The whole country of Vietnam seems beautiful. Ha Long Bay of course, but your cruise will take you there. In Ho Chi Minh City, we had lunch with the famed “Lunch Lady” from Anthony Bourdain. I wonder if she is still alive. But it was really a team. The Museum of the American War in Hanoi was challenging in a good way and we also went someplace outdoors that was sort of a museum of guerilla warfare. We loved walking around the lake in Hanoi. Sapa for hiking. ShawD loved Hoi An. We loved Vietnam overall and plan a return trip…
Thailand. We liked Koh Samui for an island. Also Chiang Mai. We did not stop in Bangkok.
I found Cambodia depressing although Angkor Wat is stunning. We found a great restaurant in Siem Reap. Who knows if it still there. There were folks out onthe street with a tub you could put your feet in and little fish would exfoliate (I think that is the word).
We went to Italy for the first time in October. We did the first week on our own, with time in Rome and Florence, setting up local tours as needed. We mostly used Viatour. We used a travel agent to find us hotels (needed accessible due to DH’s disability). Not speaking the language was really not much of a problem. We did the main touristy things, but also just walked (DH used his mobility scooter) and stopped in places. With google maps and some research ahead of time, was very nice.
We then did a Viking Ocean trip around Italy, starting outside of Venice and ending in Rome. It was a nice way to travel, if you have any interest in cruising. Excursions and guides were generally good.
We have never cruised before. We like staying at Four Seasons properties and they’ve been bombarding me with emails re: their new cruise options, which look lovely. It may be the only way I ever get H on a cruise - he grew up sailing and is a big proponent of a charter in the Caribbean. I like your approach to exploring on your own followed by a cruise.
We don’t speak Italian and have been there many times. In the old days, we went as a couple or family and had not trouble getting by. In more recent years, we travel with a friend who used to live in Italy. But I don’t think it is hard to travel there without a guide of some sort. Not true in China, where you really need a guide.
Our Italian travels were mostly in the cities, a bit of countryside driving (Florence to Rome). Very little issue on language. But on the car trip I was glad it was the other husband was in the front seat, guiding my husband for road signs and tolls. (Also glad about that when we drove into a teeny town, where the one way street was so narrow we had to watch both rear view mirrors. In the backseat I just grabbed my friend’s hand and kept my mouth shut.)
Love reading about the intermediate language brush-up classes above. Anybody learning an entirely new language?
Da has been to all those places. He did a swimming with the elephant thing in Chiang Mai on his 21st birthday!
He is actually currently in Hanoi. He did a tour of the bay that @shawbridge mentioned. He also did a snake dinner (no, that’s not a typo for “steak,” BTW), and a water puppetry show. Today’s Insta story pictures show him on a very small boat with Ninh Binh and Tam Coc as locations.
I had snake in China but not in Vietnam. Nothing to write home about but I’ve had lots of unusual foods: ant larvae, reindeer (pretty good), jellyfish (awful), pigeon (only had once but the marinated cold pigeon was horrible), grilled sparrow (bony), huitlacoche or corn mold (outstanding), emu, boar, sea urchin (yuk), yak, snake bile liquer (yuk) etc…
My husband isn’t retired and won’t be for many years. What I’ve started doing is planning more trips and ways for him to escape. He has flexibility and has added a boat to his life. It’s a great escape for him and he is enjoying it.
2024 we did several camping trips that were just a few hours from home. Also did a 24 day trip to Portugal and Spain. Highlight of the year for my spouse was the bareboat sailing charter we did in the BVI.
2025 we have a couple of camping trips planned, a week at a lake house. Hoping to get a trip to Puglia and Sicily in. My husband and daughter want to do another sailing trip but I think that will be in 2026. My husband feels we should do these big more physical trips while we can. I’m the travel planner and sometimes I just wish we were tour people.
As for normal routine, I go to a gym class a few times a week which I love. I’ve developed a community of women at the gym who I enjoy exercising with. I also have a weekly volunteer commitment that I enjoy. I also help with my grandchildren. My husband plays tennis and volleyball multiple days a week.
Makes sense to me. After being fairly frugal throughout our working years, I have keep reminding myself that splurging in our “go go” years is OK even though elevates (probably not forever) our annual spending.
And thanks to others remembering and tracking it down, here is the travel retirement thread. As noted, travel and investment discussions work better in their own threads.
My better half and I are about 10 years from being retired. Both sets of our parents were basically the same age. I lost my Dad when he was 71 and my Mom when she was 75. My MIL passed when she was 74. My FIL is 79 and still around.
My wife and I have vowed not to do what they did in retirement, which was basically nothing. Neither set spent quality time with our kids. They didn’t travel. My Mom was basically a hermit after my Dad passed.
DW & I have discussed often that we want to do stuff. We sacrificed so much to get where we will be that we don’t want to waste it. Now DW is totally content sitting at home and reading, but she is leading this charge.
We are basically empty nesters. DD1 is launched. DD2 is still in college, but very independent. About a year ago I came up with an idea that if we are going out for dinner then we have to go to a place we have never gone to before. We live in an area where there are millions of places to go that are with in 1-1.25 hours. We both love seeing comedians. I have bought tickets for 6 different shows in 2025. We are renewing our vows in LV in Sept for our 30th at the Elvis Chapel.
DW also loves tourist attractions on road trips. We can’t wait to just get in the car and drive and if the World’s Ball of Twine is in the area then we will stop and see it.
The kids and their schedules along with fund$ kept us from doing stuff. That is in the rearview window now and we want to do everything. Work will be a hinderance for sure, but we live in an area that there is just so much to see and do.
In my case, after several years of relentlessly trying to educate myself on the finances of when my spouse and I could retire (then in my dream life move to the western state where my kids live, lol) - I’m focusing instead on: What can I do now to make life more interesting, rewarding, challenging?
I don’t have to upend the whole apple cart (of financial stability/health care) to change things up.
Trying more adventuresome hobbies, working on strength training, making travel plans, joining meet up groups, doing aggressive home clean-out and incremental repairs (so can nimbly sell when I want). A lot of this seems similar to what folks have done post-retirement.
Happy to see folks living their best lives (and giving the rest of us a window to the many variations of what that can look like)
Hadn’t thought about that Sunday am polka show for quite some time. My dad always listened to it while he made kielbasa & eggs to eat for lunch as the rest of us got home from church.
Just want to remind people NOT to wait until retirement to do “the fun stuff.” Husband and I could have retired before we did, but we did tell ourselves that since we were still working, we were going to make sure we took some really nice vacations, for example.
That’s what my husband and I are doing. We have several expensive trips we want to do sooner rather than later and I would feel better if these were paid for with replacement money while working. I would feel more nervous pulling large chunks of cash from retirement savings.
