Travel is a Great Retirement Hobby

Travel is a great retirement hobby.  It is something we look forward to and something we are extremely grateful to be able to do.  Everything about is fun except the airports.  Believe it or not, planning the trips can be a very exciting process and it helps to make every travel dollar you spend go further.  When people say that they would like to travel but never seem to get around to it, I always start with the planning process because it’s the best way to get started

Planning for travel is a great retirement hobby in and of itself.  Even if it’s just one person who is doing the traveling, planning for it is fun, makes the actual trip more enjoyable and provides a learning experience that’s almost as good as the travel portion itself if you do it the right way.  It’s interesting to hear someone come back from a trip and relate their experience.  You can tell immediately who planned out their itinerary and who left everything to chance.  No matter where we go, there is a checklist that we follow.  We have kept what some people refer to as a bucket list for travel spots and we have been crossing them off at a rate that hasn’t left us exhausted or depleted our budget and I think we owe that to the amount of planning that we do.  We are convinced that travel is a great retirement hobby but so is the planning process.

Travel is a great retirement hobby but so is the planning

The first thing to decide, of course, is the location for your trip and how much time you have to spend there.  Do research on the weather.  You don’t want to be in Rome in the summer with the heat and the crowds.  Look for accommodations that will place you at the center of the activities that you want to do even if it costs a few extra dollars.  You can more than make up the savings by using the transportation system that is available and, if you don’t have to rent a car, you’ve done yourself a great favor.  Driving in foreign countries is not something I’m comfortable doing any more.  Researching the transportation that is available is very important and keep in mind that the United States mass transit system is not state of the art when you look at some European and Asian countries.  One hour in Paris told us all we needed to know about how much our systems can be improved.  Their subway is phenomenal.

We actually make food our next category in our research.  We love the experience of dining out in countries with food that we haven’t tried or places that serve something that can’t be missed.  We find all of these places on the map and note their hours and prices and then mark down all the sites that we want to see.  With this information in hand, we research guided tours that will take care of just about anything you can think of.  Although you spend a little more, I believe what you get for your travel dollar with a good guide is more than made up for in your experience.  I cannot tell you what it was like to see the Sistine Chapel without crowds.  And, yes, the recent papal conclave took on a whole new dimension and meaning as we watch the events transpire.  We were there!  It is why travel is a great retirement hobby.

Make the most of your time by staying as long as you can.  We are not getting any younger.  Do it while you can and make sure you see what you came to see.  It’s another reason I strongly recommend a guide. As you plan out your trip, don’t overlook the way in which you travel.  Of course, there is a land option but there’s also a possibility that you can see everything on a cruise ship.  Both ocean and river cruises do a remarkable job of giving you an overview of different locations.  Our suggestion is to extend your time either before or after or both.  We have been very fortunate to experience some lovely cruises but, only in the past couple of years did we extend our experience.  And, even though the cruise company offered great included tours, we added to our experience with private tours that we still talk about.  And, although I had done my food research before we went, those guides had even better recommendations.  It’s why travel is a great retirement hobby.

We have found that the airlines and airports are the weak link in all of this but, even here, we have found that spending a little extra money can be well worth it.  We can’t afford to fly first class, but premium economy is within our range and, we think, worth the prices.  Another thing we do is use a charge card that gives us airline points and a higher standing with the airline.  It makes up access to the Clubs in the airports a possibility and, sometimes, allows us to upgrade to business class.  We do not charge anything we can’t pay off immediately so there is no added debt incurred in this process.  If you look at it as taking part in a game or hobby, and travel is a great retirement hobby, you can make this part of the challenge in creating a trip that will give you a lifetime of memories.

And never overlook the possibility of turning travel into a money-making venture.  Between writing about it and taking pictures, you never know if something you might do anyway could turn into a little bit of extra cash.  Travel is a great retirement hobby.  Make the most of it. It’s time to Enjoy Retired Life!

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