How do you know when...
DW and I are 56yo. Unfortunately DW was diagnosed at 15yo (yes, fifteen) and has some serious health issues, so we've been hitting our bucket list as fast as time and money allow for forty years. She ...
Forum Discussion
Long story as short as possible, at 43 yoa, we went to England, in the airport there was a group of five traveling together, one man and four women all I would guess in late 60's early 70's. The gentleman got up to go get something for the ladies and when he walked he sort of took tentative steps at first and then sped up.
DW and I decided that would not be us, travel while we could and money and jobs be dammed. Here we are today in our mid seventies and we've been to six continents, driven our MoHo to 49 states, been in all 50, visited 53 National Parks, untold other National locations.
Our bucket list is short, we'll never make Africa, I can no longer fly, I'll never get back to Hawaii, never get to take the DGK's all the places they need to see, may not get to see them graduate from college and get married, may never see them as parents.
We worked hard and traveled hard during our working years, I stayed with a lower paying job than most of our friends had but one that had a good vacation and retirement plan in order to travel. When we were forced to unionize, the one big benefit we got was the ability to retire early(abet with lower take home pay) I retired at 55, the DW three years later and we've been going full steam ahead, UNTIL, we realized that it had been forty years since we built our home and we had deferred all but emergency maintenance and repairs to our house. The last few years have been aimed at making sure the S&B was like new when the time came to hand the MoHo keys to the DGKs and watch TV.
We're not broke but we are slightly flatter in the wallet, we're fat and sassy for the most part and do not regret have the smallest home of all our friends and family, we don't have new cars, we don't have all the glit and glamor our peers seem to want, but we have our years and years of living the life we wanted.
When I retired on my 55th birthday, it was scary for a few weeks but planning our travels erased that, when asked if I missed that $2000 +/- dispensable income, I was able to say no, the only thing I really missed were my friends from work.
It isn't for everyone, but, it has worked for us. I'm worried about the MoHo, it isn't happy and I'm afraid it really needs retirement too. I'll be making repairs today and I'll be doing cosmetic work on it for the whole week of Sept. 13th while the DW is at quilt camp, then we're off for awhile, maybe to see some details of life in the Northern States west of the Mississippi.
So ask yourself, what do I want, money and a comfortable stay at home life or the wild and crazy life of highways and campgrounds.
DW and I decided that would not be us, travel while we could and money and jobs be dammed. Here we are today in our mid seventies and we've been to six continents, driven our MoHo to 49 states, been in all 50, visited 53 National Parks, untold other National locations.
Our bucket list is short, we'll never make Africa, I can no longer fly, I'll never get back to Hawaii, never get to take the DGK's all the places they need to see, may not get to see them graduate from college and get married, may never see them as parents.
We worked hard and traveled hard during our working years, I stayed with a lower paying job than most of our friends had but one that had a good vacation and retirement plan in order to travel. When we were forced to unionize, the one big benefit we got was the ability to retire early(abet with lower take home pay) I retired at 55, the DW three years later and we've been going full steam ahead, UNTIL, we realized that it had been forty years since we built our home and we had deferred all but emergency maintenance and repairs to our house. The last few years have been aimed at making sure the S&B was like new when the time came to hand the MoHo keys to the DGKs and watch TV.
We're not broke but we are slightly flatter in the wallet, we're fat and sassy for the most part and do not regret have the smallest home of all our friends and family, we don't have new cars, we don't have all the glit and glamor our peers seem to want, but we have our years and years of living the life we wanted.
When I retired on my 55th birthday, it was scary for a few weeks but planning our travels erased that, when asked if I missed that $2000 +/- dispensable income, I was able to say no, the only thing I really missed were my friends from work.
It isn't for everyone, but, it has worked for us. I'm worried about the MoHo, it isn't happy and I'm afraid it really needs retirement too. I'll be making repairs today and I'll be doing cosmetic work on it for the whole week of Sept. 13th while the DW is at quilt camp, then we're off for awhile, maybe to see some details of life in the Northern States west of the Mississippi.
So ask yourself, what do I want, money and a comfortable stay at home life or the wild and crazy life of highways and campgrounds.
