We leave for Paris four weeks from today! The last countdown I recognized was last September, when we had one year to go until we left. I’m now going to start counting the days. It’s hard to believe that it’s actually going to happen and that our departure is almost here. Our packing dress rehearsal showed us that all we want to take will indeed fit into our bags (a rolling duffle, an overnight bag and a backpack each), we’ve decided to lighten our loads somewhat. At some point during our travels we may regret having certain things behind, but I’m betting that the benefits of our lightened loads will outweigh the items we miss.
An update on health insurance: getting a revised letter from Kaiser was worse than pulling teeth. Repeated calls finally resulted in reaching a supervisor who shared the news that repatriation expenses are not covered under our plan. They’ll pay emergency healthcare expenses but won’t bring our bodies home if we fall off an Alp or are run over by a Vespa. Lovely. So, we had to resort to purchasing supplemental travel insurance that includes repatriation. Not a happy thought, but over the past two weeks, we’ve had to deal with the whole possible death issue in one way or another as it relates to health insurance, our bank accounts and other assets. Necessary, I guess, but not fun to think about. As soon as I receive the new insurance paperwork, we have to show up at the embassy, present the new documents and fingers crossed, “pass go.” I so fear that as Dorothy is instructed by the Wizard of Oz, “bring me the broom of the Wicked Witch of the West,” we’ll be told that there’s something else we need to secure and present before the embassy will give us our visas. And that scares the living %#@* out of me!
Twenty-eight days until we leave...the embassy gods willing.
Guess I should have read this post first! Not a fun topic (death) but as you said , necessary. Hope the extra insurance wasn't too much of an expense!
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to see you off on your journey!