So how can we sum up this past year?

It’s our first full year of traveling and we’ve come a long way. We’ve passed some milestones, seen some wonderful sights and met some wonderful people - and animals!

We’ve traveled from one side of the world to the other and back again and we’ve not left the surface of the planet - unless you count Tracy’s canyon swing(s)!

We also had some sad news, with the passing away of Tracy’s favourite koala - Belleview Bill.

Of course, the highlight of our year came only recently:

That’s right - I bought new trousers! Just kidding - of course it’s Kirsten! Since we found out about her on the 22nd of March, we’ve been eagerly anticipating her arrival. Now that she’s here, we’re so happy to be here with her.

So the big question is what is the pan for 2008? Well, our outline plan is that we’ll go down to Houston for a month to help out Tracy’s dad. Then, the plan is to head south into central America. From there we only have very rough ideas, but nothing is set in stone - maybe head further south; maybe go somewhere completely different - who knows?

Finally, many thanks must go out to the various people who have been good enough to put us up (and put up with us) over this past year. Although there are too many to mention everyone, special thanks go to: Mary Stewart, Brian and Joyce Westoby, Louise Raggett, Kristina Barker, Lizz Coaton, Alice Breton (and her parents), the McTrustry family, Jenny Rushmore, the Butlers, Kristi Couvillon, the Thompsons (Seattle, San Antonio and Houston), the Adams and the Bosworths. Also, thanks to everyone who helped us out last year too!

by C. Jennings

For several years Coastal vacation has been offering the successful home based business of direct sales and product advertising. Their product is part of the four trillion dollar travel industry. They deal in the sale of wholesale travel packages that include hotel stays, cruises and more. With a product that is in such high demand, there is profit to be made. This is a legitimate business that is built on a solid business model used by both pharmaceutical sales representatives and real estate agents. This is how Coastal directors are able to make commissions of $1000.00 per sale.
If you are unsure of your sales ability or comfort level you also have the opportunity to advertise for Coastal vacation and earn the same commission as sales associates. You are trained in advertising methods and provided with a fully functioning website that you run, which advertises Coastal vacations. All customer sales are completed through the call center provided by Coastal vacations. Once a sale is made and the client was directed from your site, you earn the sale commission. This opportunity includes no selling, no MLM, no prospecting, no inventory and no timeshares.

You can learn more about this opportunity through the official coastal vacation site. Here you will be provided with the full details on their business, their product and their job opportunities. You will see that the travel packages are full of enticing offers and based on well-known travel companies. You will see that you will receive training that sets you up for success instead of failure. You will have the tools and support that are needed to make your business succeed and earn the income that you dream of. On top of this solid job opportunity you also earn travel discounts for life.

Through product sales or advertising services you will work five to twenty-five hours per week and earn a gross profit of 85% on average. It carries a minimal risk factor and carries extensive tax benefits. Your income earning potential is unlimited. You earn what you put into your position. You can have the time, freedom and money that you want to have. You run your business for yourself but not by yourself, as you will have support calls and conferences to aid you in your career. You simply expose people to this home business solution and make a healthy income.

The top three reasons to choose this legitimate opportunity are:

1. You are offering an established, quality product that sells. You do not have to talk people into this product or opportunity. You simply provide information.

2. The membership pays for itself. Any amount of money you put into Coastal Vacation you make back with profit due to the successful business model used.

3. Tax benefits. You can save thousands on taxes by simply running your own home business through Coastal vacation.

You have the opportunity to earn $1000-$3000 per week and vacations for pennies on the dollar for life and it is an honest and legitimate business that you can run from your home. You simple visit the official Coastal vacation site, learn about this opportunity and begin your training. You will be on your way to making a legitimate income through Coastal vacation in a minimal amount of time.

About the Author
Cheryl Jennings is owner of MyGreatHomeEbiz.com and writes on a variety of subjects. To learn more about this topic Cheryl recommends you visit her blog located at: Unlimited-Web-Traffic.blogspot.com

…we got a white Christmas anyway!

We finally dragged ourselves out of bed (we’d stayed up to watch the Christmas Story on TV) at about 10am. This seems to be about par for the course these days. We arrived at the Adams’s house at around midday as arranged.

While everyone busied themselves getting lunch arranged, I made myself scarce and dug out a PC to Skype the folks back home (anything to get out of work!).

Once fully fed, we settled down to open prezzies. This year, we on the Thompson side of the family had arranged a “secret Santa” scheme without the secrecy - basically we only buy one present for another member of the family - and as long as we all stick to the plan, then we all get presents from only one person, but it’s a good ‘un. Luckily, everything went to plan and everyone got at least something.

We wound up with a whole heap of REI gift certificates and Tracy got some books she wanted. I’m kinda tempted to buy dog boots for Dexter… but they are quite expensive.

Anyway, it was soon time for the main event: dinner. In the UK, it’s quite traditional to have turkey for dinner, but it’s less traditional over here where turkey is always served on Thanksgiving, but not necessarily at Christmas. This year, it was lamb on the menu - although falafels were available for us veggies. The table was straining under the weight of the potatoes, sprouts, peas, sauces and bread that we’d piled on top of it - although, luckily it didn’t have to bear the full weight for long.

Once we’d made a dent in the main course, the table was cleared for dessert. With great ceremony (and greater quantities of brandy) the Christmas pudding was set alight! Being my first Christmas pud burning, I wasn’t sure if it was going to burn properly, so I ladled on the brandy in huge quantities just to be sure that something would catch on fire. Fortunately, I’d not gone too over the top and although it did burn for a good couple of minutes, at least I still have my eyebrows.

So there was just one more thing to do - and unfortunately I was one of the ones stuck doing the washing-up. I dunno who did most of the cooking, but I’m convinced that we had about twice as many pots and pans as we had items on the menu. It seemed that way to me at least… and half of us were eating off paper plates too!

Anyway, I’m now writing this back at the hotel - and it’s now Boxing Day, so Christmas is over for another year. It’s getting close to New Year’s Day and 2008 - so I’m starting reminisce about this past year. Expect a post soon about the year we’ve just had and our (perhaps optimistic) hopes for the near future.

Merry Christmas everyone and a Happy New Year to come!

We got back to Seattle on the 19th of December - so what have we been up to since then?

Glad you asked!

The Thompson family (those that weren’t here already that is) arrived on the 20th and they finally got to meet their new niece/granddaughter. Unfortunately, Sharon arrived with a sinus infection, meaning she had to restrict her access to Kirsten (only being able to hold her while wearing a mask). Luckily, that hasn’t been too much of a problem and we’ve spent a hours over at Lauren and Bart’s (now Kirsten’s) house.

Now that everyone was in town, we all went down to church to get Kirsten baptised. The venue was the local Catholic student union - and with the students away, we practically had the place to ourselves. Kirsten had been whiny all day and night (according to her exhausted parents) but behaved impeccably throughout the service - and indeed only stirred irritably when the water was poured over her head. Everything passed off without a hitch and now she’s officially a Catholic (officially being the operative word) and Trace and I are responsible for her spiritual well-being. I believe there’s no way to repeal this either - so she’s stuck with us!

We celebrated back at the house with 70 bucks worth of pizza (that’s a lot!) and a keg of beer. That’s the way to celebrate!

So we’re now looking forward to Christmas. I bought a pair of trousers the other day to remind me what size I should be - hopefully they’ll return them for a refund in the New Year. We’ll see.

More photos in ‘Seattle’ & ‘Kirsten’ albums.

Enjoy.

by John Everitt

Depending on the property and even the area of France, the laws on buying and selling Property in France can vary somewhat. Be careful with the capital gains tax, as this is chargeable on all second home sales owned for less than two years at a rate of 33% with a sliding reduction on profit percentages over a 20 years period. France has no restrictions on foreign property ownership.

Property Prices in France Guide Properties Range Varies, for example: From £10,000 for rural properties in need of renovation From £30,000 for apartments and studios From £50,000 for suburban properties From £60,000 for Ski apartments and chalets over £100,000 From £150,000 for South of France properties Locations in France France is divided into many regions and has a variable lifestyle.

Cost of Living in France
Although the general standards of living are quite high in France in areas heavily populated like Paris, Cote d’Azur, Riviera etc. Areas within rural communities tend to be a little cheaper to live in and as such are becoming quite popular with overseas buyers.

Buying property in France
Freehold residential property. Once an agreement on price is reached by both property buyer and property seller, a solicitor or notary will draw up a legally binding contract which both parties would sign. Normally a 10% deposit would be paid at this point (which would be held in a secure account until the completion). The property would be withdrawn from the market and the legal system would commence its checks etc. At this stage if the purchaser were to back out of the contract you would lose your deposit. Normally the final contract would be signed by both parties at the Notary’s office and at this stage the deeds would pass to the buyer and the land registry updated. The balance of the property purchase price would be paid to the Notary who will then pay the vendor. You will need to provide the Notary with a copy of your birth certificate translated into French and, if applicable, a copy of a Marriage Certificate, also translated.

Lawyer
We recommend that you enlist the services of a French Lawyer or Solicitor in the purchase of your French Property, preferably one who speaks English. This will help to protect your interests in the property purchasing procedure. This will be in addition to needing a Notary who is mandatory for property purchases.

Fees
Expect to pay around 10-15% over the selling price; The Notary fee is around 3% Transfer tax is 7.5% (less than 1% for new properties) Registration fees around another 6%. The vendor should pay the Real Estate Agents fees.

Property Tax in France
Property taxes are levied on property plus residential tax for living as an owner - occupier or as a tenant (renting or not). Both are calculated on the average property rental values.

Mortgages
Normal lending criteria will allow you to borrow up to 80% from French banks or international mortgage brokers and should be declared at the time of the preliminary agreement. The normal repayment term can vary between 15 - 25 years depending on the lender. These guidelines are meant for guidance only and describe a straightforward purchase scenarios. However this information is not meant to replace proper legal advice, which we always insist you take.

About the Author
John Everitt is a consultant to Globespan European property portal. Please visit our estate agents directory and this France buyer’s guide

We’re back in Victoria, enjoying the free wireless Internet available at the hostel! Brilliant. And we found an ace vegan restaurant here for dinner. It involves loading whatever foods we want onto a plate, cafeteria-style, and then paying for the food by weight. Rather worryingly, my plate cost a lot more than Iff’s! Hmph.

Anyway, we had a great journey from Tofino. We got a bus to Parksville, a three-hour journey through snow-covered forests and mountains. We saw bald eagles and frozen waterfalls along the way…absolutely gorgeous. The snow was coming down so thick in places, the bus barely seemed to move! But the journey was so lovely, we both agree it’s a highlight so far of our time on the island.

When we arrived in Parksville, we had to get a taxi to the train station. We got the same taxi driver who’d taken us from the Pacific Shore Resort (debacle!) to the bus station last time we were in Parksville. On that occasion, he talked a lot about doom and gloom: global warming, the end of humanity being nigh, that sort of thing. Cheery! So when we realised it was him again, we didn’t really encourage conversation!

We had a pleasant surprise at the Parksville train station. It’s only small, but it doubles as a pottery studio for various artists and a shop for their creations (with a couple chairs in the corner serving as the train waiting area). One of the artists was there, and she let us nose around the studio, which was lovely. There was so much gorgeous pottery for sale, but unfortunately pottery does not transport well in backpacks. Plus we don’t really need pottery while on the road. So I behaved myself and kept my excited credit cards safely stowed in my wallet in my pocket. Tempting, though!

We then had a lovely three-hour train ride to Victoria. We went through more gorgeous forests, alongside lakes and rivers and with lots more bald eagles to see. I found the bald eagles absolutely thrilling. Some of them we’d see perched atop tall trees, just staring down at the train as if they’d eat us all up if they could get to us. Cool birds!!!

The scenery and wildlife are obvious highlights of mine, but I’m also loving the people here. The locals we’ve talked to have been so nice and friendly, so welcoming and happy to recommend places to see and things to do. So many of them were careful to point out that they love living on Vancouver Island and that it’s the best part of Canada. We’ll have to test that for ourselves at some point!!!

For now, we’re back in Victoria for two nights. We’ll see what we get up to!

Our travels have now taken us as far as Tofino on the western side of Vancouver Island (see map in right margin). It’s here that our forward progress stops and we start retracing our steps back to Seattle for Christmas. We reached Tofino via a scenic 3+ hour bus journey through majestic forests and past serene lakes. Along the route we were told to be on the lookout for bears who may still be awake. Unfortunately we didn’t see any bears, although we did spot a few bald eagles on the look out for a spot of lunch (in the rivers rather than on buses thankfully).

We were told that Tofino was a good place to watch great Pacific storms roll in - and it is: our hostel is situated right on the shore with big windows looking out to sea - but unfortunately, this means that these same storms usually pass overhead, dumping rain on Tofino by the bucket load. It is these storms that have washed away any hopes we had of doing any hiking, taking a water taxi to nearby islands or pretty much anything else that involves going outdoors apart from nipping across the road to the supermarket.

Nevertheless, we are enjoying our time here. We’ve wound up spending today relaxing, reading, posting to he blog, email and the like - mainly due to more free wireless internet (yay!). The hostel itself has the feel of a getaway resort and is pretty quiet which all adds to the feeling of relaxation - and we need a spot of relaxation after our stay at the Pacific Shore resort.

While we were staying in the hostel in Victoria, Trace happened upon an advert for a timeshare company offering cheap stays in a Parksville resort. We got the special low rate as long as we attended a 90 minute “presentation”. We checked in and were given a luxurious room with a whirlpool tub, flat screen TV, mini fridge and various other mod-cons. The main problem was that this room was half of a duplex (it could be combined with the suite next door to form a mega-suite) and that we could hear everything going on in the next door room: from the woman on her phone to the bloke watching TV. There seemed to be no soundproofing at all. This meant that our relaxing resort stay left us feeling more tired than when we arrived. The resort said they’d never had that problem before and chose to ignore the problem. Needless to say we declined their offer to buy into the timeshare property. We don’t really have $25,000 to spare anyway.

So if you’re ever here, don’t stay at the Pacific Shore resort in Parksville. That’ll show ‘em.

Our Pacific Shore stay was very much in contrast to the accommodation we got in Nanaimo the night before. Nanaimo is usually ignored by tourists for its more famous (and slightly smaller) opposite number, Victoria. We found the HI hostel there to be warm, spacious ad stylish and despite costing the same as our specially discounted rate at Pacific Shore, blessedly quiet.

Tomorrow, we leave the west coast and wind our weary way all the way back to Victoria. Although we’ve been here for about a week, it seems that we’ve not really been able to do very much apart from travel. The weather has played its part, but it looks like we’d need to get some form of personal transportation (like a hire car or somesuch) in order to catch all of the “out of the way” places that we’d like to visit. Part of the attraction of this part of the world is its ‘laid back’ attitude which we have enjoyed, but we can be lazy anywhere (I have personally made this a life’s work) and sometimes we do want to get out and do some things. Maybe we’ll get to take a day trip from Victoria - there are a few places that we’d still like to see, so we’re keeping our fingers crossed.

by John Everitt

Geographically, the Czech Republic is located near the centre of Europe, and the country has been a member of the EU since 2004. This has helped to reassure some foreign property hunters, and a strengthening domestic economy is driving the demand for properties. The Czech Republic has a thriving tourist industry, though it is generally busier between May and September.

Average property prices: 1 bedroom apartment £65,751; 2 bedroom apartment £104,996 3 bedroom house £113,033 Since the Czech Republic’s entrance into the EU in May 2004, purchasing Czech Real Estate has become more straightforward. Presuming that a house buyer will not be dependent on having to live in the center of Prague or other main Czech town centres, then the best locations in respect to low prices and good real estate deals are about 40 to 60 km from any main town. Even better deals can be found in the many small villages that constitute the mainstream make-up of the Czech Republic if one is considering buying a retirement home.

Young Czechs are abandoning the smaller villages opting for better job opportunities in the big towns so there are many a great real estate deals to be found in smaller Czech villages as opposed to town centres. When selling a property usually the proceeds will be subject to a transfer tax of 3 percent. These guidelines are meant for guidance only and describe a straightforward purchase scenarios. However this information is not meant to replace proper legal advice, which we always insist you take.

About the Author
John Everitt is a consultant to Globespan European property portal. Please visit our estate agents directory and this Czech Republic buyer’s guide

Hello world travel fans!

Today for our informative update, it’s time for a little info on Canada! Did you know for instance that tea-friendly, Granny-loving, English-wannabe city, Victoria is the capital of British Columbia? I didn’t until we visited. Don’t say you never learn anything reading this blog!

Despite its status as the North American capital of overpriced cream teas, Victoria is actually quite a cool place - having interesting cafes, boutique shops and a small, but characterful Chinatown (more of a Chinavillage, but hey). The biggest bonus to us just now, however, is the FREE internet (remember folks, cheap is good, FREE IS BEST!) we can get by hooking up our borrowed (in other words, temporarily FREE!) laptop. This is especially useful as we have quite a bit of time on our hands (because we’re being incredibly lazy at times so have plenty of time to check out things like emails, football results, celebrity gossip (not really…). Anyway, because it’s free, we’re taking full advantage.

So the first stop on our tour of Vancouver Island after Victoria was the little town that could: Chermainus. In the 1980’s the town’s mill closed its doors and left the town without a major industry to support it. Faced with bankruptcy, the town turned to art for salvation and offered up the town walls to muralists. This decision proved to be the town’s salvation as now thousands of tourists visit to see their famous murals. We stopped there on our way up the east coast of the island between Victoria and Nanaimo.

When we got there, the first thing that struck us was the freezing cold weather. We later found out that many Canadians come here during the winter because of the mild climate! Although when you hear that it’s common for the mercury to tip -30 Celsius this time of year you can see why - it was a balmy +2 degrees here. Our time in Chermainus was spent trying to escape the cold (or perhaps warm?) weather by grabbing breakfast in a local cafe and tea in a local tea room. Everyone we spoke to in Chermainus was really nice and friendly and we had a great time talking to local people and trying to ignore the cold. Luckily it wasn’t too cold to indulge in a spot of our favourite pastime - dog stalking!

We walked down to the waterfront and managed to track down a few dogs with owners willing to stop and talk. Our favourite was a 3 month old German Shepherd whose feet, tail and ears looked like they belonged to a much older dog. She’ll grow into them though. We also stopped by local tea-room “Twisted Sisters” which was recommended by our Lonely Planet guidebook. It was started up a few years ago by twin sisters as “something to do”. They were very impressed that they’d made it into the Lonely Planet and were very grateful we told them - apparently they didn’t know already! Having tea there was a complicated matter as they have over 200 (ish) varieties (or varie-teas - ho ho). The vanilla earl grey I had was pretty good - although I think I prefer Dilmah. It was nice to try though.

In the next few days we’ll be exploring more of the island and experiencing more of what is on offer here. We’re already thinking that we’ll need to come back at some point because we don’t really have enough time to do the whole island justice - but I’m sure we’ll be back in Seattle at some point.