While working through the itinerary for our upcoming travels next spring, we sent a copy of our blog to friends of ours that we met on the Australia to Seattle cruise last year. Tom and Jessica have changed our lives. Chuck and I are not the socializing type but while on this cruise, Jessica and Tom sat down beside us for lunch and said Hi. Little did I know by politely returning the greeting that we would talk for hours over the length of the cruise. Actually, we listened more than talked and were so enthralled in what their life is like that we couldn’t get enough. We had something in common. Travel. We love to travel and Tom and Jess are world travelers. They have been living this life for the past 7 years. We were so amazed and intrigued that we talked about it all the way home. We asked each other, can we do this? Can we afford it? Do we want to do this? Well, after putting numbers on paper and thinking it through…….YES WE CAN! And this is how our idea was born. We keep in touch and they have helped us along the way with questions. Actually they have an amazing blog that should be an encyclopedia for world travel. Please check it out. www.worldwidewaftage.com Its helped us in so many ways and the beauty of their travels is wonderful to see. If we cant find the answer in the blog, we of course shoot them an email. And they are always willing to answer.
While corresponding with them, they reviewed our itinerary for the first year. Tom found an area that we might want to explore. Visa requirements in Europe. He was right! We may need a Schengen visa. Never heard of it. Should be easy, right? well, sort of. The closest consulate to apply for the Shengen visa is in Miami, a 5 hour drive. Not looking forward to that. We are so happy they found this. We know a little about visas from VisaHQ but assumed, and we all know what assume stands for, that moving from country to country in the European region wouldn’t be an issue if we didn’t stay over 90 days in each location. Chuck has been corresponding with the consulate and they now say we don’t need one but being skeptical, Chuck is clarifying and making sure they know what dates and what countries we will be staying in.
Another item we need to obtain is a second passport. We will need this when we need to apply for an extension on our visas if we stay longer than the time allotted. Not a good idea to be in a foreign county and have your passport in someone else’s hands.
We also had to change our itinerary around a little due to dropping one cruise and shortening our stay in Bali so we dont have to fool with the Visa renewal. We can always go back for another stay. It just doesnt make sense to spend a day or two renewing your visa for another 1-2 weeks. We’ll have a gap until we decide if we’ll go to another location or another cruise.
Chuck is working on the visas, passports and negotiating places to stay. I find the top 5 places I like and he chooses the best option.
For now, that is all the exciting news we have. It’s all coming together slowly. The time will be here before we know it.
I’ll leave you with a gorgeous sunset we took outside the condo here in Florida. Its so beautiful to see and every night that we experience one, we are reminded of God’s amazing creativity.
Until next time. May God bless you always!
Chuck & Lea Ann
WorldTravelReynolds 