Five years ago I set a retirement goal of a million miles in travel. (See Post #1151). The plan was 50,000 miles a year for twenty years. In 2017, I was well on my way with 59.150, followed by 79,050 in 2018. Everything was on target through 2019, logging another 59,500 with major plans for St. Kitts, Miami, Bali, Orlando, Egypt, Kauai, Phoenix, and Spain to Finland in the works. Then Covid 19 raised its ugly head and the mileage dropped to around 26,000 in 2020. 2021 is looking more promising with 32,500 projected, but still way below that 50,000 mile average. I should at least get to the quarter million mark by the end of the year.
Longer adventures like Egypt are now back on the books, along with a cruise from Alaska to Japan, but most of our upcoming adventures are focused on the states. Many destinations still aren’t open to tourism, making million mile retirement status more of a challenge. The Keys and Caribbean locations are now easy to get to from Florida, but our pool and nearby beaches make some of these tropical destinations less appealing. However, we just arranged for ten days on Florida’s Singer Island with an upcoming weekend planned on this Atlantic gem, as well. The million mile quest will eventually have to include the Northeast United States (to get to the final state – Maine), China, and Russia. We would also like to see Ireland, Australia, London, Spain, and Germany in the near future.
Money and health could become future detriments in our travel plans, as both retirement funds and energy dwindle quickly. At least we have a resort style community to live out our remaining years and the Marriott Vacation Club investment to provide second homes throughout the world. A quarter of our goal will be realized by the start of 2022. I’m sure that seventy years of life have taken me well over a million miles already, but retirement has allowed me the time to keep track of the miles yet ahead!
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