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I wasn't sure where to put his. DH and I are retired, and pushing 70. In our prime earning years, we took nice vacations...probably 8 cruises and some others.
My reason for posting is to tell you to take them now, not put it off for someday.
Now that we are retired, we can't afford to take vacations anymore, but we don't care very much because we took them when we could.
I wasn't sure where to put his. DH and I are retired, and pushing 70. In our prime earning years, we took nice vacations...probably 8 cruises and some others.
My reason for posting is to tell you to take them now, not put it off for someday.
Now that we are retired, we can't afford to take vacations anymore, but we don't care very much because we took them when we could.
Well, if you hadn't taken them when you were younger, you'd have (possibly) saved that money so you could afford them now, right?
But, my question is, do you think you would have enjoyed them as much now as you did then?
I'm a firm believer in doing things now, because the opportunity to do them later might not exist.
No, we would NOT enjoy them as much now. We look terrible in bathing suits, and we can't walk long distances.
Okay....so why not plan the more strenuous and adventurous trips for pre-retirement...and allow for other types of travel after retirement? I don't want to overly "deprive" myself saving for retirement but I want to do more than sit at home when I'm 65.
I am 60, DH is 74. He retired at 62.5, I retired several years later at 52. I traveled extensively before he entered my life when I was 38, and we've traveled extensively as a couple.
Our zip lining days in Costa Rica are over. We will not be hiking the rainforest in Borneo again. We never made it to Machu Pichu or Galapagos, and now never will (I regret the latter). We would have traveled more when we were younger, but limited vacation days or self employment were a barrier (and I usually had jobs that granted me four weeks of vacation time).
But we still travel. We cruise. We do home exchanges. We pace ourselves - more slowly than in our younger days. Instead of 3 cities in ten days, we do 1 or 2 cities.
Hell, we have friends who are older than us and wheelchair bound. THEY still travel, particularly on cruises.
I think it's wise to travel when one is younger if you can afford it and it's important to you. One never knows what may happen later in life, and waiting until you retire can backfire. Some folks can travel successfully in their 60s and 70s, but health or other issues can crop up to thwart things. Agreed that if it's a priority to include more strenuous travel (hiking, white water rafting, skiing) in one's bucket list, that needs to happen at a younger age.
Prioritizing is important also. I've limited myself to Europe, Canada, the US, and Australia because that's personally most meaningful. I knew long ago I'd never get everyplace in the world, so that's the best I can manage.
I say do what you can for as long as you can and as much as budget allows. And don't wait for "someday" down the road to start if it's that important to you.
What is your opinion about traveling with kids? or too much traveling?
I am in my early 30's. I got introduced to traveling in my mid-late 20's (like 26, 27ish). I loved it. But then I turned 30, got married, my role changed at work reducing travel & single trip turned into double & we need house..etc We still traveled 3 times a year. But I told my husband, I don't plan on traveling much when we have kids. Paying multiple fares, having screaming/cry baby who is disrupting everyone.. just doesn't seem fun. Do you think that is a bad plan?
Bottom line is, of course you don't spend the money needed for other things on vacations when you are young, but we all only have today, and tomorrow may never come.
My youngest and his wife are still childless, and they really just work to afford trips and recreation, and I think that's great.
Once you have kids, except for a few trips to the beach or Disneyworld, it is too much of a hassle. Also, when your kids hit middle school age, sports take over all the school vacations.
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