Category: Travel
March 5, 2018–
Lucy asked, “Did you pull my passport out of the safe?” That question sparked a sharp jab of worry, which quickly rose to a full scale panic. “Nope,” I replied, “you must have it.” Except she didn’t. We started searching her purse, her backpack, her suitcase. Then the same for me, checked the safe again and the money belt and the neck pouch. Nothing! By this point the
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Published on March 4, 2018
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Category: Travel
October 30, 2017 -- Reposted with permission from JungleRedWriters.com Blog
LUCY BURDETTE: Lots of people have asked me how the Florida Keys and Key West are faring after Hurricane Irma roared through. Friday was the first day we were able to see for ourselves. Honestly, it was a bit of a grim ride south, especially the area stretching from Marathon through Big Pine, where the eye blew across the islands. The road is still lined with piles of trash, boats washed ashore, and mind-boggling deposits of
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Published on October 29, 2017
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Category: Singles and Retirement
June 22, 2017 -- You are retired now and all set to do that traveling you dreamed about. Europe, Patagonia, Japan, the Caribbean - there are some any exciting places in the US and the world to visit. But there is one problem, you don't have a traveling companion, and you are worried about doing it by yourself. Sometimes you might be in a relationship, but your partner either doesn't like to travel or cannot handle it physically. We would love to hear from our Members who have figured out answers to this challenge. But rather than not traveling because you don't have a companion, here are three suggestions for how to do it:
In Antarctica
1. Travel with a group such as Roads Scholars (formerly Elderhostel). They have trips everywhere, and many of their customers are traveling solo. You might pay extra if you are not willing to have a roommate, but you will certainly meet people on your
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Published on June 21, 2017
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Category: Travel
June 8, 2017 -- Your Topretirements Editor is on a retirement scouting tour that will take him through 5 states. The trip has been an wonderful source of fun (we visited a number of friends who live in great places) and a learning experience. The focus of this article is what we learned about how to go about taking a retirement scouting tour.
For the record, we started last week in Batavia (IL). From there we went up the west coast of Lake Michigan through Wisconsin, drove across the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, crossed the Macinack Bridge, toured a number of great retirement towns along the east side of Lake Michigan, made a couple of stops in Indiana, and will end up in Columbus, Ohio. The concentration was on the extremely popular retirement towns in the Michigan part of the trip. We'll report on the towns we visited in next week's issue, and a future installment will
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Published on June 7, 2017
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Category: Travel
April 16, 2017 - Travel is one of the joys that most people look forward to in retirement. Unfortunately for many retirees, who find themselves struggling to pay their daily expenses, being able to afford a robust travel schedule is a serious problem.
Here are some practical tips to help even the most budget conscious baby boomer enjoy a lot of great travel experiences in retirement.
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Published on April 15, 2017
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Category: Travel
September 13, 2016 -- Maybe the most fun thing about being retired is the chance to do all the things you have been postponing for so long. Now that your boss has to get along without you, the kids are out of the house (we hope!), and (maybe) you have to money to do something with all your free time, you have the green light for new experiences.
One of the suggestions we've heard is to give more emphasis to activities and experiences in retirement. To that end we would like to develop a "Best of" article for all kinds of categories, but we need your help to do it. Could you please pick of a couple of your "Best of" experiences in retirement and a quick description in the Comments section below. We promise to take what we get and try to arrange it in a readable fashion for a future article. Your item doesn't have to be a luxury extravaganza, in fact simple
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Published on September 13, 2016
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Category: Travel
Travels with Lucy, John, Yoda, and Tonka
May 2, 2016 -- The heart of this article was originally posted on JungleRedWriters.com by Lucy Burdette, who you might recognize as the better-half of Topretirements. We have appended an additional section at the end on the traveling issues that snowbirders have, with pets or not.
Lucy Burdette: John and I have always been a little smug about
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Published on May 2, 2016
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Category: Travel
March 16, 2016 -- We don't know what your biggest regrets in life are, but one of the top ones for many boomers is that they didn't travel enough. A British Airways survey of 2,000 U.S. baby boomers (aged 55 and over) shows that a fifth (20 percent) of baby boomers said not traveling enough is one of their biggest regrets when thinking back over their life so far. Women are slightly more likely to regret not traveling than men.
All work and no play: More than a fifth (22 percent) of baby boomers said a reason they haven’t traveled overseas more over the years is due to work commitments. And in thinking back over their life so far, 17 percent of male baby boomers said working too much is one of their biggest regrets,
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Published on March 15, 2016
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Category: Travel
August 15, 2015 -- Note: This article by our frequent contributor Jan Cullinane was originally published by US News & World Report.
Retirees can live anywhere they want to, and it doesn't necessarily have to be a single place. Some retirees choose a life at sea, constantly moving from place to place on a cruise ship.
For example, Beatrice Muller lived on the Queen Elizabeth 2 from 2000 to 2008, when the ship retired from service. Muller was 82 when she began living aboard full time. Another retiree, Claire MacBeth, sailed on back-to-back Cunard cruises for more than a dozen years. And Lee Wachtstetter, 86, ditched her
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Published on August 25, 2015
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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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