Retirement and travel

[Anonymous]

We retired (mostly) at 45 and have definitely been enjoying travel. We usually do longer 3-6 month stays in a nice suburban area with day and week(s) long trips from there. Gives us more a feeling of being a local.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As soon as you are 60, hit up www.roadscholar.org.

These are small group tours. Not for me but maybe others.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As soon as you are 60, hit up www.roadscholar.org.

These are small group tours. Not for me but maybe others.

A good place to start for ideas if these places are new to you. For me, the prices are high. I can do same trip for less if I DIY.

[Anonymous]

My family friends in their 80s do Vermont Bike Tours once a year with another couple. It looks awesome and they have people transport your stuff between villages. Now they are on e-bikes.

[Anonymous]

I think about this a lot. I think I’d like to do a European trip each year, a “nature” trip like a national park, etc. and then I’d like to spend the majority of Jan and Feb somewhere warm. I’m not sure I want to buy or become a “snow bird” but I am not into winter.

We have three more years of being tethered to school and sports schedules. I am dreading the empty nest book looking forward to using travel as a balm.

[Anonymous]

My parents loved to travel and took us on lots of trips when I was 5-30 (I paid after college).

Weirdly enough they really haven't traveled since retiring. All they really want to do is spend time with grandchildren. My mom's hip often hurts after too much walking and European sidewalks aren't great. They went on a cruise, but didn't enjoy it without their kids and grandkids.

I think there's a bit too much togetherness time for my parents after retirement. They weren't used to spending 24/7 together, even though they had a good marriage. Thus they don't want to spend even more time together on a vacation. (I've heard this from other retirees)

[Anonymous]

You don't have to be young to go on the river boat cruises.

We went on a 3-1/2 week Danube river cruise from Romania to Amsterdam last year. At 65 and 68 we were probably the youngest on the boat.

The oldest guy was 94 and he was solo from Australia.

Tauck would have 3 tour groups at each stop. At least 1/3 of our passengers had problems doing steps or getting around. They were with a guide that routed them to elevators and shorter walks.

The rooms on the boat had push buttons for medical emergencies (not room service.)
All of the room bathrooms had pulldown shower chairs built into the showers.

[Anonymous]

Don't have pets.

[Anonymous]

When you decide air travel is too much there are always the cruise ships out of Baltimore.

Dad took Bayrunner from the eastern shore across the Chesapeake. It stops at BWI, then Amtrak, and finally the bus station in Baltimore.

At the bus station he caught a taxi to the cruise dock in Baltimore.

He did this twice to get a break from Mom.

He said the ships out of Baltimore have a lot of families with children as well as seniors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't have pets.

+1 this is part of the reason why I never got a pet. I had two growing up, and they tie you down.

[Anonymous]

Pets make life harder to go away, but make life more joyful when you are at home ...but since this is a thread about travel. DH & I retired 10 yrs ago. We did one huge trip as soon as we retired. "tell me everyplace you'd like to go and I'll try to put it together." That's what I said and mostly what we did. Then, monthly stays to different areas. Learned we aren't really National Parks people. Not RV people. Not luxury travel people. I'll do a group tour if I can personalize it and break from the group for some independence. I will travel without my spouse. His desire to travel is less than mine. I love the DMV for 3 airports of significant size. I like living in the MidAtlantic. Don't feel the need to own a second home elsewhere. Don't want the hassle. Most of all, follow your muse. The parameters of what you'll want will change and always be evolving. Keep fixed expenses on the low side for flexibility. Imperfect decisions and mistakes and inconveniences happen. More so as you age. Make that almost a budget-line item. As you and your partner age, you'll want to grant each other grace and live with less stress.

[Anonymous]

No pets.

Find a neighborhood kid you can count on for house sitting- bringing in mail, watering plants, looking for packages, etc.

Prioritize. List everywhere you want to go and figure out which is most important to you both. Figure out which trips might need more mobility and which would be better when you are slower. ALSO- No need to wait for retirement- start going now.

Try out different travel modes. You may end up liking something you would not have expected. Cruise, Tour Bus, Rent a Car, etc. Try it at least once.

Don't wait for some day. Its hard to tell how you will age and what health issues you will have to deal with. My parents ended up with vision issues, which really put a damper on traveling. They are in perfect health otherwise.

Find a travel buddy. Another couple, or a friend. If you really plan on traveling a lot, you may want to shake things up with different combinations of friends. Maybe you want to go on a girls trip. Maybe DH wants to go golfing one weekend. Find other people with similar interests.