Happy Sunday! We are officially in autumn now. Temps are still really hot here in the southern U.S., but the leaves are slowly fading as the days become shorter. I can’t believe I am saying this, but this Florida girl is actually looking forward to sweater weather.
Speaking of Weather
Hurricane Helene stopped by uninvited and tore up everything in sight in the mountains on the Tennessee-North Carolina border. To understand the scale of devastation, you need to understand the Appalachian region. The topography tears open clouds to create a temperate rain forest. The wet earth yields a multitude of creeks that tumble into streams that turn into tributaries that grow into the fast and wide Tennessee River, which has been dammed along most of its length to generate power.
In addition, this area is one of the poorest in the U.S. The mountains are filled with tiny towns that are very remote, nestled into the small valleys among the peaks, and cell signal is weak even on a good day. Most people don’t have the funds to leave, or are farmers who can’t leave their livestock. Falling trees routinely cause the loss of power and the blockage of roads during a normal storm. This was not a normal storm.
This area has been in drought, so the 30 inches of rainfall slicked right off the surface. Entire bridges and towns washed away, leaving people stranded or worse. Asheville, NC had all of its roads obliterated, leaving 100,000 people stuck in place. Interstate 40, the major artery between Knoxville and Asheville, collapsed three miles into North Carolina and has been shut to all traffic. Dams overflowed by a record 8 feet of water. In Tennessee, the governor elected to not declare a State of Emergency in advance of Helene, telling people to pray and fast instead. No one was told to evacuate until it looked like dams were about to fail - and by then, it was too late.
The scale of devastation will take years to fix. Here is a list of organizations taking donations.
Quick Getaway
As you may have read in last week’s update, August and September have had very little travel. I realized I had a short 36 hour period I could get away, so right after writing last week’s Sunday newsletter, I packed up and hit the road. I popped down to Chattanooga, Tennessee to take advantage of a great autumn special at a dog-friendly, historic downtown hotel. I even wrote you a travel guide!
October Travel Planning (or Lack Thereof)
It’s a little bit ironic, as Alanis would say, that I love travel but hate planning it. I have been procrastinating hard. Even writing this newsletter has been one big procrastination tactic. I’m debating about getting a travel agent in the future to outsource all the reservation-making, but I am also really picky sooo IDK.
In spite of these character flaws, I made more progress this week on booking my October travels to upstate New York, New York City, and Scotland. I found what I hope will be an amazing tour of northern Scotland, with the added bonus that the tour company will reserve the transportation and hotels (I guess I did outsource a little!). If I counted the days correctly, I will be visiting standing stones on an ancestral island on Halloween, which makes my little witchy heart so happy. And if a Jamie Fraser look-alike happens to be there, I wouldn’t mind. Not in the least.
Unfortunately, the tour is smack-dab in the middle of my Scotland trip, so I still have to book hotels on either side of the tour...just not as many. Overall moving in the right direction though!
Sabbatical Savvy
Things I learned this week so you don’t have to:
I reserved a rental car for upstate NY, and the Budget website said my final bill was around $320, which was a great price compared to the other options. The next day, I got an alert from my bank, and when I looked, Budget had charged over $200 more in taxes and fees not listed on their website. Be very careful on rental car sites that the price they are showing you includes all the taxes and fees.
Entry requirements into the EU for non-EU citizens are changing sometime in 2025. You will be required to pay 7 euros to be entered into a system every three years.
Similar changes are in process for the UK. It will cost 10 pounds and will go into effect on January 8, 2025 for non-EU citizens and April 2, 2025 for EU citizens. This authorization will need to be renewed every two years.
Doggie Update
Charlie, my sweet little 15 year old man, has been very sick. I took him to the vet in the middle of the week and it looked like he was on the mend, but last night he was shaking uncontrollably. I took him to the doggie emergency room, and he will be there at least 24 hours as they try to get a mystery infection under control. Please send Charlie good vibes, I know he would appreciate it.
The End
That’s it, folks! See ya next week, when I will be writing to you from upstate New York.
Life’s short - have fun!
Alicia xx
Thanks for sharing! Great writing; amazing information!