Well, travel for me has two different reasons. Places I'd like to see, or places I'd like to Be. For me, I've seen all the international places I'd like to see. Been to London, Paris, Zurich,Tokyo, Beijing, Hong Kong and all over Asia more times than I can count, for both business and sightseeing. I have no interest in going to most of those places again. One place I've always wanted to see and never had a chance is Rome. I landed there once, with a connecting flight a couple hours later, but Ive never been out of the airport. So if I fly to Europe again, that is likely to be th e destination.
OTOH, both DW and I like to BE in Hawaii. Just to get away, be in a tropical paradise for a week or so, once or twice a year. So we'll continue to go there, because we enjoy it, not because there's something there we've yet to see. Beyond that, I will say that Ive still been to more countries around the world than US states, so we do plan to use the MotorHome a lot more to see some of the places we've missed here in the US. I figure in another 5 years, we'll outgrow that as well... who knows. Depends on where the kids settle as well, as we enjoy having the motorhome to retreat to when we visit them, instead of a hotel.
I really never did enjoy traveling as an adult, because I got that out of my system as a kid. My parents were complete, utter, extreme travel nuts and always took me along.
Being two months late for first grade due to travel and then having to leave again in early spring pretty much made up my mind, although I hated travel long before then.
My wife and I married 10 years ago, when I was 68 and she was 63. She had wanted to travel, but could not because of he husband's business.
We were both widowed, met and married
She got her first passport and we traveled with a vengeance. To date we have taken 47 trips including 16 cruises. However, as time has gone by, and our bucket lists were filled, we have slowed down. My DW has a knee problem that now limits her mobility.
We have given up on escorted tours and prefer to do things on our own at our own pace. In many cases we will use a tour itinerary as a guide, and do things we want.
Case in point, we had just finished a great lunch at Rancho de Chimayo in New Mexico. As we were leaving a tour bus pulled up and disgorged its 40 passengers. All of whom would wait for all the orders to be taken before they got their lunch.
What is changing is tolerance for the hassles of air travel. Especially, international air travel. Yuck!
I find that I am more willing to pay for/do things that make air travel easier - Economy Plus subscription, lounge access (through credit cards), Clear, Global entry, etc. Yes, it costs money but sometimes a smooth experience is priceless.
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These days I have more money than tolerance for BS.
Totally agree about paying up to minimize travel hassle and for prime locations.Totally agreed. As DH got older and had less stamina, we flew Business Class on long hauls, made sure to get accommodations near public transportation so that he wouldn't get worn out just walking to the subway, got private cars to/from the airport, etc. He was over 6' tall so we never tried to cram him into a low-cost carrier seat. He was 15 years older and I'm now 70 myself but without his health issues but I find myself paying for convenience and to avoid BS. TSA Pre-check was a real blessing when traveling to Chicago from Des Moines with my two young granddaughters.
We flew United first class for the first time ever when we went to Egypt in October. The amenities were essential to making it a pleasant travel experience. One example - we had a five hour layover in at O'Hare on the way home, which we spent in the Untied Polaris Lounge. I was able to take a shower, shave and change into clean clothes, then eat a very nice dinner and have a couple glasses of wine in pleasant, uncrowded surroundings. Expensive, certainly, but that's why we saved all that money.I find that I am more willing to pay for/do things that make air travel easier - Economy Plus subscription, lounge access (through credit cards), Clear, Global entry, etc. Yes, it costs money but sometimes a smooth experience is priceless.
We are going on a relatively short trip in a couple of weeks and I just booked the tickets. We normally fly United as we are most of the way on this trip. But one single (1 hour) leg was going to add several hundred dollars on United ($400 on a ticket from Hawaii that was otherwise about $500 total to the mainland) so I booked on a low cost carrier. What a horrible experience figuring out all the crap with bag fees, carryon fees, seat fees, etc. These days I have more money than tolerance for BS. But I'm still cheap enough not to cave to United's seeming extortion.