RECAP AND NEW DIRECTION

It was October First, as I recall, when I made the decision to put all my stuff - furnishings, antiques, collectibles, belongings - in storage and hit the road by January First. I would drive my car to Utah and gift it to my sister. That gave me three months to pack it all, store it, and get underway.

I had sold my property in Cambria the year before, but was still living in the beautiful upstairs apartment over the theatre I had created with the help of my Handy Dandy Kelly three years before.

When my dear feline beauty was no longer (Gawd, I miss him), there was absolutely no reason to remain where I was. I had lived in Cambria three  different times in my life, and I finally felt done with it.

At first I thought it would be great to retire in England, something I’d contemplated over the years but hadn’t researched.  Too bad, because since 2008 the UK hasn’t issued exPat visas to US citizens. So there is no way I could do it since the present list of entry visas excludes me. Other than the regular 6-month stay.

Well then, being the flexible person that I am, I could just travel from one country to another, stay in each country the legal limit and see the world till I was weary of travel. Then pick a place where I want to live in the US.

So I planned it all out and scheduled the first year of travels. England, Ireland, France, QM2 Atlantic Crossing, New York, Maine, Canada, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland. All booked in advance - hotels, flights, trains, etc.

The second week of January, on the road to Utah with my sister Martha McMullen Ross,  we discussed where I might want to settle when I returned. We  spent one night in Las Vegas and we both agreed Vegas should be on my list.  We were traveling from my other sister Mary McMullen Matejcek's home in California on the way to Martha’s in Utah - visiting sisters before my departure. I was delivering Martha and my car to her house and was then boarding a flight from Salt Lake City to Heathrow - the beginning of my elaborate and exciting journey. I left  the US January 15. By the time I reached England, I crossed off the other three town choices and decided on settling in Vegas after the trip. So on with the journey.

My plan was to spend three months in each country, one town a month - that would keep me interested and I'd even experience some new areas I had always wanted to see, as well as revisiting others.

While in Weymouth, England the first month, I changed up the plan somewhat. Cancelled the Northern America excursions, with plans to do all those places at another time. Lost money on that decision. But I wanted to go to Phoenix for Thanksgiving with son. And then to Las Vegas to live. The more and more I thought of it, the more excited I became about Las Vegas.

Then in my second month in England, as planned, in Abbotsbury, I thought maybe I should not stay in Ireland three months. So I re-scheduled one of those months in Scotland and one in Luxembourg  before going to France.  All was well.

Then Coronavirus reared its ugly head and everything changed.

I eventually had to cancel all flights, some were canceled for me, and I booked a flight back to the States for March 28, when my accommodations in Abbottsbury were to end. I had extended Abbotsbury two weeks because its so beautiful - total 6 weeks there.

But nothing was working out for me back in the States, to return to, movers, apartment rentals, etc., costs.  But then the orders to isolate and lock down came down the pike in both countries, so that was easy, I decided to stay put and spend the full 6 months in England on my UK visa.  Lucky for me I was able to get flight refunds and miles credited to my accounts. But I have lost close to additional $5000 on cancelled accommodations. Not good.

Now I was faced with finding a place to stay the remainder of my time. First I decided to book Lyme Regis, and two other towns further west. Then the first two ... Lyme Regis and Torquay in Devon ... cancelled on me due to new UK edicts RE Coronavirus, no refund on Lyme Regis.   So I cancelled the last one in Cornwall because I could see the writing on the wall with ground transportation ... and there you go.  Back to square one. Where to stay close by ...?

Weymouth was most logical since  I know it and have friends here. But, Ha! It was difficult finding a place on budget, located near sea and town. But I found one and grabbed it! I dont care that its small, I dont care that the cleaners may have eyesight problems when it comes to the bathroom floor corners (if it bothers me too much, I'll clean them, I have an extra toothbrush), I dont care if the pillow cases are worn thin (they are sort of cozy soft and I sleep well), I dont care if there isnt a chair in my room, no real problem, there's a vanity stool). As I've already described where I am staying in an earlier post, you already know I'm content. I'll be here till June 26.

On June 26, I move to a nice seafront hotel for 16 nights with lounging rooms and beachview, dining, bar, breakfast included, right near the shops and restaurants. Hopefully by then circumstances will be better and life will be returning to normal.

Then on July 12 for three nights in Wareham, I'll be staying in a 16th C hotel. I'm doing it that way in order to not be rushed and catch a direct train (no changes) to Woking on July 15, and then a hired car to Heathrow and a direct flight to Las Vegas.  End of 2020 travel.

But wait! I’ve more changes since I wrote the above on Facebook. I was sitting here thinking, if the travel is back on in July, then why rush back to the States. Why not at least recoup some of the travel I planned. So after the stay in Wareham, I’ll take a train to Bristol, spend a night and fly to Dublin the next morning. Yes, I’m going to Ireland for three months as originally planned. But here’s a new one I hadn’t planned, I’m going to Belgium for my last two weeks before I fly out of Brussels on Oct 31 to Las Vegas.  THATS THE NEW PLAN. We’ll see how long that lasts.

So thats how I wound up back in Weymouth and where I'm going from here. So far, so good. Actually, it’s all good!

What day is this? I'm confused.