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WEDNESDAY APRIL 3, 2019

IN THIS ISSUE #46
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Hey there!

Hope you're planning some great travel as Spring begins for most of us.

We found that having gone virtual in 2007 helped us so very much when our Malibu home burnt down in the Woolsey Fire.

We lost almost nothing related to our business -- it was all on the cloud.

And we have become much less attached to "stuff", due to our many years of traveling light and seeing how things are always taken care of.

There are many reasons to start a portable life, and that is one good reason.

Another good reason to be portable is medical considerations. Read on to find out more including our recent medical adventure.

Abundant Travels,
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How Going Portable Enhances Medical Issues

A couple of weeks ago, Jon had a medical emergency. It was a giant kidney stone that required not only an emergency room visit, but emergency surgery, 3 days in the hospital and a follow-up surgery.

It happened in the midst of a workday with numerous virtual appointments -- most of which were met.

Being portable always helps us in many ways. In this case, it helped us to be able to move to the hospital for a bit. Jon literally edited a video and changed a web page from his hospital bed.

And Kathryn did a couple of sessions in the hospital while waiting for him to get out of surgery.
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A hassle? Not in this case. It helped us think beyond the medical situation, giving us something to distract us.

We were grateful to be portable in this and many situations.

A few years ago, we were able to take our work with us to go tend to an ailing relative.

And as far as getting medical attention while traveling, that proved easy, much to our relief.

Every place has some medical care. And one of the best hospitals we ever visited was the

International Hospital in San Jose, Costa Rica.

They had our child's broken arm x-rayed, set and cast within 30 minutes -- including a consult with a pediatric orthopedist.

We've had a similar experience with any medical situation we've had while traveling. It was taken care of easily, fast and inexpensively -- including a house call by a doctor to the restaurant we were dining in to remove some sand from a small eye.

In fact some folks prefer traveling elsewhere -- beyond the US's prohibitive cost for health care -- for major treatments. That trip to fix a broken arm was only $200 in Costa Rica.

So don't let medical concerns keep you from going portable. It will only be an enhancement to any health issues you encounter along the way.

The Newest Thing in Packing

Packing cubes are all the rage in packing for travel right now. These small, zippered subdividers allow you to compartmentalize your clothes by outfit, type of clothing, etc.

So it's easier to unpack and quick to find clothing when you're only in a place for a day or two (we won't unpack completely unless the stay is 3 days or more).
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We have always compartmentalized clothing anyway, putting underwear in the zippered side pocket and having a standard part of the suitcase for different things (shoes on bottom, sweaters on right, tops on (shoes on bottom, sweaters on right, tops on left, pants and

dresses in the middle). And different smaller cases for toiletries, snacks, etc.

Packing cubes makes it that much easier. Plus once you fill a cube, you can squish it down to remove extra air and have more room. Try it!

Click below for some top-rated and inexpensive packing cubes from Amazon.
Luggage Packing Organizers on Amazon

Our Plans Coming Up

We have stuck close to home mostly to continue to rebuild our lives after the fire, setting up our new beach house for possible rental or home exchange.

We have never been more grateful for always being packed and ready to go which helped us so much in the evacuation. We got most of our basics out before the fire consumed our house.

However, we detoured to Palm Springs in November shortly after our house burned. It was so hard to get lodging in LA thanks to the mass exodus from Malibu, and floating on a lazy river helped soothe out trauma.

And for Christmas, we had a most delightful trip to the private Yellowstone Club near Bozeman, Montana with friends. Kathryn skied for the first time in decades (no lift passes needed) and we got spoiled
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within an inch of our lives, a welcome respite from dealing with post-Woolsey Fire details. Skiing in the morning, sledding at dusk, dinner, then games. What a treat!

We just had a quick retreat to Solvang, the Dutch City in Southern California.

This summer we're going to a first - a camp for families. We all will be doing pottery together followed by jetskiing on the lake. And we're also going to Europe (Kathryn will be teaching in London) including the UK, Sweden and Turkey.

What is your next trip? Let us know!

NEXT...

In our next newsletter, we're going to send you a quiz about . . . bathing suits. Because much of our travel revolves around the tropics and warm places, we are obsessed with finding the right swim suits and have a large swim suit wardrobe with coverups, wetsuits and rash guards galore.

We want to see what you like the most and what you would want that you haven't found.

The top of our list is quick dry swim suits/board shorts that can last an entire day trip, moving from day to night easily.

Talk to you soon!
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