This was a bargain, and great service too. If you are sending in passports for a famiy, do ask about negotiating the return shipping fee. We saved $75.

-I finally got the warranty money on our carseat/stroller combo. This turned out to be quite a bargain, as the stroller broke recently. We got to keep the carseat, so it was kind of like getting a brand new carseat for the $17 cost of the warranty. Now we are shopping for a baby backpack to replace the stroller. We got full use of the carseat stroller while Lily was super-small, and now she can ride in an umbrella stroller. The refund will cover the cost of the backpack which should be more travel-friendly. (We're looking at Ergo and Deuter Kangakid right now...anyone with other suggestions? Lightweight, durable, comfortable, and multipurpose are our criteria!)

-We've been researching travel opportunities for children/family friendly activities. Cadiz looks easy, because it is so close to the beach and a very walkable city it seems. Turkey looks like it might be a challenge, but we at least identified a few places with playgrounds for burning off energy. In Thailand, we are going to opt for Pattaya over Bangkok due to the kiddos. There is an orphanage there, and I look forward to Abi having the opportunity to play with other children. Shanghai sports an Ocean Aquarium and an interactive History Museum for reasonable rates. We aren't sure how much time we will spend in Kobe, Japan but it was a very friendly city for children, so we hope to spend a considerable amount of time there. In many places, we expect the entertainment will be the food, the culture, and the people we meet. So, we don't want to overbook ourselves. But we are trying to generate a list of ideas to begin with so that we atleast know which neighborhoods to head toward.

Google Girl

We just watched a movie from 1987. It was about a rich psychologist, and I had to laugh becuase her "fancy" office didn't have a computer. Ha! How did people even exist before Google? I am neurotic to begin with, and just thinking about our move throws me into hours of intense meditation on which size of bubble wrap will best protect our photo frames. Do you realize we are leaving Pullman in a mere 80 days? I should have packed the Christmas tree months ago!

Luckily, Google is there to give me all of the answers I need. What I like most about Google is that I never have to say crazy things out-loud, like "How to get rust off of grill bolts". What I like even better, is that when I Google things like that, someone else has written an entire article on the subject, with multiple methods of dealing with rust on grill bolts. That means that some of you are just as crazy as I am.

The danger in all of this Googling is it actually allows me to spend my time thinking about...grill bolts? With 80 days remaining in Pullman, my time might be better spent with the people here instead of bubble wrap and boxes.

Energy Savings

For the past month or so, we have been doing a few things to save energy. The first was to turn off our water heater during the day. Through this process we discovered that we could leave our water heater off for about a day and a half before running out of hot water. The second was to plug our TV/VCR/Speaker System into a power strip and keep that power strip off if we weren't using any of that stuff. Finally, we have been trying to get our landlord to replace our '90 model refrigerator. It's old enough to fight a war and smoke now - quite frankly, I'm surprised it hasn't chosen to do either...we haven't succeeded on that front yet, but I still have hope.

Anyway, we got an electric bill the other day, and it was $50 lower than our "comfort level" of $70 -- pretty amazing! So, this might actually be a legit way to save some cash for our journey.

For the winter, we are going to put film over our windows to hopefully lower the cost of heating, which is pretty ri-diculous in our little apartment. Have you found "green" ways to save money this year?

Saving Money

Two great things just happened that will help us save money for our journey. A record freshman class entered WSU this year, and the shortage of classes led to an opportunity for Luke to teach one section of a freshman communication studies class. In my office, a co-worker is leaving to take another job. I will begin working full time in August to fill her position, which will also give us a little extra money.

We are also changing our lifestyle to try and save a bit. We use reusable bags at the grocery store, as local grocery stores give discounts ranging from six to ten cents per bag. We also turn off our water heater during the day. I was skeptical when Luke made the suggestion, because I can't stand it when the water goes cold. However, we actually forgot to turn it back on one afternoon, and didn't even notice until Luke had taken a shower and I had given baths to everyone else. We'll find out in the next few months if this amounts to any real savings.

Passport and Visa Applications

Don't we look so cute? These are our passport photos, which we are submitting for the various passport and visa applications we have to do for our journey. Today I started folders on each of us, with a note-taking page, and dividers to separate out the different applications we need to fill out. Hopefully, this will help keep things organizied.

Out of all of the countries we are visiting, only five require visas. Three of the visas are fairly innexpensive and will be aquired while we are on the program. However, the visas for China and India are quite expensive and we are beginning work on those now.

With passports and visas, a little extra time helps lower the prices. We applied for passports for the kids as soon as we decided we were going on the Spring voyage, Luke needed to renew his, and I needed extra pages in mine. We applied last month and have already recieved them, even without using expedited service. We now have plenty of time to secure visas for China and India without getting extra fees.

Can you believe this? India has actually outsourced its visa process to an American company called Travisa. India is currently the only country to take this approach. Travisa recieves $13 for every visa issued, and manages the online application. Indian visas automatically start on the date they are issued, so we won't be able to apply for the Indian visa until October or so to recieve the cheapest rate.

Chinese visas can be obtained by any agent that applies in person at the San Francisco Consulate. This gives us two options: 1) fly one of us to San Francisco to get all of our visas or 2) apply through one of the hundreds of agencies willing to act as an agent for a "fee". The third option would be if someone out there wants to go take our applications to the consulate out of the kindness of their hearts...anyone??

We will probably use China Travel Service. This is the company used by the study abroad office I work at, and they are very reputable and don't charge too much.

Semester at Sea has a Visa Service they use, and it is very economical for the average student. However, as a family, we do not want to pay to have each visa shipped to us separately. That would cost us about $60 extra. We'll let you know in a later post if we come to regret this decision:)

The Great School Swap

I have discovered something about myself as we get ready to move. I always said I would never be like my grandmother, who rinsed every breadbag she ever had and kept piles of them under the kitchen sink, neatly folded. The thought of moving has brought the truth to light though.

I struggle with separation too.

Every piece of children's clothing Abi has worn is tucked away in boxes under the beds and in the closets. Now, as Lily outgrows these hand-me-downs I continue to save everything -- afterall, what if we have another child? Some clothing I know will never get worn, yet I continue to save some pieces which I can't think of giving to Goodwill in the hopes that I will have a friend that needs them. Some of the less treasured pieces were taken to a garage sale recently. I was dismayed as folks actually haggled on quality, bargain-priced children's clothing. After an entire day of work, I came home with $40 (roughly $4 an hour when I add up all the time spent).

The thought of moving everything to Salem in snowy December has motivated me to go through all of this treasured children's clothing. I'm saving just enough so that Lily will have about ten days worth of clothing in every size. For everything else, here's the solution. Two weeks before school starts I'm hosting a children's clothing swap. Parents can bring outgrown children's clothing, and swap it for clothing that will fit their children this school year. Anything that doesn't swap will be donated to charities that can benefit. I look forward to saving money on clothing for Abi, and to clearing out all of those boxes under the bed!

I got this swap idea from one I participated in during college. All of the girls in the house cleaned out closets and we hung all the clothing on hangers for everyone to sort through. I walked away with four really cute outfits, and we had a blast trying things on and "modeling" some pretty ridiculous outfits. Even though I contributed more than four outfits to the event, they were things I never wore, wheras I still wear two of the things I swapped for to this day! Less clutter, more cute. Next time you are due for a garage sale, consider opting for a swap instead!

Best reads for a long journey

I can't wait for Abi to read. When I think of summer, my favorite childhood memory is swaying in the hammock under a shade tree with a good book while the breeze laps at the pages I read. One of the things that excites me most about our upcoming journey is thinking of ways to engage our children on the long boat passages that are a part of our journey when we cross the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. No phone calls, no TV, no trips to the grocery store or bank -- just lots of time to spend together.

I intend to spend much of that time reading with my kids. There is a library on the ship, but it doesn't have many children's books. So, I've already determined that I will purchase many books for our journey. I'm looking for books that are interesting to read over and over again, books that explain some of the things we will be seeing, and books that are intriguing, laugh out loud funny, or memorable in some other way.

Our local children's librarian helped us identify a few good books, and we've started a 'wishlist' of books to take on the journey. Do you have any suggestions for great children's books for a long journey? We would love to hear them!