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I think a lot more practice at retirement is needed before we do extended trips. DH still doesn't "get" that occasionally I need time for myself. Even a one month trip is a recipe for homicide at this point.
Do you stay in Chiang Mai when you're in Thailand? I've seen way too many Elephant Nature Park videos. Some day I've got to visit that place.
I think a lot more practice at retirement is needed before we do extended trips. DH still doesn't "get" that occasionally I need time for myself. Even a one month trip is a recipe for homicide at this point.
Do you stay in Chiang Mai when you're in Thailand? I've seen way too many Elephant Nature Park videos. Some day I've got to visit that place.
We discovered Koh Samui when we went to a family wedding in 2014 and liked it. So we looked around for a quiet area to rent a house for an extended visit. Samui is a touristy island and has lots of resort areas, but our rental house is in a pretty garden community. So we go every year and stay in he same house and even rent the same car. We know where to eat to get authentic Thai food. Where to get massages. Where to shop. Where to snorkel.
I'd never do one of those elephant rides. The elephants hate it. One of them killed a tourist a couple of years ago as they were taunting it.
As for solo trips, I sometimes do those but all are 'local' - within the UK. And I go to places my husband has no interest in seeing, but I do.
We used to snow bird but no longer. We take trips anywhere from two to six weeks, sometimes together sometimes not. I just spent a month in Africa but DW didn't come along. We are about to spend a month on the mainland US (we live in Hawaii) although DW will stay a couple weeks longer than me to visit some friends. Next year we will spend 3 weeks in Spain and Portugal and then I am going back to Africa and DW will probably return home (she has bad back and Africa travel is very primitive, rough roads that would kill her back). Or maybe she will stay in Europe and I will meet up with her on my way back.
We discovered Koh Samui when we went to a family wedding in 2014 and liked it. So we looked around for a quiet area to rent a house for an extended visit.
My wife and I were in Koh Samui last year. We enjoyed it very much. It was part of a month-long trip to Southeast Asia that included visits to Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. We're flying back to Singapore next February for the beginning of a five-week visit, which will include a 20-day cruise with stops in Kuala Lampur and Langkawi, Malaysia; Phuket, Thailand; Sabang, Indonesia;, Male in the Maldives; Port Victoria in the Seychelle Islands; Muscat, Oman; Khasab, Oman; Abu Dhabi, UAE; and Dubai. We're then planning to spend a week in Dubai.
We usually take extended trips, but unlike you, don't usually stay in one place too long. However, that will change somewhat in the coming year (not counting the trip to Asia), as we've just gotten involved with home exchanges. We've already finalized trips to Ireland in Sept./Oct.; Copenhagen for 2+ weeks at Christmas; and we're working on trips to Madrid for a month next Summer and then on to Florence, Italy, for 3 weeks after that. We've also finalized an exchange with a Canadian couple who will be coming to our condo in January, but we haven't decided yet on our dates to stay in their place in Montreal.
We've always enjoyed traveling, and being able to take extended trips without regard to work or vacation schedules was the #1 reason that we both retired a decade ago at the age of 54.
My wife and I were in Koh Samui last year. We enjoyed it very much. It was part of a month-long trip to Southeast Asia that included visits to Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. We're flying back to Singapore next February for the beginning of a five-week visit, which will include a 20-day cruise with stops in Kuala Lampur and Langkawi, Malaysia; Phuket, Thailand; Sabang, Indonesia;, Male in the Maldives; Port Victoria in the Seychelle Islands; Muscat, Oman; Khasab, Oman; Abu Dhabi, UAE; and Dubai. We're then planning to spend a week in Dubai.
We usually take extended trips, but unlike you, don't usually stay in one place too long. However, that will change somewhat in the coming year (not counting the trip to Asia), as we've just gotten involved with home exchanges. We've already finalized trips to Ireland in Sept./Oct.; Copenhagen for 2+ weeks at Christmas; and we're working on trips to Madrid for a month next Summer and then on to Florence, Italy, for 3 weeks after that. We've also finalized an exchange with a Canadian couple who will be coming to our condo in January, but we haven't decided yet on our dates to stay in their place in Montreal.
We've always enjoyed traveling, and being able to take extended trips without regard to work or vacation schedules was the #1 reason that we both retired a decade ago at the age of 54.
We've done a lot of travel already - Australia, various countries in Europe, 2 years in Uganda. So we enjoy just relaxing during the winter now. It's exhausting to keep going from hotel to hotel and living out of a suitcase. Our Thailand home feels like our own home.
Winter where we live is cold but not usually freezing, so hardly ever snows. But it's cold rain, high winds, and very short daylight.
We both retired at 55.
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