My wife and I have talked about a world cruise, to celebrate our joint retirement. We’re about 4 years away from the end of her career, as she continues to dream about this adventure. Viking sent us a brochure outlining a 245-day excursion of 59 countries and 113 ports, but just how do you pack for something like that? That’s a lot of underwear! It’s only $92,990 per person, so why not just buy new clothes when you need them along the way? The cruise starts and ends in London, covering all 6 continents, and would definitely be the trip of a lifetime for anyone. It would also cost us nearly $25,000 in pet sitting and over $20,000 in shore excursion fees, not to mention all the souvenirs we would buy. Plus, what do you tip the service crew?

First, we would sell the house and one car and put everything else in storage for a year. Hopefully, when we return there will be enough left to rent a home in Italy or Hawaii. This particular cruise is slated to depart in August of 2019, so inflation will undoubtedly drive-up the prices by our 2024 target date. If we adhere to our $1000/day travel plan, the total cost would be around $250,000 (See Post #320), if we do laundry on-board. Is a quarter of the retirement fund set aside for 25 years of traveling worth spending in 245 days? Would the memories last throughout those final years in assisted living?

I will be 72-years old when the time comes to take this ultimate cruise. Do we spend it then, or gamble on mortality, mobility, and good health to allow future travel? Will I even want to travel more once I reach that age or will my homebody tendencies grow stronger? These are questions that will only be answered as time passes by, along with our net worth. My grandparents invested in two mobile homes to satisfy their retirement travel needs, while my parents rarely got on an airplane. So, why do I need to see the world, when they never did?

I’m glad that my wife and I have travel in common as a retirement goal. She’s still saving for the world cruise, while I’m spending my retirement nest egg on current travel needs. We’ll go to Thailand next year, Egypt the following, and China in three years, while she continues to work and save. Bali would be next on her bucket list, the year prior to our World Cruise. As a compromise, we might have to settle on a 127-day or 119-day itenerary in our plan to see the world together!