This post will be interesting to some while tedious and to be ignored by others. We have now spent one full year exclusively in Europe, and I thought it would be useful to look at expenses over that time period. First some unsolicited advice, which no matter how much I champion, no one seems to heed. Probably, a not so subtle rejoinder that I refuse to acknowledge. But alas I will once again jump upon my soapbox and preach the gospel of Squishy. Track your expenses!! I don't

View from our place Sheri and I continued our time outside the Schengen zone by spending six weeks in Kotor, Montenegro. After this visit our Schengen time will completely reset giving us more options for future travel in Europe. Our apartment was perfectly situated. It was on the top floor of our building with beautiful views of the bay and surrounding mountains. It was a ten minute walk to the walled city where the cruise ships docked and the tourists mill about. Walking in

Sarandë Beach We needed to escape the Schengen zone which is a 29 country free travel area in Europe. Your US visa allows you to stay in the zone and freely move between member countries for a maximum of 90 of the previous 180 days. It is constant rolling timer. Fortunately, Sheri is being very good at keeping us from violating any rules. Albania, while part of Europe, is not a Schengen country and thus we hopped across the Adriatic and into Eastern Europe where we will spend

Downtown Vienna on a chilly, January morning. While we had visited Vienna twice before (is our privilege is showing?), both times were day stops on a river cruise. We had never made it past the downtown tourist center, so we were excited to experience what it was like to actually live in this fine city. Vienna is frequently at the top of the World's Most Livable City list, and it isn't hard to see why. After five weeks in this historic city, Brad and I have put it at the top

Northern Lights over Tromsø Sheri and I spent four weeks in this winter paradise. The sun would never come above the horizon during our entire stay. It is called polar night which I find quite poetic. Although the sun never rose, there was natural light for roughly 3 to 4 hours a day. I was worried that the darkness would wear on me, but the blackness could not hide the charm, the beauty and the magnificence of this amazing city. Tromsø is one of the largest cities in the wor

Big Ben from Trafalgar Square Wait a minute, weren't we just in London? Yes, I hear you. But that was only for a week. This time, Brad and I were in London for five weeks, giving us a chance to really live like the locals live and experience a different side of this marvelous and busy city. Since we had already visited a majority of the big tourist sites when we were here back in May, this trip was all about having the time to wander through a park, visit one of the many free

Every year I send out a letter (an actual physical letter in an envelope...hard to imagine) to friends and family. It is filled with ramblings, rants and some updates about the past year in Sheri's and my life. Now that we are in Europe, it was difficult (and expensive) to send letters, so I emailed a PDF to everyone on my distribution list (that I had an email address for). A large number of you have already been subjected to this year's penned tirade, but I have decided to

A most excellent sailing companion. (Brad is pretty good, too.) The Cruise Like a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup, the perfect combination of music and travel. Whoever thought to put Glen Phillips (lead singer of Toad the Wet Sprocket) and a European river cruise together must be raiding my dreams at night to combine two of my most favorite things. Toad the Wet Sprocket is arguably my favorite band (depending on what U2 is up to at the time), and Glen has an excellent solo career

Peter, Sheri and I in front of his University Sheri and I hopped on a Ryanair flight from Bristol to Budapest. This airline is exactly as advertised. They take no frills seriously! Fortunately, it was a quick flight and we arrived in Budapest with little hassle. It was pure serendipity that we were headed to Budapest as it was the departure point for a river cruise on which we were booked. It also just happened to be where Peter was currently enrolled in college earning his m

Well Hung Lover Mike, Laurie, Sheri and I ended our days of walking through fields of sheep-laid landmines and made our way to Bristol. It was a relatively easy train trip and then a short cab ride to where we found ourselves in our home for the next month. We would spend it exploring the city a bit, soaking in the street art, going to the movies, feasting on cookies, spending too much time at the doctor's office and most remarkably of all, we even socialized a bit. So, lets

The intrepid explorers with a few of their new, wooly friends. The Cotswolds The Cotswolds in southwest England The Cotswolds lie in the southwest part of England, about an hour and a half west of London by train. It's a mostly rural area peppered with small villages that look like they came straight out of a Jane Austen novel. The name "Cotswold" means "sheep enclosure in rolling hillsides." It is aptly named, as we certainly saw plenty of both. The rural charm and low-key,

A delicious Welsh Rarebit I enjoyed in a Cotswold pub. Ah, British food. Fish and chips. Yorkshire pudding. Sausages with no spices. Overcooked burgers. Beans on toast. Bangers and mash. So many possibilities. So much blandness. Firmly residing in the bland category is Welsh Rarebit, but with the possible redemption of cheesy goodness. Essentially, it is just cheese on toast, but fancified up a bit. It seemed like one of the better British food options and one I could make in

It's only a model We left Paris and sadly Iron Maiden behind and headed for Wales. If my count is correct this is country 41 for both...

Eddie!!! About a year ago when Sheri and I really started planning our future lifestyle, Iron Maiden announced they would be embarking on...

Meat and potatoes, but prettier! You don't really go to Norway for the food, unless you are very into pickled fish. Brad wouldn't let me...

The most beautiful place on earth: The Sognefjord, Balestrand, Norway. I'm going to go out on a limb and say it: Balestrand, Norway, and...

Brad's delivers his verdict. Stampot is a Dutch comfort food that consists of potatoes mashed together with other vegetables and...

Amsterdam, the Venice of the North At last, the true nomading adventure really begins! With a whole month in Amsterdam, we truly got the...

Look kids, Big Ben, Parliament Mike, Laurie, May, Sheri and I got off the boat and were ready for some London exploring. We would also be...

Subtitle: How to get to Europe without jet lag! Somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. One of the (many) benefits of retirement...