If it’s not one thing…..

As we wind down our time here in Panama we we find ourselves reflecting on the intricacies of a nomadic lifestyle planning because yet again we are making changes to our future plans. Honestly, we are pretty much ALWAYS in the planning phase. That is a basic reality of a fully nomadic lifestyle. Constantly navigating the balance between efficiency with time and money is a fundamental aspect of our journey.

The Nomadic Lifestyle Planning Spectrum

While some nomads opt for short-term planning, maybe they book two weeks in a city and while there they decide where to go next. Sometimes that decision is even made by ‘where can I fly to cheaply?’ with no advance planning for a specific destination. We are NOT those people. Our approach involves thorough consideration of where we want to go and how (method of transportation and cost) are we going to get there.

The thing is, though; you learn as you go and sometimes what looked like a pretty okay plan becomes less interesting as it approaches. Or you get a better idea. Flexibility is key, as what seems like a solid plan can evolve based on newfound knowledge or better ideas. This is why we also try as much as possible to make bookings that can be easily canceled or modified. Just from a peace of mind standpoint it’s worth a few extra dollars when making the reservation to lock in that ‘cancel for any reason’ option.

Navigating Panama to Costa Rica

When we were planning the Panama to Costa Rica part of our journey, everything I came across said ‘Go to David, take the bus to Costa Rica. It goes to San Jose but you can get off earlier if you’re staying on the Pacific side’. Based on that, I booked accommodations in David for 2 nights and then in San Jose for 2 nights before our month-long stay at Puerto Viejo.

Over the weekend we were at a Christmas party and one of the other guests, a Panamanian, said “Why go to David and then San Jose and then Puerto Viejo? You’re going all the way across a country and then all the way back the other way across another country. Just go to Bocas and take a little ferry to Puerto Viejo.”

“I’m sorry? There’s a what now?” I had literally never heard anything about a ferry to Puerto Viejo. So when we got back to our condo we did a little research. We were going to spend several nights at Boquete and then go to David to catch the bus to San Jose Costa Rica. Now we are taking a shuttle and water taxi from Boquete to Bocas del Toro, staying a few nights there and then catching a water taxt and shuttle to Puerto Viejo. It will cost more for the journey but we will save like 8 hours of bus riding time and instead of spending time someplace we didn’t care about (David, Panama) and someplace we were only a little interested in (San Jose, CR), we will spend 4 days in a place we had ruled out due to imagined transportation issues. We’ll still have a chance to see San Jose Costa Rica because our flight to Portugal is out of that airport.

Ferrying Through Europe

The other change we are in the process of making also involves ferry rides. We are traveling from Portugal to England at the end of March / beginning of April. All my research into the trip led to riding a bus through the chunnel, taking a train through the chunnel or taking a ferry from Calais, France to Dover, England. Every route had the same crossing point. So I had already booked passage on the April 2nd crossing and a hotel near Dover that night. Our pet sits are all west of London and I had booked a room in Portsmouth for a few nights starting the 3rd as our jumping off point to the first sit. Booking the room near Dover so we could have a leisurely travel day to get to Portsmouth rather than stressing out about making connections.

The other day, Sandra suddenly said “We can take a ferry from Spain to England”

“I’m sorry, try me again?”

“There is a ferry from Spain to England. Actually there’s a couple of them depending on whether you want to go to Plymouth or Portsmouth”

We spent a little time researching that option and discussing the possibilities; the main gating factor being that it isn’t an every day route so to make it work we’d have to sail March 28th. That would leave us with almost a week in England prior to our existing arrangements. Not necessarily an issue except that we are already spending almost 2 full months in England with plenty of time to see what we want to see. It would also mean skipping Paris for now.

That conversation led to doing a bit more research and discovering there are multiple ferry routes that cross the English Channel and end up in Portsmouth or Plymouth. Since Paris was on our original schedule as part of the Portugal – England transition I looked into ferries from France.

The question then became ‘Would we rather spend a night on a ferry from Spain to England or stick closer to our original plan and spend a few nights in Paris?’

Paris won but the idea of going direct to Portsmouth was very appealing so we agreed to abandon the Paris-Calais-Dover leg. I want to visit Calais but we can easily do that when we leave England at the end of May.

I tried to arrange a ferry from the port of Le Havre to Portsmouth but there is no way to book pedestrian passage on that route: you must select a vehicle type to proceed. It also doesn’t run every day so we were still going to have a few extra days in Portsmouth. After 30 minutes digging through FAQ’s on their website I drafted an email to the ferry company to see if there was a glitch on the website or if there is simply no facility to walk onto the ferry. Before sending, I also decided to look at some other routes to see if it was a consistent issue.

Imagine my surprise on discovering that the Caen – Portsmouth ferry not only allows pedestrian bookings but runs 7 days a week ! That means we can arrive in Portsmouth on our original schedule. Better yet, it’s well under 1/2 the price of the Calais – Dover crossing.

Now we just need to decide how to spend our time between leaving Faro, Portugal on March 20th and taking the ferry to Portsmouth, England on April 3rd. Right now it looks like Faro to Porto to Paris to Caen but who knows what may strike our fancy over the next couple of weeks…..

Embracing Change and Preemptive Decisions

Another change just happened and it seems a timely reminder to anyone considering the nomadic lifestyle – Sandra is very diligent about reviewing reviews and that includes looking at new reviews that show up while we’re in transit. Our hotel in San Jose, CR was booked weeks ago in anticipation of our flight date to Portugal. However, in her research this week, Sandra found two new reviews posted that mentioned guests having to leave early due to bed bugs. She did send the hotel a message asking what they were doing to deal with the issue but it’s been a couple of days now and no response so we feel good about the preemptive decision to just cancel and booked a different place.

Exploring Future Possibilities

Looking ahead, our nomadic lifestyle journey from Faro, Portugal to Portsmouth, England offers numerous possibilities – from Faro to Porto to Paris to Caen, with room for spontaneous detours.

In sharing our nomadic lifestyle experiences, we aim to not only provide insights to our nomadic lifestyle planning processes but also encourage conversations with fellow travelers; feel free to share your own stories or ask questions in the comments section. The nomadic lifestyle is an ever-evolving adventure, and we’re excited to continue sharing our journey with you.

Safe travels! 🌍✈️