Travel with kids or when retired?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We travel a lot now and also hope to do so in retirement and are saving aggressively to do so because as you note, the tolerance to deal with discomfort decreases exponentially the older you get.

When we were in our 20s we could travel in basic economy/Ryan air or the equivalent and stay at budget hotels and cram a ton of activities into a short trip without issue. Now in our mid 40s, traveling with kids we usually shoot for premium economy or at least economy plus if traveling overseas with our kids, stay in Marriott type hotels and always factor in a recovery day before returning to work. In retirement I imagine we will aim to travel business class, stay in nice hotels/resorts and travel to places for longer duration so that we can explore at leisure.

I’ll just do easier trips during retirement - so no sightseeing marathons, beach trips when it’s 110 degrees in Greece etc. I’ve never done Rome or similar things in August, which is insane IMO. I have 2-3 places on my bucket list left (India, Namibia/Tanzania, Australia/NZ) - the rest of the world I’ve either been to or I am just medium level interested. But I want to cross off that bucket list before I am 55. Unfortunately, I couldn’t travel that much in my 20s due to DH’s situation, but I just go without him now. No point in waiting for him.

Wow, you have seen the whole world? How many countries have you visited?

Dp I have no interest in seeing ' the whole world' just like I have no intention to read every book. First it is impossible and second there are places I have zero interest.

I think there are many places that would be amazing trips that we all can agree and some are ' niche' trips.

I always find it funny when op start threads because they only see one way to do something. There are quite a few...do what makes sense to you might not make sense to others. Point is live your life and
don't worry about other peiple.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One kid who is a great traveler and loves museums and non-kid focused activities. I will happily retire later and poorer to be able to show her the world while she's still young. We occasionally take trips without her, but mostly we schedule around spring and summer breaks and destinations that are interesting to all three of us. Hopefully we'll be able to keep traveling after retirement, and she'll be welcome to join as often as she wants.

So do you leave other kids behind?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I want to do both. One of my kids is a very difficult traveler though so a lot of things have to fit around her needs.

I want to sit at cafes and people watch and take long train rides in the country side, which the kids are not interested in. I want to take some very expensive trips like safaris that would cost double with the kids. I want to fly to far out of the way places and not worry about it taking 48 hours to get there, but on school schedules that's not possible.

So we travel as much as we can now in ways that suit our needs. And hope we have the money and health to do the rest later.

What do you mean she’s a difficult traveler. She’s a kid. Make her be better.

Omgggg, I never thought of that!!! You are a way better parent, clearly.

I’m just saying, why in earth would you fit things to her needs, as you put it? Why would you cater to a child?

Have you ever traveled with a child with severe allergies, or ASD, or hypotonia, or Crone’s, or something else?

Yes Autism. Travel made them more flexible.

[Anonymous]

I just live when people say they’ve been everywhere and then it turns out they haven’t really been anywhere. Americans in particular love to overstate their travel credentials.

[Anonymous]

I agree with the poster who says travel before marriage and kids. Between my job and fun trips, I visited 35+ countries before I got married. DH has no interest in flying, my kids have no interest in going anywhere but the beach, and I know I am not missing anything. We will be empty nesters and retired in 2 years at 60, and my plan is to see this country. Roadtrip everywhere.

[Anonymous]

My mom had all kinds of plans to finally live her life when she retired. She had a stroke at 62 and that changed everything. Please don't wait if you are able to go now. I think about this often. I hope to retire relatively early and I am actively trying to expand travel with my kids before they leave for college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I want to do both. One of my kids is a very difficult traveler though so a lot of things have to fit around her needs.

I want to sit at cafes and people watch and take long train rides in the country side, which the kids are not interested in. I want to take some very expensive trips like safaris that would cost double with the kids. I want to fly to far out of the way places and not worry about it taking 48 hours to get there, but on school schedules that's not possible.

So we travel as much as we can now in ways that suit our needs. And hope we have the money and health to do the rest later.

What do you mean she’s a difficult traveler. She’s a kid. Make her be better.

Omgggg, I never thought of that!!! You are a way better parent, clearly.

I’m just saying, why in earth would you fit things to her needs, as you put it? Why would you cater to a child?

Have you ever traveled with a child with severe allergies, or ASD, or hypotonia, or Crone’s, or something else?

Yes Autism. Travel made them more flexible.

Interesting, that has not been my experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree with the poster who says travel before marriage and kids. Between my job and fun trips, I visited 35+ countries before I got married. DH has no interest in flying, my kids have no interest in going anywhere but the beach, and I know I am not missing anything. We will be empty nesters and retired in 2 years at 60, and my plan is to see this country. Roadtrip everywhere.

That is what my mom did and she pushed it as she was raising us. She was a little like Auntie Mame in that regard (Live!). Not just travel, but she did many things before marrying at 33. Now, it sounds more normal, but it wasn’t in 1963. She was a teacher, she was YWCA director, she traveled to Europe for three months (on her own dime), she was a disciple of Dorothy Height and helped run the YWCA national convention, etc.

As for domestic travel post retirement, I have a friend who did just that and has been on the road for over 5 years. She picked a Travato to do it in. It is totally doable on much smaller than DCUM budgets. There is so much out there to do. We love her stories.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We travel a lot now and also hope to do so in retirement and are saving aggressively to do so because as you note, the tolerance to deal with discomfort decreases exponentially the older you get.

When we were in our 20s we could travel in basic economy/Ryan air or the equivalent and stay at budget hotels and cram a ton of activities into a short trip without issue. Now in our mid 40s, traveling with kids we usually shoot for premium economy or at least economy plus if traveling overseas with our kids, stay in Marriott type hotels and always factor in a recovery day before returning to work. In retirement I imagine we will aim to travel business class, stay in nice hotels/resorts and travel to places for longer duration so that we can explore at leisure.

I’ll just do easier trips during retirement - so no sightseeing marathons, beach trips when it’s 110 degrees in Greece etc. I’ve never done Rome or similar things in August, which is insane IMO. I have 2-3 places on my bucket list left (India, Namibia/Tanzania, Australia/NZ) - the rest of the world I’ve either been to or I am just medium level interested. But I want to cross off that bucket list before I am 55. Unfortunately, I couldn’t travel that much in my 20s due to DH’s situation, but I just go without him now. No point in waiting for him.

Wow, you have seen the whole world? How many countries have you visited?

Dp I have no interest in seeing ' the whole world' just like I have no intention to read every book. First it is impossible and second there are places I have zero interest.

I think there are many places that would be amazing trips that we all can agree and some are ' niche' trips.

I always find it funny when op start threads because they only see one way to do something. There are quite a few...do what makes sense to you might not make sense to others. Point is live your life and
don't worry about other peiple.

Agreed. The PP comes across like an aggressive traveler, just like the other OP from that post coined that term. Competing over how many countries she visited, putting others down and questioning their “travel credentials”, lol. What a despicable way to live life and to approach the cultural enrichment of travel.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree. Out of curiosity, what was the exhausting trip? How long and where did you go? I feel so sorry for all the doddering old people I see everywhere these days. Honestly, it’s downright dangerous for a lot of them to be out and about.

I know. They should all stay in doors, waiting for death☠️.

Someday you will be “they.” And I’m sure you won’t enjoy the judgment of younger generations.

But why didn’t they do it when they were younger? That’s what we’re doing.

The privilege on this board never ceases to amaze me. Not everyone can afford to travel when they’re young. Maybe they’re helping care for their parents, maybe they have a special needs child, so many reasons.

Tough luck. Plenty of broke people still manage to travel. It's called shoestring travel. You're coming up for excuses while others just did it.

I'm in mid 40s, heading to Switzerland for a two week hiking trip this summer. No shortage of fit hikers in their 60s and 70s up in the Alps. My mother is going to Ireland to visit friends, and then exploring the Scottish islands on her own for another week. And she's 76. It's all about what you want to do and your mindset. If you want to sit home and complain about being old/tired/broke, go for it, but I'm not listening.

You are compounding everyone’s bad impression of you.

It is NOT all about mindset.

Many if not most people could not even scrape together the airfare to travel to Europe, let alone the cost if even “shoestring” meals and accommodations.

And serious medical conditions (eg, Alzheimer’s, ALS, stroke) cannot be overcome with the right mindset.

You are a smug idiot, who better hope that karma does not try to teach you some humility.

That is not my problem. Why should I care? You are the one who is shrieking and whining and moaning but I'm not sure why I should listen? Not everyone can do everything, sure, but once more, why should I care? Maybe the day will come when I can't travel internationally for health reasons or because I'm 90 but I sure won't be posting on DCUM whining and moaning about travel "privilege."

[Anonymous]

"Why not both?" Do you all think people who want to travel PREFER to put it off for decades?!

I did a lot of shoestring travel in my early to mid-20s, and then I had kids and didn't fly anywhere for a decade. Here are the reasons:

1. PTO/schedules. When you have babies and toddlers and 1-2 weeks off total, it is very common to prioritize seeing the grandparents at least once a year. Now I have a bit more PTO but my husband teaches on a different school schedule than my kids in public, so we can only travel at peak in summer.

2. Maternity leave. My employer didn't offer paid maternity leave until a couple of years ago. I saved up years worth of vacation time to cover 12 weeks off. Didn't start feeling like I could take a vacation until youngest was 3.

3. Money. Yes, if I had more of it I'd spend more on travel. But day care, college savings, and retirement savings take some big chunks out of my average income. We are starting to try to go on trips but it's not going to be international every year.

Honestly I think the biggest one is time for working adults. People fantasize about retirement as finally having more freedom. I agree that we shouldn't put off life for decades because you never know what can happen. At the same time, most people can't do everything they want right now for practical reasons, either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I often see posts about people needing a ton of money for retirement, as they plan to take numerous expensive trips they wouldn’t take while in their 30/40/50s. I don’t get the sentiment. I am now nearing the end of what’s probably the most exhausting trip I’ve taken in my lifetime and I can’t begin to imagine what it would do to my health and body to travel like this when I’m 60 or 70. I just wouldn’t be able to do it. How do people assume they’ll have the strength to pull this off?

My parents just took a trip in their 70s. First class flight, luxury hotel, driver to take them around the sites, private tour guide. Nothing about the trip was exhausting? I’m not sure what you are doing to have an exhausting trip.

Just being old is exhausting. I bet they were exhausted the entire time.

LOL

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree with the poster who says travel before marriage and kids. Between my job and fun trips, I visited 35+ countries before I got married. DH has no interest in flying, my kids have no interest in going anywhere but the beach, and I know I am not missing anything. We will be empty nesters and retired in 2 years at 60, and my plan is to see this country. Roadtrip everywhere.

I don’t think I could marry someone who did not enjoy travel.

I am surprised that don’t want to expose your kids to other people and places.
Don’t you think they have no interest in it because they have not seen it in their family?

Did your family expose you to travel growing up?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree with the poster who says travel before marriage and kids. Between my job and fun trips, I visited 35+ countries before I got married. DH has no interest in flying, my kids have no interest in going anywhere but the beach, and I know I am not missing anything. We will be empty nesters and retired in 2 years at 60, and my plan is to see this country. Roadtrip everywhere.

Why do you think you’re not missing anything?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We travel a lot now and also hope to do so in retirement and are saving aggressively to do so because as you note, the tolerance to deal with discomfort decreases exponentially the older you get.

When we were in our 20s we could travel in basic economy/Ryan air or the equivalent and stay at budget hotels and cram a ton of activities into a short trip without issue. Now in our mid 40s, traveling with kids we usually shoot for premium economy or at least economy plus if traveling overseas with our kids, stay in Marriott type hotels and always factor in a recovery day before returning to work. In retirement I imagine we will aim to travel business class, stay in nice hotels/resorts and travel to places for longer duration so that we can explore at leisure.

I’ll just do easier trips during retirement - so no sightseeing marathons, beach trips when it’s 110 degrees in Greece etc. I’ve never done Rome or similar things in August, which is insane IMO. I have 2-3 places on my bucket list left (India, Namibia/Tanzania, Australia/NZ) - the rest of the world I’ve either been to or I am just medium level interested. But I want to cross off that bucket list before I am 55. Unfortunately, I couldn’t travel that much in my 20s due to DH’s situation, but I just go without him now. No point in waiting for him.

Wow, you have seen the whole world? How many countries have you visited?

Dp I have no interest in seeing ' the whole world' just like I have no intention to read every book. First it is impossible and second there are places I have zero interest.

I think there are many places that would be amazing trips that we all can agree and some are ' niche' trips.

I always find it funny when op start threads because they only see one way to do something. There are quite a few...do what makes sense to you might not make sense to others. Point is live your life and
don't worry about other peiple.

Agreed. The PP comes across like an aggressive traveler, just like the other OP from that post coined that term. Competing over how many countries she visited, putting others down and questioning their “travel credentials”, lol. What a despicable way to live life and to approach the cultural enrichment of travel.

DP. +100. Aggressive competitive travelers are so cringe-inducing.