Retirement is not without Hassles: The Rest of Our Lives #1349

In this brutal Florida heat and humidity, I now have two reasons to stay away from people. First, is the possibility of spreading the virus. A mask certainly aids in prevention, plus helps contain bad breath. I haven’t been close enough to smell garlic on anyone in months. My wife and I stay away from it even at the risk of vampires. Some people just reek of it! The second reason for keeping my distance is the threat of my own body odor after sweating profusely. I would not want to expose anyone to that unpleasantness. I’ve come back to my room every morning after running absolutely soaked from perspiration. It then takes days to dry properly. I will probably need three outfits tomorrow if we play golf. 

We got only about 5 minutes to enjoy the beach yesterday between tours of housing communities. It’s odd to be in Florida and not have time for beach play. We grabbed lunch between meetings and only had time to check-in to our hotel room before rushing to dinner. It was by far the most active day I’ve had since retiring over three years ago. The beach excursion was actually part of our research to see exactly how far it might be from house to beach. It took about 8 minutes. Proximity to the sand is one of the most important factors in selecting our community.

We do not necessarily want to live on the ocean because comfortable square footage for everyday living is not affordable. Our goal is travel and we can’t do both on our life-savings. The Marriott Vacation Club ownership will allow us to stay directly on a fabulous beach anytime we want. All the resort-style communities we are looking at will be affordable enough for us to have a private pool and easy access to a recreation center.  They are also in areas not nearly as isolated from restaurants, movie theaters, and retailers as the beach. We may have to dip into our savings a bit deeper than we originally hoped, but at least we’ll have a solid investment to show for it. By tomorrow, we should have a decision on where we’ll spend the rest of our lives.