WHAT'S GOING ON NOW?

I can answer that question for me.  Easy.

First I canceled all my traveling plans, could foresee the dilemma of European travel coming, especially air travel when one of my flights was canceled. So at first I felt maybe I needed to get the hell out of Dodge and go back to the States when I could.  So I cancelled all my remaining eight months of accommodations and flights. First premature reaction.

Then I booked an airplane back to the States for March 28, when my stay here in Abbotsbury ends.  Then came the news that all travel would be blocked to the USA.  So I rebooked a flight for the 17th, cancelled the 28th.  Second premature reaction.

Now after seeing what all is happening in the States in towns and cities, Las Vegas included, MEDIA FUELED, I decided I'd just hang out in England till my visa expires on July 15.  So I took a deep breath and relaxed.

Up to now I've had a wonderful month in Weymouth by the seashore, followed by nearly 90 days in Abbotsbury in the rolling green hills of Dorset countryside.  I will leave Abbotsbury as planned on the 28th, but next stop is to an apartment in Lyme Regis on the seafront further west.

HERE ARE SOME OF MY FRIENDS ALONG THE WAY SO FAR ....

HERE ARE A FEW PLACES IVE STAYED SO FAR .... more photos to come.

DRASTIC CHANGE OF PLANS

Good Morning from Abbotsbury, Dorset, UK!

A lot of changes from when I first began this year-long journey back in January.  By February I cut the last two months of it - Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, because I'd made the decision to return to the States in September at the end of the ship crossing, instead of November, and fly directly to Las Vegas to rent an apartment. Then more changes happened to some of the destinations in Europe for a variety of reasons. Yesterday I cancelled the entire trip after my stay here which ends March 28.  The main reasons are the increasing spread of the Corona Virus in Europe, travel becoming more difficult, and my not feeling up to speed this last month. I think it's time to call it a day and go home. Home, at the moment, being Las Vegas, as soon as I can get there and set up an apartment.

So ... there you have it in a nutshell! I'm not unhappy with the different direction I'm taking, I'm actually relieved. Maybe I should keep my future travels to shorter contained trips, and book with tour groups to handle the physicality of it all - bags, transportation, etc. I find myself stuck without transportation a large part of the time, and would have been moreso in the countries ahead - I'm just not able to walk distances as I used to, absolutely no hilly terrain. And my sight is not the best when walking the lanes and stone surfaces. I need to face these facts. I need to be where taxis are easily accessible, as well as grocery deliveries, and safely in my cocoon with my beautiful collectibles and my iMac to write properly. My MacBookAir just doesn't do it for me.  By the way, Amazon is one of the best delivery services for miscellaneous household items. I do use them even here in the English countryside - reminds me of FedEx deliveries to remote areas in the wonderful Tom Hanks film.

If I were younger and more able-bodied and drove a car, this would be the ideal place and way for me to live, but since that isn't the case, it's not.  Las Vegas ticks all the boxes, and provides short cheap flights from LV to my main family and friends - CA, UT, AZ.  Even cheaper to fly to Heathrow - 30,000 Advantage miles, business class - one way, if and when I make that QM2 Atlantic crossing - haven't cancelled the QM2 yet ... could fly back in September and do just that. After I get a clean bill of health.

In the meantime, will still be taking photos and reporting on travels in Dorset, weather permitting.

Enjoy your own travels, and join me for the next chapter in this saga.  Luv you all.