SPAIN IN THEORY ONLY

KARAOKE, IRISH BARS AND INCREDIBLE BEAUTY

MT TEIDE TENERIFE

After a day-long bus tour of the Mt. Teide National Park, the third tallest volcanic structure in the world, we’re back at the Santa Barbara Golf and Ocean Resort listening to a guitarist working with a karaoke track singing Eagles songs and other shlocky songs like “Who’ll Stop the Rain?”

The gathered crowd in the bar below us hoots along and applauds vociferously with every song.

Before we settled in at our aerie overlooking the entire resort, we had to get some milk and cereal for tomorrow’s breakfast at the supermarket down the road, passing an Irish Bar, The Wild Geese, in the process. It brimmed with English patrons wiling away the afternoon with large cheap beers clutched in meaty fists.

Spain? I think not.

While on the tour I asked the tour guide, a pleasant woman who had pointed out the sights along the way in three languages, Dutch, English and German, if there was a chance to catch Flamenco Dancers anywhere on Tenerife. I had seen them at La Linea just outside of Gibraltar decades ago and wanted Janet to see this beautiful display of Spanish heritage.

The pleasant woman who spoke with an English accent asked where was La Linea.

Spain? In theory only, she said, gathering her senses.

I have to agree. Tenerife is Spain, and then it isn’t.

Lured by warm weather and cheap accommodations and drinks, millions descend on the Canaries and especially Tenerife yearly. The pandemic put the kibosh on a lot of travel, as England went into a severe lockdown. Now that the pandemic is, fingers-crossed, under control, visitors are returning.

Masks are still required in public places though. I was admonished for entering a restaurant while on the tour for not wearing a mask.

It must get crazy here when the revelry is in full throttle. One needs to reserve a chaise lounge at the pool and a place in the gym, after first signing a waver stating I “would behave,” and, “not drink and use the equipment.”

Given the waitress’ curtness with me so early in the season, it must get to a high-pitched frenzy by mid-season.

I’ve been to Spain several times for work and pleasure and the people of this beautiful country are kind and tolerant, so that snap was surprising to me, making an honest mistake.

This is Spain. I keep telling myself that.

We found much beauty on our trip today, and I’ll get into that later.

Thanks for reading and being tolerant with me.

Love Janet and greg

© 2022 by Gregory Dunaj

TENERIFE NOTES

A CAUTIONARY TALE
Oh, fair readers of this blog, the best advice I can offer you about traveling to Tenerife is this: PACE YOURSELF.  

Happy Hour Sangrias

This largest island in the Canary Island archipelago is renowned for its throbbing revelry where the party begins in earnest before you even disembark from the plane. Our painfully cramped 3-hour Iberia Airlines flight from Madrid throbbed instead with crying children which perhaps made our happy hour later in the day that much more necessary.

The labyrinthine resort we are staying at, the Santa Barbara Golf Club and Ocean Resort, part of the Diamonds Resort International time share family, offers us ocean views and a splendid view of the bar below. A mixed blessing. 

Room with a view

After settling in our suite, we explored the resort. We got lost, got lost some more and then happened upon that bar…just in time for happy hour.

Back at home, drinks are discounted during happy hour. Here, you get two drinks for the price of one. Lots of heavy lifting!

We ordered sangria while sitting on comfy couches on the sun splashed deck, and received four drinks. Drunk by the end of it, a combination of jet lag and hunger fueling our inebriation, we received the bill. It was just 10 Euros for all four drinks. Thankfully the happy hour was just one hour. 

NOT pacing herself

Afterwards we strolled the promenade outside the grounds of the resort, where we had our choice of several touristed restaurants and had mixed Paella at the Queen Mary, a Spanish and Mexican establishment where we had more drinks.

With Janet playing with the discarded shrimp heads like finger puppets we finished our paella and sauntered back to the resort petting several dogs on the return. 

Thankfully we survived our first night, but that was easy because of the jet lag and we were too tired to do much more. We even forced ourselves to stay awake longer in order to catch up the normal routine of this time zone. 

NOT a toy

Janet went to bed first while I had one last beer purchased at the bodega on the resort and smoked a cigar as I listened to the throbbing music pulsating from the Creature Club nightclub located below us. We had already done a lot of traveling (13 hours of flights and layovers) and drinking (I lost count) and there would be plenty of time in the weeks ahead to catch up.  

Thanks for reading

Love Janet and greg

© 2022 by Gregory Dunaj

HAVE PASSPORT WILL TRAVEL?

 …A MILLION LITTLE THINGS… 

Remember carefree travel?

The cavalier attitude to carefree jet-setting around the world is no longer a reality for your favorite dilettantes. Sadly, it hasn’t been carefree for a long while, what with security constraints and now all the COVID protocols and steps one needs to tick off just to be allowed to travel.

It used to be a passport was your ticket to anywhere else. I once showed up at the gate in JFK airport and bought a stand-by ticket and patiently waited until they called my name and soon, I was in Europe.

That doesn’t happen anymore.

ABIDE

TSA pre-check and Global Entry passes have made security compliance a bit more palatable, enough so that we don’t hardly ever complain about the $100 fee…good for five years. And, unless they come up with another COVID “sub-variant” to further scare the bejesus out of the world again (think Double Secret Probation from Animal House), we are getting to travel again.

Red tail lights heading for Spain

We are leaving for Spain soon and we just finally packed our bags. That’s because we have been too busy having to get our paperwork in order. Sadly, Spain was supposed to be easy, especially as we are fully vaccinated.

Where to start?

First off get vaccinated and get the booster shot. It makes your traveling a lot easier. I won’t even bother going if not vaccinated, and this isn’t a blog about your misgivings about getting a vaccination anyway.

Regular readers of this blog know that we praise the SHERPA APP and the VERIFLY APP.  With Sherpa you plug in your dates, destinations and vaccination status and Sherpa will tell you what your paperwork requirements are to enter that country. After cobbling together that information go to Verifly, plug in your countries and it lists what you need and you manually put it in. i.e.  your picture, your vaccination card, passport number and any forms necessary for this relaxing trip and puts into one convenient location.

Still, print out everything to have a hard copy, just in case your iPhone dies.

Here is the link to the invaluable Sherpa App and these are our instructions for Spain.

SHERPA FOR TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS

Verifly for Apple products:

VERIFLY APP

Sherpa instructions for our trip to Spain:

We are fully vaccinated, but there is a tab for non-vaccinated folks. As US citizens we do not require a visa.

1 - Mandatory – Proof of vaccination. Verify will have you take your picture and a picture of your vaccination card.

2- Recommended – A contract tracing app administered by the Spanish government.

3- Mandatory - A Health Control form administered by the Spanish government. This can only be completed within 48 hours of departure. You receive a QR code and that goes into Verifly, BUT, you must also print out a hard copy to present to agents in Spain. Do not forget to do this.

4- Mandatory – Masks in public areas. 

5- Mandatory – Health screening on arrival, including a temperature check.

For you Luddites out there (me)

Again, print out hard copies just in case and make sure you take along your vaccination card.

Also, we are flying Iberia Airlines from Madrid to Tenerife and the only way to get a boarding pass ahead of time is to (shudder) put it in your Apple wallet That is anathema to my psyche so I let Janet to it all...come to think of it Janet has done all the necessary paperwork.

I've spent all my time thinking about Sangria.

Remember, things are constantly evolving with this COVID, so be sure to use this blog entry only as a guide in how to proceed planning for your own travel

Thanks for reading.

Love Janet and greg

© 2022 by Gregory Dunaj 

SOLEMN REMEMBRANCES

SARAJEVO TI SI MOJA DRAGA 

In the saber rattling lead up to this war in the Ukraine a high ranking official in the United States government mistakenly said that we have enjoyed peace for 70 years in Europe, evidently forgetting the relative recent history of such conflicts as the Troubles in Northern Ireland that lasted into the 90s, or the Romanian revolution of the late 80s, or Prague Spring in 1968 or the 1956 Hungarian Revolution or the Basque uprisings or the Coup d'etat in early 80s Spain, just to mention a few.

GDJE JE TVOJ MOZAK?

That’s Bosnian for “Where is your brain?”

This is not a political rant though, but instead I want to offer a prayer for peace, especially as the 30^th anniversary of the Bosnian Wars is approaching. In April 1992, full scale hostilities broke out with Bosnia declaring itself independent of the former Yugoslavia Republic, following Slovenia and Croatia the previous year. Bosnia Serbs wanted to carve out for themselves Republika Srpska and create an ethnically pure state apart from the Muslims they had lived with and intermarried with for generations.

Before the war ended in 1995, horrific atrocities of genocide and ethnic cleansing were carried out. Sarajevo, the thriving, multi-ethnic city and cultural center of Bosnia and Herzegovina endured the longest siege of a capital in modern warfare. From April 1992 for 1,452 days the city was blockaded and its citizens were assaulted by rockets, mortars, artillery and snipers. By the time the Dayton Peace Accords were signed over 5,000 civilians were killed. It was a horrible war and it personally affected me.

EMBRACED BY THE WORLD

I fell in love with Sarajevo the first time I visited the city for the 1984 Winter Olympics. I was working for ABC-TV at the time and in the five months I was there I made a lot of Yugoslavian friends.

They were all called Yugoslavian then, not Slovenian or Croatian, Serbian or Bosnian, and Sarajevo was the shining example of a peaceful metropolis. Yes, Sarajevo is where WWI began, but the religious and cultural diversity of a city with mosques, catholic and orthodox churches and synagogues practically next to each other, where inter-faith relationships were given a shrug as they were a non-threatening no issue was a glorious introduction to the world for this young traveler. Sarajevo was an old city with a young heart, and for this young man, despite being so far from home, Sarajevo became a part of me.

The enduring memory I have of the coverage of the Sarajevo Olympics was the peaceful co-existence and the pride everyone had in their country of Yugoslavia.

While working in Italy during the summer of 1987 I took a quick three-day side-trip to Sarajevo to revisit my friends. Who knew that as we laughed and drank and I brushed up on my cursing in Sarajevan slang that this peaceful world would come so abruptly to an end a short time later!

EMBARRASSED

As aggressions intensified in the Balkans, I was helpless. A young father with two young children now I watched the news about Bosnia out of the corner of my eye as I changed diapers.

News of the war, the atrocities, the ethnic cleansing, the horrors were met with disbelief. I sought out my friends. I eventually found out one had fled with his family and eventually settled in Zagreb. Another was in Moscow visiting before the war broke out and could not return, but they had brothers and cousins “running through the woods with a shotgun”. Others were stuck in Sarajevo, dodging the mortars and sniper fire. The madness of it all was overwhelming and embarrassing for me, because I knew I could not help, except offer a prayer for peace.

SARAJEVO ROSES

A Sarajevo Rose

Considering the horrors of the Bosnian War; just google Srebrenica; Sarajevo has recovered, though still bearing the scars of the siege. Sarajevo Roses dot the streets. They are mortar craters filled with red resin to mark the impact.

Republika Srpska was created and there is a tenuous peace between Bosnian Serbs and Bosniaks. 

When we traveled to Croatia in 2019, I went there with the guilt of not being able to help my friends, even after the war ended. I didn’t dare go to Sarajevo, the ache is still strong, but we stayed on the coast, sailing and staying with my friend Zeljko and his wife Hana at their summer villa in Trpanj a beautiful little town on the Peljesac Peninsula. They fled Sarajevo during the war and even aided in the rescuing of children from the siege. They settled in Zagreb, and made a life for themselves there. Many of their neighbors who also had their summer villas in Trpanj were from Sarajevo. One was Serbian. Another lived in Iran for a while. All spoke of Sarajevo being different again than the rest of  Bosnia, multi-cultural, vibrant and peaceful and they helped me brush up on my Sarajevo slang..

Pray for peace and perhaps it will come.

Love Janet and greg

SARAJEVO SIEGE

WHITE HOUSE PRESS BRIEFING 2/20/22

© 2022 by Gregory Dunaj.  

THE ROAD NOT WRITTEN ABOUT

TRAVEL UH-Ohs OVER THE YEARS

UH-OH

Not every plan comes to fruition. Not every destination is epiphanous. Very rarely traveling is smooth and without flaw, unforeseen mishaps and detours are more commonplace than we would have you believe here at VFH Central. Since we joined forces in 2006 Janet and I have traveled quite a bit, and dodged a couple of “bullets”, but we tend to only write about the good bits. So, as a little exercise between us we decided to chronicle some uh-ohs from all our years of getting out there.

NOTHING VENTURED…

One can spend their entire life traveling to the same favored destination and never consider anywhere else and live comfortably knowing they are safe and happy. Venturing forth to see different parts of the world comes with a whole different set of rules than the yearly trip to say, Lavallette, NJ. Some people just don’t want to go through the hassle and are happy being here and not “there”. 

Before you cringe from our tales of ineptitude, naivety or bad luck, we here at VFH Central say it’s better to have uh-ohed and lived than to never have experienced at all.

UH-OHs? 

Uh-ohs are real and they happen all the time. A knuckleball if you will. In life they happen all the time, and being on the road is not an excuse to cower under the covers. Sometimes uh-ohs occur from poor planning, or a confluence of circumstances and poor luck. Sometimes we cause the uh-ohs, sometimes despite fastidious preparation they happen beyond our control.

The important point is to first plan for the unexpected, and if uh-ohs still occur, just roll with it rather than having it become Armageddon.

No worries, we’ve never really experienced real danger, just a couple of uh-ohs.  

So, here’s a few tales of travel uh-ohs from over the years.

HOTEL UH-OHs

As mentioned before traveling is not simply stepping off the plane (or boat) and winging it. To truly enjoy your travels, do research, read reviews, if needed scour google maps for further details. My first trip abroad was to hitchhike my way around France. There were a lot of uh-ohs on that trip, as I didn’t plan very well. I don’t really speak French also, but I wouldn’t trade those three weeks for anything!  Fond memories even with all the uh-ohs

Seriously though, a lack of preparation can negatively impact your travel experience in either of two ways.  It can cause you to miss out on deals, particular sights of interest or even in reaching your destination. (Think government required documents, and train, bus or boat schedules). A lack of preparation can also get you a scary room near the train station in Brussels.

Brussels On Edge

Flying from Edenborough, Scotland to South Charleroi Airport near Brussels, we opted to get a hotel near the train station as we were leaving early the next morning for Bruges. Not checking the area, or the reviews and going only for convenience we stayed at some hotel that seemed like it rented by the minute. A bunch of seedy looking men stood near the door and the front desk was shielded from everyone by a plexiglass cage. This was nearly a decade before COVID. 

CAFE VLISSINGHE

We paid for our room, chortled up the clanky elevator and proceeded to get a restless night’s sleep lying on top of the covers fully clothed, afraid of catching some skin affliction or lesion if something touched our bare skin. When I thought that it would be interesting to take a walk in the neighborhood Janet stopped the conversation with a well-aimed love tap that just knocked the wind out of me for a few minutes. 

To this day Janet rates this as the number one “uh-oh” in our travels.

CAFE VLISSINGHE

The rest of our trip to Belgium was wonderful, although, pub crawls in this land of strong beer are short-lived. This is a bit of a frivolous nitpicking uh-oh, but after drinking at the Cafe Herberg Vlissinghe, a beautiful pub that first opened in 1515; that’s not military time; the strap on Janet’s flip-flop broke and she had to walk back to our bed and breakfast while just wearing one sandal and smoking a cigarette.

CAFE VLISSINGHE BRUGES

Austin City Limits  

We have enjoyed AirBnB all over the U.S. and in Europe, but one place in Austin Texas had us reconsidering the whole approach to traveling in this way. The room we had for a few days was through a warren of corridors and then through a courtyard. To reach our bathroom we had to go outside into the courtyard to reach the facilities! Flushed toilets from other rooms were loudly heard through the thin walls. Though in a great location very near the bars of 6^th (or Pecan Street), it was not a good place at all. Not sure if the reviews revealed this particularly yucky uh-oh.

AIRBNB

Not So Grand?

Where the first two uh-ohs listed here are definitely due to a lack of proper research this last accommodation uh-oh happened because at the time in 2008 there weren’t many other options on Grand Isle, Louisiana.

I had somehow convinced Janet to go on a three-week road trip through southwest Louisiana. After eating our way through New Orleans and before we explored Bayou Lafourche and the towns of Huma, Iowa, Lake Charles, Thibodaux and Lafayette, I insisted we visit the barrier island in the middle of Barataria Bay, from where the pirate Jean Lafitte led many raids in the early 1800s.

This was in 2008 just a couple of years after the twin devastating hurricanes of Katrina and Rita in the summer of 2005 and many of the citizens and restaurateurs were very thankful for our patronage.

At best, Ricky’s Motel and RV Park was convenient as it was right on the Gulf of Mexico and there was a lot of fishing and crabbing. But it was dingy and dirty and cheap and we were lucky we had a reservation, because every room was sold out. Soon after we checked in a family had hoped to just show up without a reservation and were turned away. They ended up camping out beneath our room in their cars. In deference to the frequent flooding everything is on stilts on Grand Isle. Every time we emerged from our aerie, they eyed us angrily.

Every morning when we awoke, I exclaimed sarcastically “another day in paradise”, but we had a great stay (as long as we didn’t make eye contact with that family). At the time the Tarpon Rodeo was going on and we were able to blend with all the fisherman and families for free drinks and the best jambalaya we had anywhere in Louisiana. So, despite the uh-oh it was a great time.

Sadly, Ricky’s Motel is now permanently closed due to the devastation of last year’s Hurricane Ida. We watched the news reports about Grand Isle sad to realize what we had enjoyed was mostly underwater.

I wore my Ricky’s Motel t-shirt proudly until it fell off my body in tatters.

TOWN OF GRAND ISLE, LA

Drone footage of the Grand Isle devastation:

READING THE ROOM

Just because you’re on the road doesn’t mean you’re immune to crime and impervious to danger. It took us awhile to figure out that just because you sunk some money into a trip, people won’t see you as an easy mark. Here’s a couple of uh-ohs from that skewed vision that being on vacation means everyone is happy to see you and wants to keep you safe.

Cavalier in Castries

One of our earliest trips was with the now defunct Windjammer Cruises and we sailed roundtrip from St. Lucia to Grenada. We got to St. Lucia a few days before departure and decided to explore Castries, the capitol and where our ship was docked. As we ambled about the streets not knowing where we were and seeing some edgy individuals near the proud Yankee Clipper that would soon be our home someone stopped us on the street. In a grave voice she told us not to keep heading in our current direction, that there is trouble up in that neighborhood. We wheeled about on our heels and soon headed back to our hotel.

Turns out that crime in St. Lucia is a real issue then and now, with armed robbery, sexual assaults and murder making the news. Even the UK issues warnings about St. Lucia.

UK WARNINGS ABOUT ST. LUCIA

Split Dzeparos

Always be vigilant and aware of your surroundings, no matter how festive the moment. Though we didn’t get robbed in Split we did get violently bumped while in a crowd within Diocletian's Palace, the main tourist draw for the Croatian city. We had paused to listen to a performance of Aida being held at the Peristyle, which was once the main entrance to the Emperor's living quarters when I got pushed very aggressively. Coming from NYC area that's not good and it had all the trademark actions of a pickpocket. I protested the woman protested and she melted into the crowd. Though the crime is rare in Croatia, pickpocketing is prevalent everywhere and one must take steps to protect your valuables. Nothing lost, but I had taken precautions before wading into the crowd.

Dzeparos is Croatian for pickpocket.

Who Let the Dogs Out?

Thinking it was a good idea we decided to attempt to walk into Bosnia. Our rental car agreement forbade us for taking the car we had rented to drive to Plitvice Lakes in Croatia to go across the border. So, thinking it was a good idea, we decided to park the car near the border crossing and walk across, just to say we were in Bosnia. I had been there to Sarajevo in 1984 for the Olympics, and again in 1987. We thought it might be “fun”. Ignoring the burnt-out vehicles nearby and the general desolate look of the place, as well as the bullet hole scarred buildings leading to the crossing, still not fully repaired from the turmoil of the breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s, we got out of our car and timidly walked through the glass strewn parking lot towards the customs building.

Men in the kiosks stamping passports angrily waved us away and then the pack of feral dogs approached us. Seeing nothing “fun” in this we hightailed it back to our rental car and left the menacing scene behind.

The only way we could have prevented this uh-oh was to have our heads screwed on tighter.

Ne Ne In Mljet

Shore excursions should be fun. Feeling hale and hearty on the Croatian Island of Mljet (like "nyet") we rented bicycles and tootled around the lakes and the National Park on this beautiful island. Popular with tourists and locals alike the park was crowded in places, especially near where our ship the M/V Infinity was moored. 

Resting in Mljet

Near the end of our ride I was moving too quickly given the amount of people milling about and had to take a dive to avoid hitting a little girl who stepped into my path. It was either me or her and my elbows and my dignity took the brunt of the impact. It could have been a lot worse, but I swear Grappa was not involved in this accident.

UH-OH KNUCKLEBALLS

No matter how much you prepare for travel, know that plans can change. You can get sick or hurt while on the road or get into a car accident. Always make sure you have travel insurance for your safety. It will save you money in the long run. Here’s a couple of examples of utilizing that insurance.

A Myriad of Shit

  A few years ago, we lost a family member and had to delay a trip. The airline was going to charge us a lot to change the ticket, but insurance took care of it.

  I had a dental emergency in England a few years back. It was taken care of by a local dentist and paid for by my insurance carrier.

  I had Poison Ivy to such an extreme it looked like chemical burns while in South Carolina and insurance covered the cost of the steroids needed to clear it up.

  While in Hilo Hawaii I backed into a palm tree that admittedly was growing at an odd angle, but my car insurance purchased with the rental company covered it without question. We dropped the damaged car off at the airport and the rental car company said, “Mahalo.”

  A recent trip to beautiful Sedona Arizona had us sequestered in our rooms for a few days because of a stomach ailment. We spent Thanksgiving sipping chicken broth and saltines. The Grand Canyon was not that spectacular for us.

No insurance needed, but we had to make a trip to the local store for more toilet paper!

  While getting PADI certified in Antiqua for scuba diving I discovered that eating bacon the morning of a dive is not a good thing. This greasy meal, combined with diesel fumes and a churning boat made for chum through my regulator.

  None of our trips were ruined. Everything worked out money-wise and health-wise so chalk them up to good planning.

ABIDE

We leave you one last tale of uh-oh from the road, and the philosophy behind it should extend to every facet of your life. The world doesn’t revolve around you and we are all in this together.

In February 2019 we were on an early morning flight to Miami. We were going to the Florida Keys, stopping in Big Pine Key and Key Largo on our travels to Key West.

We were anxious to get out of snowy Philadelphia as I suspect as everyone else on that plane. Air travel is convenient, you get to travel great distances, but it’s not like sitting in your Barcalounger. Safety is the main concern for all the protocols in place and flight attendants aren’t there to make your life miserable, but safer.

When a gentleman refused to put his seat back in the proper position for take-off after several requests (it doesn’t matter what his reason was), the flight was delayed and eventually law enforcement was called in, the plane had to be vacated and then he was escorted off in handcuffs. As the impatience of the passengers grew by the minute as we waited in the gate area, some calculating missed connecting flights, we finally got our revenge when he was led off the plane and we all jeered loudly.

After we reboarded, the plane had to be de-iced again, stretching this interminable delay. Had he only complied for just a bit we would have made Miami. We took it in stride as Miami was our final flight destination, and giggled at the growing anger of the crowd.

Thanks for reading and may your uh-ohs be laughed off as easily as ours.

Love Janet and greg

© 2022 by Gregory Dunaj

XCD - FJD - EUR - MONEY TO BURN

BROTHER CAN YOU SPARE A DIME? 

We have three upcoming international trips planned this year and wouldn’t you know it the money is different in EVERY SINGLE PLACE. 

Jeesh, how can you keep up with what to bring, or how to spend your hard-earned shekels? Oops…wrong country.

IN THE ZONE 

It is easier now than in years past. When I first traveled internationally for personal and work in the 1980s there was different money for every country. 

Liras in Italy, Francs in France, different Francs in Belgium, and different Francs in Switzerland! German Marks, Dutch Guilders, Finnish Markka, Norwegian Krones, Swedish Krona, Austrian Schillings, Pesetas in Spain, Dinars in Yugoslavia, Drachmas in Greece, British Pounds in the UK, Irish Pounds in Ireland, made travel without a calculator impossible. It was complex, but now the Euro rivals the United States dollar in the world stage of finances.

The Eurozone or the European Union currently has 27 members and the Euro is the official currency for 19 countries, including our next destination, Spain. 

Over the years most of our travel has been to the UK and the Euro never came into play, although we used the Euro for our beer-swilling vacation to Belgium in 2011 (so who knows WHAT we spent), and on our sailing adventure in Costa Rica and Panama the onboard expenses with the Greek-based Variety Cruises were tabulated in Euros. This was quite helpful to have one currency because trying to figure out things in Costa Rican Colons and Panamanian Balboas would have taken away the pleasure of such a great trip.

On a side note, Panamanian Currency is pegged to the U.S. dollar. In fact, in the bodegas of Panama City you pay in U.S. dollars, and get your change back in Balboa coins.

Currently the Euro is trading at $1.09 and has dropped a bit over the last few months, down from $1.14 in February. Keep going I say, I want cheap beer in Tenerife!

HOLDOVERS

CROATIA KUNA

Not all countries in Europe use the Euro. Traveling to Croatia in 2019 we definitely needed calculators to figure out the cost of things. Currently, one HRK is worth .14 cents USD and 6.93 HRK make one dollar. We just rounded everything up and let me tell you we over-tipped quite a bit. While in Croatia we were told that the Kuna would soon be replaced by the Euro, but that has not happened yet.

COSTA RICA COLONS

BONGO BUCKS

Our first international vacation together was to sail from St. Lucia to Grenada and Janet labeled the money in the Caribbean as Bongo Bucks! 

Featuring the image of Queen Elizabeth II, the Eastern Caribbean dollar is the official currency of 6 independent states and two British Overseas Territories. It’s like play money, one XCD is worth .37 cents!

As we are going to an all-inclusive resort on Grenada, unless we go off the compound there will not be a need to convert money. (You’re not supposed to tip, but sometimes we throw a couple of dollars to greatly appreciated service). When we were in Antigua, I spent an afternoon shopping and though the ATMs spit out bongo bucks, everyone would take dollars.

Other island nations in the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union include, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

The Bahamas and Jamaica also have their own currencies, The Bahamian dollar is pegged 1 to 1 with the U.S. dollar, but in Jamaica you will not only need a calculator but all your fingers and toes to figure out what things cost. Currently $100 USD is worth 15454 JMD, but American dollars are always readily accepted for tips.  

GOING CRAZY IN THE CANNIBAL ISLANDS

Yep, cannibalism was once (stressing past tense) practiced in the Fiji Islands, but as this is an article about money, we’re going to talk about having a good time without it costing you an arm and a leg…literally.

The Fiji dollar or FJD is currently trading at about .47 cents, so with the cost of a pint of domestic beer around 6 FJD or about $2.93 it’s quite possible to go kooky in Korotogo and nutty in Nadi, two of the popular tourism areas on the main island of Viti Levu where we are staying before and after our cruise through the Yasawa Islands northeast of Port Denarau.

YASAWA ISLANDS, FIJI

Generally, Fiji is considered a mid-range priced tourist destination and the white sandy beaches, year-round tropical climate and the budget accommodations attract many Australians and New Zealanders for family-friendly and romantic getaways. Scuba diving is very popular here especially on the outer islands.

COST OF LIVING IN FIJI

BULA

Of the three international destinations planned for this year, perhaps Fiji is the most unique, because of its distance from home and for traveling out of our comfort-zone. In Spain, we’ll be immersed with English family members and the language barrier won’t be a problem. In Grenada we will be insulated from the real world as we bask in the TLC of Sandals. While English is the main language of Fiji, there are a number or words and phrases we should learn, like “Bula”, which means hello, and “Kerekere,” which means please. Here’s a quick guide to 10 Fijian Phrases we should learn before traveling. 

10 FIJIAN PHRASES TO LEARN

Heading to a Fiji BBQ

I just wish I could find how to say in Fijian: “What are you BBQing over there?” Just to be safe. 

Wish us luck and thanks for reading!
Love Janet and greg 

© copyright 2022 by Greg Dunaj.