World Cruise - Around The World in 108 Days!

Yes, I know Phineas Fogg did it in 80 days but he was trying to win a bet. And unlike David Niven in the film version we won't be using a balloon.

We're only trying to enjoy a cruise that circumnavigates the Southern Hemisphere. The question arises though, how do you prepare to be out of the country for 108 days? We've been working on that.

For a long time now, we consolidated to two charge cards. One we use for everything and the other we keep in reserve should the main card be lost or stolen and thereby canceled. It's our fall back. Our main card is used to make payments on things that come due regularly so that we don't fall behind. You would be surprised at how many utility companies, etc., will keep your card on file for payments. Often you can set up regular payments as well through your bank. So most of our bill paying is taken care of automatically or done online.

Mail is a big problem to solve, however. During our six week stay in Florida this year, we had our mail forwarded for two weeks and then held for the other thirty days (the limit for vacation holds). It cost a pretty penny to do that and we knew we needed to find a better way. Bob finally resolved with one of the fellows at the P.O. that it was possible to do a temporary forwarding of mail from our home to a post office box that we can rent. We can have someone pick up the mail from there and save it for us. It works out to be cheaper than the other forwarding we did. The lesson learned is keep asking until you get a reasonable answer.

License plate renewals will come due but we discovered that we can get that done up to 90 days before so that works. Little by little as we go through this year we do so with an eye to what will come around that time of year and needs to be taken care of before we leave. So far, I think we have the bases covered.

We have a wonderful friend who checks on our aquarium once a week or so while we travel to be sure that all is running smoothly and that the house seems to be okay. We may have to ask him to water a couple of plants this time though.

Of course as always, we register with our local police department to be sure there is someone keeping an eye on the house should anything look suspicious. And we do have wonderful neighbors who also know we travel and keep an eye out as well.

So now as we look ahead, the only problem we have is--what to pack!?