Our Florida ‘Winter Summerland’ escape took a strange twist this weekend. I was at the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona auto race and saw a random text from someone named ‘Andy’. I looked at it and realized it had something to do with our February month-long AirBNB rental outside of Orlando. Andy was the AirBNB ‘host’ and he said our reservation was immediately CANCELLED “due … Continue reading Homeless in Florida?
Living in Minnesota, I love the annual ‘Theater of Seasons’. We are really treated to some epic changes throughout the year, with the temperature hitting 100 degrees F in the summer and -25 degrees in the wintertime. We are home to 10,000 lakes & the headwaters of the Mississippi, but they are all frozen like a rock for at least 3 months of the year. … Continue reading Winter Is Over Already?
My friend Shawn retired a few years ago from a big government job, but now he consults a bit to earn what he calls “stupid money”. It’s not money that he needs, but money that can be spent on some silly, stupid stuff that you might otherwise be too sensible to spend your retirement savings on. We just spent some stupid money, going to Walt … Continue reading “Stupid Money” Holiday
I enjoyed watching the Tokyo Summer Olympics 🇯🇵 earlier this month and seeing athletes from countries around the world. With my ‘50 States’ challenge complete, it’s time to focus on my next travel goal: visiting 50 countries. I’ve been to between 32-35 countries already. Why a range? Because it is seemingly difficult to assess what actually constitutes a ‘country’. There is no broadly agreed to … Continue reading Counting Countries – How Many?
If all goes well, before I get to bed tomorrow night, I will be capping a long-time goal of mine: to visit all 50 states in the USA. I’m accompanying my son on a 30+ hour drive to California and swinging by Idaho on Friday to check the box on my last state. It will be a patriotic highlight of Independence Day weekend! 🇺🇸 Reaching … Continue reading 50 States Achieved
We got home for our 6+ week Winter Summerland trip yesterday and quickly unpacked from the flight. It’s amazing how you can be away for that long with just a few bags (although we brought home 1 more bag than we left with). Some friends were surprised that we flew to Florida instead of making the drive in our own vehicle. We were a bit … Continue reading Drive or Fly?
When we checked out of the condo we were staying at near Orlando last week and headed to Gulfport FL, we also made a big switch in accommodations. We left the gated & manicured 1,100 suite Hilton Tuscany Village for the causal, one-of-a-kind, Blue Hen Bungalow just off Beach Boulevard (above). On AirBNB or VRBO we can usually find a variety of places to mix … Continue reading Unique Spaces In Unique Places …
My wife and I first came to Florida on our honeymoon. It was only the second time either of us had travelled on a plane. I booked the trip through the travel agent at our favorite department store for about $800. That included airfare on Northwest Airlines, a Pontiac Sunfire rental car, and 7 nights stay at the beautiful Westwood Winfield Inn near Orlando. All … Continue reading Vacation Spending Without Limits
We are two weeks into our six week winter getaway to Florida and enjoying the summer-like weather. January had relatively mild winter weather in Minnesota, but now that we have escaped, the temperature there has absolutely plummeted. If you think of your vacation investment in winter as having a ‘return on temperature’, our 2021 outlay is looking like Bitcoin right now. As you can see … Continue reading Winter Summerland
We just arrived in Florida for our ‘No Responsibility February’. I took this picture with my camera drone above Melbourne Beach on a beautiful 75-degree day. We visited with some Minnesota friends that are staying here with a beautiful ocean view. Leaving cold high-tax Minnesota for sunny low-tax Florida inevitably brings up the “should we move to Florida for 6 months and a day?” conversation. … Continue reading Sunny Skies & Lower Taxes
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