Anyone got any travel planned?

[NW-Bound]

There was a year when we had two European trips plus two domestic trips. It was when my wife was burned out at her megacorp, and on the verge of quitting, had lots of vacation time accrued, and she had free tickets we could use. I was already working part-time, so could take off any time. Each of these trips was just a bit more than 1 week though.

Darn, it was nice! And so, I thought that would be our modus operandi when we retired. Well, it turned out that once we were no longer working, our need to escape was no longer that strong, so two trips would be plenty. And the trips can be a month or two. We've got time.

 

[Nemo2]

Headed to LA next month for a Van Morrison concert.

On the Bright Side of the Road?

 

[travelover]

Currently taking a snowbird break in Fort Myers, staying in an Airbnb home. This has worked out very nicely. The owners work all day and we have a beautiful house with a pool for less than $50 a day. The weather has cooperated with warm days and only one day of rain (today). Lots to do in the area, nature wise, which is our primary interest.

 

[Breedlove]

Still nailing down our trip to Kings Day in the Netherlands . We got the 403.00 airfare from Houston so we are good . A friend of ours owns a B&B downtown Amsterdam , small but 65.00 US makes it a cheaper trip . We are planning an overnight train to Prague for a day or so .

 

[Huston55]

On the Bright Side of the Road?

Hope so, but it starts on the dark end of the street @ 8pm.

Yep, we're going to Caravan down & Listen to the Lion. It should be A Wild Night; his music always did make my Irish Heart Beat faster. Retirement was meant for Days Like This. With all this time on our hands, no need to be Stranded. We're driving so, after the show, we'll just head off Into the Mystic.

Why Must I Always Explain? Except for Nemo, who's on the same Wavelength.

 

[Nemo2]

Except for Nemo, who's on the same Wavelength.

'Til I Gain Control Again......

 

[Osprey]

Just returned from two fantastic weeks in Hawaii. Went whale watching in Maui-it was fabulous. Saw brand new babies and a mama and baby whale both breach near the boat. Also went to Haleakala and watched the sunrise. You now need advanced registration for this. On the big island we did night snorkeling to see manta rays, hiked around 7 miles in Volcanoes national park, saw the volcano by helicopter, but missed going to the Mauna Kea summit due to high winds. We still had plenty of time to just relax and watch the sunset.

In May I'm going back to Italy to participate in the same music festival I did last year. In August we're headed west to watch the eclipse from a reliably sunny location-eastern Oregon. We're booked for two weeks in San Francisco for the Christmas holiday--it will be nice to spend holidays with my sister and cousins. A total of seven weeks in major travel in 2017.

I'll need a break in 2018!

Sounds like u had a wonderful trip! Heading to Maui next month for our first time, and are planning on going whale watching and spending a few days in Hana and then at a resort. do u have any suggestions on places to snorkel and other activities and restaurants?

 

[Tom52]

Driving cross country next week

We are finishing up our first snowbird trip to Florida on Tuesday. We rented a house for the month of February in The Villages and really enjoyed ourselves. We will be driving from Florida out to Lake Havasu AZ to visit my sister and BIL who bought a house there that they use for snow-birding. I think it is about s 32 hour drive.�� We will probably detour up for a visit to Carlsbad Caverns on the way. Maybe by the time we get back to Iowa the worst of winter will be behind us.��

 

[explanade]

There was a year when we had two European trips plus two domestic trips. It was when my wife was burned out at her megacorp, and on the verge of quitting, had lots of vacation time accrued, and she had free tickets we could use. I was already working part-time, so could take off any time. Each of these trips was just a bit more than 1 week though.

Darn, it was nice! And so, I thought that would be our modus operandi when we retired. Well, it turned out that once we were no longer working, our need to escape was no longer that strong, so two trips would be plenty. And the trips can be a month or two. We've got time.

Last few years of work, I was taking 4 or 5 trips, taking advantage of vacation time.

A lot of trips were about a week, to maximize vacation time and also to accrue status on airlines.

After retiring, taking about the same amount of trips but most are 2-3 weeks, bit higher budget (nicer hotels, more business class). Also using more of the miles I've accrued over the years.

 

[Huston55]

We are finishing up our first snowbird trip to Florida on Tuesday. We rented a house for the month of February in The Villages and really enjoyed ourselves. We will be driving from Florida out to Lake Havasu AR to visit my sister and BIL who bought a house there that they use for snow-birding. I think it is about s 32 hour drive. We will probably detour up for a visit to Carlsbad Caverns on the way. Maybe by the time we get back to Iowa the worst of winter will be behind us.

We have friends who live in The Villages. What did you think?

 

[doneat54]

Grand Cayman for 10 days in March (SCUBA Diving), April the first of 6 trips with our RV/Trailer booked for this year. This first one will be a 2-3 long loop down the east coast to the Carolinas and back. Some beach camping, and Blue Ridge Parkway/hiking on the return. 2 weeks in Europe in June for a couple vintage car events and some time in between in Londod to visit DW's niece.

 

[Tom52]

We have friends who live in The Villages. What did you think?

The entire Villages, as I understand, is over 60,000 homes and nearly 150,000 population and still growing. This appears to be a golfer's paradise with something like 33 golf courses. Each neighborhood has its own pool. There are many recreation centers with tons of activities. There are many clubs that you can join. You would be bored only if you chose to be.

There are three town squares that have live entertainment every night. These are very well attended. People are helpful and friendly. We like it well enough that we already reserved Feb and March 2018 in a 3/2 including golf cart. Did I mention that is a popular way to get around. I also like the numerous roundabouts, they really keep traffic flowing. You really feel safe and secure everywhere in The Villages and everywhere is beautifully maintained.

I am not sure I would relocate here permanently but I may consider it after a few visits. I would want to visit July/August to see how bad the humidity is. I would only guess that maybe 70% of owners live here year round. Housing is a bit pricey compared to what I am used to. There is also a monthly assessment of approx. $150. I thought we might regret not being close to the ocean or gulf but that didn't bother us at all.

 

[explanade]

There were some earlier threads about The Villages.

Someone mentioned something about high STD rates there.

 

[Sunnymar]

Going to Croatia in May for a 19 day tour.

We are also going to Croatia in May for two weeks. Four of us are starting in Zagreb, driving down to Plitvice Lake for a day, then driving down to Split for a few days before starting our week long cycling tour of islands on a small ship (15 rooms), then driving down to Dubrovnik for a few nights before ending our trip.

 

[Bamaman]

Still lined up to take a Holland American cruise from Ft. Lauderdale to Rome for $530 each--13 nights. Easter in Rome and then flying to Budapest where we have an apartment rented for $65 a night. Flying home on Norwegian Air Shuttle for $238 one way.

Affordable travel is still out there if you look closely.

 

[CaptTom]

Just finishing up preparing a boat for a delivery from Chattanooga to Ft. Myers, leaving tomorrow. Should be an interesting ride down to Mobile and across the Panhandle and Big Bend.

 

[Big_Hitter]

I went to anchorage last week

 

[braumeister]

I went to anchorage last week

Anchorage is a cool city IMHO, even in the winter.
I was there last year in January for the Great Alaska Beer & Barleywine Festival and absolutely loved it. One of the best beer festivals I've ever attended, and I've been to a lot of 'em.

 

[brett]

We are in Panama. Very warm by the ocean, cool in the highlands of Boquete.

We move on to Costa Rica on Saturday.

No snow!

 

[Big_Hitter]

Anchorage is a cool city IMHO, even in the winter.
I was there last year in January for the Great Alaska Beer & Barleywine Festival and absolutely loved it. One of the best beer festivals I've ever attended, and I've been to a lot of 'em.

When I have a few weeks to spare I'll drive DW up there during the summer.

 

[DrRoy]

For a long time I had lots of frequent flyer miles so we never had to buy airline tickets. Now that my miles are about gone, we are buying tickets. The way that the prices change is driving me crazy. How do you decide the best time/price to buy?

 

[Lsbcal]

For a long time I had lots of frequent flyer miles so we never had to buy airline tickets. Now that my miles are about gone, we are buying tickets. The way that the prices change is driving me crazy. How do you decide the best time/price to buy?

My tactic nowadays is to use Google Flights to look at prices far out. If it is March and I'm targeting September flights, I would want to see them not too far above the 2 months out price (May). Google also shows some price history for the September flight you might be interested in. There is a link to get updates on those prices.

There have been some discussions about this on the forum. Might be time for a new thread.

 

[nash031]

Ten days in Provence, France with DW and some family coming up in May. Nice villa down there, wine and cheese, Monaco, Avignon.

Kind of a babymoon after the baby was born... she'll go to Grandma Camp. All are excited!

 

[Ronstar]

Working on a new driving route from Phoenix to Chicago. I'm looking for some bison.

 

[Chuckanut]

For a long time I had lots of frequent flyer miles so we never had to buy airline tickets. Now that my miles are about gone, we are buying tickets. The way that the prices change is driving me crazy. How do you decide the best time/price to buy?

Pricing is not very predictable, IMHO.

I have bought tickets four months out at what I thought was a good price only to see a sale two months before departure. Another time, I bought premium economy tickets almost 8 months before leaving and watched as the regular economy prices went up and down, but never as low as my purchase. Another time I noticed seats where cheaper close to departure, assuming one wanted two middle seats on a 9+ hour flight. That was all that was left and I guess they had a Fire Sale on them. No thanks.

Basically, I set the amount I think is reasonable and try to find the best deal under that. Getting an aisle seat and/or a seat with extra legroom is more important to me on long flights than squeezing the last dollar until it cries out.

Sometimes the savings it is a false economy.

I remember buying a cheaper fare that saved me $120! Great! But, the flight left so early than the public transportation (about €3) was not running, so I ended up giving half of my savings to a taxi.

Another time a cheap airfare would have basically cost me a day of my precious two weeks vacation due to a return trip that was 31 hours (two stops, one with a 10 hour layover at Heathrow!!). Is losing a day of vacation worth the $100 to $150? Not when I only had two weeks.