One of the main reasons we wanted to retire early was to take longer vacations. When we were working, we usually took 2 weeks at a time, 2-3 times per year. Since our ER, we have done:
- 3 months in the USVI, plus 3 more trips - 1 four weeks for hurricane relief volunteer work, 1 two weeks to put tourist dollars back into their economy, and 1 two months earlier this year with friends and family visits
- 6 weeks in Greece, visiting Athens, Nafplion and the Peloponnese Peninsula, Skopelos, Santorini, Milos, Naxos, and Rhodes, with a short visit with friends in Amsterdam on the way home
- 6 weeks in Palm Springs, which led to our decision to relocate to the desert from the Coast
- Several one week family visit trips to FL, GA, and SC
I hadn’t realized this until now, but even with COVID and even though we have a dog, we have managed to be away for almost a year of our almost 5 years of ER. We love longer stay trips and never get bored, just as we rarely get bored at home. We can live like locals, especially when we stay in one apartment or area the entire time. In Greece, we moved around a lot so it was less relaxing, but we covered so many more sights and had many more serendipitous moments than we would have on a 2 week vacation. In the USVI, much of our time is spent diving and exploring different off the beaten path beaches. We love the beach and don’t find it boring at all to relax, snorkel and read after a morning of diving. There is also the opportunity for day trips to different islands, and to interact more with locals and learn more about island life.
Air BnB is definitely the way we like to go on longer trips. Much more comfortable than a hotel room - more space to relax, our own kitchen including at minimum a fridge and microwave so we can have breakfasts and happy hours in our apartment, but preferably a full kitchen plus an outdoor BBQ grill, and the ability to more easily do laundry plus the experience of living more like a local. And it’s very economical. In Greece we spent less than $20K to stay for six weeks including air and other transportation. All of our apartments were clean and very well located with patios/balconies with stunning views and close to attractions. We splurged on a couple of private food and wine tours, had rental cars everywhere except Athens, and never felt that we were scrimping. We like to spend less on accommodations and more on experiences. We also like having our own transportation for the freedom it gives us.
COVID, moving to Palm Springs and managing a major remodel of our home definitely put a cramp in our travel plans, but we are ready to go again. We are planning a trip to Rome, Umbria, Venice and Croatia with friends next summer, possibly followed by a stay in Greece for us. Would really love to go for a 2-3 month trip around Australia but it’s impossible to plan that until they reopen.
I promised DH that when our 11-12 year old pup passes, no more pets for a few years at least. We always have our dog stay with a professional sitter, but it adds a lot to the cost and we miss him so it has definitely limited our trip duration. When we retired, I really wanted to do an unstructured around the world trip, but our dog prevented that.