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Old 06-14-2007, 11:01 PM   #61
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Nord, do you happen to have a website about living in Hawaii?
I'll start by cautioning that $600/month barely covers our groceries for two adults and a teenager, and we're not exactly spendthrifts...

Here's a few links to start with, and one of them is to a discussion board filled with locals ready to talk about living here:
The state of Hawaii on retiring in Hawaii (Scroll to the bottom of the page for several recommended books.)

State of Hawaii homepage

Hawaii Answers (to questions you hesitate to ask)

HawaiiThreads.com "Islands Ahoy" discussion board. Lurk here for a while, search for your questions, and then post whatever's not covered!
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Old 06-14-2007, 11:07 PM   #62
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That "Rags to Retirement" looks like a neat book, Nords. I looked at it on Amazon.com. One of the key words caught my eye. It was "dance host"

One of the people we've met in our nomadic life was just that. We were standing in line for the buffet at a casino in Laughlin NV, and started talking to this very nice, distinguished looking older man in the line. We ended up having the meal with him and an enjoyable conversation.

He was another one who had retired on a very small budget with mostly just a Social Security check. But he managed to find a way to travel the world. He kept a small studio apartment, but he wasn't there very often. He was out on cruises. Cruise lines gave him free cruises and expenses for asking women to dance in the evenings. He loved to dance, loved even more to go on cruises, so it worked out great for him. He met some nice people, enjoyed the dancing and conversation, and managed this wonderful life on a pittance.

There are so many ways to be inventive and ingenious in putting together interesting lives, it seems a shame to just rely on an investment portfolio. Sometimes I think it has taken a lot of the fun out of life for us. It's just too easy now. We don't put ourselves out there any more.

Thanks for mentioning that book. I can think of several people I'll tell about it who could use that information.

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Old 06-15-2007, 11:08 AM   #63
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One of the people we've met in our nomadic life was just that. We were standing in line for the buffet at a casino in Laughlin NV, and started talking to this very nice, distinguished looking older man in the line. We ended up having the meal with him and an enjoyable conversation.

He was another one who had retired on a very small budget with mostly just a Social Security check. But he managed to find a way to travel the world. He kept a small studio apartment, but he wasn't there very often. He was out on cruises. Cruise lines gave him free cruises and expenses for asking women to dance in the evenings.
Wow! You can find "bar girls" almost everywhere. They basically perform the same function as this man. Yet no one call them nice, or distinguished. Double standard?

I don't know about you, but to me, that man is just a "bar boy".
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Old 06-15-2007, 11:26 AM   #64
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Old 06-15-2007, 12:20 PM   #65
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Well Sam, as he explained it, he worked under very stringent conditions imposed upon him by the cruise line. He was to be present on the dance floor, keeping a special eye out for women without partners, and asking them to dance. It was strictly forbidden for the contact to extend to anything but dancing.

You can associate the dance hosts on a cruise line with bar girls if you like, but that was not the impression he gave. He was probably seventy years old, which would be a little long in the tooth for a bar girl. He did not appear to be offering the same sort of services. More like when my widowed mother went on cruises in her early eighties, she really enjoyed that men asked her to dance. In the forties when she was young, she apparently could really "cut a rug". I'm sure she had no idea that the men who asked her to dance were getting a free cruise and expenses for that chore.

Somehow, I think what she was looking for and what customers of bar girls are looking for were very different things.

But.....if you like, make the connection. Wouldn't you like free cruises all over the world in exchange for a few hours each evening on the dance floor waltzing or doing the foxtrot with some nice elderly woman who is having a little bit of a chance to relive her youth?

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Old 06-15-2007, 12:23 PM   #66
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he's a taxi dancer. many years ago i had a gay friend who did that for old ladies in palm beach. i'm pretty sure no sex was involved. and that was way before viagra.
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Old 06-15-2007, 12:28 PM   #67
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Call it what you want. In the rare care you don't know, most bars have the same "rules" with their girls.

I don't know if I would like free cruises in exchange for the "work" or not. But I do know that he's not different from any of the bar girls.

You can have the last words. You won't hear from me on this subject anymore.
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Old 06-15-2007, 12:28 PM   #68
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Tango with single women for free cruises? I'm IN!
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Old 06-15-2007, 12:31 PM   #69
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I think I would be willing to get fired from the cruise ship operator in exchange for some good tail.
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Old 06-15-2007, 12:33 PM   #70
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Call it what you want. In the rare care you don't know, most bars have the same "rules" with their girls.
I don't know if I would like free cruises in exchange for the "work" or not. But I do know that he's not different from any of the bar girls.
You can have the last words. You won't hear from me on this subject anymore.
With apologies to George Bernard Shaw, we're not arguing over his occupation-- only his payments...
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Old 06-15-2007, 12:39 PM   #71
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I think I would be willing to get fired from the cruise ship operator in exchange for some good tail.
Maybe, but consider the vintage of the goods...
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Old 06-15-2007, 01:28 PM   #72
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What the heck, Sam? This guy trades a couple hours of his time each night smiling at the ladies and telling them how light on their feet they are for a free cruise. So? Why are you trying to make that sound distasteful? Every single one of us has sold ourselves for more or less money, and our work in Dilbert World has probably made a lot less people happy, and been less fun.
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Old 06-15-2007, 02:05 PM   #73
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More power to you, igsoy.
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Old 06-15-2007, 02:50 PM   #74
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Ah, Sam's just jealous........some other guy is out there getting free cruises.....

The guy did mention that most of the women he danced with were elderly.......he was a bachelor, so there's probably a reasonable chance that he was gay.

Remember.......the way real women look on real cruises is a bit different from the hotties portrayed in the Carnival ads.....from the pictures my Mom would bring back from her cruises, blue hair and polyester pantsuits were the order of the day......

It really DID seem like a neat way to cruise absolutely free. He said he usually spent 2-3 hours in the evening after dinner dancing.....and that since he loved to dance, it was hardly a hardship.

Just another example of how those with limited means manage to live neat lives on a budget. I wouldn't have wanted to have to write a check to pay for all the cruises he got free.......

I think we've killed this particular horse.......we need to move on. ;-)

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Old 06-15-2007, 03:39 PM   #75
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I think it's great that the guy found something he enjoyed, and was able to see the world while providing welcome company to women who would otherwise find themselves staring over the railing at an empty sea. Widows and long-time divorced women go on cruises, sometimes with their girlfriends, and sometimes alone. In many cases they don't want to be around married people or family, since the former remind them of another time in their lives, while the latter have their own lives to live. They get a great deal of enjoyment out of the fantasy, and it is a small price for the cruise line to let him occupy a cabin that would likely go unsold in any case.

Back to the subject at hand. In my opinion, the smallest amount you can retire on is whatever will allow you the lifestyle you want in retirement. If you have minimal wants/needs, then you will need very little for retirement. On the other hand, if you want to travel extensively, enjoy the finer things in life, etc... then you'll need quite a bit more.
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Old 06-15-2007, 04:09 PM   #76
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You can associate the dance hosts on a cruise line with bar girls if you like, but that was not the impression he gave. He was probably seventy years old, which would be a little long in the tooth for a bar girl. He did not appear to be offering the same sort of services.
LooseChickens
Speaking of long in the tooth hookers, my brother and I were in Vegas and a woman who looked to be about 70 came up to him and said "Hey,want to party?" He said no, but that he would like to ask her a question-if she got many takers. She answered "enough to make it worthwhile, there’s a market for everything."

Can't beat it, a hooker who was also a theorist of free markets.

Ha
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Old 06-16-2007, 12:29 AM   #77
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hmmm...maybe there's something to be said for experience......(or maybe clients with a mother fixation?).........

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Old 06-16-2007, 03:49 AM   #78
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i have a friend (an x-roommate from many years ago) whose last free cruise was on the qeii where he worked as a golf pro, helping others to do more with their bodies.

taxi dancing is no different or dirtier than being a masseur or masseuse, a fitness trainer or a doctor for that matter (no offense, doc).

to qualify my statement, not that i utilize it--yet (i can still get it for free)--but i have no problem with prostitution either, so what do i know.

from the all-knowing wiki:
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A taxi dancer is a professional dance partner in one of many forms of partner dance. A taxi dancer is not a prostitute and no favours can be expected off the dance floor. In social settings and social forms of dance, a dancer wanting constructive feedback from a taxi dancer normally has to explicitly request it, since the taxi dancer's role being primarily social, they are unlikely to criticise their partner directly.

The term originated in ballroom dancing in the 1930s, for women paid by the dance. It is currently used in dance styles such as Ceroc for experienced dancers (male or female) who are paid to either dance opposite a teacher or dance among the paying customers in beginners class to raise the standard.
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Old 06-16-2007, 05:46 AM   #79
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to qualify my statement, not that i utilize it--yet (i can still get it for free)--
lazy, it's never free.
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Old 06-16-2007, 10:27 AM   #80
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When we were on a repositioning cruise, the ship doctor was from Vancouver. He and his family had flown to Ft Lauderdale to take the cruise all the way to Alaska. His office hours were 9-11 and 2-4. The cruise was gratis.

(And he only danced with his wife.)

Similarly, the computer classes were offered by techs who were travelling free. So there are options. We just need to develop skills that are in demand. And get to like those windowless inside rooms. To me the dancers are getting a great deal.
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