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Showing posts from January 19, 2014

100 and Done! (Countries that is...)

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We are back! This last trip brought the total countries visited to 100! It is a crazy milestone. It is difficult, time-consuming and can be (IS) expensive. After I got back from Antarctica in 2007, I started thinking about it. After 2010 I was thinking about it more (as I moved from NY to Georgia) and in 2014 it had become a real goal. Between Angie and I we have been to 109 Countries. We are tied at 100 countries each. We have 9 countries different in our lists. For example, I have been to San Marino. She has not. She has been to Israel. I have not, yet. There has been some fun competition in this area. That's why we had to establish rules. 1.) Must be listed (as a country) with the US State Department 2.) Being in an airport doesn't count. You have to get through immigration somehow and not in a DMZ or a no-mans-land 3.) A passport stamp is not required. I have been to Canada, Paraguay, and Uruguay without getting my passport stamped. There are friendly borders in many places...
It's the weekend again. I have been living alone in this house since I moved in 18 months ago. The property has appreciated (a quick look on the HP 12c shows 44% in this time) nicely. People have a tendency to forget that they are spending their money twice when they are investing in the place they live. This is a true bubble. A basic need is to have a place to live, where is your baseline? I don't need a extravagant place to live and I have options. I can comfortably rent a place again if I need to. I received my new computer. It is replacing my Dell that I bought in 2003. 10 years is good for a computer. It was time. I expect to have the place up in NY rented again. I like that place so much. The more I learn the more I realize that your inner vision is precisely what you get on the outside or physical world. The appearance of "O dragão verde" in his retreat clinches it. I have been studying about the green dragon.