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Back when we still owned our store and would occasionally ship to Europe, we found that USPS was by far the best choice, both in terms of cost and ease of filling out the required paperwork. Who would have ever thought that?
2 years agoLooks great!
2 years agoSo great to spend time with you two!
Looking forward to keeping in touch through the journals and seeing your smiling faces later this year.
So you've adopted the "RV lite" lifestyle. :)
2 years agoNo, we aged out of camping decades ago. We’re committed credit card tourists for many reasons. It was probably the main reason we decided to sell our home four years ago. We’re not building up any equity, but other than that it’s probably as cheap for us to travel as to stay home.
2 years agoI bet you do that, and much more...
Anything that I might need that is of garden variety, commonplace nature can be bought when / as needed. No need to spend energy carrying it around until it's needed, nor to spend money shipping it ahead.
What about camp stove fuel? (Or are you non-campers?) You certainly could not ship that to yourself no matter the cost. I chose my particular stove in part because it supposedly burns either camp fuel (might be hard to find) or ordinary gasoline (which should be much easier to come by). Trying it with gas is still on my "experiments to do" list but it works really well with camp fuel.
Yes, but not before buying a 9 month supply of some of this stuff. The meds will go with us, but not most of our favorite shaving cream, toothpaste and the like. So we have a new life goal: to live long enough to use some of this stuff up!
2 years agoWOW. At least you checked before committing.
2 years agoWell, here’s another planning failure: we failed to ask the right question first: how much is this going to cost? I checked in at FedEx today to get a quote for whipping a small package (8” cube, 5 lb) to France and was shocked. $217. They recommended I look at alternatives: DHL, USPS, and I did at least check the USPS online calculator. It’s also > $100.
We could do better by carrying them with us on the flight over and shipping them forward from there. Eurosender (the best option we’ve found, and what we’ll use for shipping our suitcases forward) is 60 euros to France and about twice that to England. Neither one really makes sense to us so we’re scrapping the idea. We’ll just carry the essentials with us.
It looks like a painting!
2 years agoOurs (or at least one of mine) is pretty essential. We could manage refills along the way - particularly in Europe, where you don’t even need a prescription for any of our meds - but it’s easier and cheaper to manage it here with our own insurer. There’s enough bulk in things that will run down - toothpaste, meds, shaving cream and so on - that it doesn’t really make sense to carry a nine month supply. We’ve got our two care packages boxed up now, and there’s probably five pounds or so in each.
2 years agoWatching your parents decline is hard. Enjoy all the moments you can. Glad the trip planning is proceeding.
2 years agoI've been wondering about how people on really long journeys manage their prescriptions.
I *think* I should be able to top mine up shortly before departure, providing me with a supply that should be more than adequate for the time I plan to be on the road. It's something I'll raise with my GP next week when I see her.
If I can't, I'll have to have the "Okay, what are my options?" conversation, as in "What happens if I run out and can't get refills while on the road?" Nothing I take, so far as I am aware, is so vital to sustaining life that missing it for a time would be fatal or even have serious long term adverse consequences but I want her backing on that assumption.
Hi to you all!
Racpat
Good to hear that Rachel is ready to roll and packing has commenced!
2 years agoDonate the extra stuff to a local organization and buy more in Europe? Even the fav US products are available on Amazon, if not locally. We have found bike parts to be same price or cheaper in Germany. The UK is having crazy inflation/shortages so load up in France or Spain.
We are dragging around work gear and looked at shipping back yet costs are too high. In another few weeks we may feel differently.