Category: Bucket Lists
Oct. 29, 2024 -- Sal Hyer is a former municipal employee who retired in early 2024. One of the dreams he and his wife Lisa had was to go on a long adventure across the country. He wanted to take his pickup truck, but Lisa did not want to stay in hotels. Compromise being the soul of marriage, they bought a camper. They started in July and plan on finishing the trip early November in Ft Myers, then live in Vermont for the winter. Theirs is definitely the adventure of a lifetime, we can barely contain our jealousy.
Wrangler and Newmar Dutch Star in camp
I wanted to drive my pickup truck but my wife did not want hotels so we have an RV. I am having more fun than I thought driving the big reg. I already have 7,000 miles training and using it. The Rv is a Newmar Dutch Star class A diesel pusher, and we towed a Jeep Wrangler, which was key. It was purchased Feb 2023. It was my wife's idea to get it a year + early and it was a good one. Sal Hyer
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Published on October 28, 2024
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Category: Bucket Lists
A Bucket list trip to Iceland
September 10, 2024– Iceland is both a cold country, and one of the hottest tourist destinations in the world. It is the perfect place for a retirement trip. This giant island country in the North Atlantic attracts tourists from all over the world to experience its many natural wonders. There are many ways for retirees to experience its charms, which we will explore in this article.
About Iceland
This island country, a member of the European Union, is being formed by the separation of the American and European tectonic plates. As they have come apart over the millennia, magma and lava have come out of the earth’s core to form the land. They are still separating at the rate of about 2 centimeters per year - in many places you can stand with one foot in Europe and the other in America.
That land building has created the many sights that people come to experience. There are giant extinct volcanoes to climb, deep blue lakes formed by glaciers and and volcanic activity, immense and intricate lava fields, and gigantic waterfalls. Not to mention a long and beautiful coastline.
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Published on September 9, 2024
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Category: Adventurous retirement
July 3 , 2025 — A trip to Scandinavia might be on your bucket list. It certainly was on ours. After talking about it for many years, Roberta and I went there for 2 weeks in June. We highly recommend it - the sights are magnificent, the people are friendly, and the traveling easy. Just about everyone speaks English, often better than we do! Here are some thoughts if you decide to go.
Cruise or Land?
Since the Scandinavian countries are surrounded by water, touring by cruise ship can be a great way to go. You will see fjords, villages, and the most interesting cities, all from the comfort of your floating hotel. As one option, the Hurtigruten line offers different trips with options to visit between 14 and 34 ports for stops of varying length. We chose to plan our own tour, mostly by land, because of the flexibility that allowed us to customize where we went, and especially, where we ate and stayed. That involved more planning work, but made it very special. Thanks to Roberta for doing all that planning!
Copenhagen, Denmark
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Published on July 2, 2024
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Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
October 30, 2023 — Spain and or Portugal retirement is very popular, as these Iberian countries are for tourism as well. Americans and Europeans are checking out these two countries, not only as great places for a retirement trip, but for where to retire too. Your editor recently spent 2 happy weeks touring some of the best tourist spots on the Iberian Peninsula, the home of Spain and Portugal. Our hope is that this experience might help you plan a potential trip to the region. And, it might help you learn what it might be like to retire in one of these amazing countries.
Portugal Retirement Trip
This beautiful, dry country has a long western coastline on the Atlantic Ocean that in the south curves eastward past Gibraltar to the Mediterranean. Lisbon, on the coast, is the capital and largest city. Portugal's cost of living is one of the lowest in Europe (65th highest in the world - the U.S. is 12th), the country is safe, and the food and wine are excellent. The country has a complicated history - Celts, Phoenicians, Roman, Visigoths, and the Moors (Arabs) all had their day, and then its eventual retaking by the Crusaders. Towns and buildings reflect that heritage within their walled cities, Roman ruins, and Christian cathedrals, that were often Muslim mosques for a time.
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Published on October 30, 2023
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Category: Adventurous retirement
June 29, 2023 -- While any kind of travel is usually high on many people’s retirement bucket lists, a walking or hiking trip a particularly good idea for those looking for an active experience. Walking tours are the perfect Goldilocks adventure option for people of retirement age. Easier and less risky than bike tours, they provide plenty of action and adventure. They are perfect for folks who crave the outdoors and nature, but don’t want to experience new worlds from a seated position on a bus or boat.
Your editor has just returned from a hiking trip in the Dolomite Mountains of Italy - a fabulous adventure. Much of this mountainous region of northeastern Italy has been made into National parks, and the area has now been declared a World Heritage Site.
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Published on June 28, 2023
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Category: Adventurous retirement
May 26, 2022 -- Sooner or later the "what are you going to do" question comes up in conversations about retirement. For a whole lot of people their answer is: "Maybe we'll take a river cruise". Then the big question is where? There are so many great possibilities. For sake of conversation, here are 10 of the best ideas for river cruises, and we would love to hear Member suggestions as well. We will publish another article on other types of cruises in the future.
What kind of river trip?
For the purposes of this article we are breaking these cruises into 4 categories: American, European, International, and Adventure. In addition to where you take your river trip, you also need to decide what company will take you down that river, and in what kind of style. There are a number of companies that offer river cruises for a host of different budgets and tastes, so you don't have to stick with the brand names you might have heard about. Talking with friends and your travel agent is a good way to find the one best suited to your needs and budget. We will list some of those operators under each category, but if you search the Internet you will be pleased with how many options there are.
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Published on May 25, 2022
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Category: Adventurous retirement
(Note: this is the first of a 2 part series on Costa Rica. Part 2 focuses on expat retirement in the country. )January 13, 2019 — Does your retirement include a bucket list trip to Costa Rica, one of the world’s greatest ecotourism destinations? This Central American country, situated north of Panama and south of Nicaragua, has an incredible array of attractions that bring in tourists from all over the world. But unlike more traditional vacation spots where the places to visit are fairly obvious (think Paris or Normandy in France) Costa Rican tourism is complex. The choices of where to visit can be difficult to figure out. This article will tell you what to expect if you go, what your options are, and how to plan and book your trip.
Costa Rica snapshotCosta Rica (CR) has long coastlines on two sides - the Pacific on the west and the Caribbean to the east. The country has a very stable democratic government and a prosperous economy based mainly on tourism, technology, and agriculture. It has no army; that was abolished in 1948. The climate is tropical with a rainy season from mid-September through December. The terrain is quite mountainous with peaks over 10,000'; it can get quite cool in those areas. The terrain goes from very dry areas on the west coast to cloud and rain forests further east.
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Published on January 12, 2019
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Category: Bucket Lists
March 27, 2018 — When we decided to visit India, one of the places on both of our bucket lists, my wife and I got one of two very opposite reactions. The first was incredulous, as in “why would you want to visit a place like that?” The second was either, “I have always wanted to go there”, or “I can’t wait to go back”.
One reason we wanted to visit India came from what we heard from fellow travelers. They spoke of the strange and awesome sights, the friendly people so different from us, and the wonderful food. For my wife, an avid reader captivated by the many
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Published on March 26, 2018
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Category: Adventurous retirement
September 13, 2017-- The Galápagos Islands are at the top of many people's bucket list destinations. This article will give you a taste of what that experience is like, based on your Editor's recent trip, plus some tips and advice if you decide to go.
Where and whatThe Galápagos are a volcanic archipelago of small islands in the Pacific Ocean about 600 miles west of Ecuador, which is near the top of south South America. They are most famous because of the role they played in Charles Darwin's theories of evolution explained in his groundbreaking "Origin of the Species". He visited the Islands in the early 1800's, at a time when its only
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Published on September 12, 2017
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Category: Bucket Lists
February 9, 2015 --Like many retirees you have probably been thinking about bucket list trips as the icing on a hard fought working career. If so the idea of visiting Australia and New Zealand might be near the top. The advantages of such a trip are many. Here we will review some of the reasons for adding this to your list, along with many tips if you do go. This article is mostly about Australia, since that is where your editor recently passed 3 agreeable weeks.
Advantages
Speaking the same language. To make a parallel to what George Bernard Shaw said about Britain and the U.S., we are 2 countries separated by a common language. Travel is definitely easier when you can ask almost anyone for directions.
Rate of exchange. At one point in last few years it took over 1.10 U.S. dollar to purchase 1 Australian dollar. However in early 2015 the latter can be purchased for less than .80 U.S.
Familiar. Americans and Australians are very friendly
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Published on February 9, 2015
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