@conmama, we have the same philosophy about traveling now, especially after we lost a 60-year-old friend recently to pancreatic cancer.
I feel fortunate that my parents like to take me with them when they travel! I hope my dad’s health recovers enough that we can go on a few more trips.
Like others have said above H and I are traveling as much as we can now and not waiting for retirement. We have the money to travel now with both of us working and physically we can make trips where we do a lot of hiking, walking and skiing. We just returned from a trip to Yosemite, Sequoia and Big Sur. Next February we head off for a 15 day ski trip throughout the West. We want to do these kinds of trips now and not wait 5 to 10 years when it might be more difficult for us to enjoy this kind of vacation.
We just completed a budget for our financial planner. For this year, we only included airfare and hotels for three trips on our budget. Just for the grown ups.
I agree about traveling while you can. My older sister decided to retire at 58 with a hefty government pension and good retiree health care. She has a lot of health issues and both our parents died in their early 70’s and she felt she didn’t know what the future held. Past forward she is now 66 and in addition to her previous health issues now has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s. The last four years she has not been well enough to travel or do much at all that is fun. She is glad she did some major traveling when she first retired. She is hoping that as she gets the Parkinson’s manageable she can travel again. She is depressed that she has the time plus the money to travel but not the health.
We just returned from a three day mini trip. Leave Friday for a 5 night trip to Santa Fe. Have a short camping trip planned before thanksgiving. H has a couple of ski trips planned. Next summer we have a boat charter up in Canada which we hope our kids and Mates will join us for part of the time. H is struggling with paying for the air tickets for everyone. I laugh as I know he will so should just resign himself to that. We also will plan a big Europe trip for next fall. My H is still working but he can afford to take the time off. And as others have mentioned it’s easier to travel when you still have a paycheck coming in.
The biggest issue for us with traveling now is that I only get 3 weeks of vacation per year, and DW is self-employed so no work means no pay. It’s a time shortage more than a money shortage.
@notrichenough I am self-employed and travel a lot. DH is retired so I take the computer and we go. Unless it is an trip out of the country, I usually work in the mornings or on specific days and clients know when and how they can reach me. Then we do what we want the rest of the time.
I have been very fortunate that the small company I work for will let me take leave without pay when I am out of vacation since I only get 3 weeks each year and H gets 5 weeks of vacation.
@Singersmom07 Unfortunately much of what DW does requires physical presence and can’t be done remotely.
Anyone with a business (even a small one, rental properties, etc), there is probably the best signup bonus I’ve ever seen on the Points Guy for the Capital One Spark Business card. If you can make the spend, they have 200,000 miles or points on their Cash card (equals 2K) going on right now. First year fee waived.
I want to do what your DH does. Mine travels so much for work to pretty cool places in other countries. I always wanted to tag along but with kids and work I can’t. Sometimes he would travel with his co-workers and their wife(s) would tag along but me. Some day I may just drop it all and go.
Time, energy, and money - always a battle between having all three.
With my new job, less work hours. Glad to be still working and need to get ‘settled in’ to a new routine.
We are 23 months away from retirement and counting.
H and I do need to be more physically active and also lose some weight. Something easy to put off. Slowly adding health issues which should make us more motivated but in reality less motivated. Diet and exercise have to go high on my priority list and it is not there yet.
Some things are easy for some people, and hard for others. Sister and her H mulled a long time over where they are going to get buried - then they went ahead bought the plots (where they live in Iowa, and Iowa is where their kids live) and have the grave marker already ready with just their expiration dates needed. H had always been saying he wanted to be buried in his home town cemetery, but in reality, when it came right down to it - he said when he is dead and cremated he doesn’t care. So I was able to get some newly opened spots right in line with my parents and grandparents in my home town (on my most recent inquiry, the new cemetery sexton saw where they didn’t develop a row of spots - right next to our two newly acquired spots is buried a 7 year old younger brother of a classmate who was buried in 1970 - I was in the choir that sang for his funeral). When I inquired a few years ago, I was told there was nothing available anywhere near that location. So now I can get the same kind of granite stone to line up with my deceased relatives there. For many, that is not a big deal - but it is to me. Had I died with the aggressive cancer, I wouldn’t have had these choice cemetery spots (Veteran’s Day 2019 is the 10th anniversary of my first chemo session). IMHO some divine intervention.
Always have tasks as we age. IDK what the risk is with both spouses dying together - I know my H would have issues getting all pulled together, but enough is in place that he could do it. The DDs/family would have more of a headache getting it all together if H and I both died about the same time.
Traveling now. It is already getting harder for me. DH gets five weeks of vacation thanks to long service. He’s not retiring any time soon, but we are going while we can.
My H is self employed but one of our kids now works with him. He could take more time and bring a laptop but he doesn’t like to work while he is away. Due to this he has no time constraints on vacation aside from those he puts on himself. It stresses him out to be in work mode which prevents him from being able to go away for a longer period of time.He needs to get better at letting go and having our D handle more. She is capable.
H has a friend that goes away for months at a time. He works remotely each morning. It works for them.
@SOSConcern Im glad your cancer is in remission or gone. About 10 years ago I went on a trip to Costa Rica with my H and two of our kids. I had slowly over the years put on weight. I struggled with the hiking and even the small incline from the boat dock to our hotel. It was an eye opener to me that I needed to make some changes if I wanted to enjoy life or end up like my Mom. I’ve slowly lost weight And kept it off and three years ago added in more exercise aside from waking and a little running. I have a bad knee but I can do a lot more. The biggest improvement has been cardiovascular. I no longer huff and puff up the hill.
@SOSConcern , I read once that the final gift you give your children is to have funeral preparations planned and paid for. Morbid, but generous.
My mother used to say she wanted to be cremated, put in an urn on the fireplace mantle, and we should take up smoking and add to her memory 
Miss that woman and her wit 
We travel about 4 or so long trips/year. It has gotten more complicated for the past 10+ years as I need to fly with medical equipment but we still enjoy it so are glad we can do it.
It was nice flying with less “stuff,” until we were forced to fly with the equipment. We still find it enjoyable and hope to continue for some time.
Seeing new places and taking vacations are fun. The actual traveling part is what I hate. It gets a little more tiring the older I get.
Going to a beautiful place soon, but dreading the packing, the whole airport ordeal, and of course that part I hate the most - takeoff.
DH goes to sleep within seconds of sitting down and fastening his seatbelt. I am so very jealous of that man.
“The $5M mentioned above is a good target” - That’s probably true for some lucky folks here (not us). But I think it scares people from saving to see a number that big. And of course as discussed many times, the subset of couples with traditional pension don’t need as much savings compared to those with none.
I am a homebody. We travel to see our kids and stay very nice places ($500+ night) but I find being away from home pretty awful. I miss my bed, my pillow, my lovely giant shower, eating at home etc… And I HATE staying in one room. Hate it. Have tried an Air BNb but found the beds so uncomfortable ( no one seems to put super high quality beds in Air BnB’s and the kitchen stuff so cheap ( I can’t stand eating on cheap tinny flatware…a mainstay of these places) that I can think of nothing but the days til I’m home. I always marvel that others aren’t bothered by this stuff. Ah well. At least I save a fortune on travel and need less for retirement . Lol.
I really hate packing, getting to my plane seat from the house, and getting from my plane seat to the hotel. Although Uber/shuttles made the last item on that list more manageable. Not a fan of international flights or stampeding around big cities and crowded museums! I am hoping Mr. will strike it big in his current gig, and we will be able to afford a condo in HI in addition to our local place so we would have access to our own cookware, our own mattresses, etc. whenever we go there. So far, that plan does not look too feasible. ? But I don’t mind working until I am 83. ? Kidding. We have not visited all US states, so that is our future plan - support US tourism with an occasional international trip thrown in.