Retirement Talk
WHAT to do with the rest of your life? |
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Episode 107 Road Trip USA - Planning
“Take a road trip around
America
.” That is one of the dreams
of many retirees. They want to see
America
and what better way than
rambling about the place taking all the time you want. “Ah, what a life,” I
heard someone say. Well, that has never been my answer. But it is today. We are
planning a road trip; a road trip around the edge of most of the country. This is the first in a
series of podcasts that focus on this trip: the idea, the planning, the
preparation, the actualization. As the Epicureans used to say there are three
stages to be followed in developing the cult of happiness: anticipating,
actualizing, and then reflecting.
This is Retirement Talk. I’m Del Lowery.
Deciding to see
America
from the road is an easy
choice to make when one enters retirement. It’s a big country and to drive
around it takes a lot of time; time that most folks don’t have until they
retire. It also requires a little money that is many times in short supply when
one is establishing a career, buying a house and raising kids. Retirement usually
finds all of those no longer relevant in our personal lives. We are ‘free’ to
move on. If we are still healthy and so inclined a road trip across the country
becomes pretty appealing.
Other exotic places still remain around the world that might
draw many of us in our retirement years. Most of them demand a very long boat
ride or flying. Unpleasant experiences have left air travel as one of my least
favorite thing to do. I dislike the airports which are crowded, ill kept,
filled with people talking on cell phones that make waiting rooms impossible
places to read or concentrate. Planes are often late arriving and departing, or
are even cancelled; airplane seats are 17 inches wide and are expected to accommodate
my shoulders which a quick check reveal are 22 inches across. Put three of
those together and the space is 15 inches shy. How can one be comfortable? Then
there is the leg room. I am six feet three and the leg room is not even close
to being tolerable. There is also the hassle
of finding a place for your carry-on bag. Many passengers bring way too much
stuff and securing overhead space is competitive. There is little to no food
service. Flying just isn’t what it used to be.
My mind goes back to the early seventies when we would take
Western Airlines out of
Alaska
.
They were called the “
Champagne
flights”.- you
were served as much champagne as you wanted. You would have a choice of entrées of beef,
chicken, or veggie. And when you flew to the West Coast one could add an extra
leg to
Hawaii
for ten dollars. Yes, that’s right. Ten dollars and a triangle flight would be
yours. Flying was a pleasure. Seats were wider and leg room was plentiful. That
was when the airlines were regulated. It seems that they responded to
deregulation about as well as Wall Street – the customer suffered.
At any rate – I don’t like to fly anymore. Whenever a trip
is suggested I try to think of a way to get out of the flight part. Thus, my
interest in a road trip started to grow. We decided to visit our daughter in
Sutter Creek
,
California
at Christmas which is about 900 miles south of here. It seemed that if we went that far we could just as well
go a bit farther. We had a home exchange offered to us in
Scottsdale
,
Arizona
just a couple of days farther south. A road trip seemed to be presenting itself.
Then there are these friends in
Ruidoso
,
New Mexico
,
Panama
City and
Sarasota
Florida
, and relatives scattered in between.
Perhaps a couple of other home exchanges could be arranged in
San
Antonio
,
New Orleans
,
Charleston
or Savanna and somewhere around
Washington
DC
.
Now we had a real trip starting to take form. We have a rough outline of our
route – at least part of it. Some major points of interest are fixed, but we
want to allow for change of heart as well as direction.
We had the start date established by Christmas in Sutter
Creek. The return date was flexible. We are retired. We shouldn’t loose sight
of that. Why retire and not take full advantage of all the perks? We could
choose the length of time to travel. What a lucky position in which to be. We
should take full advantage. Thus the trip still remains open ended as to length
of time away from home.
The trip will also serve the purpose of satisfying my wife’s
wish for a long road trip. She has suggested this many times over the past few
years but it seemed to have always gotten eliminated by some other plan; perhaps
a different type of trip, visitors coming our way, or perhaps a project that
would require our attention elsewhere.
So that’s the plan. We will be able to see family, friends
and parts of the country we have never visited. We will be able to listen to
street music in
New Orleans
, prowl the
Everglades, and walk along the mall in
Washington
DC
. I’m sure many retired folks
have something similar in mind. I will try to include an update of our
adventures as we move along with the planning, actualization and reflection.
This is Retirement Talk.
A resource from a listener: Best Free Online Degrees for Seniors guide is designed to assist seniors who aspire to enhance their intellect or consider starting a new career path. It features an overview of the top online degrees for seniors, emphasizing their numerous advantages, and a broad range of subjects to choose from.
A friend's website: Terra Firma Designs: Fine Furniture, Stained Glass and woodworking workshops.
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