Moose on the Loose!

Early morning, Keystone, Colorado, high in the Rocky Mountains:  Friend dashes upstairs yelling to his wife and I, "Get your cameras!"  We grabbed and dashed.  "There's a moose right. . . it was right there!"  A spot about 100-150 feet from their front door.  Smack in the middle of a glitzy 100-plus unit condo development.

So we took off after Mr. Moose, aiming to shoot him (with cameras, of course).  Preferably with telephoto lens.  You never want to get too close to Mr. Moose.  Mrs. Moose, either.

We chased that stupid, obstinately disappearing moose for the better part of an hour.  Through the condo complex, over a few meadows, through a couple of parking lots.  No moosie-moosie.

Instead, we found the local Sheriff.  She'd been chasing Mr. Moose in her Sheriff's car for over an hour - since just about dawn.  She parked at one point, opened her trunk, and pulled out some strange orange thing with vivid bold capitals, "LESS LETHAL."  Don't want to know what that was, or what "less" lethal means, even in moosie-moosie terms.

She warned us to beware the moose, and call her if we spotted him.  We were only interested in telephoto-range sightings, we assured Mademoiselle le Sheriff.

Never found Mr. Moose.  Not a glimpse.  Not finding Mr. Moose was very disappointing.  Chasing Mr. Moose?  Priceless.

Also breathless - high-altitude chase, you know.  There's no way a human can outrun a moose, especially at 11,000 feet.  He's used to it, and very well altitude-adjusted indeed.  Humans end up oxygen-starved and panting.  But it was fun anyway.

May your road rise to meet you - and may you catch up with your Mr. Moose!
Ann

Planes, Trains, Automobiles

Planes, trains, automobiles - and boats.  Each mode of transport has its merits, and its own unique character.  After driving just shy of 6,000 miles, the Great American Road Trip - or its counterparts, the Great Canadian Road Trip and Great European Road Trip - is something every Road Warrioress really needs to experience at least once in her life.

I have a friend who hates to drive.  Oh, yes, she's perfectly capable, licensed, clean driving record, and all that.  She just hates doing it!  Won't even drive to the supermarket, but has hubby take her instead.  Long-distance road trips - at least one US and one European annually - she meticulously plans, maps, organizes.  And hubby does all the driving.  Obviously, she's not a Road Warrioress, despite being a very avid traveler.  Guess it's a good thing opposites attract since hubby is decidedly a Road Warrior who loves to drive, even winding little one-laners along Italy's plunging coastlines.

My friend's perspective is totally lost on me.  Just don't get it.  More akin to her husband (except for driving on the "wrong" side of the road, which he handles with aplomb), I love to get in the car and go. 

Doesn't much matter where.  I've been known to take a left turn on the freeway - abrupt decision, no accident - and end up hundreds of miles from the originally intended destination.  Or decide "I just want to get out of here" at the Laundromat Saturday morning, then pack laundry and kitties and take off, arriving home just in time to get back to work Monday morning.  I simply love to drive.  Love going places.  Even when I don't know where I'm going, but just "follow my nose" to see what there is to see.

Love to fly.  Love boats, even for a speedy trip on a lake or Long Island Sound.  Love trains - one of my greatest adventures was riding the rails through China for a few months. 

But driving a car is a completely different experience.  Answering to no one, adjusting my route on a whim, stopping whenever I'm hungry or just to shoot a few photographs because something caught my eye.  There's nothing like driving across Nebraska at 80 miles an hour, glad you can race past cow-stench, or sorry you had no idea there was such a spectacular bridge to photograph and could find no place to pull over fast enough to capture it.

Definitely, Road Warrioresses, take that road trip!

May your road rise to meet you - wherever you go!
Ann

How to Cope with High Altitude

Well, it certainly pays to check out racks of travel and tourism brochures!  There's home delivery of oxygen to cure what ails you in the high Rockies.  How nice of them to list several tips for acclimatizing to such an environment.  Some of them are new to me, so let's list them all here for you.

*  Avoid maximum physical exertion for the first 1-2 days
*  Catch up on sleep
*  Stay hydrated with sports drinks
*  Limit alcohol and caffeine
*  Limit time in hot tubs
*  Eat small low-fat, high-carbohydrate meals
*  Eat dinner at least 3-4 hours before bedtime

So far, I'm needing at least two days to get used to the altitude.  By which time, I'm leaving!  The car is loaded up with bottled water, vitamin-water, green tea.  Sports drinks, with all those electrolytes, are something I'd missed.  The high-carb diet is another unfamiliar tip.

Starting to feel a bit better, though still in need of another nap before dinner.  Horizontal remains the only good position to be in for the moment.  But there's so many exciting things to tell you about, I'll be back after a bit of a rest!

May your road rise to meet you - with helpful hints along your way!
Ann

Some People Are Not Meant for Mountains!

There are so very many things to write about - including surprises and the spectacularly delicious! - at the moment.  I can't breathe.  Can hardly sit up.  Totally horizontal is the only position where my heart is not pounding so loud it must be heard all the way to the Himalayas.

Denver altitude was a tough adjustment, not met within a couple of days.  Despite some articles to write, beer tastings were conducted very cautiously.  Tiny sips, savored long on the tongue, rather like wine-tasting.  Drunk on low-oxygen, alcohol was totally unnecessary.  More about Suds City to come as despite little sips, as opposed to desired "big glugs,"  ooh-la-la, there's lots to share with you!

And don't forget a bigger surprise . . . coming as fast as fingers restart proper functioning.

Yesterday, it was up into the mountains.  Darling Little Baby-Car was not particularly happy about it, but made it.  Not so sure yet about my survivability of another 24 hours way up in the mountains.  Worse, it's snowing.  Supposed to melt by tomorrow, and it better.  Ski season has not started, won't with this piddly-bit, and I wouldn't be joining anybody on the slopes anyway.  Skiing is not my thing.  Seems just plain old mountains in general aren't, either.

We each have our sense of some ideal location where we feel most at home.  Seashore, prairie, mountains, desert, forest or rainforest - even out to sea - whether we're at home or traveling, that's the sort of environment we tend to seek.  That's "the kind of place for me," whoever's talking.  We each tend to feel more comfortable, at home, in a certain kind of environment.

It's a good thing all 7.3 billion of us don't want exactly the same thing!  But mountains are definitely not for me.  Himalayas?  Probably never go there since it tops a very short list of "places I will not go."  They're better viewed from a distance, towering over northern India, while I stay where the air still has some oxygen left. 

Headed "downward" tomorrow, and I'll breathe easier then.  Meanwhile, a little rest, and try to write some more or I'll never catch up with everything there is to talk about!

May your road rise to meet you - but not to-o-o high!
Ann

The Joy of the Road Trip

This time, it's a road trip.  No TSA, no keeping other people's schedules, just footloose and fancy-free, as they say.  It's a great way to leave whatever ails or irks you behind.

By the time I drove across a big bridge, I was smiling at river scenes and boat traffic below.  By the second state-line crossing, I was grinning!  Fall foliage in the Poconos is already a searingly beautiful flame color.  Leaves actually sparkle in sunlight.  Once I hit farmlands and the Great Plains, the harvest is almost all in.  Colors of browns, beiges, and evergreen windbreaks surrounding farm buildings - along with brilliant glints of light off silver silos.  (I could do without smelling the cows, however!  A stockyard-full was particularly intense for several miles.)

Now it's the foot of the Rockies.  There's some snow up there, particularly atop what Coloradans call "the Fourteens" - those 14,000 feet and up giants.  Surprisingly, there's less fall color than back East!  Mornings are crisp (to say the least) but the sun is brilliant and downright hot.

Before I left, friends were all in a panic.  They love me dearly, worry about me.  But I've lost count of the number of cross-country road trips I've taken.  This is not even all the way across.  No big deal to me. 

But it made me wonder why so few woman drive solo cross-country, in foreign countries, or wherever it takes more than a day to get where you want to go.  Probably fear, I guess.  Perhaps time constraints.  Definitely the sore butt after driving 500 or 600 miles!

Have you driven long-distance yourself?  If not, why not?

Considering how wonderful road trips are, why not give it a go?

May your road rise to meet you - with freedom and pleasure!
Ann

When to Throw a "Hail Mary Pass"

No football fan (leave that to Pop!), I'm hardly conversant with the lingo.  The only familiar term is the "Hail Mary Pass,"  that last-ditch move made in desperation.  In the travel context, I sometimes think I must have invented the term.

Just a sprinkling of "Hail Mary Passes" over solo-traveling days:

* Moved home, company, and cats from Singapore to Hong Kong on USD125.  Landed home in Singapore late one night, heard "Sorry-lah, cannot" for the gazillionth time, and decided that was more than enough.  Landed in Hong Kong a week later, and flew courier to do it.  The trio of kitty-babies did just fine.  As for me, I love the place.

* How did I ever land in Asia to begin with?  Sorta-boyfriend rang at 3:25 a.m. California time, said, "I might have found you a job, get your passport."  Thought I was going to Bali, and wound up in the jungles of Borneo.  Turned out all right in the end, and even glad to get rid of the bf, ultimately.

* En route to a conference in Montreal, realized there was nowhere near enough money for hotels and all.  Made a left turn on the interstate, and wound up in Buffalo.  Great summer!

So, with varying degrees of ultimate success, every Hail Mary Pass has worked out in the end.  Maybe a little anxiety involved, but the worst part has always been just letting it fly.

Once more, a Hail Mary Pass launches Saturday.  I'll let you know how it goes.

When do you throw a Hail Mary Pass?  Whenever you're at your wits end.  When all other options seem to have evaporated.  When you're well and truly stuck.  Whenever you want to.  Put it out into the ethers that "this has to work!"  Ask your angels to protect you.  Grab your things and go!

Just guessing, but successfully completed Hail Mary Passes just might have a better average on the road than on the football field.  At least, that's how it has worked so far.  So, just let it fly, trust your luck and your angels, dash like mad to the end of the field, and catch your own football.

Let me know how your Hail Mary Passes go!

May your road rise to meet you - and your Hail Mary Passes get you to your end zone.
Ann

One Wild and Crazy Foodie-Guy

I like to eat.  Love to cook, and dabble in a multitude of cuisines.  Some experiments don't turn out all that great.  On the whole, however, people like what I cook and love what I bake.

Some tastes don't turn out all that great, either.  Jackfruit really is a "heaty" fruit, as Indonesians call it.  Swallow a bit (tastes fine) and feel your face redden to flames.  Whoa!  Singapore Fish Head Curry is pretty good, once you get past those eyes staring at you and that gaping maw (turn the bowl so you don't see it, and pick out the fishmeat).

Finally managed to close my eyes and taste Indonesia's great delicacy - ikan bilis.  Bleeagh! on that one!  Itty-bitty dried fish, eyes or no, are yucky.  But in only one place (so far) could I find nothing I was willing and able to eat:  Pitsanuloke, Thailand.  Just too ferociously fiery.  Besides, some of that stuff was really globby-looking.

Benuaq Dayaks, while at their longhouse up the Mahakam River in Kalimantan (Borneo), served sticky rice cakes wrapped in pandanus leaves with a scary-looking brown sauce.  Turned out to be fresh coconut with spices, like cinnamon.  Totally delicious!  And so most food most places turns out to range from pretty good to superb.  At the very least, strange results are edible-without-gagging.

Finally got around to reading A Cook's Tour, one of professional chef Anthony Bourdain's oldie-but-goodies, while recuperating.  Travel Channel's host presents lots of good times, good food and good fun with interesting people.  Great travel story.  But will I sample some of the things he has eaten?

Bourdain just plain has to be crazy.  I draw lots of lines he never will.  One of those has to be drinking cobra bile and eating cobra.  No thanks, terima kasih, nyet!  Some of these things are hard to bear reading about.  Taste?  Never!

Yes, Bourdain is such a wild and crazy guy he must be a bit deranged.  But that's what makes him a jolly good read.

May your road rise to meet you - with scrumptious food (and a good book)!
Ann

More Uses for Zip-close Plastic Bags - Gallon-size

Most people aren't too surprised by all the uses for zip-close plastic bags.  The array of uses are bound to include something someone hadn't thought of.  But gallon-size baggies?  Yes!  These are definitely worth taking along, especially for the Road Warrioress on business. 

1.   Collecting “bumpf” at a trade show?  Assembling material for a project or report?  Are you a writer who needs to sort materials by magazine article?  Headed for multiple cities, states, countries?  Put each set in a separate gallon-size bag and label it!  Bags weigh less than stacks of file folders.  Zipping prevents loss of business cards, notes, or paper scraps, as often happens with file folders.

2.   Taking a sweater, shawl, pashmina, or something special you want to keep clean, snag-free, and separate?  Bag it, squeeze it, pack it.

3.   Swimsuit or undies still damp when it’s time to depart?  Bag, squeeze, zip.  Take it out to complete drying upon arrival.

 

4.  Substitute these for the smaller sizes of travel space bags.  Saves a lot of money.  They're probably right in the kitchen drawer - no special trip to the store.  They're reusable, recyclable, disposable.  Partially zip, roll, squeeze, and seal up.  No, they don't squeeze out as much air as the "real thing."  But they're quick, handy, cheap, and work.  Nice for silk or other dress shirts and blouses - roll them up in the bag and pack rolls.

5.  Maps in the car!  There's never enough space in glove compartment or map pocket.  Organize a series of maps, say New York to Florida, state by state southward, and put the used one at the back of the stack as you head southward.  Organize by region, divide east and west of the Mississippi, whatever system works best for you.  Those AAA maps fit perfectly in a gallon-size bag, stack about eight or so per bag, fold over and zip.

Take spares for each size of your zip-bags!  Take them out of the box, roll them up, and tuck into your suitcase along the side or rear.  I keep finding more and more uses for them as I go.  You probably will, too.  And don't forget to share your findings with everyone here!

May your road rise to meet you!

Ann

Uses for Sandwich/Quart-size Zip-close Plastic Bags

Zip-close bags - those inexpensive kitchen necessities - are incredibly useful for the Road Warrioress!  To continue our previous post, let's move on to the sandwich/quart size. These two are so very close in size, either one generally does the trick.  No real need to buy both. 

Note that TSA “officially” requires quart-size bag for carry-on toiletries.

1.   Carry-on toiletries: travel sizes of deodorant, toothpaste, toothbrush, mouthwash, facial cleanser, shower gel, hand sanitizer, shampoo, conditioner, moisturizer.

2.   Still-wet pouf, hose, bikini, etc, need to go in the suitcase?  Bag it!  Press out the air, tuck it in, and on arrival, set it back out to finish drying.

3.   Keep about 3-4 pairs of hose sorted by color/shade, up to ten pairs of nylon knee-highs, per bag.  Squeeze the bag as you finish sealing to reduce bulk, then tuck away.  If you pack a purse or spare handbag, or your "good" bag, your purse will hold its shape better if you stuff it with these bags full of hosiery.

4.   Stuffing toes of your shoes?  Good idea to put each pair of hose in a bag, squeeze-seal, tuck into toes.  No hosiery snagging, no mismatches.

5.   Ditch those boxes!  Nose strips, make-up remover pads, nail polish remover pads, Q-tips, quilted squares, make-up sponges, and more usually pack more flexibly if you repack them in bags. 

6.   Make-up kit: if you only need one set of make-up, or for a day-pack to refresh, snack-size bags do the trick.  For a more extensive array, sandwich/quart-size will hold it.  By the way, bagging these helps prevent spills or leakage, too.

I find it so much easier to keep track of things, especially small things, when I bag them.  Bet you will, too.  And be sure to share your tips and tricks with the rest of us!  Looking forward to hearing from you. . .

May your road rise to meet you!
Ann

Uses for Zip-close Plastic Bags - Snack-size

Plastic zip-close bags have seemingly endless uses for the Road Warrioress.  They’re reusable, recyclable, disposable.  Space-consumption and weight are next to nothing.  Here are some of my favorite uses for the little snack-size bags.

1.    Instant mini-cosmetic bag!  Stop digging through your handbag for your lipstick.  These are just right to keep a set of make-up wands and tubes: mascara wand, brow wand or pencil, eyeliner, eye shadow, lip stick and gloss or Chap-Stik, small vial of cologne/perfume.  You can even get your gear into an evening bag this way.

2.   Mini-manicure set.  Most manicure cases are a bit bulkier than need be.  Emory board, nail clippers, orange stick, cuticle trimmer, nail polish remover pad, even a small bottle of nail polish tuck together neatly in these shallow snack bags.  I include tweezers with the manicure set to make it a “tool bag.”

3.   Office “diddlies:” paperclips, paper clamps, strip of staples (or mini-stapler and box of staples), a handful of pens and markers.  Keep those assorted odd bits organized.

4.   Jewelry: use a piece of plastic straw (see our earlier post!) to keep chains, necklaces, bracelets from tangling.  Then place them in a snack-size bag.  If you only have/need a few pieces, this is far less bulk or weight than a jewelry bag or roll.

5.   Have a fragile piece of jewelry, such as a strand of pearls?  Placing it in a little baggie helps protect it from scratches.  Even if you also use a jewelry roll, bag it, then place it in the jewelry roll.

6.   Phone charger.  Protect it, and especially keep that fragile cord from tangling.

7.   Ear buds.  Again, keep your cords from tangling.  Prevent loss of those tiny earpieces.

8.   Slip in business cards as you receive them at meetings, conferences, events.  Label bag by event, or transfer them to your business card storage system after the meeting.

9.   Batteries!  Take batteries out of the awkward bubble pack and zip them into bags.  A snack-bag will hold a large (16-24) bubble-card full of AA or AAA batteries.  Great for spare small specialty batteries (watches, hearing aids, etc), too.

More to come!

May your road rise to meet you!
Ann

A Weird Traveler's Weirder Tales

With titles like The Sex Lives of Cannibals and Getting Stoned with Savages, how can a traveler not be intrigued by J. Maarten Troost's books?  The weirdly-wandering Dutchman's latest offering is Headhunters on My Doorstep.  Bizarre adventures told with wry humor!

This time Troost, instead of following his wife's jobs to Gilbert Islands (Kiribati) and Vanuatu, is off on his solo adventure following parts of Robert Louis Stevenson's travels through the South Pacific.  The remote Marquesas and Tuamotos, Tahiti, Kiribati Redux, and Samoa are his haunts on this venture while wife and sons are left behind in Washington, D.C.

Troost somehow manages to enmesh - and extricate - himself from Terrible Troubles, like the stomping of a giant centipede (back in Vanuatu days).  When you read his tales, the tribulations of travel become laugh-out-loud hysteria.

Love this guy!  Can't quite match him with tales of my own, and doubt I'll ever keep up with him, except vicariously through his matchless tales.

Have a great big belly laugh.  And be glad he's not along for your ride.  However does he manage to get himself into such scrapes?  No matter what your own tale is, Troost can probably top it.  No matter how dreadful your trip turns, Troost's misadventures will make light of yours.  Totally fun read.

May your road rise to meet you - with laughs but without misadventures!
Ann

Your Health & Safety Are Your Top Concerns!

I violated my cardinal Rule of the Road, and have paid for it.  Whoops!  Always maintain healthy habits, take your vitamins, keep up your strength.  Well, I blew that big-time.  Ran out of vitamins, above all vitamin C, as well as echinacea, which boosts the immune system, and neglected to restock promptly.  In fact, let it go for a couple of months.  Busy-busy-busy.  Then ran into a friend, stopped to chat, and she had bronchitis.

After two courses of antibiotics, weeks of fever - ailing - fatique, I'm back.  And vow to help you keep the bugs away!  Worse than being sick at home is being sick on the road, or in temporary digs, or living the Road Warrioress life.

So, here are some tips I've followed (and those I've failed to follow).  The difference is staying healthy and keeping up with travel's rigors and demands, or not.

1.  Maintain high standards of hygiene and health maintenance.  Shower, brush teeth, scrub hands with soap instead of using that goopy alcohol sanitizer, keep everything clean - clean - clean.

2.  Drink only bottled (distilled or reverse-osmosis deionized - also called "purified") water.  Minerals can vary from one type of spring water to another, and goof up your system.  Lots of those minerals are salts, and salt is not particularly useful.  And drink plenty of water, too!  Eight 8-ounce glasses a day is about two liters or two quarts or half a gallon.

3.  Take your vitamins, minerals, herbal supplements.  Choose your vitamin regimen that works best for you and stick to it!  Keep up your resistance, keep your immune system well revved up.

4.  Hanging around an area for awhile?  Expats share info on their favorite docs and dentists, not just where to find lightbulbs or American pantyhose or British-favorite teas.  Make quick notes of resources in a small notebook by country and city.  Or keep a little pack of index cards in a plastic box.

5.  Get sick in a strange place, or fracture a tooth?  Call the nearest consulate representing your country of citizenship, ask for Citizen Services, and see who they put on the list for your country's diplomatic services personnel.  Often they select professionals trained in your country, or speak your native language, or at least speak English as well as the local lingo.  Since English is the world's most widely spoken language (when you count native speakers plus second-language), that's the "default language of choice." 

American consulates are generally well equipped with lists of American-trained doctors, dentists, veterinarians, and assorted healthcare professionals since so many foreigners go to university, med school, etc. in the US.  UK and Canada are very much up to snuff.  Australia is particularly good in the Asia-Pacific region.  From my experience and reports from other expats and PTs, these four really surf the local turf for top-notch people, and often have the longest lists to choose from.

The French and Germans, according to contacts in those expat communities, are very particular, very diligent.  They might not have a large array to choose from, but even if there's only one, that's the one!

6.  Travel is stressful.  Exercise is the antidote.  Find a way to go for a walk everyday, even if you cannot get into some sort of health club, hotel exercise room.  Or learn some basic exercises you can do in a small space (like a hotel room).  Jog in place, stretch and bend, do some quick isometrics for the mid-section at your desk or in your plane seat!  Do something religiously, even it is only for ten or fifteen minutes a day.

Stay healthy!  You really don't want to get sick, spoil your trip, or wallow in self-pity and fevered sheets ten thousand miles from home.

May your road rise to meet you - in good health!
Ann

Quick Takes: News You Can Use

Here's just a few short clips from recent news.  I think you might make good use of them.

Chile appears set to join those countries on the US Visa Waiver Program effective in 2014.  This allows visa-free entry to US for up to 90 days - just register online through ESTA.  This could be helpful to those considering Chilean citizenship, now that Chile has streamlined some new routes to immigration and possible citizenship.  For American citizens looking to Chilean citizenship with an eye to possible renunciation of their US citizenship, it means visa-free entry for those quick visits back to the US to visit friends and family, or wrap up business interests.  Chile seems more and more appealing as a place to live, work, launch a business, explore as a PT through South America, even immigrate.  Land of 21st Century opportunities.

Complaints about TSA employees' unethical conduct and worse are up 26%.  More and more travelers are seeking routings which avoid the US.  For example, one American man with lots of international business interests hops from Mexico City to Vancouver when heading from Latin America to Asia.  He heads from Latin America to Europe through Brazil to Portugal and onward.  He claims it's worth a bit of extra expense to avoid transiting any US airport - even though he's a US citizen.  Consider planning your travels to avoid transiting the US, too.  What woman wants to be groped in public?

Still need help securing your personal info against PRISM and other malfeasance, invasions of privacy, risks to your safety and security?  Check out this "Black Paper" on digital privacy by Simon Black, privacy maven, inveterate PT, international business expert.  Loaded with excellent tips to protect yourself, your identity, your communications, especially while traveling. 

May your road rise to meet you, fellow Road Warrioress!
Ann

Encryption Is the Way to Travel

It's called Road Warrior.  Well, it's definitely suited for the Road Warrioress, too.  It's an encryption service from Cryptohippie, and considered the top of the line for encrypting the long-haul traveler's computer, email, communications, etc.

It's not cheap.  What do you expect for military-grade technology in easy-to-use form?  But Cryptohippie gives you a money-back guarantee if you are not satisfied with their encryption and secure email account included in the Road Warrior package. 

Cryptohippie says: It creates a strongly encrypted connection from your computer to the Cryptohippie anonymity network. From there, your traffic passes through at least two national jurisdictions, loses all association with your identifiers and emerges from our network at a distant location. But, even with all of this going on, you can surf, check your email, use Skype, and everything else exactly as you have been. Unless you reveal it yourself, no one can see who you are or what your data may be.

Features of Road Warrior include, according to Cryptohippie:

Easy to install and use software

Available for Windows, MacOS X, Linux

Works in almost any environment

High speed (3.5Mbit/s median)

All protection methods enabled

Protects websurfing, email, VoIP

Closed group network access

Includes secure email account

Includes secure network disk

Includes secure instant messaging

Install on multiple computers allowed

25 GB of monthly traffic included

Telephone and email support

And the cost is USD275 per year. 

I'm no techie.  Don't ask me to explain all the technology.  While I've had and used my own computers for three decades now, and consider myself fairly proficient, I still use my 'puter like a toaster: I put in my "bread" and expect to get out "toast."  You're better off researching this one yourself to get whatever details you need.

But you certainly want to take a look at this.

And if you have any suggestions for other top-notch encryption services, pass them along here so we can all take advantage.  After all, most of us Road Warrioresses are working, running computer-based businesses while we play Perpetual Traveler, and need to protect ourselves and our data.  Certainly everyone deserves to be able to say "I love you" to Pop, Hubby, Darling Daughter or Whoever without half the rest of the world listening in.

May your road rise to meet you (without spies stalking you!)
Ann

If You Want More Privacy. . .

Since the explosive revelations last month regarding PRISM, NSA's monumental worldwide invasion of communications privacy, people are changing a lot of computer habits.  Goodbye google, hello StartPage.  The number of queries on the DuckDuckGo search engine doubled in less than three weeks.  Cryptocat's volume doubled within that time.

Steven Spielberg's Minority Report is alive and well and living in the White House, in NSA, and in their inconceivably voluminous facility under construction in Utah.  It's worse than Orwellian.  1984 might have been the wrong date, but certainly the right prescient track.

Here are some changes you can make to your internet habits:

DuckDuckGo does not store personally identifiable information about search queries on its servers. You can see exactly how your Google search information is saved and sold, thanks to DuckDuckGo's simple diagram found on its website: http://donttrack.us/.  Check out duckduckgo.com.

StartPage is a non-US based third-party search engine. When you search with StartPage, they remove all the identifying information from your online query and then submit it anonymously to Google themselves. They get the results and give them to you, keeping your information completely private. Your IP address is never stored… your visit is not logged and they don’t place any tracking cookies on your browser.  They make it clear on their website that anyone seeking to subpoena data on users can forget it - there is no data!  Set StartPage as your homepage!  Simply go to startpage.com.

You can keep your intranet chats private by using Cryptocat. This site encrypts all of its users’ messages so that notes between you and family, friends, colleagues or employees stay off the radar.  It might not be available for all browsers, but check out https://crypto.cat/

Besides governments which copy your inbox, hackers, identity thieves, advertisers, and others are after your personal information.  An offshore email account is not free, though the fees are generally reasonable.  Here are some reputable, relatively inexpensive options to consider.

http://www.SwissMail.org/ Based in Switzerland.

http://www.neomailbox.net/ Based in Switzerland.

https://secure.runbox.com/ Based in Norway, which has strong privacy laws. Runbox is generally considered a cheap and quality option.

https://www.jumpshipservices.co/ Parent company is incorporated in Hong Kong with servers located in Switzerland. JumpShip Services - Jumpmail - www.jumpshipservices.co/jumpmail
 

Instead of a US-based cloud storage or data storage company such as DropBox or Google, consider free alternatives based in a friendlier jurisdiction.  Perhaps the best offshore data storage option is Switzerland-based Wuala. Wuala encrypts and stores your files on servers in Switzerland and offers 5 GB of free storage space.

More to come on some easy-to-access, easy-to-use alternatives for the Road Warrioress!

May your road rise to meet you (without spies)!
Ann

L'Audace, L'Audace, Toujours L'Audace!

I was just talking with a fellow attendee at a workshop about business travel.  Yes, loads of women managers and execs at his large company travel.  "They only travel in packs," he says.  Not one of them travels solo - unlike us Road Warrioresses.  Company conferences, training, even sales calls on customers - everything is done as a team.  Same flight, same hotel, same car or shuttle.  And heaven help one if dinner is not scheduled en masse.  They'll order room service before they'll venture into a hotel coffee shop alone.

Lousy way to travel if you ask me.  Yes, I've done it for corporate quarterly sales meetings and such.  It's nice to have company at dinner, develop coworker relationships.  It can be rather comfy, or a severe trial of overload and no privacy.  Yes, I always managed to strike out on my own somewhere along the schedule of events.

But practically all of my travels from the moment I set off to college barely days after I turned 18 (not even a week after my birthday!) have been solo.  And while I have needed or wanted room service on occasion, it becomes very dreary very fast.  Waits can be long, food often arrives cold, the menu is very limited to start with.  And the costs are frightful - one dinner can consume an entire per diem allowance.  Neither riding with the herd some 16 hours a day nor hiding in my hotel room are much fun.

Remember George C. Scott as Patton?  "L'audace, l'audace, toujours l'audace," was General George's advice, as memorably quoted by Actor George.  Where's your audacity?  Guts, gumption, or simple - and elementary - modicum of confidence?  Criminy, you hardly need much brains, talent, hutzpah, experience, or anything else to walk into a restaurant, sit down, order something, and eat it.  You've been eating something or other since the day you were born.

Most larger hotels have more than one restaurant.  Pick the snack bar or coffee shop rather than the exclusive and formal restaurant.  Who knows?  You might strike up an interesting conversation with a fellow traveler, even make connections for a better job!  It's easy.  It's a lot more fun.  And you will get better food selected from a wider variety of options.

Surprise!  You'll probably find out you are not the only person dining alone.  You might even run into me.  Even though I really am quite shy, we'll strike up an interesting conversation.

Oh, by the way.  This guy clued me in on something, if you're ambitious.  Those women hit the glass ceiling because they can't - or won't - travel solo.  Top executives don't travel in packs.  They only have a peon trailing behind if anyone at all accompanies them.

May your road rise to meet you - and may you meet it with audacity!
Ann

What to Know Before You Go

When I got the phone call at 3:35 a.m. informing me I was going overseas on the possibility of a job, I headed to the library to read up on Bali.  That’s where I thought the caller said I was going.  Bwa-ha-ha!  Joke was on me.  I was headed to Balikpapan (BTW, nothing in those pics existed when I lived there).  Instant freak-out at the Indonesian consulate in Singapore when I obtained my visa.  The Jungles of Borneo?

I went.  Still glad I did!  Very, v-e-r-y strange life, however.

It pays to do some research (I eventually got to Bali, and good thing I’d done my homework).  Wherever you’re going, get some data in a hurry.  It’s incredibly easy to learn a lot in a few hours these days.  Hurray for the internet!

So what do you most urgently need to know?  Where to spend your research time most fruitfully (especially if you have to leave in the morning!)?

        *  Visa types and requirements: every country has a website with visa details.  Get your info straight from the authorities or reputable visa agents.  Beware some “agents” which have not updated their website in three years.

        *  Climate/weather: what clothing and supplies will you need to pack?

        *  Safety issues: better to be safe than sorry.  Check US Department of State advisory bulletins, and google city, country, crime rate.  Of course, you practice personal safety and security measures at all times everywhere!

        *  Cost estimates: kayak.com, hotels.com, cost of living index sites, even craigslist can give you quick ideas as to price ranges on hotels, housing, food, sales taxes or VAT, and more.

        *  Courtesies and culture: avoid making a complete idiot of yourself.  E.g. in Indonesia, do not “wave bye-bye,” especially to a child.  They freak out since that motion is identical to their non-verbal signal for “come here.”  No bare shoulders, no shorts or mini-skirts, no first name basis introductions, or similar cultural taboos could cost you a great deal of unnecessary trouble, complications, or plain old embarrassment.  This is something you can intensely study for years and still not get it all right.  At least make a stab at some of the more overt behaviors which can generate major misunderstandings.

        *  Business culture and attire: suits or dresses or skirt/slacks with blazer?  How to present a business card?  “Get to know you” before you get down to business?  If you work, run your own biz, whatever, this one’s the deal killer.  Find books on international business etiquette or do some internet research on city/country + business attire, business etiquette.  When in doubt, ask what the proper procedure and form is, explaining you’d like to adhere to their customs but don’t know them all “yet.”

        *  Something special: take some time to treat yourself to a popular local food, museum, sight – something unique which interests or intrigues you.  Who in their right mind goes to London without taking in at least one play?  Somewhere in your research, even quick-study, you’re bound to come across something, so cram it into your schedule somehow.  This is the feature which makes all travel worthwhile.  All the rest is necessary, but this is the item which matters.

 

May your road rise to meet you - with very few bumps!

Ann

LUG-Lugging It All Along

When my old wheeled computer bag died, I promised you a review of new wheeled computer cases/attaches.  Newest addition to my luggage collection comes from LUG, a quirky-but-trendy collection of colorful luggage, totes and bags.

It doesn’t take long to assess bag basics, although durability tests might take years (as with my DayMakers handbag).

So here’s the Good, Bad and Ugly – what I like or not about using this particular wheeled computer bag I got.  (Note that it was a gift, so I don’t have model name or number.  No, this was not sent to me by the company for product review purposes.)

Like: that it holds a lot!  Laptop, accessories, files and legal pads, more.  An ingenious side-entrance pocket is perfect for CD/DVDs in their jewel boxes.  Since I have an expensive set of brain entrainment CDs which cannot be downloaded (or play on my ’puter), the whole set and portable CD player fit into that pocket.  There’s a water bottle holder on the other side.

Dislike: vertical design means digging deeply, and stuff gets lost in the bottom.  The office supplies pocket has pen loops and pockets, but is a bit too tight for a real collection of doodads: paper clips and clamps, earbuds, phone recharger, Post-It Note pads, and that wild assortment of itty-bitty stuff in need of organization and accessibility.  The old wheelies did better on that score.  Zipper pulls have no holes to accommodate luggage locks, and there always comes a time when you need to zip up more securely.

Open for Debate: the extendable handle seems a bit flexible, which could be a worry.  Too early to say.

On the whole, it’s working for me at the moment.  For daily commuter use, it’s a cute, stylish, functional office on wheels.  For the really long haul, I just don’t know.

May your road rise to meet you – and your wheelies rise to the occasion!

Ann

Oh-Bummer, Bummer Care

California has just released its Obamacare health insurance plans: four levels.  Silver is the second-cheapest, $321/month, plus $2000 deductible, plus $45 copay per doctor’s visit.

You can get a full year of health insurance other places for less than one month’s of California’s low-budget plan.  Local insurance in Panama runs about $100/month.  Uruguay reportedly has plans cheaper than that.  Mexico runs under $500 a year!  All-inclusive, no copays.

You can obtain international traveler’s insurance, which includes coverage in the US, for about $300/month.  And it’s better than California’s cheapskate coverage.

So now a reader reports to an expat newsletter that she received a letter from her state’s senator, Sen. Nelson, stating that all US taxpayers, including non-residents and expats, are required to obtain health insurance or pay the tax for being uninsured.  Despite the fact that US insurance policies are worthless in foreign countries!

Errant nonsense!  US Congress has totally run off the rails here.  If you are reasonably healthy, your total medical bills for a year can run less than a month's premium for the far superior insurance plans available in many countries.

What a bummer!  Worse, not even Senators and Representatives have read their own healthcare bill.  According to that, non-resident US citizens are supposedly exempt from US Obamacare requirements.

Be careful!  Study the law, and study the regulations.  Or find a Legal-Eagle expert to sort out this mess.  Alas (or thank goodness?!), I am not an attorney.  I do my homework, do the best I can finding sources, but it seems even the law as enacted might not be the final word.

 

May your road rise to meet you!

Ann

Hotel Security Is a Major Concern for the Road Warrioress

In Taipei, I stayed in a newly renovated hotel – until I learned renovations were due to a major hotel fire in which a number of guests were killed.  The sprinkler system did not look particularly trustworthy, and the smoke detector had no little light, which had me concerned that it might not work or even be hooked up!  In Houston, some man followed me to my room.  Fortunately, with key already in hand, I was able to slip in and, throwing my full body weight against the door, slammed it on my stalker's hand.

For the solo woman traveler, it pays handsomely to pay attention!  Your security is your first responsibility to yourself.  And all too often, you cannot wait to be bailed out.  Here are some tips for your safety in hotels:

1.   Never open your door!  First, check through your peephole (if you’re tall enough to see through it – they are often set to man- or tall-person-height).  If you are not expecting anyone, call the front desk or housekeeping to ensure they really have sent [name] with more towels or whatever.  Verify Name – ask who’s there!

2.   Beware posting your breakfast menu on your doorknob before retiring.  It can alert Bad Guys to a lone traveler unless you disguise that fact by ordering two cups with a pot of coffee, or two juices, or something.

3.   Check room security when checking in.  Is there a good deadbolt lock with a long throw (part that goes into the door jamb)?  Smoke detectors?  Sprinkler system?  Annunciator system for emergencies?  Is your door hidden from traffic through the hall?  That’s not a good thing as Bad Guys are out of both camera range and sight of people walking through hallways.

4.   Never prop your door open, even if you are expecting housekeeping or room service.  Either shower before you call, or hold off on the shower until they’re finished.

5.   If there’s an adjoining room, ensure there’s a deadbolt lock and safety chain or security bar YOU lock from your side!

6.   Poolside or patio room?  Be especially careful about security for those sliding glass doors!  In fact, poolside rooms are often noisy, so why pay any premium rate for an insecure room with less privacy?

May your road rise to meet you – and may your road be safe!

Ann

Room Disservice Is a Major Gripe for the Road Warrioress

The last time I experienced excellent room service was when I lived in the “Back of Beyond” – Balikpapan, in the jungles of Borneo.  I’d fill out my card before I went to bed and hang it on my doorknob, ordering breakfast for 6:15 a.m. delivery.  No later than 6:16, room service knocked.  And the eggs were hot, the toast was hot, the coffee was hot, and the orange juice refreshingly frigid.

I’ve pretty much abandoned room service ever since.  The price is atrocious, taxes and gratuities ferocious, and heaven help you if you do not tip the delivery person.  Burger buns are doughy puddles, eggs unrecognizable, and the temperature of everything on the plate is stone cold.

No, I loved my dual-voltage travel hot pot – until it died.  I could always manage to slip in instant noodles or soups, coffee and tea.  Nothing to brag about, only to stave off starvation in wee hours.  And unfortunately, better quality than room service indigestibles.

Now I rely on things on like packets of Ritz Big Cheese or granola bars.  I always hope for an in-room coffeemaker, and at least Stateside, am rarely disappointed.

For long-haul travelers, weird arrival times, crazy meeting schedules, and assorted headaches can make room service urgently needed.  For the Road Warrioress, many hate (even fear) eating alone in a hotel restaurant, thus prefer room service.  But I never count on it anymore.  All too often, you’re better off if you’re self-sufficient.  Or head for McDonald’s.  They seem to land on every street corner around the world, and you can get there faster than room service can find you on the 35^th floor in Building D.

When you check in, how long does it take you to walk from the front desk to find your room?  Count on room service to take at least that long - once they finish preparing your order, fixing your tray, and finding a spare room service waiter.

TIP:  Ask which is the best Chinese, Thai or pizza restaurant that delivers to the hotel.  Have the front desk call in your order while you check in since they have name and number.  Somehow restaurant delivery will find your room faster than room service ever could, and arrive with hot, delicious food minutes after you arrive! 

Got any Room Service Gems?  Dish, dish!  Share the good news!  Got any horror stories?  Share them, too.  Forewarned is forearmed – with Ritz crackers.

May your road rise to meet you!

Ann