Those of you who are travelling - or plan to - in retirement

[LornaDuh]

Where do you go? When and for how long? Where do you stay - hotel, airbnb, campervan, cruise ship?

Do you get homesick? Do you have pets? What about your garden?

What are your future travel plans?

Just curious as it's mentioned quite a lot of this board 😊

We're actually on our first post retirement trip now. I grew up in Australia and haven't been back for nearly 50 years. Staying with family (some pros and cons there) Hired a car. I want to be more spontaneous but see above for the cons.(family) But-can do washing,see family don't have to pay for a hotel. It's lovely, but family loyalty is a bit tying.
Next one i think might be Japan. Luckily no family who we can stay with, may be a two centre visit which will be planned to the nth degree.

We're actually on our first post retirement trip now. I grew up in Australia and haven't been back for nearly 50 years. Staying with family (some pros and cons there) Hired a car. I want to be more spontaneous but see above for the cons.(family) But-can do washing,see family don't have to pay for a hotel. It's lovely, but family loyalty is a bit tying.
Next one i think might be Japan. Luckily no family who we can stay with, may be a two centre visit which will be planned to the nth degree.

@MyElatedUmberFinch I’ve been to China too but if people refuse to go to places because of politics, does China not register on the list of countries with poor human rights?

@GiantTeddyIsTired We too are comfortable and spend way more than that. You won’t get 4 to NZ for your budget though.

@PlanetSaturn Why are you rewarding the Trump administration? We saw our trip as supporting national park staff and lending a sympathetic ear when asked. Local taxes go locally. Many Americans didn’t deserve or want this administration but we avoid the USA due to this. It’s bonkers.

It is up to people to make up
their own mind where they want to go.

We've been to USA a few times but have made a conscious decision not to go back while trump is in charge. I would love to visit Yellow Stone and some of the central parts.

So far we have done a few short trips at a few days' notice as and when the fancy takes us - Anglesey, Jersey, Port Meirion, Irvine, The Lakes etc. Longer trips, we have been to France, Germany, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland a few times. Long haul, we have crossed Canada by rail, road and ferry and been to West Africa, Chile, Antarctica and will be going to Svalbard in the Spring. Currently in the car as husband drives across the Champagne area of France. Been retired 7 years.

Why the need to be so combative with your responses?
it’s really not necessary to denigrate other people’s choice or quiz them as to whether they know what they will be missing.
Some people don’t want to go to the states at the moment, is a perfectly valid choice. This is a thread about travel, nobody needs to defend their choices to other posters.

I don’t understand the mentality of these virtual signallers not visiting USA because of Trump . It won’t make a jot of difference whether a few Brits don’t visit . What about all the Americans trying to earn a living through tourism like any other country.
I also want to see where I want to see whilst I have my mobility . If I never visited places based on whose in Government I’d probably not be able to visit half the world .

I've never heard that before - it would apply to my dh too - very interesting thanks

Probably more than half the world, I doubt there’s one government that’s perfect.

@hattie43 I do agree. Limiting travel based on Trump makes little sense.

Yes, it’s a thread about travel but lots of posts are about where people will not go to places @ShanghaiDiva . Did you not notice? Im talking about what’s rational and what isn’t and how you can see lovely places regardless of who runs a western democracy.

@annonymousse We went to Yellowstone in June. Happy to help with recommendations.

And another rude response!
people are free to mention where they would not go in addition to where they would go. Threads go in different directions as people express their views. No need to be critical or ask posters to defend their choices.
what’s rational or not rational is actually just your opinion!

If something is irrational it absolutely isn't just someone's opinion, unless you believe there's no such thing as logic.
i do think not going to America has become a new virtue signal, and it's a fair point to say there's are lots of other counties that have similar reasons not to visit them as well.

I'm not virtue signaling by not wanting to go to USA at the moment. I don't like Trump and just don't want to go while he's president. Whether it's a rational decision or not doesn't matter. It's my choice 🤷‍♀️

Why condemn all Americans because we don’t like Trump? Of course it’s virtue signaling. Who else don’t you like? Travellers turn a blind eye to politics and wrong doing the world over. I know people who went on holiday to North Korea. Government appointed guide. At least in the USA you can speak to people freely.

Where did I condemn all Americans? Why do you think I'm virtue signalling? I'm not asking for admiration or a pat on the back. I simply don't want to visit the states for my own reasons. Nowhere have I said everyone should follow my lead. I'm not judging anyone who does holiday over there. I don't understand why you are so angry and what you read from my post?

Actually I refrain from anything US politics related on FB because of having to put your details on the ESTA application, so don't think speech is that free.
(I do still love to visit USA and want an ESTA!).

We plan to convert a van to a camper and mostly do a mixture of using that in the UK and Europe, and house swaps which we already do in the school holidays.

Some long haul backpacking stuff planned for when we first retire. Neither of us has ever cared about fancy hotels and have never been interested in the idea of a cruise.

How does house swapping work @PosiePerkinPootleFlump? I’ve always quite fancied the idea of living somewhere else for 6 months or so.

We do it via HomeExchange.com
Many people are looking for shorter swaps from a long weekend to 2-3 weeks but there are some sub-groups of people looking for longer.
You can either arrange direct swaps or exchange for points - so you get points for people being in your home, and you ‘pay’ points to be in someone else’s.
It helps if you are in or near a desirable location like London or Edinburgh or a national park or by the sea etc but there are people with homes all over

I would say we ‘holiday’ rather than ‘travel’. We spend a few weeks in Spain during the winter and then generally do one European city break and one sunshine holiday. We also do a few breaks in the UK, plus I normally have a week with a friend somewhere plus visit relatives in the UK. We normally rent an apartment or villa if we are away for more than a couple of days. Not been on a cruise, I can’t decide whether I would like it or not.

We dog share with DS and his partner anyway and use kennels if they come away with us. Not particularly fussed about the garden and if we are away for more than a week DS comes over to check the post. I think I would miss DS if I was away for too long - plus I think he’s had enough of the dog after 4 weeks!

We signed up for Historic Houses when we retired and we do mini breaks midweek in term time (UK). We have visited some amazing places and discovered a renewed interest in history.
Once you visit about 3 houses you have got your money's worth.

Second year of retirement
No pets
Some caring responsibilities

Last year best holiday was Vietnam
We just book flights, first night in a cheap hotel, then explore

So far this year
Norfolk small B&B
Turkey AI hotel
Southern UK small B&B
Barcelona & Madrid hotels
Netherlands in our camper van
Rest of year not decided yet

In future hope to do years of endless travel
We love Asia, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia
We have not been to Australia yet
We have been to New Zealand
We have not been to USA
Plus camper van & motorbike trips