Time is finite, and our travel years are finite

All of my travel thinking revolves around the fact I'm a metastatic cancer patient. I'm fortunate in that the cancer is currently "indolent" (slow-growing or "lazy"), but it's always in my head. So new places always feature large for me. I find few of my friends look at things the way I do, though. Then again, we are away from home longer than anyone else we know.

Great topic, Big Mike. I'll speak for my husband--almost 79, heart transplant recipient, neck cancer with 32 radiation treatments, rare lymphoma which affects his skin and, of yeah, just had shingles on his head and right eye! Tomorrow--HE'S HEADED TO ALASKA for 12 days fly fishing in the wilds so remote that he and his compatriots will live in tents! It's his love of fishing that keeps him going.

We are headed back to Paris for the 10th(?) time in September and will climb any tower that is open to us (I'm looking at you, Notre Dame!)
Since we don't know how much time we have left, we plan as though we have plenty meaning that we plan many and often.

My go-to quotes in this realm are from 'Blade Runner'. 'I didn't know how long we had together. Who does?' and 'I've seen things...All those moments will be lost in time...'

I suppose I travel to see. It's a privilege most people don't have. For how long, I don't know, who does?

BMWBGV, it is definitely a major planning factor. Late sixties with the usual variety of health issues and decreasing stamina. I'm thinking along the lines of 5 decent travel years left, and then increasing limitations. The long flight over from the midwest is a definite factor. We plan at having one major trip per year, with 1-3 smaller domestic trips. So we keep on eye on our (different) bucket lists, and the other on opportunities that pop up. At some point, it switches over to easier travel - cruises and destination stays. I'd love to be one of those vigorous 80 year olds still traveling all over, but I know my limitations and seen how life can change instantly.

I prefer to see somewhere new. So far the only overseas destination where I have doubled up is Jamaica, and that was to attend a wedding. But I suspect I will have to compromise on that going forward. I was fortunate to get to travel more than my wife before we married. So there are places she would like to see that I have already visited. Plus, she fell in love with Italy when we were there this year and would probably prefer going there on every big vacation over risking going somewhere new that might not measure up.

Since we don't know how much time we have left, we plan as though we have plenty.

I love this, Lindy, but I’ll add my codicil: Postpone nothing. The pandemic underscored how little time we have left: when you are “a certain age” a year of lost travel and socialization is a significant portion of what we may-or-may-not have left .

At 72 and 81 we are still active and constantly planning the next trip. Versus 10 years ago, we take things more slowly and treat ourselves to upgraded transportation, but go we do. Aches and pains and bottles of drugs be damned: the minute we stop we’ve surrendered and I have no plans to do so.

Mike to answer your questions: YES!! Big YES!!

As we began aging (which seems to happen more quickly the older one gets), and my husband had a major health scare, we gave travel a much higher priority..........three trips a few years......AND, we also prioritized certain locations that could be harder physically (later), like Antarctica, Greenland, and places with steep hills/heat. 47 countries later, we have accomplished most all of our travel goals (except Egypt, which was high on my husband's list). We came very close....on a circumnavigation of the world trip, but it was announced that due to the outbreak of the war in Gaza (the October we were traveling), the tour would visit Malta instead. So, Egypt still lingers out there as a "maybe someday."

There are two countries we visited years ago that no one could pay us enough to set foot into today...you can guess. None of us knows what the world will look like 5, 10, 20 years down the road. So, prioritize accordingly.

Right now, our pet has priority over our travel (although I tried to encourage my husband to go on to Egypt with a group tour, and I would stay to be with our dog), but he does not want to travel without me. So, Egypt just might not happen.

But, yes.....for anyone younger who is reading this thread: Go, see, do before too many years roll by and before you have an unexpected curve ball thrown at you. Travels are some of our greatest memories and life experiences.

I will also add, when traveling we learned to go ahead and pay for the creature comforts...the business class seats (over the ocean), but fine with Southwest for short jaunts. But, we also learned to stay in memorable, beautiful places (when in memorable beautiful places). If a just an overnight to be situated for an early flight out, a basic clean hotel room will do. But, if waking up in a place with a fabulous view, you will always remember waking up in such and such place and seeing such and such........or sitting on a balcony at night with a class of wine watching the sun set over such and such. Don't cheap out.....LIVE the experience. Ditto for the method of moving from one place to the next.

Sort of humorously suggested...but practically as well....I joke with my husband (but I am also very serious), that if circumstances changed that he was not here to travel with and if I ever take a plane by myself, I would travel with a few $10 and $20 bills to offer to a random close-by young person to lift my rollaboard up into the overhead compartment...and ditto for when deplaning. While I can still do that (and lift 50 lb bags of soil conditioner here at home), I would not want to risk a sore arm or shoulder during travels. Likely, said young person would not take the $10 or $20 bill, but one always needs a plan........................old(er) age requires lots of plans...plans one hope he/she never needs....but a plan nonethless :) :)

Happy travels. DO NOT POSTPONE. When our time on earth is over, that's it!

Maggie--" Go, see, do before too many years roll by and before you have an unexpected curve ball thrown at you. Travels are some of our greatest memories and life experiences." I could not agree more.

My grandparents were amazing travelers and to this day I am still in awe of what they did. One thing was a trip around the world for 2 solid years, with their paraplegic daughter. This was back around 1970, so imagine going all over the world and needing a lot of assistance. They traveled into their late 80's.

I did not have the opportunity to travel overseas until I was in my early 30's. I have been trying to make up for that ever since;) I was just talking with a friend yesterday and we were saying how we want to go to places now that may not be feasible for us as we get older. My friend and I are both late 50's. I had both knees replaced just over a year ago, so have a strong appreciation for keeping moving and not letting things get in my way. A couple years ago, in one day my mom's life changed drastically. She could no longer care for herself, etc. I had heard about that before of course, but to see it up close was a real wakeup call. You never know what life is going to throw at you, sho give it all you have.

I've recently been given quite the "reality check". My husband was diagnosed with cognitive decline that is essentially dementia and I observe his very slow decline daily. In 2024, I was able to take two trips of about 2 weeks each - as hiking was a big focus, he did not join me - knee and back issues have forced him to revert to non-challenging walking but is able to continue to cycle for his physical and mental health. We also had a 3 week Ireland/Scotland/London trip as well as 2 weeks in Iceland last year - no issues related to his health.
My sister and I spent 3 weeks in France this year; he declined a bit over the year of planning but he and I were both comfortable with him staying home alone; we've family and friends who were available as needed. But since that trip, he's declined somewhat and I would definitely not leave him for more than a few days at a time (and he has indicated I should not plan any lengthy trips). We are still traveling together and enjoying it. I've always been the planner and I'm thus able to make arrangements that will be suitable for us. But my days of taking some lengthy trips without him are sadly over as well as our days of trips involving hiking in various locations around Europe. I struggle with focusing on "remembering the good times" and focusing on being grateful for doing what we still can. But it's quite the gut check.

A couple of posters here have covered a lot of my feelings, notably Stan and Maggie.

We are in our late 60s, and our limitations are not financial, they are more in the arena of "motivation". Now motivation to travel is multi-faceted, could include health concerns (we have the typical ones, nothing too drastic...yet). But the way I see it is for us now, vs say 5 to 10 years ago, we have lost some of the "fire in the belly" for travel we once had. We are less interested in peripatetic travel, prefer immersion in one country, or city, or locale. We don't like frequent changing of location and hotels and the travel necessary to connect a bunch of dots.

Stan mentions at this age having a 5 year outlook for travel, and that is kind of how I look at it. Maggie mentions creature comforts like flying business class, we upgraded when we resumed international travel post pandemic in early 2023, 3 years lost forever to any travel. Business class comfort has been our gift to ourselves, it really has helped us with jet lag and rebounding more quickly on the trip over and back, less disruption to our body clocks, less disrupted sleep, etc. We also now stay in very nice hotels, including multi room suites, for the added comfort and space.

We have traveled extensively throughout our lives, going back 50 years, so we don't feel cheated one bit. We aim for one or two "major" trips per year (major would be an ocean crossing trip, Asia or Europe). We have found our ideal trip length is 2 to 3 weeks, we have no interest in being gone longer than that, living out of a suitcase. We have no interest in tours, or cruises - we have been independent travelers for our entire lives, and we don't see that changing anytime soon.

For the next 7 years, I can only take an overseas trip every-other year. This is because I only get so much PTO (Paid Time Off) at work. So between now and 2032, I'll be able to take 3, maybe 4, more trips to Europe -- and that's assuming I stay employed in my industry at my current salary. That's more my limiting factor than age right now.

God only knows where the US economy will be when I retire in 2032, so I'm traveling now while I still can.

-- Mike Beebe

I know that my time on this mortal coil isn't infinite.

So I travel more, and I'm doing more big feats on my bicycle during these travels than ever. I'm soaking in the places, not rushing through, just taking in the details, sights, sounds, tastes, languages, people.

I don't find it a financial burden because I tend to do things on a shoestring budget - the worst cost is the airfare (and I do splurge here because at 6'4"/191cm I can't find comfort in economy seating for more than 2 hours - thank goodness for airline status and points hacking). Everything else is relatively affordable: simple lodging, a lot of DIY meals or eating at local cafés outside of the tourist areas, using my bicycle or local trains to get around (and yes, walking a lot).

Organized tours? Not happening 99.9% of the time. When they do happen, just find a local guide for a 1-on-1 tour.

I visit plenty of new places while also getting more in-depth with places I've been to before. These "known" places make great "home away from home" locations, and repeat visits often mean befriending locals and reaping the benefits of having the inside scoop on things.

Granted, I likely have many more years ahead of me (early 50s) so I'm not racing to see it all. But I'm also not denying myself the wonder and enjoyment of travel.

My key to making this all happen: taking care of my personal health. I stay fit, eat a healthy diet, read a lot. And while the fitness regimen has led to its fair share of "orthopedic adventures" (thanks to a total hip replacement 8.5 years ago and a shattered forearm this past March, I'm "more metal than ever") but that's only made me more determined to stay in fine fettle for longer, be active, and travel whenever I can.

As for work: I'm a freelancer so my office is wherever I may be. I know that's not a luxury that many have, but if you can swing it the freedom it can provide is a reward in and of itself.

We are in our mid 70’s. We have not escaped the maladies of age, but are fortunate enough to not be seriously mobility challenged. Travel is a major recreational pursuit and if we are not doing it we’re planning it. Sort of drives my wife nuts when I bring up a trip I’m looking at 2 years from now. But, if you like tours, cruises, other organized adventures, you have to do that. We’ve done many RS tours and loved them. But, as we age we want a bit more pampering. We’ve changed to another company that provides airport transportation, manages your luggage, uses upscale hotels and provides very good to excellent meals. We miss the RS guides. But with my bad back if I had to carry my bags up stairs my trip would be over before it starts. We’ve also graduated to business class flying and it makes a huge difference. We travel to Europe at least once a year and a cruise or two, a trip to Hawaii. We enjoy revisiting places we’ve been and discovering parts we did not the first time around. I am hoping that we stay well enough that we will find out about our final European vacation after we’ve done it!

Reading everyone’s answers makes me even more aware of how fragile our health is, especially as we approach 70.

I am trying to push my husband to visit far away places, such as Bangkok, Hong Kong, Vietnam, etc.
We visited Japan this past March which was fabulous. Flying from the east coast makes it a little more challenging.
We have the rest of this year and next year all booked and hopefully we will be able to make all the trips we have planned. We’ll see what 2027 has in store for us.

Time is finite, and our travel years are finite.

I was at the doctor's office this morning having a scabbed over cut on my foot looked at and "fixed". It had, over the past 3 weeks, significantly impacted my usual routine of walks, hikes, and bike rides. Considering those three activities are the KEYSTONE of my retirement plans (and current travel plans), it sure put a bit of the "OMG - did I wait too long?" into my thinking.

In any case, the foot is now seemingly good to go with minimal intervention, but at 55, it does make me appreciate what I and my wife still have - active lifestyles. As I age, that travel years are finite weighs more and more on my thinking. The financial guy has given me the green light to consider retirement, and in the meantime, I've been amping up planning & actual travel to get in more things while I can. On the plus side of being older, financial freedom and resources are there to help me, but until I actually do retire, I'm still a "time crunched traveller" who has to fit 4 weeks of time off and a bunch of holiday weekends into my plans.

But, remote working has been added to the mix (in my favor) as now, if I have a good internet connection, I can work from all over and "vacation" in the early morning or the afternoon. For US travel, we have an RV and starlink so that has opened up a lot of options for adventure. Were I not in the position I am now, I would have balked at the costs associated with relatively regular travel to the shore or mountains, but nowadays, it more an "as much as possible" attitude.

What's tough is reading all the content here just ADDS to my list, so that finite amount of time is starting to look pretty full.

The last few years "suck it up, cupcake" has been the maxim I've lived by. I do not live with the thought that years are finite, rather you just never know when the end will come and you wont see it. So, I just don't consider it, dwell on it, or give it a second thought, and I don't care how someone else does it. I do enjoy returning to places I have been - I love London & Ironbridge - and I'll check out the new. I would never make myself do something so silly as to choose between one or the other. Get both is the always the viable option.

I've rarley visited a place and not thought this is the best vacation ever and I can't wait to go back. My wife though, prefers something new each trip. I guess it depends on how long we visited and how much we loved it. For example, we're going to London for 2 weeks in November after spending a week there in 2018. We loved it, but 1 week wasn't enough. I suspect it's a place we'll also visit on future trips but maybe for only 1 or 2 days at a time as we use it as the starting point for other places. We spent 2 days in the Dordogne off of an RS tour in 2019 and knew that wasn't enough and we needed to go back; which we did for a week last Fall. I'd go back again, but my wife says that's enough. Were having the same debate regarding Sorrento. We spent 2 weeks there in 2023 and while my wife says that's enough, I'm building a case for going back but seeing new places or places that we saw quickly but deserve a deeper dive; like Naples and Salerno/Paestum.

I guess my official answer is to question how I can possibly see everything a region has to offer in 1-2 weeks? I'm lucky that we're making 3 European trips this year and plan on at least 2/year moving forward so we have time for old and new.

Reading everyone’s answers makes me even more aware of how fragile our health is, especially as we approach 70.

Age sneaks up on all of us. I and my same aged friends all comment on it (we are all late 60s) and how we "feel" the changes from the start of this decade of life to the latter years of our 60s are more pronounced than any prior decade in adulthood.

Maybe people around my age feel it more because many of us were just entering retirement when Covid hit, forcing us all to stop and scale back travel plans? I remember in 2020, when I was 63 and already retired and accustomed to 3 or 4 major trips a year, thinking that once Covid was over, I would be doubling down on trips, but the interesting thing is that is not what happened for me. I actually lost a bit of what I call the "fire in the belly" for travel over that 3 year travel drought.

Do understand that we have returned to travel, we have been to Europe 3 times since early 2023, and I have a trip upcoming to Japan in late September to October, and we are looking at a trip to Europe in December (our favorite time of year there), but that pace of trips is less than half of what we were doing pre 2020, thus not only did we not kick it into a higher gear and make up for lost travel time during the pandemic, we have scaled it back a bit. Why? I believe it is because we find travel is simply "harder" on us as we have gotten older, not due to any specific medical issue holding us back, just due to the physically burdensome aspects of travel like jet lag, sleep issues, etc (anybody experience traveler's constipation?). To counter those "burdens" we now fly business class and have upgraded our hotel accommodations, and we no longer do trips where we are changing location frequently, preferring to stay longer in one place.

I am floored by the thoughtful, intelligent, and insightful comment thus far in this thread.

Many of you have alluded to the fact that age often sneaks up on us, and it's not an issue until it is. There are many examples each of us likely has within our own families or network of friends. As for me it's always stark dose of reality when I see my face in the monitor of airport security, and think, "Do I look that bad?" Apparently so! Or catch a glimpse of myself in a shop window (gasp!) as opposed to posing in a mirror, where with the perfect lighting I look OK in my mind.

At the risk of becoming Captain Obvious, I suppose we try to control what we can like diet and exercise. Not so much for longevity but being more vital in our marginal decades or our 70s and 80s. The older I get the more I realize there's really no magic pill or secret recipe here.

Lindy, keep taking the stairs! My dad and grandpa said the same thing and both were healthy into their early 80s. Grandpa was an avid golfer and never rode in a golf cart, and only after 70 did he buckle and stop carrying his golf clubs while opting for one with wheels.

stan, yeah, it would be nice to be Ringo Starr energetic at 85. I kind of doubt it but keep hope alive.

Maggie, your post reminds me of a saying, "If not now, then when?"

jojo, I really hate to admit this, but yes the fire in the belly is not as hot as it was. The jet lag seems harder. Upgrading to business class is a lot more expensive. The "easy button" is hard to resist.

Tom R. and RD Reit: I would expect that in your mid 50s with your active lifestyle and plenty of exercise, all things being equal, that you would have 20+ years of fairly energetic travel, maybe more, but yes I know there are no guarantees.

The other item, that none of us like to think about, is when your spouse or travel companion is incapacitated or dies. There is no way to predict timing on this. I encourage people to travel as much as they can with their loved one while they can.

Travel is still possible afterwards, but it is a different type of experience and there is always that longing for the companion who one would like to have shared the trip with.

Carol you are so right. Just yesterday my neighbors called me over. They are Mr and Mrs Hale and Hearty. In their 70’s think nothing of hopping on their bikes, doing 30 miles. He had a routine follow up CT scan for a low grade tumor he had removed from his lung 2 years ago. Now throughout his liver. Doctor giving him months. Enjoy every day! Do not postpone!

”So, how does the thought that your years are finite inform your travel plans?”

My husband & I were traveling almost each year to Europe from 2013 on, after a few sporadic RS tours. Sometimes he skipped a year because golf was calling him. ; ). But, we always did a February trip, too, to Hawaii or Arizona for a sun break, and we both liked the no-itinerary leisurely break from work.

Covid put a stark reality “Travel years are finite, and you may not even get the chance to travel!” on my travel & also for many in my local RS group here at Coeur d’Alene. Suddenly, two trips to Europe became the thought - first as a “make up for 2020” but also because we thought my husband & I probably had less than 10 good years of travel left.

My husband didn’t even have those 10 years….he only had two European trips to Europe after that time before he unexpectedly died. Playing golf several times that month, feeling healthy, & then gone…

My preferred travel is carefree, staying at 8-12 cities near each other, riding the trains. At some point, that may need to change; I dread that day. The thought of me on a river cruise tour makes me cringe! Thinking about losing my independent travel spirit and eating dinner on a boat at night instead of in a piazza - ugh! I don’t know if I could do it.

So, the reality of “the finite” is driving my desire to do more now. it was three trips to Europe for 2025:

Spain in Feb. (first trip as a widow to feel out traveling solo again)
Italy (Puglia) in May,
Italy (north) this Fall - my remaining bucket list item - Mother/Daughter trip with younger daughter

2026:

Spain in Feb.
Italy plus RS Prague/Budapest in May
Christmas Market trip in November

I can see the light at the end of my travel tunnel. I’ll be 76 next month and figure I have maybe 5 good years left of solo international travel, then I’ll see, lol. Having cared for aging parents after retirement, plus as many have mentioned the hard stop on travel for Covid I’m in the go now camp.

When my 94-year-old Mom was in a nursing facility at the end of her life, every day she would tell me she only had 2 regrets in life - that she didn’t get to the Great Wall of China and that she didn’t go on an African safari. Neither of those interest me but I’ve gotten to the point that I don’t go places because I think I should but only go places that are really interesting to me and will bring me JOY!

I’m currently on the last day of 2 back to back tours RE-visiting Orkney and Shetland. I loved them both so much in 2023 I knew I needed to go back. I especially wanted to return while I could still drop down and crawl into a chambered cairn on my hands and knees. Mission accomplished! My experience has been as awesome as I expected. The only fly in the ointment has been that Shetland has been warm and sunny and I totally packed for chill and rain, hahaha!

I’ll always revisit Paris! And London! It’s pretty odd because I am SO not a big city gal but Paris, in particular, is a mild addiction!

I have travel plans through 2027 and then I might not have the stamina to keep up with the small group tour company I enjoy.

2025: Next trip is Paris and a tour to SW France in the Fall.
2026: Tour covering East Anglia and will doubtless involve time in London and maybe Paris (because, well, it’s Paris!). I’ve not let myself go forward with planning other than booking the tour because I want to enjoy the current and next trip to the fullest!
2027: 2 back to back tours of English Gardens plus London

It’s so interesting to see everyone’s thoughts on travel!

A fantastic topic.

I was on sick leave for 10 months in 2023 because I had breast cancer without metastases, but I had chemotherapy and radiation. I did return to my original job after the 10 months, but with handbrake on. I turned 57 this year, and theoretically, I should be working until I'm 67. However, there are now several options (which have nothing to do with my illness at the time) to stop working at 61 - I'll spare you the explanation, because that would require me to delve deeply into the German pension system. Since I can stop working at 61 with acceptable financial losses, we've decided to travel around Europe for half the year. Nothing exciting, just places we really like, so we'll simply visit them for longer. So instead of a quick trip to Venice, we'll stay for four weeks, for example. Because time is unfortunately finite, and you realize that either through illness or when you get older, my motto is 'money or life'. My decision is to have a little less money but more life.

I agree with Jean that Covid was a major reality check. Up until then we took two major trips a year, often returning to Italy. Since the world re-opened we still are taking two major trips a year but we are going to places that we would never have considered before. We have also started cruising, visiting the Panama Canal, the Amazon, and Cape Horn. Reflecting on our travel of the past few years I hate to say that there is a certain 'desperation' to see the world while it presents in a way that we can expect. Things change so fast that the plans we make today may not work a year or even six months from now. Additionally, we are reasonably healthy now at 78 and 68, but recently much of our local travel has been to the funerals of contemporaries. Nothing is guaranteed, so we must carpe diem.

Agree with all the above (especially with fellow-northwesterners Jean, Pam, and mikliz97, whose paths we seem to be following this year).

We are still reasonably healthy and reasonably fit enough to keep doing challenging trips - we did several hikes this week of roughly 4-5 miles with some not insignificant vertical gain (spectacular coastal scenery on Shetland in remote, wild places), I must admit those walks kicked our asses. Described in our guidebook as “easy to moderate” it took us longer than what I suppose is average and afterwards we make all kinds of moaning and grunting noises upon rising from seated positions. Can’t deny it is requiring more effort and giving us lots to think about. We pledge to be in better shape for the next trips.

We used to feel one major international trip a year was about right for us. Of course, we talked casually and dreamed about going to a long, long list of places, and it became obvious we needed to either increase our frequency or stop making such long lists. So we’ve upped our game. We’re lucky to have lots of frequent flyer miles, so we do pretty much all the long flights in comfortable business class, that helps with stretching our budget (sometimes using hotel points, too). We’re now planning 4 trips a year.

We just did 10 days in Shetland and loved it (yes, we got unbelievable weather and I’m nursing a rare Viking sunburn). Today we are in Bergen, re-packing and getting prepped for our flights home to Seattle tomorrow. While Bergen is cute and the nearby fjords are tempting, we are too rung out to squeeze in much more than a little in-town sightseeing (that’s OK, a real trip to Norway is on our list).

We get home tomorrow and will be finalizing last details for the next trip in September (Puglia). Easter Island is coming up in November, SCUBA diving in the Philippines and Thailand is next spring, and I just booked our flight to Iceland for next July. We’re still negotiating for Fall of 2026 and the following winter, chipping away at our long list.

With 4 significant trips a year, I think that’s about the maximum pace we can sustain. I do all the planning and it’s a lot to get through and a challenge all by itself. But I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Gotta go now, sights to see, places to savor, weird food and more solar radiation all await.

jojo, I really hate to admit this, but yes the fire in the belly is not as hot as it was. The jet lag seems harder. Upgrading to business class is a lot more expensive.

Business class, if one is a cash paying flyer like me, is very expensive. And it doesn't miraculously make jet lag disappear. For us, it is an improvement that is worth it to us, but it is understandable that the cost of business class is a big jump and not worth it to the majority of travelers. We know that we are very fortunate that we can "afford" business class at this stage of our lives.

We used to feel one major international trip a year was about right for us. Of course, we talked casually and dreamed about going to a long, long list of places, and it became obvious we needed to either increase our frequency or stop making such long lists.

I have had a spreadsheet, a so-called "bucket list" for travel, for the last decade or so. I pruned it, recently, to be more realistic. For instance, I dropped places I realize I will never visit, like Jordan (Petra), Israel, China, India, and Russia, and I cut some others that were on the periphery, places I never really got close to pulling the trigger on and have lost interest in (Argentina, for example). I still have a robust list that would take 5 years of intense travel (4+ trips a year with no revisits of favorites), and we frankly like our revisits (Paris, London, Japan) too much to not include one of them every year. Plus we are more interested in maybe 2 or 3 major trips per year, no longer see ourselves upping the trip count (the fire in the belly diminishment, I guess).

The benefit of Travel (to me) is mostly how it "breaks open" how you see the World. Using the stimulus of the trip and the new to widen out the possibilities you can imagine.

It certainly can be done much closer. But the habits/mental-straight-jackets limit us in our regular lives. We can't see past them but new places can force us out of them.

If you can do that yourself, you don't need to travel.

Still worth it.

Jo Jo Rabbit mentioned something that has changed. Since 2024, I have moved from Premium Comfort seats to Premium Select for the overseas leg of my flights. Living in north Idaho, it’s three flights to arrive anywhere beyond London, Paris or Amsterdam. Since it’s a little harder to sleep now on the plane (late 60’s), arriving in Europe better rested without legs or hips aching is worth it.

When I’m feeling like I am on my last few travel years, I will move up further to Business Class.

I think in terms of 5 year blocks of time too. As I watched my mom age, 60-65, no change, 65-70 very minor changes, 70-75 more obvious but still not very limiting changes, 75-80, oh yeah she is much older now, then 80-85 big changes and 85-90 major health decline and not driving and start of dementia.When you are very involved in observing and caring for your parent as they age you can’t help but think about it when it comes to yourself.

My husband is 76 and I’m 75 and we are still healthy and active and traveling. We have a pontoon boat and a travel trailer and camp here in Texas with both and do at least yearly multi week road trips with the trailer. We just got back from a trip into the Midwest of 17 days in fact. But it is becoming obvious, it isn’t as easy as it used to be! So in 5 years will we be able to be able to do the same? Will I hop on a plane for 3 weeks in Europe solo?

Our goal is to keep going until we can’t but be grateful for every day.

Covid really set us back in terms of our retirement travel plans, and I am accepting the fact that I won't get to some of my priority destinations. For family and scheduling reasons it's usually hard for us to go for more than two weeks twice a year. That limits our options.

We've had to cancel two trips in the past two years, once when we got Covid in late 2023 and recently when we both developed joint pain issues, which turned out to be an autoimmune condition in my case. Those issues have improved, but now even our planning seems tenuous, although we are otherwise healthy and mobile.

All of this means that I, as the trip planner, think a lot about each trip to set priorities and see as much as we can without overdoing it. On both of our 2024 trips we walked 5-9 miles most days, but I don't know if we will be able to keep that up on our next trips (hoping for London with my daughter in August and Andalusia with my husband in November, fingers crossed).

Luckily for us we made it to Egypt, Jordan, and Israel before the war started. I have my sights set on Morocco for 2027.
For us, we also travel with our 2 daughters and their families. Right now it is a Disney cruise every year so that is counted as one of our 4 yearly trips. I’m not complaining because the day will come when we are not invited. We are hoping to be agile enough when the grandchildren are old enough to take them to Europe, specifically Croatia to visit family. They are just a little too young yet.
We really want to get to see more of Asia, such as Bangkok, Vietnam, Hong Kong - where ever, I’m not picky. We realized after our trip this past March to Japan, these far away places should have been given more priority. We just are trying to figure out the best way to go - cruise, tour, or on our own. A problem we relish with gratitude for our ability to travel.

It's not the feeling that time is finite. Since my accident time feels like it slowed, and retirement is another whole life time away.

If anything i stopped worrying about prices or what things cost. Thriftiness became unimportant.

Is it normal to panic about money when you close in on retirement or are newly retired? Leading up to it I knew we'd be OK, but because I'd always been what I'd generously call 'thrifty' it was an uncomfortable feeling. It's been 10.5 months so I guess I can't call myself 'newly retired' anymore and I still have days of concern when I realize money is not finite, but I've become more relaxed about spending and treating myself to better hotels and more expensive siteseeing options such as the hot air balloon ride over the Dordogne last Fall. It was that day that made me realize I needed to open up the wallet and enjoy a much deserved retirement.

It was that day that made me realize I needed to open up the wallet and enjoy a much deserved retirement.

It is a common "problem" for retirees who have spent their entire working lives investing in and building a retirement plan, decades of accumulation and growth. The transition to retirement, the drawing down on those resources, is an emotional and psychological adjustment for many people - it happened to us. We only recently have "unclenched" and realized that we can take out more and do more with our retirement funds than we have been doing. It is an ongoing process, developing the confidence in the "math" of retirement, safe withdrawal rates, etc.

While we do not use a wealth manager or advisor, I have a good friend in that business, and I had an informal discussion with him about our retirement recently, and he said he sees it all the time, clients who were really good at accumulating a retirement portfolio, but are too reluctant to draw upon it, pull more money out, and most importantly, enjoy their good fortune.

"Is it normal to panic about money when you close in on retirement or are newly retired? "

For me it helped to realize I could live on much less than I do (if it became necessary). I've been a poor student a lot of my life. That took the pressure off.

Yes Allan, it is very common that people panic when they no longer have a work income. My mother loved to travel and my dad just followed along. Aftrer my dad retired and all the kids (8 of us) were on our own, they let loose. They travelled all over spending their saved money like there was no tomorrow. And one day there wasn’t a tomorrow. But there were and are pictures and beautiful memories.
Enjoy your well earned retirement and spend like there’s no tomorrow, I know I do.

I started my international solo travels at 46 and managed 15 trips right up until last August when I was so grateful to spend my 60th birthday in London...the day after I returned home my mom had emergency heart surgery and then my dad could no longer drive plus other health issues pertinent to being 90, and suddenly I had to assume the role of caregiver...while working full time at an often stressful job that I nonetheless love. As an only child I knew this day was coming, just didn't know when or what it would encompass. I will be lucky to get an overnight somewhere down the coast in October...maybe.

So, I do not regret for one minute the trips I managed to accomplish even when at the beginning I borrowed from my 401K, or ran up a big credit card bill (because I am not interested in doing budget travel!), or pushed my employer to allow me a 2nd vacation during our busy season because I think I had already decided last August needed to be the last trip, for however long. And who knows what condition I will be in when I can go on a big trip again? And though I liked seeing new countries, once I visited Budapest in 2014 I started including it on subsequent trips to the continent, starting with the new country and ending there--somewhere comfortable and peaceful before heading back to reality. London and Budapest have each had 6 visits and it'll be a toss-up which one--maybe both!--will be the first place I go when possible.

Another vote for great topic. My first answer was going to be I try to go on as many international trips as possible (time off/work, finances, and home logistics permitting). Both my parents became decrepit in their 70's. [My father who had loved traveling, and loved his older brother, felt unable to go on the plane to his brother's funeral.]

So yes, I was going to say that I err more on the side of going than saving money or super responsible fiscal habits.
However it's travel style too. My last couple of trips involved several cities and transport with train or buses, sometimes less than 1 or 2 days apart. But that's also the function of me thinking I should do this while I'm still physically agile, and also me wanting to make sure I see a few places on trip, even though time limited. Sometimes group tours look good to me, but they are generally more expensive, and might be more of a necessity as I age.

Also I'm impressed by those cancer survivors, traveling boldly and making the most of the years ...

As you move faster, relative to slower moving things, your clock slows. So as you approach of the speed of light (rather think of it as the speed of causality), time infinitely slows compared to those not traveling at all.

So, yeah, move faster!

( I was just in Bern at the Einstein thingy in the museum and that stuff really messes with your head. )

Happy travels!

Allan, I understand the feeling. All I'm fairly certain of is we have the income to survive and a bit more than that, so if the stock market crashes or something along those lines, then the luxuries like travel will have to go by the wayside. But without sounding like I'm fiscally irresponsible, at the same time I can't take the money with me.

David, perhaps we've flown enough to slow time to about 0.00000000001 seconds! We just need to try harder, you know, kick it up a notch.

Barbara. all we can do is enjoy one trip at a time, and to quote from Seals and Crofts, "We May Never Pass This Way Again."

"David, perhaps we've flown enough to slow time to about 0.00000000001 seconds!"

lol... not quite how it works.

But a much more surprising thing from General Relativity (to me) is if you travel around the Equator in one direction all the way back to your starting point, then turn around and go around the other way back to the starting point.

The lengths of the two trips are not the same. :-)

It's too tiny to measure directly but I believe the GPS sats have to take the effect in consideration.

edit: "Distance" itself is shorter in one direction of a rotating mass. Compared to the opposite direction of the rotating mass. The mass "grabs" a bit of Space/Time and pulls it in the direction it's rotating. The more mass, the faster the rotation, the bigger the effect.

[snip]
On May 4, 2011, the Stanford-based analysis group and NASA announced the final report,[28] and in it the data from GP-B demonstrated the frame-dragging effect with an error of about 19 percent, and Einstein's predicted value was at the center of the confidence interval.[29][30]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frame-dragging

and he said he sees it all the time, clients who were really good at accumulating a retirement portfolio, but are too reluctant to draw upon it, pull more money out, and most importantly, enjoy their good fortune.

That's interesting, because even in the German pension system, which works completely differently, such thoughts occur to us. However, not when we're talking about the state pension we will get every month, which is only enough to finance day-to-day living and not to travel for 5-6 months a year. But with the part of the money that we've invested ourselves for retirement, such thoughts occur to us. We also calculated how much of it, when and for how long we should use for travel. Of course, probably more at the beginning than later. But in the end it's a theoretical calculation, because time will tell how long we'll be able to spend the money on travel. And I have to honestly admit that I would definitely regret it later if I had been too frugal with the 'travel money' in the beginning.

Also I'm impressed by those cancer survivors, traveling boldly and making the most of the years ...

This fits my motto again... money or life. When you've experienced so directly through a diagnosis how finite life is, there's no reason not to live it. I'm currently still working and taking care of my pets (I was a licenced breeder of Norwegian Forest Cats until 2011), and I have four older female cats still living with me. And of course, that's why we don't want to travel every vacation. But we definately make more of our free time and work no longer has the same importance as it used to.

I have a 32 year old son with autism. Since he discovered Pokémon at age six, he’s been a lover of all things Japanese and probably knows more about every facet of that country that we all, put together, do. He has wanted to visit since elementary school, so for his 30th birthday, his father and decided it was time. First present was a bottle of sake. Second package, a guide book. At that point, not connecting the dots quite yet, he said, “You know, someday, before I die, I want to visit Japan.” We nodded. The third box contained tickets to Tokyo. He was beyond thrilled, but a minute later, panic struck. He said, “Wait, wait, does this mean I’m DYING????” We assured him he was not, and he was back to tears of joy. He learned an unexpected lesson that day and so did we — don’t wait. Today, he’s actively planning his next adventure - to Switzerland.

Wow, Big Mike, THANK YOU for such a great thread. I've even bookmarked this thread, and will probably re-read it every few years especially if my wife or I have changes to our travel abilities.

Such a wonderful, thoughtful bunch of comments here. Our situation (at different ends of our 70's) is that we've worked hard all our lives, but mostly, been very frugal, and saved well. We've traveled a lot for 40 years as my job involved a lot of international travel (for which we are so grateful). Now, we are stepping up our vacationing travel, as we realize, even though we are in good health, that can easily change quickly.

In addition to thoroughly enjoying the travel and wonderful folks we meet, we are making precious memories. My suggestion to this thread is Take A Lot Of Pictures. Presently, we have good memory ability, but that can change. And thankfully, we are both pretty computer-literate. If one of both of us become physically or memory disabled, we can still enjoy seeing all the pictures on our laptop or phone.

"Takin' polaroid pictures that are never in focus
Just to look at when they finally slow down"

--from "Cliches" by Jimmy Buffett

A financial planner helped us forecast our spending ability in retirement. She looked at our projected income, our savings, our projected spending, our projected lifespan, and importantly, if we intended to leave a legacy to kids/grandkids. So that analysis, using a variety of projected economic scenarios, and a lifespan based on actuarial numbers, was able to show us how much we could afford to spend on annual travel. It was worth it to have a professional look at this, rather than staying in the deeply engrained saving mode we were in.

Excellent topic and replies.

The quandary regarding spending in retirement is real. We recently read a book by a Morningstar columnist, Christine Benz, who tackles the subject well. How to Retire: 20 lessons for a happy, successful, and wealthy retirement.
We spend such a long portion of our lives working, saving, accumulating.......and then we are set loose with both time and money. What do we do now? It's not just a math problem, easily solved.

Of course, we don't really know how much time we have, which is why this is such an excellent thread.

The reality of ageing has impacted on my travels.
40 years ago before wife and kids I was happy to sleep rough and do wild risky things.
15 years ago when my wife and I were in a position re family and $ to travel again our first trip included a week of self guided wilderness hiking in the wilds of Tasmania.
11 years ago our first 8 days in Switzerland we averaged 6 hrs of hiking per day.
9 years ago we did 7 weeks roadtripping the UK and Ire in a Tarago van with lots of freecamps.
Our recent roadtrips have been in Hiace hightops that allow us to stand up in the back and we mostly stay in caravan parks rather than free camp
Our longest hikes are rarely more than 4 hours.
2 nights in the tent in the wilds is enough these days.
But the fear of running out of time doesn't really play on either of our minds. As much as we both enjoy travel it is not a priority just good fun. There is nowhere that we MUST visit before it's too late.