I Love Retirement

[davekathy]

13 minutes ago, leaveitallbehind said:

...every time we book another I remind my kids that I am spending their inheritance one cruise at a time!  They just laugh. Don't get me wrong, there will still be something for them when the time comes, but I'm going to enjoy all that I worked hard for in the meantime.  

Our thoughts exactly. 

[MicCanberra]

Retirement is still a fair way off for me but I am not waiting for then to travel. We go when we can, if we can.

[John&LaLa]

4 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

Retirement is still a fair way off for me but I am not waiting for then to travel. We go when we can, if we can.

 

Absolutely, we ascended to Pinnacle on Royal around 8 months post retirement 

[leaveitallbehind]

7 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Absolutely, we ascended to Pinnacle on Royal around 8 months post retirement 

 

Having the extra time and living 5 minutes from a port (and within 3 hours of the rest) certainly were contributing factors, I would think......

 

We still have a ways to go and even with the extra time, etc., my Pinnacle attainment would have to be something like "Weekend at Bernie's" with someone pushing what's left of me around the ship.  (That and the fact we've started blending Celebrity into the mix and have plans to include other lines down the road).  Guess I'll have to settle for D+....

Edited April 14, 2019 by leaveitallbehind

[John&LaLa]

31 minutes ago, leaveitallbehind said:

 

Having the extra time and living 5 minutes from a port (and within 3 hours of the rest) certainly were contributing factors, I would think......

 

 

FWIW, the bulk of our pre PC points were earned living in Atlanta and driving 8 hours or flying overseas.  Before that we were Mid West and Mid Atlantic people. Flew to all our ports. ✈

 

We've only been in FL 2 years pre retirement.  🏝🌅🚀

 

Now, post Pinnacle,  we've racked up 350 more points in 18-20 months. That's where the available time kicks in. But we've still flown to almost half of those trips. 

Edited April 14, 2019 by John&LaLa

[MicCanberra]

3 hours ago, leaveitallbehind said:

 

Having the extra time and living 5 minutes from a port (and within 3 hours of the rest) certainly were contributing factors, I would think......

 

We still have a ways to go and even with the extra time, etc., my Pinnacle attainment would have to be something like "Weekend at Bernie's" with someone pushing what's left of me around the ship.  (That and the fact we've started blending Celebrity into the mix and have plans to include other lines down the road).  Guess I'll have to settle for D+....

We cruise for itinerary so we have spread our love and $ around to several lines. The perks are nice but they are not must haves in the scheme of things.

[GTO-Girl]

17 hours ago, davekathy said:

If you don't spend it now your kids will spend it later. 

 

I totally agree!!

 

One of the best quotes from a friend of mine......”Why should I fly economy so my kids can fly first class”???

 

 

[KmomChicago]

I'll probably never retire. BOO HOO, poor me, not that anyone would care or sympathize as it's my own fault. I travelled / spent too much on the early end and started saving too late.  On our China land tour (mid '30's) we were by far the youngest couple and the only one with the stamina to meet the requirements.  I so clearly remember thinking how grateful I was to be checking off the bucket list early rather than later, tired and in pain.  That was just one of several trips I took before becoming a late in life parent at 39.

 

Now at 52 with a teen kiddo I'm a little behind on the 401K and expect to work until I can't. But I get 5 weeks paid time off, so we do manage to get away. I see other people my age who are already retired or close due to having jobs with generous pension packages.  Oh well. I made this bed, I understood what I was doing at the time and so far I don't really regret it.  Maybe at 70 I will either have enough to make the jump or if not, will kick myself for my poor planning. 

 

[MicCanberra]

I do not feel sorry for you as you travelled when you could, it would be different if you had never travelled. Like you say, travelling when younger is so much easier on the body. 

[GUT2407]

I doubt I’ll ever retire, if the body holds out, just slow up a bit and cruise more.

[DRS/NC]

Cruising when I want is the 2nd best part of being retired.

Best part?  Not setting the alarm every night!

[MicCanberra]

I do not set alarms now and I still work. For me if I want to get up earlier, I have another drink just before bed time.

[davekathy]

4 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

I do not set alarms now and I still work. For me if I want to get up earlier, I have another drink just before bed time.

Works every time. 

Edited April 15, 2019 by davekathy

[soonernstlouis]

12 hours ago, KmomChicago said:

Now at 52 with a teen kiddo I'm a little behind on the 401K and expect to work until I can't. But I get 5 weeks paid time off, so we do manage to get away. I see other people my age who are already retired or close due to having jobs with generous pension packages

We are about the same age as you.  Kids are post-college but the typical of that generation not finding their own wings yet.  Fortune 500 job for almost 20 years easily would have led to a decent retirement, but Corp short-term thinking eliminated 25% of the workforce over 2-3 years. Did leave with an ok pension & 401k.  Certainly not setting a retirement date but may start drawing the pension as an annuity early as income is 2/3 of what it once was.  Just gotta hang in & enjoy the now.

[OCruisers]

Many of us wonder how we managed to do all the things we did before being retired.  

[Thrak]

On 4/12/2019 at 1:56 PM, packedandready said:

We now have 4 cruises booked from now till next year. I'm sooo excited. I just wanted to share with someone that would understand :). Most of our friends think we're crazy. This is what we wanted to do in retirement and now getting to do it. We'll fill the gaps with camping trips. I love retirement!!

 

We too love retirement, cruise, and take camping trips. We have a one week camping trip coming up soon. After that we have a 15 day connoisseur cruise tour (Princess) to Alaska. We will follow that up with a 5-6 week camping trip across northern USA. After that we have a 12 day Search for the Northern Lights cruise out of Southampton followed by a short flight and then 4 days in Barcelona, Spain and then a 14 day TA from Barcelona to Fort Lauderdale.

 

Last year we did a 14 day Circle Caribbean, a 7 day California Coastal, and a 19 day partial Panama Canal transit (all on Princess) as well ass a month long camping trip plus a few shorter camping trips. The year before that (2017)we did a 7 week camping trip from northern California up through Alberta, British Columbia, and Yukon and up to Fairbanks, Alaska. After that we did a 28 day (Princess) Hawaii and South Pacific cruise.

 

Camping and cruising. Excellent! Like you, our friends don't understand the cruising (or for that matter the camping) but it makes us happy and is a great way to spend our retirement while we can still do so.

[ldubs]

2 hours ago, OCruisers said:

Many of us wonder how we managed to do all the things we did before being retired.  

 

This is so very true, and hard to explain. Haha

 

I've been retired going on 8 years.  All I can say is it is better than I ever thought it would be. 

[ldubs]

1 hour ago, Thrak said:

 

Camping and cruising. Excellent! 

 

Very similar for us except it is Cruising and fishing.  Mrs Ldubs still works.  When we aren't on vacay together, I'm out fishing pretty much year round.   

[MicCanberra]

1 hour ago, ldubs said:

 

Very similar for us except it is Cruising and fishing.  Mrs Ldubs still works.  When we aren't on vacay together, I'm out fishing pretty much year round.   

If only they would allow you to throw a line in off the ship.

[ldubs]

1 minute ago, MicCanberra said:

If only they would allow you to throw a line in off the ship.

 

If I tried to bring my gear on a cruise, Mrs Ldubs would have me sleeping in the hallway.  Haha

[Krazy Kruizers]

On 4/12/2019 at 4:56 PM, packedandready said:

We now have 4 cruises booked from now till next year. I'm sooo excited. I just wanted to share with someone that would understand :). Most of our friends think we're crazy. This is what we wanted to do in retirement and now getting to do it. We'll fill the gaps with camping trips. I love retirement!!

 

Congratulations on your retirement.

 

That is what we did when we retired -- took 4 and 5 cruises a year -- none under 14 days -- most 21 days.

[sprint180]

Congrats!   I hope you get to do everything you want to do. 

[Dermotsgirl]

We are now into our fifth year or retirement, and are really enjoying it.

 

We've done some of the longer cruises that we never had time to do while we were at work, and have travelled here in the UK as well, to see more of our own country.  We also like to have days out at the coast.

 

 

[iancal]

For us it is days out in the Rockies.  Weekday overnight trips in the shoulder season to tourist spots when the weather is good, there are far fewer tourists, and the accommodation is much easier to find and is less expensive.

 

Just got back from a two month winter trip a few weeks ago.  Now in the midst of planning a fall trip to Greece and potentially Israel.  Perhaps a last minute cruise in the middle,  as well as where to go next winter for a few months.

 

Could not do any of this prior to retirement!

Edited April 15, 2019 by iancal

[navybankerteacher]

On 4/14/2019 at 8:39 AM, KmomChicago said:

I'll probably never retire. BOO HOO, 

 

On 4/14/2019 at 8:39 AM, KmomChicago said:

 

Now at 52 with a teen kiddo I'm a little behind on the 401K and expect to work until I can't.  ...

 

When I turned 52, I had two daughters in college and twin sons just 17.  The next five years it seemed there was a vacuum cleaner attached to my wallet, but the next few years allowed sufficient recovery - there is life after children.