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Adorable! We are traveling about 6 months a year so we spoil other people's dogs or strays. Sharing 'our' recent pets from housesitting... - Aila the Boxer whose dog sitters take her paddle boarding in between beach days - Missy the Spaniel who is nice enough to let her house sitters share...

As risky, based on non diversification, right? Since bonds and reits and stocks move differently, it would add a level of diversification to reduce overall risk? (I would put all of it in Wellesley or Wellington but mom is hesitant to put all her money into one at this point). Am I missing...

Thanks for all the great feedback. We will continue to do more research, but given the feedback from the group, we are now leaning to a more conservative approach. Here's where we are now: *Selling 500k in Real Estate is a definite priority but it will be challenging given the international...

Helping mom invest 200k (a big chunk for her) and wanted a sounding board before we pull the trigger. Thanks in advance: 78 years old, goal is to maximize distributions to add to her Social Security income which is 850 per month. Current invested assets: 100k in 5 CD Ladders (approx 5%...

Wow, time flies! After recognizing so many of you, I had to check and see how long it's been since we joined and now I realize it's been 18 years! Since then, we have been able to retire early (at 46 and 49) and would never have been able to without the help of so many of you. Thank you!

Sounds like a great itinerary....nice mix of jungle, water and city. People try to see everything in two weeks so seeing three areas in three weeks is great. You will enjoy it. If you get a chance, look for cassowaries in Cairns and take a ferry ride in Sydney and if you havent seen parrots...

Yeah, unfortunately we didn't realize how much the tolls were, until we realized there was a premium for "camping cars" at toll booths. We had to do it though, chasing the Sakura from Osaka to Nagano. Next year we plan to stay the month in Kyushu, so hopefully, less tolls and more time in a...

We've been looking at Class B's for several years but haven't pulled the trigger. We are traveling 7 months out of the country right now but thinking we would start traveling the US and Canada in a van in a year or two, when prices return to pre-Covid hikes. For now, we are looking forward to...

We agree on the pool - we travel half the year so love the convenience of a condo. Vero / Wabasso area is not on the ocean and has a similar feel. We are on the north island, so power plant is not close.

We travelled down the east coast from Maryland to the Keys and on the west up to Boca by boat three times and chose North Hutchinson Island in St Lucie (same island as Vero). We love how undeveloped it is, surrounded by local and state parks. Worth a closer look!

We just returned from a month trip and already booked for another next year. We did the main cities, Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto and realize it's not our thing. Worth considering given your interest...Kumano Kodo's Nakahechi Route. You can hike the sacred forest from Ryokan to Ryokan (only Other...

We have been solicited by a law firm to join a class action against Icahn. It looks like there are a bunch of firms doing this. It's not a big portion of our investments but surprised they reached out to us so thought we'd check with this group. Any insight? Should we join or is this...

Unless you plan to fish or go out at night, definitely join the boat club. We too lived on the Chesapeake and moved to Florida (Hutchinson Island) a few years back. We had our own dock on the bay so it made sense to have our boats. Now that we are retired, live in Florida without a dock and...

No, as of today, only people going through tour companies can get in. We will be flying on ANA in late Dec/early Jan to the Philippines then from there, Japan in April. Hopefully it will be ok by then, but if not, ANA has confirmed they will refund our points if the country has entry...

Wow! A lot of things to research - thank you! I will probably have follow up questions but this is definitely a lot of great info! Kyoto hasn’t been on our radar so we will definitely look into it now given all the comments!

Planning for a month long trip to Japan in April and thought we’d ask for any tips or recommendations. We definitely plan to get the JR Pass and right now, hoping to see some cherry blossoms while we are there and also do part of the Nakasendo trail. We live on the beach in Florida and will...

Restaurant Melodie and La Brasserie Bordolais but for a quick and affordable meal for two at 20 Euros, checkout l’echoppe de Halles by Cite du vin. We took a couple of small group tours in Margaux and St Emilion through A La Francais. It was ok…good to see the regions but you visit 2 wineries...

Just got back from our 3 months in Andalusia, Portugal, Northern Spain (Galicia and Basque Region) and Bordeaux and thought we’d share some tips for those planning something similar. Hope it helps! 1) Used Chase Sapphire, Marriott and Hilton Points for a majority of our hotel and AirBnB stays...

Congrats, and sorry about your dog. House sitting helped us fill the void, so glad you are doing it. Did you create a video yet? In some locations, like Australia and New Zealand, it can be really competitive, so give it your all! Christmas is the best time for awesome locations so hope...

Just returned from 1 month in Andalusia, 1 month in Portugal and 1 month in Northern Spain (July) and yes, Galicia and Basque was dry and hot. Didn’t expect it so didn’t check if our Airbnb had AC….ended up buying a fan and took it along with us! Planning for 3 months Philippines and 1 month...

“The routine I want for myself is to get up, tidy for a solid couple of hours, go to the gym, read for a few hours, cook dinner, watch some tv.” If I recall correctly from your earlier posts, this wasn’t exactly what you had planned for your retirement. Wasn’t extended travel in your plans...

If you are serious about going to Chile for wine, I’d suggest you also consider going to Mendoza (Argentina) for some Malbec. Reserve the front seats of a double decker bus from Santiago to Mendoza over the Andes Mountain Range. One of the most memorable parts of our 4 month trip pre Covid

We’ve done several and really enjoyed it. It’s important to pick the right location, home and pets that meet your travel plans to make it worthwhile. It’s very much like online dating - you’ll need to create a good profile to get selected, but you also want to be picky to find your match. For...

We feel so fortunate / blessed for having a lifestyle that has allowed us to travel at least 6 months each and now looking forward to doing it again. However, with everything going on in the world, curious about volunteer experiences you’ve had while traveling. There seems to be many volunteer...

We list our beach condo for rent on VRBO and it has resulted in more leads than a realtor. However, with the excessive fees to tenant and us, decided to pull it off VRBO and pay a realtor…cheaper for us and the tenant by a lot. We are also finalizing a 90 day trip to Spain and Portugal and...