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Originally Posted by Tawny Dangle
I rationalize it like this: if we travel now while we are still relatively young and healthy (ages 47 & 50) and we get to our retirement goal age and find out we need more money, we can always work another year or two to make up the deficit.
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We're 31 and 32, but this is exactly the conversation the spouse and I had a few years ago. We figure after 10-15 years of fun, having to work an extra few years wouldn't be the end of the world. But if we scrimp and sacrifice year after year and don't quite make it or get sick, well... ouch! Heard too many stories about people's regrets to want that to happen. We're also smart enough to realize that youth hostels and sketchy bus rides may not be so appealing in our senior years, so we're doing low budget travel now, while its an "adventure" and planning for an ER income to support more luxurious accomodations as we age. I think you definitely have to condition yourself for low budget travel - really can't imagine too many people with zero travel experience jumping into youth hostels at age 60.
We take at least one big trip a year, all cash, and take the cost of the place into consideration (ie. we start with a list of where we want to go, and then look at which of those options we can afford). Most recent was a month in India: rooms at $5-$20, meals at $3, and train rides around $10. Since we already live in Asia, the plane tickets were also reasonable. If we had unlimited income, India probably wouldn't have been at the top of our list, but... wow, what a trip!
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