I do like cruising with others because there is so much to do on your own. Last time I went with a friend, I was getting up early to take the dance and exercise classes and she liked to sleep in and read a book with a glass of wine in the afternoon. In ports we mostly did things together, but while on the ship mostly just ate together.
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Marilyn both of those trips sound fascinating. I’m realizing I like the idea of trips where you do something other than (a bit passively) walking around looking at sights and eating. Particularly if one was going alone. Really cool concepts!
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I traveled to Europe last month without H, to visit my daughter. H gave his blessing, as he is not a fan of long plane trips. It was a wonderful trip! We each do at least one solo trip annually with our group of college friends, so it’s not unusual. H will also do his own trips to visit his mother (I go along occasionally, when I absolutely have to 
) and he goes on his own to snowmobile in the winter.
H is not a good traveler. He is a chronic complainer about many things (the airport, the plane flight, the traffic, the hotel, the food, etc.) and many times it ends up being stressful for me to try and circumvent any potential issues. When we take a trip that goes well, I tend to repeat those (or something very similar) for our joint trips.
My trip to Europe was my first time there. My daughter had been studying there all semester and was very confident in traveling around, using public transportation and expertly navigating any little issues that popped up. This boosted my confidence to master these things as well. I look forward to going back but don’t think H would do well there (he agrees). I’ve already reached out to potential “travel buddy” friends. I’m glad H doesn’t seem to feel slighted and is more relieved that he doesn’t have to go 
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I’m game too!
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any time you want a new friend to cruise with!
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Take me, take me!!
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I think I need a bigger retirement travel budget, based on these exciting-sounding trips!!! Will stay budgeting that now!
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The good news is, you can always decrease the cost of vacations you choose to take if your retired life finances take a hit. We have spent a lot of money (to us) on vacations the last several years and plan to continue that for the next couple of years. But as we get a little older, we expect we won’t travel as much.
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I agree. We need to do this trips before we’re not physically able to do them anymore
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My daughter lives in Seattle. I love visiting there. If you like the outdoors there are some great places to visit as well as the Chihuly exhibit, Pike Place, and the Space Needle. You can also take a tour cruise around the harbor for a nice view of the city
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Put me down!
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The “go go”, “slow go”, and “no go” years of retirement…
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I’ve been there several times and seen most of it. (Son lives a block from Seattle Center.). I want to do the Argosy locks tour since I’ve only seen that area from land.
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OK, you got me to sign up for the Road Scholar email list. Hope I win a trip!
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D lives in Seattle. We’ve taken the unusual Underground Tour, walked to Alki Beach, taken the Water Taxi to town, or the car ferry to Vashon Island for the day. All inexpensive and nice. We also went to a Paul McCartney concert (not inexpensive but worth it) in the beautiful new Climate Pledge Arena. Uber is always available if you get tired of walking.
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I travelled solo both for work and with a kid pre retirement. Go to local activities with kid without spouse. But in retirement, I’m more hesitant to leave spouse behind. Good grief, the man doesn’t even go to the supermarket…
I just finished a habitat for humanity rv care-a-vanner build whose motto is travel with a purpose. Of the 4 RV’s, one woman (single) in her 70’s in a really cute teardrop, one guy (married- came alone) in his 60’s in a truck camper, and one guy (widowed 4 yrs ago) was in his 70’s in a large rv. We all met on the first day and supported each other. Happy hour each night at each person’s place. You definitely did not feel alone.
My point is that there are all kinds of options out there to travel without your spouse…
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@rockymtnhigh2 - could you share a little more about that group? Do they meet to do Habitat for Humanity things or are just friends who met that way and got together with RVs?
I’ve long been intrigued by travel that involves some aspect of public service…
A few years ago a guy I knew very tangentially at work would occasionally talk about how we’d like to do the Peace Corps or something similar when we got older/retired. Then I didn’t see him for a few months - it turned out he’d passed away from a sudden onset illness. 
A reminder to really consider doing those things you want… our time is limited…
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The Rv care-a-vanners do not know each other before the build and sign up online for available builds. Builds have rv camping together (habitat arranges everything) for free or reduced rates for 2 weeks with off about 2.5 days a week to explore the area. there are a lot of options to volunteer. They teach you every thing about tools and construction that you are working on. No prior knowledge is required which is really nice. We don’t talk religion or politics. You work along people (sweat equity) who are getting a home.
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That sounds really awesome, rockymtnhigh2! Thanks for sharing.
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