Australia: Ideas for IECA and the SOIL Fund from “Down Under”

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Wednesday, 11/15/23: My Trip Starts to Fall Apart

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Bright and early on Wednesday morning, I started packing for my return trip to Chile.   I was itchy to get on the road again and hoped to have a couple hours to write up another blog post.   My bus wasn’t leaving Mendoza until 1:00 PM. I had split up my cash, two credit cards, two debit cards, driver’s license, and Medicare I.D. card among a money belt with hidden zipper, a travel wallet worn around my neck (where I also carried my passport), an ankle wallet worn under my left sock, and a regular wallet where I carried a few bucks as a decoy in case I was robbed.   While verifying that everything was where it should be, I opened up the small zippered pocket of the neck wallet.   There was supposed to be a Capital One credit card and a Schwab debit card in there but the debit card was missing.   I had only used it once – at an ATM in the Santiago airport terminal upon my arrival.   Certainly, I wouldn’t have left it in the ATM machine – I’ve never done that.   I looked everywhere in m
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Thursday, 11/16/23: My Trip Completely Falls Apart

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After breakfast, I took a short walk over to bus terminal where I found an electronics store.   I needed a Chilean SIM card for my phone.   It was fine using wifi in hotels for my computer for emails and the news but, out on the street, I especially needed Google Maps to navigate, find restaurants, bus stations, etc.   Verizon had wanted an extra $10 a day to use my phone (including calls, texts, and internet) outside the US.   Unless I was going to be using the phone most of the day for business purposes that was a big rip-off.   A tech-savvy friend had suggested an e-SIM card app, Airalo, which offered reasonably-priced country plans without physically changing the little SIM card in the phone.   Great idea but I learned that my Samsung Galaxy A10e phone is too old to be able to use this app.   My phone is maybe five years old, and I guess you’re now expected to buy a new phone every couple of years – grrrrr.   For about $11, the store clerk sold me a Chilean SIM card (good for 30
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Tuesday, 11/7/23: My Plans for Wandering in Chile

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Denver International Airport, 9:00 AM, United Club lounge So what am I doing flying by myself to Chile at age 77 with a heart condition, hearing challenges, and a declining short-term memory? Well, if my 85-year-old friend, Andre, can fly all over the world (and his heart is in worse shape  than mine), I don’t have any excuses. 10:20 AM MST, enroute to Miami I’ve spent many an hour planning for this trip to Chile and putting it together.  Along the way, I’ve given considerable thought as to what I want out of this adventure.  Here are a few ideas: I’ve been fascinated with this very long, skinny country ever since I became a geography geek around age 9.   So never having been to southern South America, I decided that it was time to get my ass in gear and make my 5 th trip south of the equator.   Like a 35-year-old woman who is hell-bent on motherhood, my biological clock has been ticking away and Dog-only-knows when I will hit traveler’s menopause.     Travelling can be tough
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