You’ll want this little chip thingy in your credit card if you plan on leaving the U.S.
Cash may be king, but cards are usually more convenient, more secure, and oftentimes more rewarding. But the cards we use domestically aren’t necessarily the ones we’ll want to carry overseas. If you’re planning an international trip, here are the four types of cards you’ll want to make sure are in your wallet.
If you haven’t seen the above image yet then perhaps you missed it on your way into that café without wifi because it’s making the rounds online. I’m guessing that’s not due to the hilarious irony of sharing such a message through social media but because it fits a well-worn stereotype so well. But how well does it really fit?
Let’s see. In this last week alone we met up with a wonderful couple we’d never have known if not for our blog; had dinner in Atlanta with someone we originally struck up a conversation with in Guatemala because we recognized her from her blog and Twitter; met two other people who were invited to that same dinner party because they knew us through EverywhereOnce; have plans to share drinks with a long-lost high school friend we reconnected with through Facebook; and are spending a few nights at a new friend’s house who we met at an event arranged online.
So yeah, we really should turn off our computers and, um, live like it’s 1993 when people could mostly only connect to folks they already knew. But that doesn’t change the fact that I really still do need to call my Mom.
We understand that our point of view on many things is, shall we say, somewhat out of the mainstream. And we understand that this is particularly true when it comes to issues of life / work balance. But that understanding didn’t stop us from being a bit bemused to read all the recent handwringing and teeth gnashing over some unabashedly good news.
“Health Care Law Projected to Cut Labor Force,” cried the New York Times
“CBO: Obamacare Is A Tax On Work, May Cut Full-Time Workforce By 2.5 Million,” yells Forbes
That certainly sounds bad. So why are we so happy?
Torrey Pines State Reserve, just north of San Diego, is a wonderful little ocean-side park filled with great views and terrific trails for light hiking. It’s a place we found ourselves returning to again and again.
We had just spent 10 days ferrying around Alaska’s Inside Passage and, to be honest, we were plenty ready to do something new. Unfortunately the very next thing on our agenda, ferrying around Washington’s Whidbey and San Juan Islands, didn’t sound like something new. It sounded an awful lot like what we had just done, only on a seemingly smaller scale. After all, how could Washington’s lesser-known archipelago compete with the grandeur and beauty of Alaska? Surprisingly easily, it turned out.
Art is everywhere on Whidbey, even brightening up this porta-potty.
What we found on Whidbey, and really throughout the San Juans, were small towns with their own distinct centers of gravity. These weren’t places that sprang into existence solely for the benefit of tourists. We got the feeling that if tourists stopped coming, they’d continue on pretty much the way they are – perhaps a bit poorer and a little less polished, but more or less the same.
That’s because behind the down-home facades and overflowing wildflowers were real businesses serving real communities and selling real things. We don’t recall seeing any t-shirt stands. The shops weren’t stuffed with cookie-cutter items produced by the world’s cheapest labor. Much of what we saw on store shelves was produced locally by members of “Puget Sound’s largest artist colony.” Even the stores themselves were often owned by local artists, displaying their own and others’ work.
And then, of course, there were the flowers that seemed to spring from nearly every inch of earth. Manicured, wild, and agriculturally grown. It was July when we were there, and the flowers bloomed everywhere as if stuck in eternal spring.
Whidbey Island Lavender Farm
The flowers and the wonderful people welcomed us onto an island that was so much more than just a ferry stop. Whidbey was just what we needed.
Everywhere Once 