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Thanks. Leaving tomorrow for 30 days. Spouse is somewhat apprehensive. We have done independent travel in many places. Your comments were helpful. Booked short 8 day tour. Plus 5 or so days on the beach for R&R The rest we will do on our own. Small tour, with most people in their mid...

We have flown around the world on reward points. That was then. Now, the reward plans are terrible. Our point balances lasted for a few years into retirment. Seats and point cost kept getting worse. We cancelled our premium airline points credit cards. What used to be worth 3-5 cents a...

So far this year.... $60. on a new pair of hiking shoes. It should be my only expense.

We had the misfortune of changing planes in London Heathrow when our second plane was at another terminal. Normally this would not be a biggie but it was clear to us as soon as we entered the other terminal that there was some sort of security alert. Suits running all over the place....huge...

The strangest carry on commotion that we ever witnessed was on a 6AM Lufthansa flight from Venice to Frankurt. Two ladies ahead of us each had a paper or plastic store shopping bag with glassware wrapped in it as carry on. They were told no, it was not going carry on. A manager came, same...

We also consider 2 hrs tight for a connection. Start by deducting the time needed to deplane ,then time needed to potentially go through security again if required, and the time to get to the next gate. Let alone any late arrival time. Our experience with carry on is that there are two...

We like the post office ATMs in Italy. They have a higher cash withdrawal limit whenever we used them

Be careful when selecting an ATM to use. We noticed a significant increase in the number non bank ATMs when we were in Portugal last year. These are private company ATMs that typically charge large user fees and over the top FX exchange fees. We passed by three or four of these before...

Same with us. We never use our debit cards unless there is no other choice. For us that means creating a credit balance on our no FX visa card so that when we withdraw on a cash advance basis there is no interest because of that credit balance. The other thing we do is take multiple cards...

We have 2 cards that we use specifically for international travel and for buying travel products, etc in other countries (which we do fairly often). Not unusual for us to buy time in a Mexico AI from a travel agency in the UK because of a cost saving. Both cards do not charge the typical...

71 now. Retired at 59/59. Could have retired earlier, wish I had. We like to travel and have been doing lots of extended international trips. Came back from Mexico last month. Flying to Morocco next week for a month of independent travel. Looking at Scotland for Sept. What has struck me...

We have been typically spending 2-3 months in SE Asia during winter and 2 months in Italy and Greece, etc. in the fall post retirment. We did not really follow any specific diet. The change really started out first winter in Thailand. Now,,,we both hate the 'chemical taste' of prepared foods...

No acceptable reason for delay other that I was feeling just fine thank you very much. Never ill. Even more so since my spouse spent her career in health care. She had given up 'reminding me'. And even less since where we live we live medicare. All costs covered. And, while working I had...

Post retirement I dropped 40 plus lbs. Partly due from watching what I ate and drank. Most of it attrributable to a change in diet resulting from international travel. About a year after retiring 12 or so years ago I had a physical/work-up. Spouse was after me for several years to get it...

Our upright freezer was frosting up big time, especially around the door shelves. Looked it up on Google. Advice was the seal/gasket.. Place a piece of paper between the door when you close it. If you can easily pull out the paper....gasket issue. I was able to do so on the side, opening...

You need a plan B

We have had a different experience with 'longevity vacations' Our conisted of spending winter months on long, uncrowded beaches, eating healty local foods/seafood, drinking cold beers from time to time, and generally living a life of leisure and relaxation. The only stress might be deciding...

My first question would be what would motivate the company to give you a package? I would not assume that how you view the benefit to the company may not be how they view the benefit. Perhaps they would look at your age and your request and make the assumption that is is an employee who will...

Great post. Lots of things to think about. Especially retirement date. I know several people who did not get to choose. Either illness or the mistaken belief that they their employer could not replace them or that their employer was very 'loyal' to long term employees. The reality is that...

There are a fair amount of busybodies out there who firmly believe that what they do and how they live their lives is the standard that everyone should aspire to. We ignore them. Living in multiple locations and a fair amount of international travel has made us aware of the basic fact that...

We had non refundable Air Canada tickets to Morocco last Sept. Two days prior to departure the earthquake hit. I called AC. Even though they were still flying they did agree to bank our flight. I called six weeks ago to rebook. There would normally have been $175. per ticket service change...

It is no easy to make a mistake. We have been booking our own travel for years. Air, hotels, ferry, etc. My practice is now to check it twice before I hit the buy button. I am now particularly careful about booking accommodation when there are multiple options for no refund, etc. I was...

My only excuse for pouring myself a glass of red wine is that I feel like it. And I enjoy it. Hardly and excuse though. Ditto for a cold beer after a long hike in the summer. No excuse other than I am tired, thirsty, and desirous of an ice cold one. People who seem to be inclined to make...

I still have my over the shoulder carry on suit bag in the closet. It had thousands of business travel miles on it. It has been hanging up for 15 years. Tt was a Costco special and still like new. Probably time to get rid of it. Along with a few other 25 inch ancient cases in our basement...

IMHO there is no 'rule' no 'best practice' etc despite all the various stories of failure, success, desperation, and happiness. This is about people. Does not matter that if they are 40, 60, 70, etc. People are all different and without a doubt fickle, opinionated, generous, loving...