Seville

After a few days in Rota, I decided to start heading north. I figured that I´d head towards a city that had a train station so that I could start using my Eurail pass. Seville is about an hour from Rota, so I took a bus ride up ($15). I checked into a hostel right in the middle of Seville, close to restaurants and some sights worth seeing. I´ve decided to stay for a week, mainly because there´s supposed to be an active salsa dancing scene here. I´ve been told that they dance on-1, (LA style, as opposed to on-2, NY style), so I should have a good time here.

The jet lag is catching up with me, so I went to bed early my first night in the hostel. After ten hours of sleep, I was ready for a good workout. The hostel has a partnership with a local gym, so I was able to take a yoga class in the morning. Even though my Spanish is barely acceptable, I was able to follow instructions fairly well. Afterwards, the hostel offered a free Spanish style breakfast, which is usually toast and a marmalade of some type or toast with ham and cheese.

A quick shower, and I went out for some sightseeing. I took a walk around the Plaza de Espana, which houses many government offices. The architecture here is beautiful!

After sightseeing, I had a tapas lunch of mixed salad and what the waiter told me were empanadas. I expected a pastry filled with meat, but he brought out setas empanadas, which turned out to be huge, fried mushroom caps with a side of tartar sauce. Not what I expected, but still delicious.

After a siesta (I´m getting used to that idea), I went to find some salsa dancing. After walking for a half hour I found the place that I was looking for, only to find that tonight was lessons only; no social dancing. I was told to come back on Wednesday. I guess I´ll have to wait to get my salsa fix until then.

Tech issues

Before I left the US, I had contacted T-Mobile about my phone service. I was thinking that I'd have to purchase a SIM card to use here in Europe. T-Mobile's Global Service is pretty good, and it includes unlimited texting and web service. Although I usually kept data roaming off while in the US, I had to enable it once I got over here. It's really convenient to be able to keep in touch with the family back home.

I've been keeping in touch with the family via text and Skype, along with Facebook updates. However, during my downtime in my room I wanted to catch up on my Netflix and Hulu shows, as well as listen to Pandora. Since those services won't work outside of the US, I had to find a work around. Fortunately, both my phone and my tablet have VPN capabilities. I purchased an account with www.hidemyass.com, which gave me a US based VPN IP address so that Netflix and other media services would think that I'm located in the continental US. Success!

T-Mobile's Global service only applied to my phone, however. Although my tablet (Nexus 7) has it's own SIM card, it's not covered under a "Simple Plan" which provides global service. So I'm able to use it on a WiFi network only. Out of range of a WiFi signal, I've had to enable the Hotspot on my phone and connect my tablet to it.

Rota, Spain

I've finally arrived in Rota, Spain. I managed to catch a C17 out of Norfolk after two days of waiting. It was an early morning showtime for the flight - 0200. Since I had checked out of my room on base at 1000, I wandered around base and hung out until showtime. By the time we took off around 0500, I was wiped out. Sitting in a jump seat isn't conducive to taking a nap, but somehow I managed to squeeze in a couple of hours of sleep during the 7.5 hour flight.

We landed around 6 p.m. After walking to the base main gate, I was informed by the Spanish Marines there that I needed to get a base pass if I wanted to return on base. While getting the pass, I was told that I also had to get my passport stamped at the police station the next day. There's a 90 day limit without a visa; I initially thought that it was 90 days per country, but it's actually a 90 day limit within the European Union. And that's 90 days within a 180 period, so I'll have to spend time in a non-EU country (England, Croatia, etc) if I plan to stay over here past 90 days. The timer will reset at the 180 day mark.

I ended up at a hostel in Old Rota, Hostal Sixto. It was more like a hotel than a hostel, and priced like one. Private room and bath cost me $58/night. I decided to stay for three nights so that I could catch up with some family here and recover from my jet lag.

I took a walk around town to grab a bite to eat and get re-familiarized; I had been out here with the family in 2004 to visit. I love the plazas and the narrow streets around here! Went to a tapas bar for a sandwich and beer, and attempted to brush up on my limited Spanish. I noticed that food and drinks are inexpensive compared to the States; although the beers are smaller (around 8 oz), they were only 1.20 euros ($1.60).

I headed back to the hostel and chatted with the owner, who is Italian. She doesn't speak much English, but her Spanish is excellent. Her parents live in the hostel too, and her mom had baked some panna de nonna, which she explained is "grandmother's cake". Delicious with coffee!

Space A Travel preparations

Being a retired military member, I'm eligible to fly on a space available, no charge basis on military aircraft flying out of most military bases in the U.S. and Overseas. Since retirees fall low on priority list, planning and patience are key to flying space available (Space-A).

I started planning my trip a couple of months in advance by submitting my desired destinations to the air bases that I thought would have flights going to the east coast, and eventually to Europe. I used the website www.takeahop.net to submit my requests, and eventually downloaded their MilSpaceA app so that I could submit requests on the go. The earlier signup dates take priority over later signup dates, so it helped that I sent my information and destinations over a month in advance.

Flying Space A is a challenge, since a traveler's presence is required two hours before departure time and seats are not guaranteed. It helps to pack lightly, especially since there are weight restrictions on luggage and you often have a long walk from the terminal to base lodging.

I initially thought about taking a camping backpack to Europe, but decided that I'd look too much like a tourist. I opted for a mid-sized luggage case with wheels, and packed the following:

-Two extra pair of underwear and socks, not including the ones I'm wearing.
-A Northface waterproof, windproof jacket with zipout liner.
-Two pairs of Columbia hiking pants (wearing one pair) and one pair of nice jeans. I like the hiking pants because they're lightweight and dry quickly when wet.
-In addition to the Asolo hiking boots that I prefer to wear when sightseeing, I packed one pair of casual shoes and one pair of running shoes.
-One lightweight sports jacket.
-One buttondown shirt and 4 casual wear tee shirts in different colors (I prefer V-neck Calvin Kleins).
-One lightweight V-neck pullover sweater.
-Microfiber travel towel.
-One baselayer shirt and pants (I'm expecting cold weather, otherwise I wouldn't have packed these).
-One pair of pajamas (I stay in hostels most of the time, and many dorms are coed).
-One pair of shower shoes.
-One pair of running shorts and lightweight workout shirt.
-One large and one medium Eagle Creek compression bags (helps to compress all of my clothes).
-One molly bag (for store/grocery runs, misc shopping).
-One voltage converter (220v/110v) with adapters.
-A Garmin Trex 30 GPS
-Galaxy S4 with charger
-Nexus 7 tablet
-One pair Yurbuds earphones
-Several packets of Starbucks Via.
-Steripen traveler (just in case bottled water isn't available).
-Various travel-sized toiletries (toothbrush, toothpaste, two Tide laundry travel packets, floss, soap, shampoo, deodorant, Q-tips, mouthwash, several pocket sized Kleenex packets, Febreze, hand sanitizer).
-Padlock with key.
-Nikon Coolpix L620 camera.
-Messenger bag.

It seems like a lot, but I do plan on traveling for an extended period (>1 month). I placed my electronics into the messenger bag along with my travel documents (passport, Eurail pass, train timetables, etc) and a few toiletries, and the bag weighed in at seven pounds. My luggage with everything else weighed in at 39 pounds, just under the 40 lb limit for one of the flights that I took. Since box lunches are no longer available for purchase, I'll pack some jerky or protein bars into my jacket as a mini meal.

I hope that this list will help you decide to pack for your future trips.

Starting Over....

I retired last year, December 2012. I had hoped to hike the California Coastal Trail, beginning in February 2013. Unfortunately, life had some twists for me, and I was only able to hike from the Mexico border up to Camp Pendleton. For six months, I went on road trips and spent my time between San Diego and Murrieta, CA. I had a great time during those six months, especially while salsa dancing in San Antonio, Dallas, Chicago, Albuquerque, and Phoenix. But I really wanted to go on the road full time.

On a brief visit home, I found out that my previous employer needed some help, so I offered to temporarily take my old job back. After six months, my contract is up and I'm ready to go!

I'll be heading for an extended visit to Europe, taking a military Space Available hop out of a nearby military base. Since this will be an open ended visit (stay until I'm homesick/tired), I've had to do some thinking about my preparations:

Passport:

I went to the State Department's website (http://travel.state.gov/passport/renew/renew_833.html) and downloaded Form DS-82. I decided against paying an additional $60 for expedited service, since I had a full month before I planned on travelling. Although the website states that your passport would be renewed within 4-6 weeks via regular service, I received mine in 3 weeks. BTW, the Application Status link at http://travel.state.gov/passport/status/status_2567.html wasn't providing the status of my application after a week, so I called the office to see what was going on with my renewal. I was told that the link hadn't been working in awhile! BTW, I had my passport photos (2 needed) taken at FedEx Office for $16. AAA will take the same photos for $8.

International Driver's permit:

Although I probably won't need it, I decided to get an International Driver's Permit from AAA (http://www.aaa.com/vacation/idpf.html). I've rented a car in Germany before without it, but I plan on visiting quite a few countries, and may decide to rent somewhere out of the way. Just in case.

Eurail Global Flex pass

I've decided to do most of my travel via rail. Since I really have no idea about where I'll be starting my trip (it all depends on where the military flight will drop me off), I'll take trains wherever I decide to go. I decided on a Global Flex pass, since it covers 23 countries throughout Europe. I purchased a 10-day pass, good for two months. The pass came in today, along with a Eurail map and a timetable book. Between the map and timetable book, I shouldn't have any problems planning my trip when I get there.

Car storage

I already have my personal belongings in storage, and decided to store my car in the same location. Once I move the car into storage, I'll file a Planned Non-Operate (PNO) certificate with the DMV. I'll provide a copy to my car insurance; they'll remove the liability insurance from my insurance bill until I take my car out of storage again. 

On my next post, I'll cover what I'll be taking along with me.