Brett is in a happy place right now. He is happy to have a permanent residence once again, to have an address where we can collect our own mail. He is glad not to be living out of a suitcase or lugging those suitcases around. He is especially thrilled to be back on Kaua’i.
I’m happy to be here too and know that coming back and resettling was the right thing for us to do at this time. But, in my heart, I still am missing our life on the road. I liked not owning things, and of going someplace new and experiencing new things and new cultures every few weeks or months. Our travels were a dream come for me.
I wasn’t ready to be done with full-time traveling. Brett was, or at least was closer to being done than I was. I still dream about traveling and the places I want to see and I still want to talk about traveling. Brett doesn’t, at least not for the immediate future. He wants to burrow back into Kaua’i and island life. We have agreed though that we do want to travel again when the world rights itself and this horrible virus is under control.
We know though that travel for us will never be the same as it was, and that a full-time life on the road won’t be happening again. Instead, we want to aim for two big trips a year, one to Japan and one to another place on our bucket list. We imagine that international travel, once it opens up again, is likely to be far more expensive than in the past, with fewer options and more restrictions, and we believe there will be uncertainties that were not there before, and experiences that may not be available again.
For the time being we are going to be resting nomads. Our primary focus for the next two years will be on getting YaYu through her last two years at school. This is currently looking like it it may be more of a financial challenge than we initially imagined, but we won’t know exactly how much we will need to help until mid-summer. We will continue to save for future travel, but it will be minimal compared to what we were able to do in the past. Dreaming costs us nothing though, and in the next couple of years we will come up with a list of places we want to go, along with plans for how to make our dreams a reality.
We’ve accomplished goals and made our dreams come true before and we know we can do it again. The Occasional Nomads will be back, more occasional than before, but for now, we rest.
The Occasional Nomads 
I am really wondering how travel will be in the future. I’m so glad for the trips I’ve been able to take. And glad that I have friends strewn across the U.S. to visit still. I only hope someday I can head back out for a month or more at a time.
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I have been trying to imagine what traveling is going to be like as well. I honestly believe it’s going to cost a whole lot more, for a variety of reasons. Who is going to want to sit crammed close together with others for a long flight no matter how cheap it is? How much is that Airbnb now going to cost since the owner hasn’t had renters for over a year and needs to make up the lost income? How many are going to be willing to crowd into popular sites with other strangers? There are a loads of other factors as well, and with a loss of income over the past few months and most likely the coming year, I believe the cost of travel is what’s going to change the most.
Both Brett and I are very grateful for all that we were able to see and do over the past 18 months. We hope to be able to get out again once we get YaYu through school, but think even then it’s going to be very different.
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I feel like we’re all in a holding pattern these days. We can dream about going places and doing things, but can’t make any concrete plans. I agree whenever things improve, the travel experience will be much different and probably very expensive. Personally, it’s going to be a long time before I feel comfortable traveling again.
In the meantime, I’ve been looking at photos from places I’ve been and that will have to do for now. I’m just glad I did so much travel when I did.
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I want to dream about traveling, but even that is hard right now. I am trying to think of constructive things we can do, but with so much being unknown it’s hard to do. We are getting going to start beefing up our saving again, although it will be harder to do for the next couple of year. Still, it’s positive and focuses on the future.
We’re happy we traveled as much as we did as well. We were very fortunate to be able to do so much.
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The world will open up again. Who knows what costs will be like. It may be cheaper if there is less demand. But yes, it may be more expensive.
I can see a return to more domestic travel in Australia, an overflow of people camping and caravanning.
I look forward to reading about your nesting and travel dreams. And your adventures on the island.
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It is a good place to rest. I am glad you are snug in a spot of joy.
We are fairly sure we had the virus in mid January. Both of us were the sickest we have ever been. I visited the doctor for the cough, used a mask and washed my hands a thousand times. I even wore gloves to grocery shop the one time I went. I guess we knew how to socially distanced before being told…
My son and daughter’s family have had it as well. No one tested positive for the flu, which makes us more certain. I look forward to getting my permission slip. I wonder if people without a permission slips will be able to travel in the near or far future.
Our Travel plans are in motion. Hopefully with slip in hand, we start again in July seeing my family and celebrating my mom’s 90 th birthday in a plaza outside in the early morning in Phoenix. Heat is going to be bad, but that is when she was born.
Headed to Germany, if it is open, to stay at the military hotel in the alps in August.
Military hotel outside of Disney world is in November. Whether Disney is open or not, if the hotel is open, we are going.
At this point booking was so inexpensive, if we lose deposits it was better then money lost in the market. I know people in the industry say most all of the flight crews got the virus while flying everyone home, so they are ready to go.
If it looks like the coasts are going to shut again for winter, we are heading to Idaho. We will rent from a family member out there. We plan on driving and camping out of our truck. Since We are not allowed to see our grands, Zoom is just as easy 2000 miles away. I refuse to be cooped up with all of these big cities again.
My husband turns 70 in June. Life is going to keep moving even if we don’t.
Looking forward to much smaller crowds everywhere we go in 2020-21.
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We are so lucky we could come back here to Kaua’i – we never would have thought of it though if the girls hadn’t told us this past Christmas that they wanted us to return here versus settling someplace else. Other than getting our stored items over here, the transition has gone well, and we’re pretty comfortable for now. I miss being on the road, but if I have to stay put somewhere, this is a great place to do it.
We have gotten refunded for almost everything. Aeromexico is refusing to refund our flights, but we are disputing the charges and have reported them to the Dept. of Transportation as they are in violation of the agreement that allows them to fly in and out of the U.S. I frankly think they are close to bankruptcy though which is why they are holding on to their cash so strongly.
Funny you should mention possibly having the virus earlier. Our son and DIL both think they had it as well in early February, when we were there – they were both sick with fevers, coughs, etc. The kids were too, but Brett and I never got sick, even with all that contact. Fingers are crossed we stay healthy!
We are enjoying life on the island without the tourists, but they are needed here. People are hurting, but I’m not sure how long it will be until people start coming back. I don’t think it will ever be at the levels there were before though.
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I am reading your blog backwards but the comments are closed for earlier posts so am posting here. You can tell which posts these relate to.
Happy anniversary!!!!
Nothing beats tropical storms!!! The rain. The thunder. The lightening. The power of it all.
Love your verandah. The master room has a nice feel and outlook too.
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Oh, and the Kit Kats!!! What a haul! Such colour and such a huge range.
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One thing we know about life is it is ever changing and sometimes things happen outside our control that throw us in an unexpected direction. I’m also a great believer that life does not have to be all about doing it all – travel 100% – or doing nothing – staying at home all the time. Given time, you will find your balance financially and otherwise.
I’m a bit like Brett in that I enjoy having a home to come to and not have to have my belongings stored or ask people to hold my mail. However I am also a bit like you, I have my held full of ideas of places I want to go. As a renter I find it more difficult to leave rental premises for an extended period knowing how much rent is being paid. That said, as we enter the final quarter of our lives, I am all about doing what makes us happy. We are looking at buying a property with no intention of ever paying it off, but living larger than we do now as long as it is within our means.
2020 my goal was zero wastage, I think 2021 my goal is going to be balance.
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Brett and I have discussed finding a balance that works for both of us between traveling 100% and not traveling at all. We will always want to go to Japan because we have family there, but neither of us really wants to stay in a rental again, although we loved the area where we stayed. We’ll figure something out.
We have the same issue with traveling while paying rent that you do. If prices come down here we may look at purchasing here, but that’s still very doubtful. We could afford to travel for say a month to six weeks at time while still paying rent, but that would involved having a solid savings account built up that is being constantly replenished. We have yet to figure that out, especially while our youngest is still attending college.
2020 for us was about slowing down our travel; 2021 will be the beginning of figuring out how to fit it back into our lives. And like you, balance.
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I, for one, will miss reading about your travels! Since I am not a traveler by any means, I did enjoy reading about yours! But you guys had a great run really. I was always amazed at how you just kept going! As you say, it is hard to tell what the future will bring now for all of us. Whether we are stay at home types or world travelers, the world as we know it is a very changed place. I hope that you will still write about lifes little things where you are as I will still enjoy your writing! Be well!
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I miss traveling, and writing about it too. It will happen again, but where we go and what traveling will be in the future are big unknowns right now. I plan to write more about our “down time” on Kaua’i, but right now we’re stuck indoors most of the time and life just isn’t all that interesting. I’ll figure it out though.
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I got in on your blog just a couple years ago and have surely enjoyed it! You’ve gone places and done things that I am not brave enough to do, but enjoy hearing about others doing them. It will be interesting to see what international travel is like in the future…… we currently have tickets for travel to Africa in September – we’ll see how that works out.
I hope you’ll keep us updated on your doings occasionally – I know there are many spots where you are now that would be lovely to see and hear about.
Take care and stay well!
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We will travel again, but it definitely won’t be full time again. We are so happy and grateful we got to do that though – we had a fantastic time. The goal going forward will be to find a balance between life on Kaua’i and fitting in extended periods of travel.
Africa (Botswana) is still #1 on my bucket list! I hope we can make it happen some day (although it’s a l-o-n-g way from Kaua’i).
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I have had a bad attitude this week because I was supposed to be flying to see my grandchild. Oh well, at least everyone is safe. We will all travel again, and we will adjust. You have a beautiful place as a home base and I really like your idea of two big trips a year. I may try to implement that also and, like you, at least one will be to visit grandchildren.I really do love your food pics and nature pics so I hope you continue to post.
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You are right Cindy, we will get through this and we will find a new normal and ways of doing things. It is hard now though – I can barely look at my pictures from our time in Japan as we miss our family there so much, and weren’t able to adjust to our departure because it happened so fast.
Right now it’s hard to get out because of the essential-only travel order. I am going to continue blogging, but am having a somewhat difficult time figuring out a direction right now. It will come to me – there is balance somewhere, but I just haven’t found it yet.
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Although I love to travel, I also relate to Brett in that I love my home and the comforts of my everyday life. Of course, I REALLY, REALLY want to travel to the UK and see my “almost here” grandchild. I can’t say enough how grateful I am for FaceTime and Google Hangouts. But I can’t get that new baby smell over the internet. So I’m hopeful we can travel again in the not-so-distant future. And they can come here.
You are fortunate to be in a such a beautiful place, but of course you know that. 🙂
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My heart aches for you not being able to be there with you “almost there” grandchild, especially since you had everything all arranged and were that close to going. We are lucky to have the technology we do these days for communication – I am so grateful for all the photos, videos, messaging apps, etc. so we can chat with the girls and our son and family.
Brett is so happy to be in one place and unpacked. I am getting there – I like our new place here. Once we get our stored items all will well, but we think that’s going to take a while longer than we initially hoped it would. We are especially grateful to be able to enjoy the island without scads of tourists everywhere. They will come back (hopefully) as they are needed to sustain the island’s economy, but for the time being we are able to experience a bit of what it must have been like here in the past.
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Aloha Laura!
Long time reader here…been following you since 2010. I adore Kauai and visit often. You and I met in 2015 at Kapaa farmers market, my mom was with me. You took a pic with me holding some apple bananas and added to your blog. I was thrilled to see you and Brett return to Kauai! I’m headed there this August and would be privileged to meet up with you for coffee. Im staying in Kapaa. I’ll be with a girlfriend of mine, we like to hike (slowest hikers ever), beach relax and our favorite is Auntee Angelines Lomi in Anahola. Please email me if you would be interested in a coffee date.
Mahalo,
Julie Seiler
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Julie! I clearly remember meeting you and your mom, and I would love to get together when you come to Kaua’i, even if we have to wear masks and sit six feet apart from each other! I will send an email so we can communicate and set something up. Keeping my fingers crossed that things have improved enough by August that you can get here – right now it’s almost unimaginable.
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