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Funny, the older I get, the less I have the desire to travel. I used to live for exploring other cultures, seeing places I had always dreamed of. Now when I think of travel, I immediately think of the flight delays, crammed seating, long hours on the road and think, maybe we'll postpone that African safari... I still love experiencing new places but, sometimes the journey is just not what it used to be. Also, having pets, I always miss them when we're gone for more than a few days so I guess for me now, home is where the heart is.
...when i retired at age 55 from the 'dreaded private sector', giving up almost half my pension for going early...most of my friends and family's reaction was, 'oh my god! you're retiring way too young! what will you do with yourself'...my answer was, 'anything i want'...it's been almost two decades and i still can't find enough time in the day do do everything i want to...live life - it's a gas!
I have been in retirement for 3.5 years. Between spending more time on old hobbies, renewing/picking up new ones and volunteering, we are having a lot of fun with too many activities/events to choose from and not enough time in the day to do them all.
Old hobbies: rowing, hiking, flying, traveling, photography, videography, attending classical concerts, art museums/exhibitions.
Renewing hobbies: flower/vegetables gardening, birding, reading/acquiring books, watching movies of favorite directors, attending nature/science lectures/talks, trying new international recipes, making jams and canning.
New hobbies: vineyard, orchard, landscaping, Master Naturalist activities (conservation education, citizen science, habitat stewardship etc.) and wine making.
Volunteering activities: Master Naturalist volunteer opportunities, serving as a board member of local birding club and master naturalist chapter.
We stumbled into growing grapes, wine making and Master Naturalist program out of a whim and by chance early this year. These new hobbies/activities have kept us so busy that I hardly had the time to row or fly in the last 6 months. Now that we are almost done with our new vineyard/orchard work (only have a few hundreds feet of irrigation line to set up and 10 or more trees to plant), I have started to get back into rowing and flying.
Speaking of rowing, I taught my daughter to row last week (my very first learn-to-row student in Idaho). She is a natural who master the art/science of sculling in one lesson. I plan to teach few more people to row and to form a local rowing club. We are checking into buying a power launch boat (needed to accompany rowers and to coach from). I will be very involved and busy with rowing activities just like I did in New York before moving to Idaho last year.
Whatever you do, don't spend four+ hours a day on the internet. Sitting is lethal (I keep telling myself). Exception might be if it is rewarding - like working on your novel.
Short trips are rewarding - weekend (or weekday!) trips to visit some place a few hours away or attend a concert or theater or sporting event. (The cats can manage for a couple days) Longer trips are good, too, but need more cash and planning and are not spontaneous.
Volunteer - but be careful how much work you take on.
Gardening -- I have a courtyard I'm considering converting to a Japanese garden.
Travel. You can live on the road cheaper than at home.
Hahaha - That might have been true a zillion years ago when I was in my 20's and didn't mind sleeping in a train station, but this is the retirement forum and most of us now want a little comfort and a decent meal.
How is that possible with food, lodging and transportation cost?
Most of Asia, South America, Eastern Europe, you can get daily rates of $20 for safe, comfortable hotels and eat well in restaurants for $10 a day. Half that if you stay long enough for long term rates and cook in.
Not really. Figure in the cost of the RV, poor gas mileage, cost of food is the same or higher than home and staying in campgrounds isn’t free. And if not doing it by RV, eating at restaurants and staying at decent motels is easily well over $3000-$4000 a month.
RVs come in many sizes and shapes. Our "big" one was 19' , we replaced it with one that was 17'. I never wanted a motorhome that was the size of a Greyhound bus.
It had bed, galley, dinette, bathroom and a TV. If there was something that you didn't like, you are free to modify it. We camped in National Forests for as little as $4 a night. We joined the RV club in the retirement community where we lived and went on trips to Canada and down the Baja to Cabo San Lucas.
On our own we went from St Petersburg to Nova Scotia, with stops along the way. With the club we went to Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Bryce Canyon, Crater Lake, Yosemite, Glacier NP and a number of other places.
Now in our mid 80s, we no longer travel, but we have many pleasant memories.
Travel. You can live on the road cheaper than at home.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr5150
Not really. Figure in the cost of the RV, poor gas mileage, cost of food is the same or higher than home and staying in campgrounds isn’t free. And if not doing it by RV, eating at restaurants and staying at decent motels is easily well over $3000-$4000 a month.
AND some of us would actually rather stay at home, imagine that. Honestly, I like the IDEA of travel so much better than the REALITY of it. Unless I can go somewhere and spend at least a month there, it's simply not worth it to me. (I know people who love traveling, but sometimes I think many if not most people just like to SAY they do, as it's not always what it's cracked up to be.)
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Honestly, I like the IDEA of travel so much better than the REALITY of it. Unless I can go somewhere and spend at least a month there, it's simply not worth it to me. (I know people who love traveling, but sometimes I think many if not most people just like to SAY they do, as it's not always what it's cracked up to be.)
