Investing in experiences...smart?

[Nemo2]

And when one has the time to wander the streets, poke into stores to look around, it's different than when one is on vacation and has to hit the major highlights quickly...

Most often, for DW and me, the 'major highlights' are secondary or even tertiary......we love wandering the alleyways of, (primarily), European coastal towns/cities where the labyrinths evolved to confuse invaders......it's wonderful to walk up and down the maze, especially if you find yourself either back where you started or where you were hoping to get to..............kinda like life itself, I guess.

 

[NW-Bound]

That was my experience in Venice! We left the hotel to go get dinner and wandered around for a bit before finding the way back.

Ah, I forgot the name of the hotel, only that it was close to Piazza San Marco. I looked on Google map, and thought I found it. I would love to go back to the same hotel some time.

 

[W2R]

Most often, for DW and me, the 'major highlights' are secondary or even tertiary......we love wandering the alleyways of, (primarily), European coastal towns/cities where the labyrinths evolved to confuse invaders......it's wonderful to walk up and down the maze, especially if you find yourself either back where you started or where you were hoping to get to..............kinda like life itself, I guess.

Ha ha!!! Back in the 1950's my brothers and I used to run and zip around that type of alleyways abroad, and our objective was to confuse and "lose" our parents so that they couldn't find us! What great fun and mischief. Eventually we'd return, happy and tired, to the hotel where we'd get a lukewarm scolding for it by our long suffering parents. That was fun.

I should write a book some day, entitled "Unattended Feral Children Abroad".

 

[marko]

They say that you only regret the things you didn't do.

 

[Danmar]

You should spend your money on what gives you the most utility at the margin. In simple terms "spend on what makes you happiest". For some it will be experiences, for others it might be something else.
I feel a little sorry for those who can't derive enjoyment for any spending/gifting other than hoarding their assets. Certainly not an issue for me.

 

[Souschef]

Time for us to slow down

We have been married 8 years, and in that time traveled extensively. We have taken cruises, land trips, and DIY trips.
Unfortunately as we get older, our stamina is not as great, and we cannot tolerate long flights. A few years ago, we took a trip to Russia, which was a 14 hour flight through 11 times zones. Even with being in Business Class (Using miles) it was a strain on us.
We have decided to forego any further European travel, as well as organized tours. The "bags outside at 7 AM" gets old fast.
We wik still travel ,but a much more leisurely pace and on our own.

 

[NW-Bound]

We have never taken any tour. I always plan our own trip, and look up our own public transportation. I guess I'd better hurry up to do some more travel while we are still able to hop on/off trains, metros, and buses with carry-ons in hand.

 

[stepford]

We have never taken any tour. I always plan our own trip, and look up our own public transportation. I guess I'd better hurry up to do some more travel while we are still able to hop on/off trains, metros, and buses with carry-ons in hand.

This is actually a point of contention between DW and myself. I really don't like tours. Every side-trip, every photo carefully pre-planned for maximum tourist enjoyment. I call it the synthetic experience. I'd much rather bash around, make mistakes and let life happen. This does, of course, require more time.

 

[Lsbcal]

...
I should write a book some day, entitled "Unattended Feral Children Abroad".

Or maybe an up to date autobiography, "Feral Human" or "Gone Feral".

 

[Nemo2]

Or maybe an up to date autobiography, "Feral Human" or "Gone Feral".

Or Feral Referral?

 

[Lsbcal]

Nowadays we've added some sketching to our travels. Driving around locally we have light folding chairs for setting up. On by-air travels we try to find a shady spot with a bench or rock or table that has interesting material to view. It takes you away from standing on your feet or walking your legs off and is much different then just snapping pictures.

A light kit would consist of a few drawing pens, a mechanical pencil, a light sketch book, a waterbrush (holds its own water), a small watercolor palette, plus paper napkins.

 

[braumeister]

I was thinking a kayak, a canoe, or perhaps even a small sailboat. One can enjoy getting out on the water with not too much money.

I have a folding kayak I bought in 1996. Not one of the expensive ones, just a Folbot. It breaks down into two canvas bags that you can toss in the trunk of any car, and I've used it in both the US and Canada in innumerable different bodies of water, both salt and fresh. It takes about 20 minutes from bag to water or vice versa. Low cost, low maintenance, and simplicity itself. But the enjoyment I've derived from it is enormous.

I recall my life-long electronic hobby. Starting from my teenage years, I did not have a lot of money, so bought used electronics from salvage yards to get parts to play with.

This was my passion also. Growing up in NYC, I was able to use a 15 cent subway token to get to an unbelievable array of shops along Canal Street in lower Manhattan that had so much surplus military equipment they all needed multiple stories of their buildings just to hold it all (crammed in so tightly it took an hour or two just to walk through each store). Getting my amateur radio license only made the addiction that much worse.

 

[NW-Bound]

Yes, electronics used to be simpler, and used parts more easily salvageable for reuse. By the time I was 15, I could read resistor color band values at a glance.

My early knowledge of electronics later paid back big time. In a university class, while my classmates were toiling with understanding the difference between PNP and NPN transistors, I already taught myself to read S or h-parameter characterizations (had no understanding of this when I was 15). I did not even bother to go to lectures, only read the textbook and went to class to take exams. Needless to say, I had the highest score in class, and impressed the heck out of the professor and the class.

But again, I digress.

This is actually a point of contention between DW and myself. I really don't like tours. Every side-trip, every photo carefully pre-planned for maximum tourist enjoyment. I call it the synthetic experience. I'd much rather bash around, make mistakes and let life happen. This does, of course, require more time.

Yes, doing everything yourself takes more time. But in ER, we have time. The difference is we are getting older, weaker, slower, and I am already thinking of a time in the future when we have to take a tour if we want to do foreign travel. Better hurry up and be going soon, I guess.

The OP talked about the wisdom of doing things like travel early, even if it may cause delay in your ER. My niece and her fiancé took time off to travel by bike in Europe for a month. Of course they did not have enough vacation time, and had to take time off without pay. When we were young, we never thought of doing that.

We have always liked to travel, and did quite a bit even when we were still working. We both travel for work too, but it was not the same. I spent many nights in Clearwater, FL, spread out over many trips. But to visit Orlando, Cape Canaveral, Ft. Lauderdale, or Key West we took many trips with our own time and on our own dime. We have been to SF for leisure so many times I lost count, and I would not count the couple of times I was there on business, and once spent all the time at the Moscone Center. Or I have been to the DC area (Bethesda) several times on business, but still made two separate trips there for leisure, such as to visit the Mall and the museums. And no business travel ever took us to any National Park. I was once in Haifa, the high-tech town of Israel, for a week and had time only to take a 1-day tour to the Dead Sea and Jerusalem. If I were there for leisure, it would not be so rushed.

So, if one likes to travel, he will always have itchy feet. I guess a time will come when the hassle is too much for the pleasure, but I still have a few years left in me.

 

[Lsbcal]

...
My early knowledge of electronics later paid back big time. In a university class, while my classmates were toiling with understanding the difference between PNP and NPN transistors, I already taught myself to read S or h-parameter characterizations (had no understanding of this when I was 15). I did not even bother to go to lectures, only read the textbook and went to class to take exams. Needless to say, I had the highest score in class, and impressed the heck out of the professor and the class.

But again, I digress.
...

Now you did it. I could have a nightmare over these memories (late 1960's for me).