“1. Vacation. Just what it sounds like - hedon. Lasts about 1 year.”
Wow…I must be the exception - my first phase lasted 20 years.
First five years traveled 1/3rd the time. Went to AK for a month. to HI for a month. Overseas to Germany and Austria and Italy on a Eurail Pass. 3-4 weeks.
Went to Thailand twice. Finished up going to all the counties in the USA with the ham radio equipped car.
Ten years later I went back to HI and AK again for a couple weeks each.
went on trips to Newfoundland, England (Britrail Pass), Cocos Island off Costa Rica and a big ham radio expedition for 10 days, etc. Went to Vietnam, Guadalupe, Costa Rica to visit ham radio operators there and operate their stations.
IN 2016, there was a big radio program for a year - National Parks on the Air. Drove to over 40 states putting out parks, monuments, historic sites on the radio - from Big Bend, TX to many in AZ, UT, CA, UT, CO, WY, OR, PA, MD, VA, FL, etc. Put 50,000 miles on car that year
After 20 years I began to slow down a bit but traveled only 30,000 miles a year by car. Haven’t been on plane in five years and no interest in plane travel any time soon. Seen enough overseas.
Then COVID hit and most of my ‘activities’ around the country canceled so less reason to travel. Past two years have been a slow down but still get around. Activities starting up again. Just put 2300 miles on car to Dayton OH and back (to TX).
Still having the ‘vacation’ moment but now I’m home 80% of the time, gone maybe 20%.
Of course, I retired early at age 52.5. Just bailed out suddenly from dying industry at the right time. Thought about some consulting but too much hassle for too few bucks and that cratered a year later, too.
Well, maybe if you retire at 65 or 68 or 70, you only get the ‘vacation feel’ for a year or two.
After 20 years, now in mid 70s so I guess a lot of folks start slowing down a bit at some point. I’m a bit ‘traveled out’ and other than some conventions here and there, haven’t found too many reasons for long trips. (even though I can afford the gas - now $4.89/gal in TX and seemingly going up 20c a week, week after week)…was $3.99 a month ago.
t.
