"Why travel leads to healthy retirement"

[explanade]

Yahoo!

Not some scientific study, just some speculation by the author who cites polls.

Of course many here FIREd in order to travel while they were still young enough to sustain more demanding travel. Hustling through airports is probably not a positive aspect of travel.

And traveling to visit relatives and friend may also not be something that people want necessarily. I'd rather stay in a hotel for instance, than stay in someone's spare room.

It would be interesting to see if people who retire early, say at least 5 years before they're eligible to collect social security, are healthier than those who retire at the usual age of retirement.

Do early retirees travel more? One would think, since one of the benefits of retirement is more time and flexibility for such pursuits.

 

[truenorth418]

Count me in as an early retiree is making travel a priority. Having the flexibility to travel basically wherever I want, whenever I want, for pretty much as long as I want is a great benefit to me as an early retiree. Will it make me healthier? Well, certainly emotionally healthier.

 

[Alan]

5 years into retirement and all the travel we do certainly makes us very happy and gives us lots of pleasure. If it makes us healthier as well then that is a great bonus.

For folks that find travel stressful then I can't see how it will make them healthier.

 

[Teacher Terry]

3 years in & we love to travel. We also choose to do some p.t. consulting in our fields but it is easy to work around.

 

[Meadbh]

I travelled a fair bit while w*rking but it was often stressful. Being ER gives me the flexibility to travel when and where I want without feeling rushed, subject to my travel budget, and more economically too. Having that choice has to be healthier. I do not feel obligated to tick off any bucket list. In fact I have some friends (not on this forum) whose current travel adventures I am following on Facebook, and looking at their photos is as much as I want to see of the places they are traveling to.

 

[Bestwifeever]

We loooove traveling but I don't think you have to travel to achieve the benefits the blogger describes in that Yahoo article. You can be active, have social contact, get cognitive rewards, and reduce stress, without leaving home. Or you can travel and achieve none of the above (a Caribbean cruise on a megaship comes to mind).

 

[Teacher Terry]

Recently we were able to take advantage of airline tickets being really cheap to Poland so we went & had a great trip. We couldn't have done that when working.

 

[shortstop14]

Two years into retirement, and the only real surprise has been our ability to exceed our travel budget. Even with traveling pretty low-end ...

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

Although just recently retired, since the Air Force did a fabulous job of showing me the world, it's not very high on the priority list...but I still enjoy getting away on occasion.

Sent from my mobile device so please excuse grammatical errors.

 

[chris66]

I'm just more of a home body by nature, so travel is not a huge priority for me. I've enjoyed places I've seen when we've traveled, and there are some places I haven't seen that I think would be interesting, but if I don't get around to them, that's OK. Travel doesn't have the same stress relief for me, as it does for some folks as noted in the article. My mood and outlook are improved spending time with friends and family, or even hanging out in the garden with the dogs. So, I don't see the same health benefits for me, and don't think I'd cut financial corners to be sure to get in some cheap travel (that would probably be more stressful to me). But, I will say I'm looking forward to being able to take my time on trips while retired, when we do decide to travel.

 

[FIREd]

1. Travel encourages you to be more active. Not really the case for me. Last time I went on a vacation, my pedometer showed a lower level of physical activity than when I stay home. It's because, for me, a vacation is foremost an opportunity to relax.

2. Travel offers social benefits. Yes. I travel to see family and friends mainly. This is probably the nicest benefit I get from travel. It makes me feel connected.

3. There are cognitive rewards. Yes. I like to explore new places and learn about other cultures. It is intellectually stimulating.

4. It improves your mood and lowers levels of stress. Nope. Traveling -as in going from point A to point B- is stressful for me. We seem to get more than our fair share of weather delays, emergency landings, lost luggage, flight diversions, and security threats when we fly. Our FUBAR trip stories are perennial favorites amongst our friends. And crowded places like airports and airplanes are rough on this introvert. My mood improves and my stress level subsides only when we make it back home and put the suitcases away. If I want to improve my mood and lower my stress level, a walk in the woods is a better prescription than a trip half-way around the world.

 

[savory]

We travel for what I believe is a lot (2 to 3 months per year). As some here know, we bicycle/walk on many of our travels. Health wise, at least measured by weight control, and the fun of eating anything/everything during the vacation period, makes active vacations even more fun. And, now that we rent and have a fairly unique living arrangement, worrying about the house, getting house sitters, etc. is behind us. We are discussing the next step which is to get rid of even more stuff and living with the things we can carry. Right now, we think we want to try 'only own what we can carry' (we will likely put some stuff in storage or lend to friends) for perhaps a 6 to 12 month period. Even if we do that, I know if we elect to have a 'permanent' address again, we will rent in order to provide maximum flexibility and to not worry about our property while away. We do discuss the change that will need to be made when active vacations are going to be too difficult. We will deal with that when the time comes as there will not be a choice.

 

[kitesurfer2]

somebody needs to define their definition of travel. I've not retired yet but will soon. I have 'traveled" most of my last 25 years in my pick up truck with a kayak on top or a motorcycle following me on my trailer. That evolved into motorcycle trips only from 5 days to 30 days. and now it's Miata time...we pack lightly, carry a tent and coffee pot and leave Florida with no particular destination. We will spend two weeks in Key West at News years camping. then in June I will attend two separate motorcycle rallies (alone). I'll leave on my bike again in sept for a little ride up to the Dakotas, across to Washington and the western 'mountainous states', maybe 2 months or more. My wife may or may not fly out to meet me for two weeks like she did on my Canada/new england ride.


I suppose flying to Hawaii for two weeks would be considered travel. That is the carrot I'm dangling to my wife to convince her to retire to. She is only 54
My type of traveling is relatively cheap with only gas, food and campgrounds. My wife and I prefer a tent and crickets to a hotel and tv--I got a keeper this time

 

[Huston55]

We loooove traveling but I don't think you have to travel to achieve the benefits the blogger describes in that Yahoo article. You can be active, have social contact, get cognitive rewards, and reduce stress, without leaving home. Or you can travel and achieve none of the above (a Caribbean cruise on a megaship comes to mind).

You've obviously never gone on a golfing shore excursion with me while on a Caribbean cruise.

1. Be active: "Where is that damn ball? How many sleeves did I bring?"
2. Have social contact: "What do 3 Brits and a Yank make? A makeshift 3 day 'Ryder Cup' tourny (had to adopt a Brit)." BTW, unlike in the recent real world, the Yanks won; third day, last hole, last put.
3. Get coginitive rewards: "What did you say? What does that word mean?" (two peoples separated by a common language.)
4. Reduce Stress: "Yep, it was a nice round, and I will take another beer!"

 

[fritz]

Yahoo!

Not some scientific study, just some speculation by the author who cites polls.

Of course many here FIREd in order to travel while they were still young enough to sustain more demanding travel. Hustling through airports is probably not a positive aspect of travel.

And traveling to visit relatives and friend may also not be something that people want necessarily. I'd rather stay in a hotel for instance, than stay in someone's spare room.

It would be interesting to see if people who retire early, say at least 5 years before they're eligible to collect social security, are healthier than those who retire at the usual age of retirement.

Do early retirees travel more? One would think, since one of the benefits of retirement is more time and flexibility for such pursuits.

We retired early 58/56 (5 years ago) and travel is an important part of our retirement. I traveled extensively for business, and we also took advantage of the perks associated with business travel ("Busman's Holiday" scenario). Traveled before and after 9/11 and grew to hate air travel (good reason to retire early). Since retiring - travel mostly by car. We winter in Florida, and travel out from there also. Traveling by car with no time constraints as you have when working, allows us to pretty much bum along and see the sites. We've also golfed at a lot of interesting courses. Have to say that bumming along (did this before retirement as well) with no particular agenda/timeframe is the most enjoyable aspect of our retirement travel.

We prefer hotels to staying with family/friends, and will hotel it, if it doesn't offend by doing so. We feel it allows for a more relaxed visit (lifestyle habits vary).

We also feel our retirement travel keeps us healthy and active - both mentally/emotionally and physically. You have to be somewhat active to bum along, it does take a little planning, and is always something to look forward to. Although we plan on traveling for a long while - we realize that it gets more difficult as one ages. We keep in mind that it became difficult for in-laws as they aged and were in poor health, but we also have neighbors in their 90's who still winter in Florida +6mos. out of the year (has to be something to it). Always look forward to bumming along, and would rather drop dead out bumming along than be discovered in front of the TV in my La-Z-Boy chair having passed away sometime earlier

 

[brett]

Three years into retirement and travel is definitely a priority for us. Came back in early Nov. from 8 weeks in Europe, leaving Dec. 31. for 10-12 weeks in Asia/Australia. Sitting in Florida holds no attraction for us.

We downsized to a rental condo, consolidated accounts, moved as much as possible to estatements in order to be able to 'lock the door and travel'. No more worrying about the lawn, the house, snow removal from the sidewalks and all the rest of those home owner issues.

No regrets. We do a mix of independent land travel and a some cruises. We have a long list of places we want to visit, and a list of places that we want to return to. We now do one way flights and keep our schedules open for things like last minute cruises or other types of hotel offers.

Are we healthier? Lost weight since retirement, no longer on any meds-other than vitamin D. Don't like those flights either but sometimes you need to do it to get where you want to go. Have a 22 hour elapsed time air journey at the end of the month.....then three months on the beach and in the sun.