Free Ebook Offer: The Story of America: Discovery – Book-Reviews
Free Ebook Offer: The Story of America: Discovery
Did Columbus first discover America?Did the Vikings first discover America?Did the Chinese first discover America?No, in truth the American continent was first discovered between 10,000 and 15,000 years ago by bands of roving hunters from the Siberian steppes, who made the lonely trek across to the previously unknown continent during the last Great Ice Age when the sea level fell enough to expose a narrow causeway that acted as a bridge between the two continents.No signs have yet been found of any human habitation on the continent before these times so it must be assumed that they arrived to find an uninhabited land. With no real threats and a landscape teeming with wildlife they decided to stay, though they didn't have much choice in the matter as before long the waters rose as the Ice Age drew to a close and quite literally cut them off from their friends and family back in Asia.With no boats and no chance of retreat, at least not until the next Ice Age (which hasn't started yet!), they must have decided to make the most of their new-found home, which just happened to be a continent so huge it spanned the two poles and contained every type of landscape imaginable, from rugged mountains and steaming volcanoes to parched deserts and hidden valleys, from endless wide-open plains to dank, dense jungles, and from frozen snow-bound tundra to idyllic tropical islands.Fortunately these hunters must have taken their females along for the trek and over the centuries they spread and multiplied, so much so that by 1500AD, when they were finally discovered by the rest of humanity, there were upwards of 10 million natives spread across all parts of the continent.These indigenous tribes by that time had settled into 3 rough groups:1) to the north, in present-day USA and Canada, there were between 1000 and 2000 family tribes, most eking out a subsistence lifestyle by hunting, whilst living in tents and temporary settlements as they followed the wandering herds.2) throughout the central part of the continent and on the eastern part of South America these same tribes had joined together into civilized groups who lived in stone-built cities where the landscape was dominated by huge temples, the scene of fearsome rituals where the citizens were largely kept in obedience under threat of human sacrifice.3) and finally, on the Caribbean Islands and around the deltas of the Orinoco and Amazon rivers, a third group had settled, on the whole peacefully, though even amongst some of these tribes cannibalism was still practised.There they had lived for more than 10,000 years, unable to get back in touch with the rest of the world. In fact they probaby no longer even remembered there was any more to the world beyond their continent. But their isolation was not to continue and this book tells the fascinating story of how this long-lost continent was finally rediscovered and of how it once more became a real and living part of the known world.This excerpt is taken from the first chapter of Discovery - The Story of America by Anthony Treasure. This book is already published in the UK (listed on Amazon.co.uk) and is due to be published in the US at a later date. For now it is published as an ebook and as a SPECIAL INTRODUCTORY OFFER Discovery Part One is available to download COMPLETELY FREE OF CHARGE. Three further titles - Discovery Part Two, Colonization Part One and Colonization Part Two are also out as ebooks and can be bought and downloaded from the website. To claim your free ebook today simply visit http://www.farawaybooks.com
Boondocking America
Boondocking America
Boondocking is fun! Boondockers go anywhere they want, at any time they want and at any speed they want! If you are a member of Loners on Wheels (LoW) or any other single RV'ing group you will want to boondock at least some of the time.Boondocking provides an almost perfect way to see America for little housing costs. I have parked on streets in small towns and explored all the town had to offer. (Get me to tell you about the two weeks I spent in Williams, Arizona, one night!) I've enjoyed libraries, bars, restaurants, parks and who knows how many retail stores. The towns benefit from my spending and I benefit by being able to see the out-of-the-way spots across this country.Boondocking does take some planning, however.Electricity is the first need. Most of us have solar panels on the roofs of our RVs. These panels serve one purpose and one purpose only - to recharge our house batteries. As a general rule you should plan on one solar panel for each house battery in your rig. Be sure you do not add batteries without adding solar panels. If you do, your panels will not provide sufficient recharging and you'll always have low batteries.In addition to solar panels, many of us have a generator in the back of the pick-up or installed in our rigs. This makes it possible to sometimes run the air conditioner or microwave and to recharge batteries. The problem, of course, is that generators are noisy and drive your co-campers nuts.After you have portable electrical output, you need propane for the space heater, water heater, stove and refrigerator. All rigs are equipped with the necessary propane tanks and most have a refrigerator that runs on electricity when you are connected to a land line and on gas when not connected. Check the propane often. You'll find that you only run out of propane on the coldest of nights at 1:00 A.M.Finally, water must be carried. Many full-timers try to travel with a minimum of water to save weight. I prefer to have a full tank when I pull off the highway for an undetermined period of time.Now, where will you camp?Almost anywhere you want! K-Mart or Wal-Mart parking lots are my favorite on the road RV stop-overs. Some cities have ordinances against the use of such lots but the stores themselves generally like to have us. They have the space and don't like empty parking lots. We all spend a bunch of money in them when we stop and we provide an unofficial guard service for the stores. Please, if parking in one of their lots, don't unhook your rig or extend your slide-outs.I often spend a night or two at a truck stop. They always have plenty of parking space but my problem is that I always park next to a diesel whose driver, for some unknown reason, keeps the damn truck running all night. (If anyone knows why they do that, please let me know.) If you can put up with the noise, there's always good food in their restaurants and plenty of air, water and fuel for your travels.Roadside rest areas are also good stopping places. I've talked to lots of boondocking women and almost all have expressed fear of rest areas but none has ever experienced a problem. After
trying the rest areas they all found that they enjoyed the fact that other travelers are around for company and protection. Clean restrooms and nice places to walk their dogs are high on their list of reasons for using highway rest stops.Many of us are members of fraternal organizations which provide inexpensive camping for members. The Elks, Moose Lodge and VFW are a few of many such organizations. Use them! They want to meet you and have your patronize their clubs.Finding a place to dump can be a problem for some. Not me, though! I have many times pulled into an RV park and asked if I could dump. I've never been turned down! Usually they charge
about $5 to dump and refill the water holding tank. One dump a week is plenty.Finally, I enjoy caravanning when I travel. Sunsets are prettier when you share them! I like the company and the protection of having friends with me when I'm traveling or staying overnight at some far removed spot. Get with some fellow LoWs and try boondocking for a week or two.You'll love it!Jack Matlock is a senior and single full time RVer who is enthusiastically endorsing the RVing lifestyle. He started his RVing with a small pick-up and a Coleman tent camper. He presently has a 33 foot 5th wheel with three slide outs.As a single Jack quickly learned that we live in a mated society. Even the RVing society was
based on couples. He wanted to escape into a world where he could socialize with other singles.
He looked for a group of single campers who would share his coffee hours and fishing trips. He
found Loners on Wheels, a singles only RVing club dedicated to enjoying the single lifestyle and
retaining the independence and travel each RVer enjoys. For the past seven years he has enjoyed
this group. He plans to enjoy it for the rest of his life!
http://www.lonersonwheels.com/
Cant Afford Illness in America
Cant Afford Illness in America
I had become too sick to live in America.Even with private insurance, even with Medicare, we couldn't keep up with our medical bills. So we found a country where we could, and we left.Picture this: A childless, middle-aged couple both gainfully employed, both college educated, living a frugal but happy life, and the husband gets sick with an incurable chronic illness. The sick husband has to quit work because the illness is very serious. But, not to worry, after four long years and a legal battle, he gets on Social Security Disability and therefore qualifies for Medicare. There is also the added security of the wife's health insurance to cover the expensive prescriptions and everything else Medicare doesn't. Everything will be fine because they are insured, and they will continue to live a happy yet frugal life in spite of the chronic illness. Or will they?In the fall of 2002, my wife and I found ourselves in the position of not being able to afford my illness. I was afflicted with an incurable illness called Fibromyalgia Syndrome, a pain, and fatigue disorder that eventually leaves most of those afflicted unable to work. The decrease in my income plus the 10 prescriptions I took (not counting the drugs my wife had to take) to try to help control my illness's symptoms were breaking us financially. Though we were insured, we could no longer afford to fund my illness. The co-pays, deductibles, and non-covered expenses were eating away at our financial security, bite after bite.We found a sort of bitter consolation in the fact that we were not alone in our plight. It turns out that more than 50% of bankruptcies filed in 2001 were medically related and were middle-class homeowners who not only had an income but also health insurance. The prevailing myth that most bankruptcies are related to credit card debt is not true. Less than 1% of filed bankruptcies are due to credit card debt.Researchers found that in those surveyed, 1.9 to 2.2 million U.S. residents filed a "medical bankruptcy." The average person filing for bankruptcy during the 2001 period spent $13,460 on co-payments, deductibles, and uncovered services even though they had private insurance."Our study is frightening. Unless you're Bill Gates, you're just one serious illness away from bankruptcy. Most of the medically bankrupt were average Americans who happened to get sick. Health insurance offered little protection," said Dr. David Himmelstein, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School who led the study.Another one of the study's authors, Elizabeth Warren, said, "It doesn't take a medical catastrophe to create a financial catastrophe. A larger share of American workers are going to have insurance that's like a paper umbrella. It looks good, and it might even protect you in a sprinkle, but it melts away in a downpour."In the fall of 2002, we began to feel the sprinkle on our paper umbrella turn into an unstoppable downpour. We had to do something before the full brunt of the downpour tore the paper umbrella to shreds and our lives along with it. We began to look to other alternatives to purchase our prescription drugs and found them. Little did we suspect how our search for more affordable prescriptions would not only find us financial relief but also end up changing our lives.We heard rumors that prescriptions drugs were cheaper in Canada and Mexico. Our research showed this was indeed true. But this, to be honest, was a scary proposition. I also read that the U.S. government was trying to shut down many of the web sites through which you could order these drugs. That's all I needed--get arrested for smuggling drugs through the U.S. Mail Service! Many Americans who live in border towns simply cross the border to get a prescription filled at substantially lower prices with no hassles. Moving to a border town was not what we wanted to do. But what did catch my eye was that in Mexico not only were the prices of prescription drugs--the same ones I took in the U.S.--cheaper but so was just about everything else!Digging deeper we discovered there was a large population of American expatriates already living in Mexico, around 500,000, taking advantage of affordable and reliable medical care plus a significantly lower cost of living. This was a stunning revelation to us. Moving to Mexico hadn't been a remote possibility; now it appeared to be salvation.Our reality began on August 1, 2003, when we stepped off the plane in Leon, Guanajuato, to begin our new lives in a small, colonial town (the capital city of the state) called Guanajuato.We stepped into a new reality where everything; prescription drugs, housing, utilities, food, transportation, entertainment, is 25-75% less than it is in America. My Social Security Disability income more than adequately covers our expenses here in Guanajuato, Mexico. An example is that I can buy all my needed prescriptions for less than the co-pay I forked over for one drug in the United States! I get a month of Prozac for less than $16.00 usd. Same drugs, only affordable! Can you believe that?Moving to Mexico--an alternative for everyone? I doubt it. But it is working for us on so many levels that we have no plans anytime soon to return to the land of our birth.The solution? I don't know. What I do know is that we, and many other Americans, cannot sit idly by waiting for our elected officials to work it out. We had to taken action--drastic as it was. That paper umbrella won't last long!Doug Bower is a freelance writer and book author. His most recent writing credits include The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Houston Chronicle, and The Philadelphia Inquirer, and Transitions Abroad. He lives with his wife in Guanajuato, Mexico.His new book Mexican Living: Blogging it from a Third World Country can be seen at http://www.lulu.com/content/126241