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Ahmet Erkun

Ahmet Erkun

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  • North to Alaska By RV 2021
    Ottoman history diorama as a backdrop for this photo op ... Deniz is the one with the camera.

    We Have Company

    April 13, 2021 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 37 °F

    More accurately ... we will have company.

    Since we have an extra room at the Charming Cottage in Anchorage, we invited my brother to join us for a few days before we head off on our road trip.

    This will be Deniz's first time in Alaska. He's not too keen on "cold weather" destinations, but hopefully, the state's notoriously fickle weather will cooperate. And maybe he'll fall in love with the state ... just as we did when we visited Alaska for the first time in 2001.

    We're looking forward to showing him some of the sights on the outskirts of the big city ... revisit some old haunts ... check out some places that might be new to us as well.    Read more

  • North to Alaska By RV 2021
    Essential vehicle maintenance is part of the prep for getting the vehicles road-ready.

    And the Prep Continues

    April 10, 2021 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 57 °F

    In the week or so since I last wrote, the prep work for our AK road trip has been ongoing. We've been busy bees ... though in different ways.

    My time has been spent reading — the Milepost, blogs, and more — and taking copious notes on this and that ... things that might be of interest to us. My Todoist app has a whole slew of things to look into or do ... and the list is growing in leaps and bounds.

    We've jiggled a few plans ... added a short side trip that will put us on the Alaska Marine Ferry ... looked into a few off-the-beaten-path destinations. I'll leave the details as a surprise. The overall plan is still essentially barebones to keep us as fluid as possible.

    Mui has been giving the RV and toad the once-over. He's changed the battery and air filter on both vehicles and ordered a few things he'd like to have handy for on-the-road handyman work. He also did a bit of spring cleaning to get rid of the winter grime.

    We've removed from both vehicles things we don't want to take with us on this trip ... to make room for things that we do want to take with us. Some of the necessities have been reloaded into the RV. The de-winterizing, however, won't happen until a few days before our scheduled departure. We do live in Colorado after all and hard freezes are still a very real possibility.

    And thus ... the "preparation beat" goes on!    Read more

  • North to Alaska By RV 2021
    Changes are afoot!

    A Change ... Not of Our Doing

    April 4, 2021 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 72 °F

    The culprit behind the change to our trip is not us. Rather, it is Delta Airlines.

    I got an email today advising us that our outbound flight has changed. New flight number. New departure time from SEA. It is still a non-stop flight, however. And we still have Comfort+ seats ... although we're now in aisle and window seats with the middle seat showing blocked. The pop-up message says that the middle seat is not available for selection ... with the caveat that it might be filled by the time the flight departs. 🤞🏻 it does, in fact, remain unoccupied.

    The change means that we'll lose some time in Anchorage on our first day. But it also means that we'll get to sleep in a bit before heading to SEA for our flight to ANC. As well, we won't have to figure out what to do to kill time in Anchorage before the 4:00p check-in at the cottage.

    Bottomline ... all's good!    Read more

  • North to Alaska By RV 2021
    With so few roads in Alaska, we'll be focusing our roadtrip on the highlighted area.

    North First? Or South?

    March 30, 2021 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 32 °F

    We'll begin our 10-week Alaska road trip by leaving Anchorage on 19 May. Easy decision ... that's when we have to check out of the "Charming Cottage" we booked in the city while we wait for the RV & toad to catch up to us.

    The question then was which direction to go first. North or south?

    Our instinct was to go south and then make our way north. After a brief discussion, however, we reversed course. Why? We spent time in Seward in 2010, so we figure it will be a good place this time to relax for a bit at the end of our roadtrip.

    The plan now is to head north from Anchorage ... perhaps jiggle west a bit to catch some of the central roads on our way to Denali National Park. From Denali, we'll head as far north as we can before beginning the southbound trek.

    When I say we'll drive as far north as we can, we're excluding the Dalton Highway from that consideration. We traveled the Haul Road all the way to the Prudhoe Bay oil fields and the Arctic Ocean in 2001 ... a two-day trip with one overnight in Coldfoot and another one in Deadhorse .... with someone else doing the driving. We don't intend to punish our vehicles by doing the drive ourselves.

    Is this plan carved in stone? Sort of. Not really. We have a few reservations made to cover us during the two federal holidays that fall within our road trip ... Memorial Day and the 4th of July. But we can change those reservations if, for some reason, we decide to really jiggle our plans.

    Now that we have the barebones of our trip in place, it's time to get serious about researching what we want to see and do. Methinks there is a lot of reading in my immediate future.    Read more

  • North to Alaska By RV 2021

    COS-to-TAC Routing ✅

    March 28, 2021 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 54 °F

    We're planning a "fluid road trip." But that doesn't mean that we don't have some parameters to consider ... namely calendar deadlines.

    Leaving home on 3 May ... delivering the RV and toad to Tote Maritime on 11 May. These are the dates that bookend our drive from Colorado Springs to Tacoma. That gives us 9 days to make the ~1,500-mile drive. Technically, we can make it to Tacoma in considerably fewer days.

    At present, we're planning on six easy-driving days on the road and three days at the travel camp at Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM) in Olympia, Washington. The three days @ JBLM are essentially a buffer in the event we run into weather or other issues along the way.

    The map posted with this footprint is from RV Trip Wizard, the app I use to plan our road trips. I've added some potential overnight stops — boondocking spots and a couple of campgrounds — to our route. But nothing is carved in stone. We'll drive more miles — or less — each day depending on our mood and any unforeseen circumstances.

    When I added the auto-generated return to Colorado Springs to the map, it created a loop for us (top of the map). That's another area we have not explored before, so we just might add a bit of sightseeing on the way back home.

    Now, to get down to the nitty gritty of planning the "big trip" in Alaska. It will be a fluid framework, but planner that I am, I can't entirely go with the flow 😄    Read more

  • North to Alaska By RV 2021

    Before & After Logistics Part II ✅

    March 26, 2021 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 45 °F

    With the decision made to spend our time waiting for the vehicles northbound in Alaska and southbound in Washington State, today we focused on finding accommodations for those days.

    If we're going to be in one place for just a day or two, we're OK staying in a hotel. For stays of longer duration, however, our preference is to book a place through AirB&B or VRBO ... or similar. Having our own place is a lot more comfortable and brings with it the advantage of self-catering at least some of our meals.

    For our week-long stay in Anchorage, we booked a property listed as "Charming Historic Cottage." It's located downtown ... walking distance to restaurants and such. Looks cute as a button in the photos.

    Before we could book a place in Washington, however, we had to first decide where to base ourselves for about a week. We settled on Leavenworth.

    No, I don't mean the US penitentiary in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Rather, we'll be heading to the Bavarian-styled village in the Cascade Mountains of Washington. Though we lived in Tacoma for a little over a year when we moved to the US in 1982, we never made it up that way. We're looking forward to exploring a new-to-us area.

    AirB&B came through for us once again ... this time with a property listed as "Lily House." The place is in a quiet residential neighborhood in Leavenworth. It may not be within walking distance to restaurants, shops, and such … but that’s OK since it means that we will be away from the hubbub of a busy tourist town.

    We've also booked rental cars to get ourselves around in both Anchorage and Leavenworth. That pretty much takes care of the logistics for "before & after."    Read more

  • North to Alaska By RV 2021

    Before & After Logistics Part I ✅

    March 26, 2021 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 45 °F

    With the "where to spend the waiting time before we are reunited with the RV and toad" question answered, it was time to book flights.

    I had some spare miles languishing in my Delta SkyMiles account ... returned to me due to a pandemic-related trip cancelation earlier this year. So, I used those miles to book roundtrip SEA-ANC-SEA flights ... 19,500 miles each + a few dollars in taxes and fees ... not bad for the Comfort+ cabin. Our seats are already selected.

    Our northbound flight departs around 7:30a and will require an o'dark hundred arrival at the airport. Southbound, we have a decent departure time from Anchorage, but we have a late arrival at SeaTac — around 9:30p — due to losing an hour for a time zone change. So, I booked us into the Crowne Plaza near SeaTac at either end of the trip.

    With these logistics details taken care of, it's time to find accommodations for our "waiting time." But that's for another day.    Read more

  • North to Alaska By RV 2021

    Before & After

    March 26, 2021 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 36 °F

    Before and after what? Let me 'splain.

    Since Tote Maritime does not take passengers, our RV and toad will be cruising to and from Alaska without us. How long will that take? About five days ... give or take a day ... what with loading, unloading, the transit between the Lower 48 and the 49th state, and whatnot.

    We'll be flying to and from Alaska. That will take us just a couple of hours each way.

    What that means is that we will have time to kill before the vehicles arrive in Alaska and again after we ship them back to Washington State at the end of our road trip.

    What to do with that waiting time?

    Well, we decided to head up to Alaska on the outbound trip in May ... spend a few days in Anchorage ... revisit some old haunts.

    Then, when we reverse course in July, we'll spend time in Washington ... where is TBD ... probably somewhere we didn't get a chance to visit when we lived in Tacoma in the 1980s.

    Let the details unfold as the planning progresses.    Read more

  • North to Alaska By RV 2021
    There will be some reservations between these dates, but we'll mostly be footloose and fancy-free.

    The Plan!

    March 25, 2021 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 46 °F

    This is going to be a fluid trip. Meaning that we’ll have a “framework” bounded by a start date and an end date. Reservations where necessary ... but mostly footloose and fancy-free. The idea is to be fluid enough to jiggle things as weather and other considerations warrant.

    So, here’s the “barebones plan” calendar as things stand right now. Everything between these dates ... well, all that will be fleshed out during the planning process.

    (You can click the calendar for the details.)    Read more

  • North to Alaska By RV 2021
    Tote's North Star — a Ro-Ro vessel — will be taking our RV & toad north to Alaska.

    Cruiser & Toad A-Cruisin’

    March 25, 2021 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 45 °F

    Mui and I may not be able to cruise out of US ports yet, but our RV and toad [tow vehicle] sure can. And that’s what makes our plan to explore Alaska this summer with our Phoenix Cruiser possible.

    Here’s the backstory ...

    It was a chance comment about Tote Maritime in the “RVing to Alaska 2021” Facebook group that had us once again putting Alaska on our travel map for this year. Can’t drive the RV to Alaska? Ship it instead!

    I’d already checked the Alaska Marine Highway to ship ourselves and our vehicles to the 49th state. But the fare was cost-prohibitive. Would Tote, the shipping company that makes twice-weekly supply runs between Tacoma, Washington and Anchorage, Alaska similarly be a budget-buster?

    The only way to find out was to shoot off a quote request. I did that yesterday afternoon. A couple of hours later, I had a quote. One that we could live with ... especially after Mui agreed to remove the hitch and spare tire to reduce our vehicle size to fit within the 21-30 foot pricing range. Of course, we’ll need those “accoutrements” for the road trip in Alaska, so we’ll just put them inside the trunk of the toad for the cruise and re-install them in Anchorage.

    So, now we have a plan. I’ll share the details in another footprint.    Read more

  • North to Alaska By RV 2021
    2

    North to Alaska

    March 25, 2021 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 27 °F

    A last-minute decision for our summer RV trip ... but one that we are very happy to have made!

    In case you missed it in the title of this FindPenguins trip, we will be exploring Alaska with our RV.

    How is this even possible with the US-Canada border still closed? Details coming soon to a footprint near you 😉    Read more

  • Türkiye 2021

    TK33 Equipment Change

    March 1, 2021 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 39 °F

    Our hopes of flying the Dreamliner on at least one leg of our trip to Turkey this year have been dashed.

    When we bought our THY tickets earlier this year, the IAH-IST flight was showing the equipment as a B777 ... with the return flight — TK33 — on the Dreamliner.

    Checking our reservation today, we found out that the Dreamliner has been switched out for the B777. Darn!

    Not that we mind flying the 777. We've flown it to Turkey before and know what to expect. It just would have been nice to try out BizClass on different equipment for a change.    Read more

  • RTW Redux ... 2023
    Collage of colorful ports of call on RTW2023 ... snipped from the brochure.
    The published itinerary for RTW2023.

    Where Will RTW2023 Take Us?

    February 13, 2021 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 12 °F

    A cold, cold day. Though it’s a bit warmer elsewhere in Colorado Springs, here at home we have reached the forecasted high for today — 0F. It's all downhill from here into negative territory.

    Nothing special going on. So, I decided to delve into the details of the itinerary for RTW2023.

    No worries! I'll post a screenshot of the itinerary as published in the brochure, but I’m not going to bore anyone by naming them all. I’ll just do that with some stats instead 😜

    To begin, only 71 of our 198 days will be at sea. And of those days, 7 will include sightseeing — such as when we transit the Panama Canal. That leaves 127 days for us to spend in ports. Looking at these numbers another way, only 36% of our voyage will be at sea.

    We’ll be stopping in 43 countries and/or islands on 4 continents. Of these countries, 19 will be new additions to previously visited countries. We've explored all 7 continents already, so it doesn't bother us that this itinerary will be missing some of them.

    All in all, there will be 102 ports of call … including our embarkation and disembarkation ports. Of this number, 20 will be overnight visits … we get a second night in 2 of the ports.

    Breaking down the 102 ports another way, 67 will be new-to-us ... 35 of them we have visited previously. Percentage-wise, 65% new and 35% been-to. That's darn good. We don't mind that there are some repeats. The vast majority of the ports in that category still have so much more for us to see and do.

    We do expect that there will be changes to the itinerary.

    Weather and/or sea conditions are the usual culprits for itinerary changes. Sometimes political or safety reasons come into play. And then there is the pandemic to consider. While I expect — hope is a better word perhaps — the pandemic to be in our rearview mirror by the time we sail, there’s still the possibility that some ports will not reopen to cruise ships.

    No matter. We’ll make the most of any itinerary changes. With one caveat. If the itinerary starts to resemble RTW2017 too much, then all bets will be off.    Read more

  • RTW Redux ... 2023

    Why Blog with FindPenguins?

    February 6, 2021 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 39 °F

    When we decided to book RTW2017, I struggled with the decision to blog or not.

    It wasn’t that I didn’t want to write about our adventure. I did. I love writing about our travels as an insurance against those days that will eventually come when “armchair traveling” will be our only option. And I enjoy sharing our trips with others. Thus, a blog is the perfect means for both.

    The struggle was because I know myself. I start out OK. But the further we get into the trip, the more difficult it gets to stay on top of the blog ... the farther I fall behind. This has happened with every blog I’ve written ... including the one I eventually decided to write for RTW2017.

    The problem, you see, is that I would rather be out and about enjoying the moment. And then there is also the availability — or lack thereof — of a wifi or data signal to post to the blog.

    So, for RTW2017, I came up with the idea of doing a private journal with all the nitty gritty of each day. The plan was to then post a snippet to the blog each day and include a couple of photos. Well, that didn’t work so great ... for a variety of reasons. Eventually — well after we were back home — I got the blog all caught up and the story of RTW2017 was completed ... thanks to staying on top of my private journal during the voyage so I could pull out details after the fact.

    So, for RTW2023, I am going to use FindPenguins instead of Blogger to recount our travel stories. Admittedly, I much prefer the story-telling format of Blogger. Photos interspersed amongst words work so much better. But I’ve tried it unsuccessfully. No sense in banging my head up against the same wall ... over and over again.

    The FindPenguins format is a lot simpler. That should keep me on the straight and narrow🤞🏻. As well, I can use my phone or iPad to post footprints anywhere ... anytime. After all, that is the purpose of this app. I won’t have to rely on the often-iffy wi-fi signal on the ship. I can draft up the footprints, and if the ship’s wi-fi doesn’t work, I can start posting as soon as I get within a data signal with my T-Mobile plan.

    Thus, once again, I will attempt to tell the story of a RTW voyage. Hopefully doing better with live or near-live footprints. I will maintain my journal as well ... in case I have to rely on it for missed details … again!

    All I can do is try!    Read more

  • RTW Redux ... 2023
    Insignia deck plan showing our cabin location on deck 6.
    Sample photo showing the new color scheme post-refurbishment.

    B2 6084

    February 5, 2021 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 32 °F

    Our ideal cruise ship cabin is one that overlooks the stern of the ship. There are several of these cabins on Insignia, but only two of them fit our budget.

    Considering the incremental booking windows for RTW2023, it came as no surprise that we were unable to book one of those aft cabins. Instead, we managed to snag a B2 category cabin on deck 6 ... portside ... in the aft third of the ship.

    The cabin is the same size as the aft cabin we'd hoped for. The veranda, however, is not as spacious. No matter, we're satisfied with what we've got booked.

    Insignia went through a refurbishment in late 2018. All new colors and decor. We're looking forward to enjoying the more modern look and feel of the ship as we cruise around the world.    Read more

  • Türkiye 2021

    COS-IAH Logistics

    February 5, 2021 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 37 °F

    Our revised plans for this year's annual trip to Turkey return us to Houston on 2 January 2022 ... the latest date I could book with the 40% Turkish Airlines promo.

    A few days ago, the United Airlines booking site showed domestic flights for that date available for booking. We have flight credits, but they have a "fly-by" date in August. Since we don't begin our trip until 6 September, I looked at award tickets instead.

    I found a schedule that fit our needs. In fact, our outgoing flight to Houston is the same one we had booked for March. I did run into a small glitch on the inbound flight. You see, our Turkish Airlines flight from İstanbul is not scheduled to arrive @ IAH until 7:00p. The connection is too tight to make the last UA flight to Colorado Springs that same evening.

    No matter. We'll just stay overnight, get a good night's rest, and fly home the next day.

    I booked a fully-cancelable room — no deposit required — at the Marriott @ IAH. Not only is there an underground shuttle between the terminal and the hotel, but we can also walk the passageway to stretch our legs after the long haul flight from İstanbul. We stayed at this hotel in 2018 and know how it all works.    Read more

  • RTW Redux ... 2023
    Map showing the versions of RTW2023 available for booking. We'll be doing the 198-day version.

    Continental Connoisseur

    February 4, 2021 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 34 °F

    “Perhaps more than ever before, so many of us are realizing how valuable our travel experiences have become. Our travels connect us through a shared passion, create bonds that last a lifetime and often enrich our lives in ways we’d never imagined.” ~~ Bob Binder ... President & CEO ... Oceania Cruises

    Oceania gave us several itinerary versions of RTW2023 from which to pick and choose. The usual 180-days — this year from San Francisco to San Francisco — is one of them. Plus a few other options that include starting in Miami and ending in New York.

    After a careful study of the itineraries, we have opted to embark Insignia in Miami on 28 December 2022. Why? Because we saw a number of new-to-us ports on the 18-day segment from Miami to San Francisco. Besides, it's always fun to transit the Panama Canal.

    When RTW2017 concluded in Miami, we regretted not having more days on the ship. This time we will have those extra days🤞🏻.

    Our second world cruise will be 198 days instead of 180 days. And it will be known as the "Continental Connoisseur."

    Though it is fairly impossible to depict a "Round the World" itinerary on a flat map, attached is a snipped version from the Oceania brochure.

    We'll be going east to west, north to south, south to north, west to east. In other words, we'll be traveling in every possible combination of directions as we circumnavigate the globe.    Read more

  • RTW Redux ... 2023
    198-day sailing around the world!

    It’s Official! Jumped from 2022 to 2023

    February 3, 2021 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 59 °F

    It’s a done deal! We have officially jumped ship. Or perhaps more accurately, since the ship remains the same, we have jumped years. From RTW2022 to RTW2023.

    I paid the deposit this morning. Between the $s transferred from other cruise bookings that we have canceled (including RTW2022) and future cruise credits from O-canceled 2020 cruises, there was no “new” hit to the wallet!

    Details coming soon!    Read more

  • RTW Redux ... 2023

    Optioned RTW2023

    January 27, 2021 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 32 °F

    Just 34 minutes after bookings opened this morning, I had an “option invoice” in my email inbox for Oceania’s RTW2023.

    We were hoping to get one of the two aft-facing veranda cabins on deck 6. But the chances of landing one of them were nil ... especially since passengers displaced from RTW2020 and RTW2021 due to the pandemic were given an early booking window. No matter, we managed to land a B2 veranda cabin, which was our second choice.

    The Oceania website already shows RTW2023 sold out. That’s a bit misleading, I think. I’m sure some cabins were held back for “segment” bookings when they become available in about a month or so. And of course, there will be some people who cancel between now and the final payment next year.

    We now have until 3 February to make the deposit.    Read more

  • Türkiye 2021

    Annual Trip to Turkey Postponed

    January 14, 2021 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 36 °F

    This is one of the dominoes that fell when we canceled our May 2021 Icon of the Isles cruise on Oceania.

    Though we usually visit Turkey in the fall, this year we moved the trip to the spring. The plan was to fly to Turkey in March, visit our families for a couple of months, and then fly to England to embark on Oceania's Sirena.

    Those plans have now been trashed.

    Instead, we'll be going to Turkey in September. The new plan calls for spending several months there, returning to the USA after we bid hello to the new year.

    These new plans all came about when Turkish Airlines (THY) sent an email yesterday with their latest promotion ... 40% off on fares through December 2021. What did that mean? Basically that we could fly BizClass for the price of Economy seats. Too good to pass up! But we had to move quickly since the promo was only good on purchases through 15 January.

    So, we canceled the March tickets purchased with United Airlines miles and bought new tickets directly from THY.

    UA has already redeposited the miles at no cost to us. And the taxes and fees are already showing as a pending refund on the credit card. No hit to the wallet. That's a good thing.    Read more

  • RTW Redux ... 2023

    The Genesis of the Travel Itch

    January 10, 2021 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 28 °F

    While we wait to find out if we’ll be doing the 2023 world cruise on Oceania, I thought I’d share the genesis of the travel itch that keeps us wandering around the world … often for extended periods of time.

    Instead of repeating myself in this trip journal, I’m going to link to the post I wrote while we were waiting for the booking window to open for our first world cruise (RTW2017). After all, nothing has changed since I wrote this bit in 2015 … except that we’ve added a whole bunch of places to our “visited list” since then.

    http://2totravelrtw180.blogspot.com/2016/05/fir….

    Enjoy!    Read more

  • RTW Redux ... 2023
    The cover that kept the RTW2023 itinerary hidden until we opened the brochure.

    3rd Try the Charm?

    January 6, 2021 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 39 °F

    RTW = Round the World. Or, to use the Oceania nomenclature … ATW … which stands for Around the World. I like my acronym better. Hence, that is the abbreviation I will be using.

    After our RTW2017 voyage, we knew we would be doing another one of these long adventures. There was a caveat, however. The itinerary had to be substantially different from the voyage we did in 2017.

    First try for RTW #2 ...

    We booked RTW2020 when the itinerary came out in February 2018. Then, we decided to settle in Colorado and bought a house in July 2018. We figured that it was more prudent to save our $s for the home purchase. Thus, we canceled the booking. In hindsight, it was a good thing that we did so. RTW2020 was severely disrupted mid-stream due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Second try for RTW #2 ...

    In January 2020, another Oceania world cruise itinerary caught our eye. This time for 2022. It was different not only from the 2017 itinerary but also from our now canceled 2020 plans.

    Within weeks of RTW2022 being announced, we had a deposit down for a cabin. Two months later, the coronavirus pandemic began burning across the world. Sigh! But we persevered. Surely this "bug" was a flash in the pan and would be gone by the time January 2022 came around.

    2020 passed in a flash of masking and social distancing. The pandemic grew. The numbers around the US and the world kept moving in the wrong direction ... up instead of down. Sometimes in huge surges. Sometimes slowly. Even with a vaccination program starting up towards the end of 2020, relief — partial or otherwise — seemed far, far away. We kept our fingers crossed for RTW2022 and persevered.

    Third try for RTW #2 ...

    2021 began with continued cruise cancelations. RTW2022 was still a go, however. Discussions of wearing masks and social distancing on ships took on a life of their own. Add to this the possibility of being required to take ship-sponsored excursions to get off and explore ports. Hmmm ... it was perhaps time to consider a postponement or cancelation of our 2022 plans.

    Today, Oceania’s RTW2023 itinerary was published. A cursory look at the map proved that it was worth considering. In some ways, it was similar to RTW2020. Definitely different from RTW2017.

    So, we've decided to jump ship if we can get a cabin. The potential glitch? Passengers on the disrupted 2020 voyage and the canceled 2021 voyage will be given incremental priority for making their reservations. Bookings for the rest of us will not open until 27 January.

    Nothing to do but patiently wait until then ...🤞🏻.    Read more

  • RTW Redux ... 2023

    Q&A … A Quick Reference

    January 4, 2021 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 46 °F

    While FindPenguins is quite easy to use, I do sometimes get questions. So, here’s a quick "Q&A footprint" for those who might need it. (FindPenguins does have a good support page, which you can reach at https://support.findpenguins.com/hc/en-us.)

    The app can be downloaded from the Apple Store and the Google Play Store.

    If you prefer to use the website: https://findpenguins.com/

    DO I HAVE TO CREATE AN ACCOUNT TO READ FOOTPRINTS?
    You can read footprints and view photos by simply opening the link I provided for my feed/trip. You do not need an account. However, without an account, you need to manually open the link each time to check if there is a new post. There are no automatic notifications.

    HOW DO I GET NOTIFIED THAT THERE IS A NEW TRIP OR FOOTPRINT?
    Only followers receive notifications. Confirmed followers are notified about new posts and comments. You can also see trips that are visible to “Followers Only.”

    HOW DO I FOLLOW TWO TO TRAVEL?
    To become a follower, a FindPenguins account needs to be created. You then have to go to my profile using the feed/trip link I provided and click on the “Follow” button on my profile. Once I accept the request, you will start receiving notifications.

    **** Important Note: If you create an account, FindPenguins will automatically give you a premium account. This is a TRIAL for the paid version. Not to worry. YOU WILL NOT BE CHARGED. After three months, unless you have specifically taken action to activate the premium account, you will be converted to the free version.

    HOW DO NOTIFICATIONS WORK?
    Once you become a follower, you will immediately receive push notifications about new footprints and comments on the app or the website. This only works if you have enabled push notifications.

    Email notifications: If you confirmed your email address when you set up your account, you will receive emails about new footprints. These emails are sent within 24 hours of a posting, but to keep the mailboxes clean, no more than one email every 3 days.

    By the way … Email notifications are not sent if you have already seen the footprint.

    HOW TO RE-ORDER FOOTPRINTS?
    On the home page (aka the feed), the order is newest to oldest (or “newest first” if you are using the app). The feed is for all of my trips, so posts from different trips could pop up, though this seldom happens when I am actively traveling.

    You can reverse the order if you wish. This is handy if you want to catch up on a trip by reading the existing footprints first.

    To change the order of footprints for a specific trip on the website, click the blue “trip name” link at the top of the footprint. Then click the blue link on the right top above the footprint to reverse the order.

    If you are using the app, click the blue “trip name” link at the top of the footprint, then look for the “…” in the top right corner of the screen to reverse the order.

    LEAVING COMMENTS
    Every author enjoys receiving comments, so do take a moment to leave one instead of just clicking the “heart” at the bottom of the footprint. If you don’t have an account, please add your name at the end of your comment.

    I do answer questions and reply to comments when warranted. Unless you have an account, you will have to manually return to the footprint to see the reply.    Read more

  • Türkiye 2021

    PCR Testing for Entry into Turkey

    December 24, 2020 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 46 °F

    Up until now, Turkey was not requiring any kind of COVID-19 testing to enter the country from anywhere in the world. That has now changed. The reason? The explosion of COVID-19 numbers in Turkey. Apparently the rules now require a negative PCR test within 72 hours of arrival.

    The possible good news? The rule is set to expire on 1 March 2021. That’s before we fly out from IAH on 9 March. Of course, there’s no guarantee things won’t change again. These are uncertain times.

    Anyway, it’s just one more thing to consider when we’re making a decision to go or not in March.    Read more

  • International Jaunts 2020

    Oceania Pays Up Again!

    November 17, 2020 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 64 °F

    Our international jaunts "wallet" has once again been made whole — with a 25% bonus — for the cancelation of the cruise we would have embarked on 23 November had Oceania not canceled it back in October.

    The 125% FCC for the cruise fare was posted to our O account on 23 October. I've already transferred it to the 2022 sailing we've had on the books for a while now. What with the vaccine news and all, we're hopeful that cruise will be a go 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻

    The taxes and fees for the canceled cruise posted to the original form of payment as cashback today. For some reason, a small portion of that amount was credited back to another credit card ... still good, but I had not used it to pay for this cruise. Doesn't matter, really. We got it all back. That's what counts.

    This footprint officially wraps up our "International Jaunts 2020" FindPenguins trip. Hopefully, 2021 will prove to be a better travel year internationally.    Read more

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