To Travel or NOT to Travel, that is the question? It’s a question that we answer early in life. Do we want the security of a home and family? Or, do we want the adventure and uncertainty of travel? Our jobs often define the perimeters of this decision based on the amount of money that we earn and the vacation time that we’re allotted. As a result, we make choices. Do I save to buy a home or take a second honeymoon? Do I want memories or monuments? Boats or Bricks? In my case, I’m not sane – I’ve definitely been bitten by a bug.

Some people are just born with the Travel Bug. There IS no place like home. Life is too short to be stuck in one spot when there’s so much to see. To others, there’s no other place like home, so why would you need to go anywhere else? There seems to be two distinct philosophies on life, and retirement many times determines who we really are. In retirement, time is no longer a barrier, it just depends on how much we’ve saved and who needs our help? You can have lots of money, but if you need to attend to mom or care for your new granddaughter, travel becomes secondary. By the same token, you may have the freedom to travel but no one to go with or little funds to do it.

My wife and I have made some compromises. She continues to work while I decided to retire. I’m fortunate to have a monthly pension plus social security, while she is 4-years younger and still excelling in her career. Also, her work happens to involve some travel, so we extend business trips into long weekends and family visits. Much of her vacation time is consumed with trips back to Indiana to visit her 97-year old mother, so business trips to Chicago help absorb some of the costs and help manage limited time-off. However, it also restricts us from doing lengthy stints of travel together. The longest we’re able to be away from home is 10-days to two weeks, depending on Holidays. I’ll look forward to the time when we can do some month-long excursions. I guess my Travel Bug bite is more like an unscratched itch, and fortunately my wife feels the same. 

Being in the transient media business, we’ve never had the opportunity to get very attached to a home. Sometimes the Travel Bug bites you in the butt! We’ve moved from Indiana to Illinois to Texas to Oregon, and will undoubtedly relocate again before we eventually enjoy a joint retirement. It’s just a question of where that will be? We’ve talked of the Florida panhandle, but that could easily change as daughters settle into new areas of the country as a result of inevitable job changes. We’ve also talked of Nashville, Mobile, and even Las Vegas as career opportunities present themselves. We couldn’t be much further separated from family in Indiana, Florida, and Washington D.C. than we are currently. You could say that our home is where we hang our hat today. Moving companies are on our speed dial. 

I’ve already found that the more you travel, the better it feels to come home. This year, I will have been away from home nearly 100 nights. It’s involved a lot of packing and un-packing that I consider to be the biggest hassle of life on the road. The first year of my retirement I logged nearly 60,000 miles while this second year will exceed 76,000. My friends who have traveled extensively for business have not been as anxious to travel in retirement. I still find getting on an airplane or gassing-up the car for a long drive to be exciting, so the thrill of adventure is far from gone. I just don’t like all the damn packing.

Just this year, I’ll have been to both Disneyland & Disneyworld, and stood at the beginning and end of Route 66. My wife and I ventured to Amsterdam, Venice, Croatia, Santorini, Athens. and Hawaii’s Big Island. I’ve seen baseball games in Phoenix, Annaheim, Chicago, St. Louis, and the College World Series in Omaha. Closer to home, I’ve skied Mt. Hood, run down the Lincoln City coast, boated on Crater Lake, and revisited Mt. Bachelor in Bend. I’ve been to Broadway Shows in the Big Apple, saw the Winter Carnival fireworks at Steamboat, had dinner at the famous French Laundry, and sipped wine in Napa Valley. Plus, I returned to Austin to see some old friends, met new relatives in Indianapolis, got to see my newest granddaughter in Chicago, and re-connected with the past along the way. These have all been friendly bites!