Turning Retirement Plan Upside Down

[Danmar]

If you enjoy travel, you should get as much in early as you can afford. Why not? You health will only get worse. Our parents have kept us closer to home than we would like but at some point, we expect to make longer commitments to travel. Even as it is, we will still do 2-3 trips to Europe/ Asia per year, Max duration about 2 weeks.

 

[FIREmenow]

We are planning to do something similar. We are 2-3 years away, though, but will also be 59/56.

We have been pairing down our "stuff" over the last 3 years and have pretty much nothing (that feels great!). Even our furniture is basically disposable at this point. Anything we really care about will probably fit in an 8 or 10ft POD.

We are "boat people", so our "travel" will be a bit different, though. We are planning to sell our house, put pour remaining stuff in a POD, and then move aboard our boat. We are planning to do "The Great Loop" (Google it) for a year or two. We will visit all of the towns along the way and decide where we might like to have a house when we are finished.

Or, who knows? At that point, we may decide to live aboard longer!

Go early, go now!

 

[kimcdougc]

My DH is 58 and has been retired a year this month. I am 56 and have been retired since 50. I have been telling my DH over and over we need to do our traveling now while we are still able and have the interest to do it. He finally had an epiphany last week while mowing the lawn. I will be 70 in 12 years. Duh! Light bulb went off.

Our plans now are to sell house to DD and spouse. Rent their current 800 square foot house. It is a lock and leave place. We have sold our small rv and will be getting a new larger, dog friendly, rv to travel North America. We have visited several cities in the US over the years but will be going back with more than 9 days to do it all. I am so excited I can't hardly wait. We have a couple months to sell our "stuff" and move on.

We plan to do Europe only once but will be gone long enough (several months) to see what we want to see.

When we finish our out of country and long trip traveling in the rv we will then stop renting my DD house and find a growing old home. You know, one story with a small yard etc.

I had a heart valve replacement 3 years ago and realize life is short. Just took DH longer to realize this.

Safe travels and have a great time.

 

[DrRoy]

I will not ER for another year, but about 6 years ago when we were empty nested DW and I started taking 2 big trips a year of 10-20 days each to national parks and Europe. We figured that in our 50's we would be able to do things that were more demanding than if we waited, so we didn't wait.

 

[kcowan]

If you enjoy travel, you should get as much in early as you can afford. Why not? You health will only get worse. Our parents have kept us closer to home than we would like but at some point, we expect to make longer commitments to travel. Even as it is, we will still do 2-3 trips to Europe/ Asia per year, Max duration about 2 weeks.

Yes our maximum was 3 weeks. Now it is 5-6 weeks.

 

[papadad111]

We lived overseas for about 20 of my 25 year career - we feel lucky to have traveled so much.

Over years, we met a lot of older people traveling, majority were trying to have fun experiences but just not healthy enough to do all the things they wanted to do. They universally remarked how they wish they had traveled at a younger age. We took that advice to heart ...

Back at home base now post FIRE for at least a few years to help kids transition to college and to help parents age gracefully.

Every intent is to go back to live abroad at least part time in a few years ... But honestly who knows. We could have our own health problems by then, parents could need us for longer term, our kids could get married and have grand kids. Who knows ...

Bottom line - we visited and lived in more places from age 20-45 ( and then retired ) than most people read about in an issue of national geo.

I feel lucky and blessed to have had the experience and passed on appreciation of travel and cultures etc to my kids. No illusions about guarantees of tomorrow...

Bottom line: Do it while you can. With Uber, airbBB, flyer miles it's probably never been easier or cheaper to travel than now ...

 

[bingybear]

If you are interested, you should do overseas travel first. The wear and tear will be higher and require good health.

Local travel would be better as a second phase.

Finally, cruises would be great if you find mobility compromised.

We are doing a bike/barge trip on the Moselle in June as part of 30 days from Amsterdam to Paris.

+1
Before RE we hiked the Dordogne region of France (6 months after getting a pacemaker).

If you're up for it and so inclined, I would consider some really cool places around the world. We've hiked in the British Isles, Europe, Japan, New Zealand, Canada and of course the US.

There are so many places to experience while you can.

 

[Teacher Terry]

WE have had a few friends die or become very disabled in their 50-60's so it becomes very apparent that life can be short. I realize that some people don't like to travel and I have had a few military friends that had their fill of it and now just want to stay home. WE enjoy ourselves when we are home to by going to special events, etc. We have 4 old dogs so won't go longer then 3 weeks if we go without them. With the RV we take them all.

 

[kcowan]

We have 4 old dogs so won't go longer then 3 weeks if we go without them. With the RV we take them all.

You are just responsible "parents"! The joy they bring offsets the anchor!

 

[brett]

Independent travel can be hard work at times. We are at the end of eight weeks in SE Asia. Our third winter here.

We want to get our list shortened while we have the health, stamina, and desire to travel. Already planning for next winter in South America. Just need to do some selling on the home front!

 

[Dawg52]

I'm retiring in a week and it seems that 90% of people then state that it's great that I will now be able to travel on a regular basis. When I tell them that I'm not particularly interested in travel, the next comment is almost always "Well, then what will you do?"

I didn't realize that travel was mandatory...

My sis-in-law has a trip planned virtually every month of the year. All over the world. She looks at me as though I'm some kind of odd duck. For me...driving 3 hours to my condo on the gulf coast is fine. I guess I'm kind of a routine type of guy and that's the routine I like. I do plan to venture off and take another trip to some other part of the country. Last Fall I drove out west(Santa Fe, Sedona, Zion Park...). One day I may go wild and take a cruise to the Cayman Islands.

 

[Souschef]

Independent travel can be hard work at times.

We want to get our list shortened while we have the health, stamina, and desire to travel.

Absolutely! We went nuts when we first married 8 years ago, but have slowed down considerably. DW has a bad knee now, and that limits her mobility. We have given up on organized tours with the "bags outside at 7, on the bus at 8" routine.
However, we are now opting for independent travel, but using tour brochures as a guide. This worked well on a trip to Switzerland.

 

[brett]

Organized tours don't give us the time we need. Met a couple in Hue last week who were on an 11 day tour of Vietnam. They were enjoying it.

We spent 28 days....eight or nine of which were on beaches. We do far better on our own arranging travel a few days in advance. But we realize that this type of unscheduled travel us not for everyone.

 

[mystang52]

The flip side is recognizing what it is you enjoy doing. DW and I enjoy travel, but within limits. "Limits" primarily, but not exclusively, defined by length of air travel. More than not enjoying long flights - we both dislike it to the extent that it sours desire to travel to some places.
We are going to Hawaii this July; from the east coast that's a - yikes! - 10 hour flight. We're looking forward to the trip but highly doubt we'd do a 10 hour flight anywhere else in the future. So, going forward we are thinking of some places in Europe (Spain, maybe a revisit to glorious Italy) but have no feelings of deprivation by not seeing other places.
We also enjoy doing short-hop trips of just a couple of days. Everyone is different, "whatever floats your boat."

 

[kerik68]

FIREmenow, is that a Nordic Tug? Love love love those! We too, will be boat people when DH retires (he's a boat builder) in 7 years. His parents who are now 76 and 77 will be taking off in their boat for a Caribbean adventure next winter but will maintain their home as well.

 

[FIREmenow]

Thanks, kerik68, we are absolutely giddy right now as new owners (boat is 10 years old). We are only getting weekends and some week-long vacation cruises right now. Our boat is an American Tug. It is very similar to the Nordic Tug design - in fact, some Nordic original partners split off and started the company around 2000. Fair winds with your boat travels!!

 

[Teacher Terry]

We don't like bus tours where they dictate everything but we have some friends that love them. Everyone is different. Sometimes when we travel we will take a day tour. I do agree that flying long distances is a drag. I went to Thailand once and only stayed 7 days which was a huge mistake because we lost 2 whole days to flying. It was 23 hours of flying. Europe is about the farthest we go now. We have talked about going to Australia but the thought of ever flying that long again is horrible.

 

[brett]

Sometimes things do not work out as planned.

We downsized to a container and travelled for seven months. When we came home we had every intention of buying a smaller home or condo. So we decided to do a short term rental while we shopped for a new home. Fast forward three years and we are still renting the same condo.

Makes no economic sense for us to buy in our down market. Plus, we really like being able to lock and go-most especially in the winter. Our expenses have dropped and our appetite for more frequent travel has increased. Not what we envisioned prior to FIRE but it works for us at the moment.


Our advice would be to stay loose and think outside the box. Looked at our closet today. I have about 1/3 the clothes that I had pre retirement. Same for DW. FIRE changed our lives and our attitudes. We don't sweat the small stuff and we go with the flow. This is a complete departure from my prior business life. We want to make the best of it while we can.

 

[littleb]

So, we have our first trip planned and it was all by accident.

I was looking at cabins at the grand canyon and by luck was able to snag a cabin on the rim of the grand canyon. This started the ball rolling to go to Arizona. After many hours of searching on VRBO, Airbnb, Flipkey and Tuggs we found a 30 day rental in Sedona for the the fall of this year. The person we are renting from is giving us a great deal on price, cancellation policy and down payment. She had many online reviews that were excellent.

We have never been out west and are looking forward to hiking, cycling and relaxing for that month.

Hopefully, this will get us started on our NEW retirement plan.

 

[Souschef]

Sedona

You will love it there. I have attached a copy of our trip story. The hot air balloon ride was great, as was the train ride.

 

[littleb]

You will love it there. I have attached a copy of our trip story. The hot air balloon ride was great, as was the train ride.

What a great trip report and thanks for giving us ideas on the activities in Sedona.

We tried to get reservations at Phantom Ranch but finally gave up. This is lodging at the bottom of the grand canyon after hiking down. It seems like their reservation system is outdated and only the "lucky" ones can get into the ranch. I don't have time to call everyday to see if there is a cancellation. They could make the process more efficient by having a waiting list. Oh well, maybe next year....

 

[kcowan]

Makes no economic sense for us to buy in our down market. Plus, we really like being able to lock and go-most especially in the winter. Our expenses have dropped and our appetite for more frequent travel has increased. Not what we envisioned prior to FIRE but it works for us at the moment...

We have rented for 19 years. It was a temporary move when we did it but gradually we made it our own. It enabled us to retire 13 years ago (we would have had to sell to make it work). Now we rent the place using Remax each winter.

 

[NW-Bound]

... We have never been out west and are looking forward to hiking, cycling and relaxing for that month...

So, after spending some time in AZ, you can go through CA, OR, WA, UT, etc... Lots of places to visit in the wild wild west. This map shows what is the US west.

Traveling through the states will dispel some misconceptions that people may have. For example, they may think of AZ as mostly desert, but the state has much high country with evergreen forest. Idaho is called "potato state", but its northern half is the Sawtooth Range (10,750 ft) with beautiful scenery. And Utah has more National Parks than most states.