Retirement and travel
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Anonymous
| As soon as you are 60, hit up www.roadscholar.org. |
Anonymous
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Some of my friends like to pick a city and spend 3-4 weeks there doing slow travel. We are trying to do active travel while we still can.
IME aside from the travel time itself, almost any destination can be “easy” or “challenging” (you can be on cruise to Antartica or you can walk 15 miles a day in the Cotswolds) |
Anonymous
We just retired about a year ago. We got hit with a huge life changing unexpected medical issue within a month. Do not put off travel until retirement. Squeeze what you can in now. |
Anonymous
| At retirement, we took 10% or our net worth and earmarked it for fun stuff. In our case, fun stuff was travel. I did not want to squeeze-out a travel budget from our usual monthly/yearly budget. We don't travel expensively but I also don't stress over any financial hit because of the unexpected. |
Anonymous
| We are retired and travel is a large part of our annual budget. We travel well and enjoy much nicer accommodations and amenities than when we were younger. We don't travel for more than 2-3 weeks at a time due to having our home/bills/pets to worry about, and children and grandchildren whom we miss while we are away. Trips include international, domestic, new destinations and old ones, and regular trips as a couple, and with our children and grandchildren. We try to be generous about covering expenses when we can; it's one of the joys of this time of life, and we know there will be a time when we won't have the health and mobility to do it. |
Anonymous
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People who are or planning to go big on travel on early retirement, what's your annual travel spend?
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Anonymous
There are travel groups you can join. A female friend who is single does this. She's been to so many places. |
Anonymous
It normally costs us about $20K for a family of 4 for 3 weeks of international travel. And we only traveled in the summer, which is peak prices. We won't be traveling in the summer (I actually hate traveling in the summer), so I figure it will be about half of that for just the two of us since we only need one hotel room and two plane tickets. So, I'm budgeting around 20K per year, but some of the accommodations will be free because of family overseas. |
Anonymous
I was originally thinking $40k but just in this year before retirement, we are taking two vacations that are $10k each. So now I think $60k to $80k. |
Anonymous
| I mean, my dad is 78 and going on cruises and sightseeing all over Europe and walking around vineyards and going on little hikes in New England, etc. And he doesn't really work out or anything. |
Anonymous
Currently at $15 - $20k. But, like one of the PPs, that involves kids and prime travel dates. Even besides those things, I think my retirement travel is going to look a little different. I envision fewer big ticket tourist destinations and more days just reading books in and around some European cafes or parks. Or taking hikes out in the Rockies as long as my legs and lungs hold up. Less dramatic sites but more time spent. |
Anonymous
My retirement plan is to star a small boutique travel agency where I take a very small group to places that I have enjoyed visiting. I’m doing my research now, and taking a trip soon to find out more about experiences (excursions, classes). The goal is to support travelers that are not interested in securing reservations and making all the planning, that is what I will do for them. Hopefully we will cross paths…. |
Anonymous
| Those who retire and travel often, I’m curious, are you still living in the DC area? Or have you moved to a lower COL area that still has a major airport? I’m sure this varies a lot of course depending on people’s financial situations but it’s something I’ve been considering for myself and my husband — where to retire that’s a good launch-pad for travel. |
Anonymous
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My parents (late 70s & early 80s) enjoy Viking cruises because one parent has mobility issues, while the other is still quite energetic. They can do different things but still be together. My dad recently went to Antarctica with one of my siblings (that kind of trip is too much for my mom).
They also visit their kids and take closer to home trips, often with kids and grandkids. They are visiting relatives who live abroad as well. I think they do 2-3 big trips per year, with several smaller ones mixed in. |
Anonymous
Depends on how you travel. We can speak for continuous long stays - we spend 3 or 4 weeks per year in the US visiting family - transitioning from basically digital nomads : - No pets. - If you have pets, no more pets. - Avoid anything needing your care or attention to stay alive. No plants. No pets. - Try not to have children. - Cigna Global for pre-retirement health insurance. The Non-US option will save you a ton of money. Cigna has great add on options - outpatient, medication etc... - Stay Vaccinated. India will try to kill you in so many ways. - Remote Mail Service. Legal Zoom Virtual Mail or Anytime Mailbox. We've used Virtual Mail. (If you need online access to mail.) - TMobile Unlimited Hotspot Plan - Always pay for flexible airline tickets. No exceptions. - Know basic Spanish - Pay for the gopro editing app. We stopped manually editing after 2 videos. If you are keeping a permanent address - HomeExchange or similar home swapping service. Home swaps for long stays in high COL places like Hawaii. We can spend months in Hawaii using home swaps. France, Spain, and Portugal were very common exchange requests. - If you want pets, house sit for people who have pets. ( trustedhousesitters.com ) - Balance low/high COL. A few weeks in Japan or Hawaii can equal months in Latin America or India (Stay Vaccinated) - IF you do some VanLife-ing (which you should) do not underestimate the cost of fuel. - IF you do some VanLife-ing (which you should) use ioverlander and be mindful of boondocking - Be mindful of visas and how to extend stays legally. "Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth" - Mike Tyson - You WILL forget something very important (a visa application, plane ticket, etc...) be prepared to pivot, change plans completely, and handle a crisis. - Always pay for flexible airline tickets. No exceptions. - Prioritize health everywhere you are, mental and physical. Again, specifics depend entirely on how you plan to be traveling. |