What If You Get Sick-Travel Preparedness

Travel has its risks...take precautions before you leave home.
Sapa, Vietnam (photo by E.)

Here is a problem that I have never talked about: How to be prepared when you are on the road and get a cold or worse yet the flu? Yikes! Now this does happen boys and girls.  As optimistic as I am you would think I would just not worry about this but I do.  It can be a big problem. While I don't have all the answers I do have a few steps you should take before you board a plane, set out on the road in a car or a motor home. Be prepared!  (PLEASE leave a comment if you have more or better ideas.  I will link to a blog post if you have written about this too.) 

We are going to make the assumption that you have insurance or are on Medicare.

1. Before you drive pack your bags be sure to contact your doctor and let them know what you are up to. I suggest that you go to the office and get a quick going over just to make sure you are good to go.  
2. Get a flu shot far enough in advance that it is effective If you are leaving the country be sure to ask your doctor about any other needed immunizations. Hepititus seems to be a major problem.
3. Ask the doctor for prescriptions for illnesses that can crop up.Urinary track infections, asthma can be examples of a easy fix if you are prepared. If you are traveling overseas fill the prescription before you leave home.
4. Take all the usual cold medications, inhalers, tummy ache stuff (Imodium) and head ache pills. It will give you peace of mind.
5. Check with your insurance company to see what they are going to do if you are hospitalized or need to visit  a doctor while traveling. Our insurance company covers us when we travel but if yours doesn't, there are companies that do. Go over what you are suppose to do in the worse case scenario. Visualize what you will do if this happens.
6. Always travel with both your supplemental insurance card and your Medicare card. In my case I never use the Medicare card at home but when we are not at home they do not know my insurance company and are very suspicious. (I have had this happen.) 
7. Carry any medical records, prescription lists and personal contacts (children and doctor's number?). Also carry your living will or anything else that might be needed.
8. Talk this over with your spouse/partner. Miscommunication can be a huge problem. Always know where the other's wallet or purse is and how to find their cards, etc. If you are in a relationship where your are hiding medical conditions from each other, make an exception and come clean with each other.  
9. If one of you should become ill, remember that the partner standing needs to rest and eat. Nothing can be worse that the well person getting ill because they tried to do too much.
10. Let your family know what you plan it. If you don't they can even be a problem.b

1. Wash your hands...a lot. Drink a lot of water. Stay well. I don't want you to need this list...ever!This is important so don't blow me off.  I know what I am talking about!

Wash your hand...a lot. Drink more water than you think you need. Stay well. I don't want you to need this list...ever! This is important so don't blow me off. I know what I am talking about.

b
Note:  I need your comments.  Please let me know if you have more information or personal experiences you would like to share.

• Do You Have the Flu (assessment from Mayo Clinic)

How to choose the right RV park! 10 Ideas

I saw an article yesterday talking about how a person can regret their choice of apartments. No electrical outlets, noisy streets, dark rooms and shrinking space that become more apparent after moving in can send renters over the edge.  Renters remorse sets in but a lease has been signed so the tenant is stuck.  Finding the right resort to spend the winter in can be just as hard. I have some ideas that will help you narrow down that long list of "perfect" snowbird locations.

1. Okay I'm here. What do I do now? No matter how fancy a RV resort is it cannot be a stand alone location in most cases.  You can sit in the sun for just so long then you are going to want to get out and enjoy the area.  I for one do not want to be parked in the middle of the desert with nothing to do.  Think about that when you decide to settle into a location.
2. The railroad tracks are where?You can only hide the railroad tracks for so long.  Then that ugly beast with rear it's head at the most inopportune time. Just ask about railroad tracks and freeway noise before you make a reservation. Maybe you won't mind but at least don't be surprised.
3. I don't know anyone. If you decided to spend the whole winter in one spot you might consider finding a place where you have an acquaintance or two. I say this especially if you are new at the experience.  Friends can help make your winter experience  more enjoyable.  If you like to golf for example, it is nice to have another couple to play with. I don't see this as an absolute necessity but it is nice.
4. Cars are not welcome? We stayed in an RV resort in Needles, California one year. The owners didn't like for their renters to have visitors and would not let them park near our motor home.  If a visitor pulled in behind our car the owners would come immediately and make company move.   It was such an unfriendly atmosphere.  I think if we had asked if we could have company or invite people for dinner in the beginning we would have saved ourselves a lot of grief.  We didn't even consider that when we committed ourselves.  It was a beautiful park.
5. Pets are allowed where?  Pets can be a contentious point when you live so close to other people. A park that does not assign a special section for pets is inviting problems.  A dog that barks night and day can drive the neighbors nuts.  Check on that.  If you are a dog owner remember to be considerate of others.
6. You cleaned the laundry room last year?  Take a look around before you commit yourselves to an extended stay. A filthy laundry room or unkept pool area can be a deal breakers in my book.  We have stayed (one night) in some pretty iffy places.  Thank heavens we did not commit ourselves sight unseen.
7. Where is the pool, pickle ball, bocce ball?  When you look at Camper Life or an online website to see what is available at a park, be sure that the activities you enjoy are available in the park.  If you golf a course should be close by.
8. Quiet hour starts a 7 pm?  Unless you are dead you are going to want to talk or even dance in the street once in a while.  Remember that!  If the park is designed for very old quiet people think about whether that is going to work for you.  
9. It gets how cold at nights?  Just because a location is in the southern United States does not mean that it will be warm.  Check into the weather, average temperatures, wind/rain before you rent a park model or commit to a month in one location.  You will not regret it.
10. The grocery is how far away?  Is there anything worse that being stuck in a place that has no services?  I mean I like solitude as well as the next guy but no grocery store save the one in the RV park does not work for me.  It is just a thought.

Do you have any suggestions.  I would love to hear them.

b

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• RV Park Fined for county law violation. (Clatsop County, Oregon)
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Stylish Simple Living...what should you keep!

Bob Lowry wrote a post the other day about living simply but not having a simple life. He spoke of people going over board with the "simple living" principal stripping their life of all those things that are not needed. I began to think about that idea.

Rooftops of Sapa (edited with Snapseed on ipad)

We have just returned from a trip to Viet Nam where we visited a community in north Vietnam called Sapa. Here children played without shoes or even pants on days when I was wearing a coats and scarves. The people that lived in the countryside lived on the bare minimum. But, they still gathered things of beauty around them.  Native costumes with lively colors adorned the women and they spent their days weaving and embroidering things that they sold in markets. In fact, beauty surrounded them. On some level it was as though the difficulties of their life was made more bearable because of the colors that they embraced. I think that we can take a lesson from this. Not all the things in our life are disposable. There are things we should never get rid of; beauty, cleanliness, friendship, learning and family.

Native Women bartering!

Bob talked about the person that rid themselves of all but 15 things.  He thought it was a bit "silly". I think that if you are going to take away all but 15 things, the 5 things I listed above had be the things that stay. So of all your personal possessions that you can live without, those things that make your heart sing because they are beautiful should not be let go.  Hang on to what you can because, even when things get bad, they will make your life better.

I invite you to read Bob's article and see what he has done. Simple Living Can Become Silly is one of the best I have seen recently.

I live with a cat....sigh!

RV the CAT!

Living with a cat has got to be one of the most frustrating experiences one will ever have.  I live with a cat and a husband.  The husband loves the cat.  As a result I do not have any control in my world at all.

We traveled with the cat in a cage this fall...well for a while.  Then the cat demanded to be let out so we did.  There was no choice.  The cat can be a little whiny and besides that he will scratch me if I don't obey his every command.  Not when I displease him but later in the day...in the dark.  I don't like that at all.

Now he lives with us in our park model.  This cat was wild when we found him and still does not like to be in a small space.  We, however, live in a part of our RV park that does not allow pets outdoors...RV the Cat doesn't understand and escapes as often as possible.  I don't suppose he can help himself.  I don't think he knows that there are places in the RV resort where he could be on a lease outdoors yet. When he runs away, I will call and call but he doesn't come.  Then when I am not looking he will sneak in and hide where I cannot find him.  He doesn't care if we get in trouble and we do get in trouble right along in this place.  I know that can happen.  If the residents didn't like it when we danced in the street a 8 pm, imagine what they will say when my big black very spooky looking cat is seen wandering around.

I am a little worried that the cat will find out about Cat/Dog Street.  Please don't tell.  I told my husband that I have put my foot down. I am not moving to a new location and I'm not letting my husband move either...the cat on the other hand....!

b

Frugal Travel....Vietnam might be the place!

I was reading the Frugal Traveler this morning.  Author of the column, Seth Kugel, writes for the New York Times and is the "guru" of cheap travel.  You remember him...he was the one that blasted this blog out of the water last spring.  The article today is about Portugal.  Now that really is a place I would like to visit. But.....

In my world the Far East (excluding China) is by far the best buy for the frugal traveler right now.  We just returned from a trip to China and Vietnam. We visited Sapa, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and the island of Phú Quốc in Viet Nam and Shanghai in China. If I were looking for the most frugal of all adventures, Vietnam would be my choice right now...that is what I know so indulge me.

• Flight: $1450 (from Tucson AZ)
• Rooms:  $20+ Sapa Boutique Hotel, $140 Grand Hotel Ho Chi Minh City, $20-$100 Hanoi, $150 Cassia Cottages Phú Quốc (included breakfast).  This is a resort so the price is higher but in this case I think it is probably a very good choice.
• Trekking:  We booked our day hikes in the hotel we staying at.  We booked the guide after we had arrived. There are websites for treks with overnight stays in villages.  2 days 3 nights will cost around $170.  
• Overnight train fare from Hanoi to Lao Cai $25-$78.  Connecting Bus (1 1/2 hr.) $2 one way.
• Note:  A trip to Halong Bay could be another place you should put on your list.  

Sapa Rooms Boutique Hotel Lobby/Restaurant 

Night Train to Sapa from Hanoi

Valley below Sapa on the slope of the Hoang Lien Son range of mountains 
at the eastern extremity of the Himalayas.

Trek to Cat Cat Village

Cassia Cottages, Phú Quốc

I don't know when you last stayed in a $25 hotel room but it had been a very long time for me.  We stayed in a very small hotel in Hanoi called Hanoi Gecko.  The rooms were clean and the hotel was extremely small.  The hotel owner was there to greet us personally and the breakfast we were served in the morning was in a dining room off the lobby.  It was all just fine!  On the other end of the spectrum, we found the resort on Phú Quốco be very luxurious in Vietnam's terms and within a few years the price will probably be beyond our reach.  Our hotel in Ho Chi Minh City was indeed very nice but was not a 5* hotel.   All in all the trade off we made for the cheap rooms allowed us to upgrade in other locations.

Shopping Viet Nam is still very affordable and Hanoi Old City is very much like it has always been I think.  The charm of the way of life that reflects how the Vietnamese really live is still alive here as it is in Sapa.  The farther you go south the costs seem to go up.  

Market Place, HCMC

HCMC from the air.

A young frugal traveler that is willing to stay in less than *****hotels will find this to be a winner.  At least that is what we found.  Save up all your credit card points, keep a look out for cheap airline tickets or special...this could be the trekker adventurer's trip of a life time.

b

Related articles

• Travel Viet Nam...Getting to Sapa (retireinstyleblog.com)
• 10 Things about travel in Vietnam..2011 (retireinstyleblog.com)
• 10 Days in Vietnam...planes, trains and automobiles! (retireinstyleblog.com)
• Traveling with Grandchildren in the Far East! (retireinstyleblog.com)
• Vietnam...Selling to the Tourist from Hanoi to Sapa (retireinstyleblog.com)
• A day on an Island...Phu Quoc, Vietnam (retireinstyleblog.com)

Stein Mart Coupons and ME!

Link Here

Stein Mart here in Tucson (and maybe nationwide) is having a sale today (1/21/12).  Valentines day is coming.  We are going dancing next week end.  Did I mention...I love Stein Mart!  This is the store designed for women that like classic, beautiful, stylish, and inexpensive clothes.  It is a wonderful stop even if they are not having a sale.  Doesn't that describe you?  Really, this store is just perfect.  In fact, walking in the door will have your heart pumping.  At least that is what it does for me.

I love a good sale and I LOVE STEIN MART!  That is all I have today.

b

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How Old is Your Retirement Financial Advisor?

If I were a financial advisor I would really want to be near the age of the person I was advising or have dealt personally with the problems of a family member or friend that was retired!  The internet is filled with ads for people that want to tell others who are retiring how to invest their money and how much retirement income they will need.  But, unless they have been personally and emotionally involved in the finances of a senior, they probably know zip!

I was reading an article put out by a leading financial group the other day saying the same thing.  According to the person writing this article, the thing most advisors are forgetting is the emotional and financial cost of maintaining our bodies (health care).  The money figures they quoted were staggering.

• According to the estimates in Figure 2, a man age 55 in 2009 would need between $144,000 and $290,000 by the time he reached age 65 in 2019 (depending upon his use of prescription drugs in retirement) to have a 50 percent chance of having enough money to cover premiums and out-of-pocket expenses for Medigap and Medicare Part D
• Women age 55 would be able to save the same $46,200 as 55-year-old men if interest rates were 1 percent, but would need between $210,000–$406,000 by the time they reach age 65 in 2019 to have a 50 percent chance of having enough savings to cover premiums and out-of-pocket expenses in retirement.

These figure released in 2010 by the Employee Benefits Research Institute are the latest I can find and probably don't take into account new benefits or loss of benefits that have been instituted over the last 2 years.

Living for six month of the year in a 55+ community has giving we some insight to the good and bad of health care choices.   For example, we see people that do not have the benefit of physical therapy after surgery.  Recovery takes so much longer and is not complete.  In other cases we witness the effects of poor dental care and all the problems it brings.  Many people are dependent on the Veteran's Administrations for care and it has been a disaster.  In some cases all of these come together to create the perfect storm.  On the other hand, those with good health care benefits can live a very long and healthy life.

Living by the seat of our pants is not a good thing. Find a good retirement advisor be sure he/she is good because they truly understand the emotional side of living with the spektor of poor health care for the rest of your life.

Just a thought.

b

Technorati Tags: Financial Advisors, Retirement, HealthCare

Note:  Be sure of the cost before you enter into an agreement. In 2006 Kiplinger said:

A commission only advisor can offer you the advice you need and the cost will be amazingly low. this is because they are still early on in the "learning process". Dont let that scare you - if you go with a big firm, they will likely have a strict review process to ensure you are getting excellent advice (and doing nothing stupid).

Read more: http://forums.kiplinger.com/showthread.php?6561-Financial-advisor-costs&s=4f5052f5c810348950a19683e2c0c1db#ixzz1k28Ib3B5
Become a Fan of Kiplinger's on Facebook

You Don't need to be Bored in Retirement! Hobbies

Note:  I welcome you to become a follower, comment or even click the twitter button to share with your followers.  Thank you for stopping by.

Learning to draw on my ipad!

I heard from a Keith of Keith's Ramblings the other day.  He has just retired and commented on his own blog that he was already bored!  Being the helpful person I am, I suggested he become a clown.  He could join the circus!

Even though I was only joking, in some small way I was serious.  Have you ever dreamed of being a clown...or a writer or a pro-golfer?  Retirement is the time when you can pursue those dreams. The fact that you do not need the income frees you to do what you want without fear of starving!  All you have to do is start.  But being bored really should not be a choice.  You may have a little let down when you retire but before long you will begin thinking about what you will do next.  Retirement will last a long time so "next" is the key word here.

I always wanted to be a writer.  I woke up every morning for years with the first line of the next great American novel on my lips.  My regret now is that I didn't keep a list of those "first" lines.  Peanut's Snoopy and I could have compared notes.  When my husband and I retired, my son suggested that I begin blogging.  We were traveling at the time so I just began talking to my grandchildren by way of the internet.  That dream blog evolved into stories, poetry and eventually this blog about all that retirement holds.

Would you believe that the thing that bothered me the most in the beginning was my keyboarding skills? I wanted to publish what I wrote immediately but being my own editor was harder than I ever dreamed.  Those first few years of writing look so shabby to me now.  I am sure that what I write today will look that way to me in a few years too.

What I have learned is that I am happier when I am busy.  I can still learn with practice so new things don't frighten me anymore.  If for no other reason than happiness, starting a new thing that you can become passionate and even a little obsessed is a good thing.  Being involved will keep you off the streets. Last of all, practice will make you better, stronger and more confident.

Don't tell me you are bored!  Didn't you always want to be a clown?  Today is the day!

b

Technorati Tags: happiness, ipad, blogs, avocations, bored

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How much do your children love you?

How much do your children love you?

In an article written for the New York Times on their Sunday Review Opinions page, Hendrik Hartog, professor of history at Princeton wrote our current financial picture in relationship to the care elderly people are receiving now in comparison to the time before Social Security.  The article called Bargaining for a Child's Love is part of 10 years of research that Hartog did on the role families played in the caring for family members.


This story takes place sometime at the turn of the century.  As was common at that time a daughter had remained in the family home to care for the parents even after she married.  According to court records from New Jersey, in 1904 this daughter was finding it impossible to be the devoted daughter and a wife and mother.  She left the family home with her husband and daughter and moved into a house nearby.  It turned out the father suffered from syphilis and the mother was "crazy".  The father first ordered her to return and then tried to buy her love with the promise of his Civil War Pension and the property he owned.  All he asked was that she move back home.  She did not move back permanently but continued to return home frequently to clean.  In the end the daughter did get the house after returning to care for the parents for a short period of time but was then sued by her brothers for a share.

The image painted in this story is one that does not agree with that "it was better back in the old days" we hear about so often. Hartog talks about the romantic notion that things were better back when touted by those that are proposing that we abandon Social Security and Medicare in favor of privatized care.

Once upon a time, the story line goes, family members cared for one another naturally within households, in an organic and unplanned process. But this portrait is too rosy. If we confront what old-age support once looked like — what actually happened when care was almost fully privatized, when the old depended on their families, without the bureaucratic structures and the (under)paid caregivers we take for granted — a different picture emerges.

I recall stories told in my family about how the old felt about living in the same house with their children. My great-grandmother on my mother's side believed strongly that there was not the house big enough to let a blended family live together in peace. She lived alone until her death.  My mother cared for my grandmother on my father side until that grandmother became so untrustworthy and mean they placed her in a nursing facilities...far away! This grandmother lived on welfare paid for indirectly by my parents.  I think that Grandmother did not want to be in the same house with her son and daughter-in-law.  The house was not big enough and maybe no house would have been.  It is not a pretty picture. I know that.  But, it is in fact the way things were.

Hartog ends his article with the statement "We may not love the bureaucracies and the institutions that shape our lives today. But would many of us really want to live in a world without them?" Financial speaking it is a valid question.

So the question here is what bargain would you make with one of your children so that they would care for you?  Would you share that information with the whole family before making a final decision?  In many cases the final question would be how much do your children love you?  If our politicians have their way, we may just get to find out.  It is a little frightening isn't it!

Just a thought!

b

Technorati Tags: NYT, Privatize, Social Security, Family, Care Givers, finance

A Day in the Life of a Senior: Death

To live in hearts we leave behind

Is not to die.

~Thomas Campbell, "Hallowed Ground"

I just want you to know that not all of our days are wonderful.  But then isn't that true all of our lives? It is not whether or not something bad happens.  It is how we live with the bad.

Grieving
My dear friend Phyllis's youngest son was killed in a snowmobile accident yesterday.  He was 44 years old and the youngest of 6 children.  I don't even know what to do about this but give her all my love.  She is very deeply religious and it is carrying her through for the time.  The loss will come later I suppose.

My only thought was, of all the people on the face of this earth that are ready to die, a great many live within earshot of my park model.  It seems so unfair.   What I pray for her is that she be given the strength to accept what she cannot change.

b