anybody just want to stay home?

[afntrn56]

I wouldn't mind staying home after I FIRE but the DW won't stand for any of that so we will most likely compromise a bit. The other plan might be to move closer to the coast and then stay at home more. I think that would still require travel to other places though too!!!!

[Lsbcal]

Just want to clarify my previous post a little. While I agree with the OP that travel in retirement can be overated, we have always taken vacations. Recent ones have been domestic car trips as they are fun and relatively cheaper (stocks still in recovery mode + DS in college) then European travel. I'd like to go back to England and Scotland next -- want to visit Edinburgh again.

So I don't want anyone reading this to feel defensive about their travel plans. Travel can be fun even if it's exhausting. Wish we could go everywhere first class as that would probably be easier but I'm too frugal for that.

[Khan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nords One of our family legends is one of my great-great-grandfathers who got off the boat in 1880s NYC and couldn't find work. So he walked to Pittsburgh, but didn't like the work there either. Then he walked to Cincinnati and decided that the work there was acceptable to his standards. I think his lesson was that after a journey like that, any destination will do...

A shorter version was my grandfather's journey, got off the boat and walked from NYC to Albany.

[DangerMouse]

Think one thing that must be kept in mind is different strokes for different folks. NOthing wrong if you want to stay home 24/7 365 days of the year. Same as there is nothing wrong if you want to hit the road for the same period of time. Whether you do it el cheapo or first class as long as you are enjoying it and can afford it, it really doesn't matter.

[haha]

Quote:

Originally Posted by afntrn56 The other plan might be to move closer to the coast and then stay at home more. I think that would still require travel to other places though too!!!!

To me this is huge. Unless you have a specific reason to travel- to see particular architecture or certain pieces in museums, a lot of the reasons to travel about disappear when you are in a very attractive and stimulating place to begin with.

Not much will get me away from my home city in the warm months!

Ha

[Ksols]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lsbcal So I don't want anyone reading this to feel defensive about their travel plans. Travel can be fun even if it's exhausting. Wish we could go everywhere first class as that would probably be easier but I'm too frugal for that.

Plan to retire in about 2 years. Right now I notice its almost more fun planning and looking forward to travel than the actual event. Probably because it gets me thru the w*rk day. I imagine it will be different later?

[Lsbcal]

Welcome here Ksol, noticed it's your first post.

Travel doesn't really have to have a different outcome in retirement. It depends on so many things and your moods and your health. If you're doing a road trip and don't have to deal with reservations you can feel a bit freer with time -- no job to get back to.

ER travel can be the icing on the cake (of anticipation). But I guess that goes for work vacations too.

[meierlde]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lsbcal If you're doing a road trip and don't have to deal with reservations you can feel a bit freer with time -- no job to get back to. .

And today with so many motel chains on the web, you can make reservations online very easily.
The way I put it flying in the lower 48 is for the time constrained. There are so many interesting places between here and there in the US, why not see some of them?

[Redbugdave]

I have a little over 2 years before retirement and can't wait.

I am happy working in my workshop...welding on stuff, hunting and fishing. For me personally, if I were to travel it would be to experience some of the last remaining wildernesses left in the world. I don't care to see any cities, (unless they have a good natural history museum, etc). I really don't have any yearning to travel anymore. Growing up, (eons ago), as a kid...my family moved every couple of years. All over the country. Like a bunch of gypsies. And when I got on my own, I moved around a bit, too. And so...I am burned out on traveling. Happiness is inside your head.

I am truly happy messing around at my hunt club, fishing along the coast, messing around with the tractor and just hanging out with my friends. Having to work and fit all that in right now is near impossible. Work sure gets in the way of life! I find that having an itinerary and schedule are too confining for real happiness. I like to "wing it" and be more spontaneous. Especially after years of being tied down to having to be somewhere all the time at so and so time. If traveling, I am constantly thinking of all the neat things I could be doing at home, instead.

A great quote from one of our ER master minds, (Goonie), sums it up for me...
"Remember when you were a little kid...before the big people sent you to kindergarten? Remember those seemingly endless days of play? Those days when you got up and ate breakfast, then went out to play? Then you'd come in for lunch and a nap, and then go back out to play until supper time? Then after supper you'd go out to play until dark or until bedtime....whichever you could get away with? Then you'd start all over the next day? Well, that's what retirement is like!!!"

[SarahW]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DangerMouse Think one thing that must be kept in mind is different strokes for different folks. NOthing wrong if you want to stay home 24/7 365 days of the year. Same as there is nothing wrong if you want to hit the road for the same period of time. Whether you do it el cheapo or first class as long as you are enjoying it and can afford it, it really doesn't matter.

Exactly. I'm a homebody and I love it. No place I'd rather be.

[Zoocat]

Most of the time I like to stay home. I work at home and just hang around my town or go hiking with my dog. But occasionally I like to really get out of my environment. I've been to Africa, Costa Rica, and Ecuador and Peru. I don't find traveling exhausting unless I have to deal with frigid cold weather getting to the airport.

But,really, most of the time I am so happy to have nothing to do each day, to have the day free of difficulties, that I could live out the rest of my life this way.

[NW-Bound]

Well, I cannot be a perpetual traveler like some people. On the other hand, we enjoy being home too, but one long trip or two a year would be good to break the monotony. In the past, after about 2 weeks trekking around on the Eurail, we would start to miss home.

RV'ing seems to work out well for us, as it is really another home on wheels. We have gone for a 1-month long trip, and that time, both of us wanted to keep goin'. Will go for a longer trip this summer to see when we will want to turn back.

[LightningDawg]

I can't wait. Five more years until ER.

I will enjoy boating and fishing whenever I want to. Nothing is more relaxing than a day on the water.

[lovinglife1]

I agree with you Dangermouse. I've lived in 6 countries and visited almost 80 and actually, I dont talk about it to some people since I know they are really not that interested....unless it fits appropriately in the conversation.

[52andout]

two weeks and still on topic!

Lots of great replies and viewpoints. Even with the storm raging outside I am glad to be home with my good book and cat on my lap. We might take a trip next year but so far still content - but the key is for each of us to just be happy whatever that means.

[cj]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 52andout two weeks and still on topic! Lots of great replies and viewpoints. Even with the storm raging outside I am glad to be home with my good book and cat on my lap. We might take a trip next year but so far still content - but the key is for each of us to just be happy whatever that means.

A good book and a cat in your lap. Nothing like it! (Well, maybe a knitting project...)

[Nords]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cj ... a cat in your lap. ... a knitting project...

That sounds like a recipe for disaster...

[freebird5825]

Not tonight...I'm developing cabin fever.

[mountaintosea]

I took a year off from 92 to June of 93 and traveled around the world. I loved it. Then later I went to Central America and skiing in Canada. When I retired I had an old diabetic dog and old cat. The dog lasted another 2.5 years the cat lasted 6 months after that. They were both about 16 yrs. I moaned during that time that I had to stay home and take care of them. When they were gone I was LOST! I found a pit bull, then found it's owner. Again a void. (I've always had a pet or two). Resisted getting another pet. Then decided to try fostering a cat with the Humane Society. I couldn't let her go, so now I have a cat again. A friend who still works, County Counsel, asks me constantly when I'm going traveling. Last fall I went to Vegas, DC, and NYC. But I don't have a huge desire to hit the road. Yesterday a deer scampered across my property. Last summer a bear was in my front yard. After all that whining I did and how I was going to move to parts unknown, I'm starting to think staying put is the right choice. I'm still thinking that someday I might take 6 months in South America. But I look forward to coming home to be with my feisty little cat ( bites and scratches!). So for now I workout 3 days a week, pick up trash around our local lake a couple of days, and go to the movies, meet a few friends. It seems to be enough for now.

[Lsbcal]

Hi Mountaintosea, sounds like you have a very nice life with good balance plus cat, deer, bear -- you've got it all.

We'd like to have a cat but haven't figured out a good way to deal with kitty + vacations. It would be great if cats liked to stay at other homes but doesn't sound like it would work out even if we found a sitter willing to do the chore. Anybody else tried such a thing?