Retired & No Desire to Travel....?

[AndreaDM]

As long as both spouses are on board with travel or no travel I feel either is right.

It’s when one spouse wants travel and the other does not that problems happen.

My parents were a good example. My dad lived his life dreaming about traveling in retirement. My mom lived her life dreaming about my dad being home with her and spending time together at home.

I am seeing the same play out with my in laws. My father in law wants to go. Even just long weekend trips driving distances away. My mother in law doesn’t want to do anything that might take her away for the night. Even one night is too much.

In the end my dad opted to travel alone and my father in law has so far opted to do nothing.

Aren't your parents going on a cruise together soon? Sorry, couldn't help myself...

 

[Simba's Mom]

I traveled a lot for my job and have been all over the US and the world. Now that we’re retired my wife and I are pretty much homebodies except we like to take one trip every fall just to get away together. Other friends of ours don’t travel at all and others take multiple trips a year all over the world. I figure to each their own. If you’ve worked all your life and are now retired, do what makes you happy.

You sound like us, including the one trip in the fall! DH used to travel a lot for work-he was a Gold frequent flier on an airline-usually flew internationally, and was away about 50% of the time. So now I go to WDW by myself, while he stays happily at home, cat-sitting.

 

[cvjw]

We are almost at retirement age -DH will go part time this year and probably fully retire in a year or 2. We already travel about 4 - 5 weeks a year. When he fully retires, we plan to be go-go for a couple years. Then buy our dream house, get a dog and only travel a few weeks a year.

 

[dvcgirl67]

Not retired but getting closer. My wife and I have been reading up on this. There tends to be three phases for retires:

• Go Go years
• Slow go years
• No go years

You can speculate why for each category but typically the no go years is due to health or ability.

Perhaps give that some thought if there are any places you’d like to visit or things to do. But overall it’s certainly a personal choice.

Yep, those three phrases are commonly heard in the retirement planning world. We're mid-50s and finishing up in the next year or so. We're planning on lots and lots of travel all over the world for our "go-go" years. We're hoping for that lasts until around 70-75. The "slow-go" years will hopefully still have travel, maybe shorter trips...more domestic. With the "no-go" years being that final phase where you stay very close to home.

I guess I can understand people not wanting to travel much if they had to do so for work, but work vs. leisure travel seem pretty different to me. But...different strokes for different folks.

 

[dvcgirl67]

There's no rule that says you have to travel in retirement. If it were me, we'd sell everything and travel full-time, like this couple and this one. DW wants a home base and to travel a couple of months/year, so we're still talking and thinking what we want the next 5-10 years to look like. We're taking a 4-month trip this fall and we'll see how we feel when we return.

I follow both of those couples, and that is actually our dream as well. We're going to see how it goes though...initially taking a shorter trip like you guys when DH retires...looking like middle of next year. Not sure when the first long-ish trip will be though, as two older dogs might keep us closer to home. When the two older dogs go to "the bridge"...we're seriously considering selling the house and becoming full-time nomads. Other consideration is 92 year old FIL. So, we shall see. But it's definitely a dream of ours.

Good luck with your first 4 month trip!

 

[QueenIsabella]

I think travel is appealing to a lot of retired folks because they're no longer slaves to limited time off, school schedules, and family scheduling conflicts.

If you don't want to travel at all, well--don't! Nobody says you have to!

I will say, even if you don't want to travel extensively, if there are places you'd like to see, better to plan to see them sooner, rather than later. My in-laws always enjoyed travelling--they even left the day after our wedding, to fly to Europe and ski the Austrian Alps. They went all over the world, once they ditched those pesky kids! And it was a good thing, too--my FIL, who played tennis at lunch every day, sailed on weekends, and took up scuba diving soon after our wedding, was dead before our 3rd anniversary. He was 58. He missed his retirement date by exactly one month.

I'm not trying to scare you, telling you that, but none of us know how long we have, or how our health will be. So, go for the retirement that makes you happy.

 

[DCLMP]

If you have no desire to travel that is perfectly ok. It's the people the put off doing things until they retire thinking they will be healthy enough to do them are the people I think are taking a gamble.

 

[DCLMP]

Do you any of you not want to retire? I'm in my mid 50"s and work 50 hours a week plus. I think I'll be bored to death if I retire. I have female family members my age that don't work and depend on their spouse's income. They seem very happy which befuddles me, but they don't have the money to travel.

The only downfall to working that I have right now is not enough vacation time. Other than that I like waking up every morning with something to do and feeling productive.

 

[MICKIMINI]

DH and I planned to spend a couple months at WDW in the fall of each year after he retired. We typically spent two weeks in our DVC anyway and our son and DIL visit from TX. In our younger years, we traveled all over the US in an RV, did lots of road trips in the car and went overseas several times. Disney was an annual trip.

During our last trip Dec 2022 we changed our minds. After seeing how the traffic had increased in Ocala where we were interested in buying we changed course. We listed our NH home, sold it in a week and had a new home built. It was a painful wait, living in a hotel for six months however we have a gorgeous home that we modified to our needs from the original plans. The house turned out even better than we imagined and we are REALLY happy just enjoying it!

We have a lovely guest suite with everything they might need and more. Rather than spending two weeks "doing Disney" with our adult kids (even with DVC it is 10K a week), we take a drive to the ocean or mountains (1 hour each way) and have lunch and just enjoy the company. It was a bold decision on our part (we sold of multiple DVC contracts) but it was the right decision for us.

Listen to your heart!

 

[DoryGirl1963]

Do you any of you not want to retire? I'm in my mid 50"s and work 50 hours a week plus. I think I'll be bored to death if I retire. I have female family members my age that don't work and depend on their spouse's income. They seem very happy which befuddles me, but they don't have the money to travel.

The only downfall to working that I have right now is not enough vacation time. Other than that I like waking up every morning with something to do and feeling productive.

I'm 60 years old & hope to continue to work at least 10 more years full time & then something part-time in "retirement" assuming my health cooperates

 

[MamaMermaid]

Not retired (only 33) but no real desire to travel outside of Disney I've been to many European nations as well as a few in Africa. I prefer being home!

 

[DCLMP]

Not retired (only 33) but no real desire to travel outside of Disney I've been to many European nations as well as a few in Africa. I prefer being home!

It sounds like you've done some traveling.

 

[Disneefun]

I have very little desire to travel after retirement. I've tried over the years. Been to Europe, taken some cruises, visited some other states, and of course, Disney. In general, I hate it. Disney was the best of the lot because of the "bubble." We could drive down (I hate flying these days. I used to enjoy it, but now it's a hellscape I'd rather avoid) and get in the bubble and I could enjoy myself. But everything else is just such a hassle, it feels in the end like it's never worth it. I know other people love it and, seriously, good for you. Everyone is different.

But as we're getting closer to retirement, I'm really getting sick of our friends, family and neighbors pushing travel on us. I'm like, you do know there are other ways to spend time that people might enjoy? Some people like travel, others like puttering around their community. I'm the latter, and it doesn't make me "less than" the way some people try to portray it.

 

[WarEagleFan]

I love to travel! I tell my husband all the time that I wish we had a money tree just for travel - I don't need a fancy car, jewelry, etc, but just to have the funds there for a trip, whenever we want to go on one, would be awesome! We are in our late 50's and love to travel with my brother and his wife who are in their early to mid 70's. We have so much fun together and it's great to be able to split the Airbnb/rental car costs with them. Granted we aren't traveling out of the country - there is still so much that I want to experience in the good ole USA. We mainly have been visiting National Parks together - we all love to hike and just be in awe of God's beautiful creations. My oldest DD is 27 and asked me one time - So ya'll like to actually do stuff on vacation? she said - Not me - I want to go to an all inclusive resort and be waited on - ha - to each his own! I have 3 other brothers, who I love dearly, but I could never go on 2 week long trips with them and stay in the same house/condo like we do with this particular brother and his wife. We are just the best travel buddies. I will definitely cherish these future trips we have together with them, because i know a time will come when they won't be able to do as mush with us that they are currently able to do. We are going to Glacier, Yellowstone and Grand Tetons in August - I'm so excited!

 

[cedricandsophie]

I love traveling. Both in the US and outside of it. To me it’s the essence of life…seeing new places, eating new foods, hearing different languages. My favorite places are the most exotic…Africa, Jordan, Morocco, Bali, Singapore, viet nam, Cambodia. We are in our 70s and I hope we can still travel for many years to come.

 

[NAB]

Do you any of you not want to retire? I'm in my mid 50"s and work 50 hours a week plus. I think I'll be bored to death if I retire. I have female family members my age that don't work and depend on their spouse's income. They seem very happy which befuddles me, but they don't have the money to travel.

The only downfall to working that I have right now is not enough vacation time. Other than that I like waking up every morning with something to do and feeling productive.

My husband retired at 58 and is 61 now. He went back to work 2 years ago on contract. He is bored at home.

We went to a seminar on retiring and they told us the first 3 years you sleep in, travel etc.

Than a lot of people divorce after that…lol I thought no way but when my husband retired it really turned my normal everyday upside down.

Next stage people do go back to work some way or volunteer because your friends or do workers disappear while you’re doing your thing and you need social things and people to talk to. This keeps people moving and healthy too.

We still travel and do his contracts. Nice to have the extra money to do this too. From our retire seminar people spend the money. I keep thinking oh if we go on a trip all that money is gone we won’t get it back. My husband thinks I’m crazy because he has a good pension and we have enough saved.

 

[DCLMP]

My husband retired at 58 and is 61 now. He went back to work 2 years ago on contract. He is bored at home.

We went to a seminar on retiring and they told us the first 3 years you sleep in, travel etc.

Than a lot of people divorce after that…lol I thought no way but when my husband retired it really turned my normal everyday upside down.

Next stage people do go back to work some way or volunteer because your friends or do workers disappear while you’re doing your thing and you need social things and people to talk to. This keeps people moving and healthy too.

We still travel and do his contracts. Nice to have the extra money to do this too. From our retire seminar people spend the money. I keep thinking oh if we go on a trip all that money is gone we won’t get it back. My husband thinks I’m crazy because he has a good pension and we have enough saved.

If you enjoy working I see no reason to not keep working. Look at how old our elected officials are and it seems like a lot of CEO's work well past retirement age.

I think it would be difficult if you had a physical job. My job involves a lot of driving meeting clients and then working from home. It's not bad at all. I wish I had more paid vacation time, but they are pretty flexible about giving me unpaid if I want it. I'm in no hurry to do nothing. I'd spent too much time on the internet if I had nothing to do.

 

[shh]

If you have no desire to travel that is perfectly ok. It's the people the put off doing things until they retire thinking they will be healthy enough to do them are the people I think are taking a gamble.

Unfortunately, some folks have to gamble: I've never earned more than 1-2 weeks vacation time per year when I worked for employers and every time I switched jobs, I lost that. Didn't start accruing until after probationary periods passed. Just how things were done at many firms: very stingy with time off and some of what I had went towards errands, family needs, etc. I knew some folks who earned NO paid vacation at all.

 

[shh]

I have very little desire to travel after retirement. I've tried over the years. Been to Europe, taken some cruises, visited some other states, and of course, Disney. In general, I hate it. Disney was the best of the lot because of the "bubble." We could drive down (I hate flying these days. I used to enjoy it, but now it's a hellscape I'd rather avoid) and get in the bubble and I could enjoy myself. But everything else is just such a hassle, it feels in the end like it's never worth it. I know other people love it and, seriously, good for you. Everyone is different.

But as we're getting closer to retirement, I'm really getting sick of our friends, family and neighbors pushing travel on us. I'm like, you do know there are other ways to spend time that people might enjoy? Some people like travel, others like puttering around their community. I'm the latter, and it doesn't make me "less than" the way some people try to portray it.

It's the "trend" - everyone's reading all these articles and advice by "experts" the past few years about how "experiences" are far more rewarding than "stuff". Get rid of your stuff!!!! Travel....travel....travel!!!

Some (not all!) travel lovers judge non-travelers: they believe that those who don't are narrow minded, uncultured, not as intellectually curious about the world. They think everyone should want to learn about other cultures. Many go on to add: "so they know how good they have it here at home." (I find remarks like this condescending towards other cultures/people. Maybe that's where "ugly american" stereotype was born?)

There's this nifty tool called Internet where we can learn about all cultures - no planes, trains or automobiles required. And without hordes of tourists decending on a small or environmentally sensitive area.

As usual, we humans tend to take things to extremes.Travel can be fun and exhilarating. It can also be exhausting, frustrating, disappointing and lately, outrageously expensive.

Stuff can actually be rewarding too, if it furthers enjoyment of home, passion, hobbies, family.

I guess I'm in the middle somewhere...enjoying trips, but glad to be home most of the time.

 

[dez1978]

Not retired yet, but I can at 52, so 7 years. There are many things that will decide if I do actually retire at that point. The one bonus of working for the state is that while I don't get paid nearly as well as I could in a private business is that my retirement is based on age+years of service=80, so I will be eligible to retire while still fairly young. Who knows what the economy will be by then, or if we will be in a good position for me to be able to do that. My oldest will graduate that year, and my youngest will have 3 more years of HS left, so that will also factor into my decision. Ideally, I'd love to be able to retire and work part time here as many retirees do here. By then the kids will be old enough that we could do weekend trips and they can stay home if they choose. My youngest would be 15 and he's more mature than his older brother lol. I hope that we will be able to travel frequently after I retire, but who knows.