We’re thinking of taking a couple of overseas trips in the next 12-14 months. We’ve wanted to get to Ireland for a few years and might go this Autumn. We also want to take the big flight to the Southern Hemisphere and experience Australia & New Zealand, which would likely be in early-2027, given the difference in seasons. We wouldn’t typically plan two big overseas … Continue reading Time To Get Going?
I aim to be more prepared than the average bear, but this past week has taught me that I am often completely unprepared. You would think with the amount of time I have as an early retiree to get things done, I wouldn’t ever fall behind. Still, I certainly do. We had an unusual power outage at our house on Sunday. It lasted from about … Continue reading Falling Behind
We’re over in Europe right now for a Danube River Cruise starting on Sunday. The trip includes stops in lovely Prague, romantic Vienna, and mysterious Budapest. Incidentals for the trip would have been a bit cheaper a month ago, before Trump’s trade strategy beat up the stock market, bond funds, and … the U.S. dollar. What was set to be our best exchange rate ever … Continue reading Euros & Europe
We’re on the road this morning to visit my brother and his lovely wife in South Carolina. We’re leaving the Orlando area on the Florida Turnpike, one of the state’s many toll roads. Apparently Florida leads the country with about 720 miles of toll roads. The next 5 are TX, OK, NY, PA, and NJ. this is a bit of a new experience for us … Continue reading Terrific Toll Roads
I met up with an old friend this week on a visit to my hometown of Racine WI. He had retired four years ago and said he “wasn’t happy without something to do” and went back to work at his old job half-time. I wondered how common that feeling was among early retirees and found an online thread where people addressed the question, “Are you … Continue reading Are You Happier In Retirement?
I just got back from a quick trip to Kansas City last week. I took my Jeep down there to see some sights, including a Disney 100 Exhibition that was going to end on Labor Day weekend. While I was in the area, I even drove up to Walt Disney’s hometown of Marceline, Missouri – the inspiration for Disneyland’s ‘Main Street USA’. It was a … Continue reading Planning Big Years
When I was a kid, if you were fortunate enough to spend the night with your parents at a motel, you made sure to clean the room out of little bars of soap, mini shampoo bottles, or matchbooks before you left. That was a big score when I was in grade school, but over the years we all came to realize how worthless that stuff … Continue reading The New Hotel Soap …
When we were in Italy last week, we stayed in a colorful little beach town just north of Venice. Caorle is a charming resort town of 12,000 that rarely sees American visitors. Our hotel on the beach said they had only one other American couple all summer. The town has a delightful little Old Town area with shopping and restaurants. At 12:30p each day most … Continue reading Pausa Pronzo
We just returned from our 11th trip to Europe and I keep finding new tricks to make the travel more comfortable. I could probably write a long post on travel hacks that I’ve learned, but today I’ll share a simple one … NEW SOCKS. Before we left for our 16 day trip to Europe this month, I bought two 8-packs of comfy new socks on … Continue reading Socks Make The Trip 🙂
Summer ended suddenly in the Midwest. We went from 95+ degrees every day on Labor Day weekend, to cool days in the 60s & 70s immediately after. Kids are back in school, our neighborhood pool is closed, and trees are beginning to change color. With families tied-down with homework, school activities, and Friday Night football games, it is the perfect time to get away for … Continue reading Shoulder Season Travel Time
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