The Early Retiree Travel Thread

zagfles

saver_ali wrote: »

My husband only retired a couple of months ago, so we're in the early stages of trying to work out how much we can afford to spend on holidays.
We're avid collectors of Avios, and use them to fly business class, usually to the US or Caribbean, which helps to keep the costs down, but I'm finding the flying a hassle now, and am fed up with the jet lag. British Airways standards have gone down a lot too.
Added to that, I'm beginning to feel that the more money a holiday costs, the less we enjoy it!

I can relate to that - we've stayed in luxury hotels but have had better times in hostels!

Re jet lag - in retirement no way would I travel long haul for less than a month, so having time to get over it without missing too much holiday time. Plus not having to go back to work as a zombie after getting back!

Marine_life

NoMore wrote: »

I hate these threads, where people ask a number of questions to start a discussion, but don't answer the questions themselves in the OP.

You're right...sorry

Here are my initial thoughts (subject to change):

1. How much is your retirement travel budget, split between:
a. Domestic vacations - Probably 4-5 per year at 3/4 days each, mostly visiting family so maybe a couple of hundred £ each?
b. Long-haul / international vacation - Ideally I would like to say 2 long haul per year but that depends very much on what Mrs ML wants (I am the one with the itchy feet). I would like to think the budget for each trip would be £6-7,000 but could easily be more (if we're spending 3-4 weeks away at a time).
2. Do you anticipate spending more in retirement that before you retired? - Definitely more and (see previous point) means that our retirement spending budget could actually go up
3. Will you make significant changes to the way you travel (e.g. perhaps upgrading to premium or business, or maybe spending longer on each vacation?) - Possibly, although I would tend to look for bargains (we booked some business class flights in BA's holiday sale earlier this year) or try and use what air miles I have left.
4. Where are you going and why? - All of the places we want to go are places we've never been. Top 4 for us are South America, Iceland, South Pacific, Safari.

fifeken

Q4) 7 months since retiring and been to Thailand, Denmark, Australia and Italy with two further Far East trips booked for this year and maybe one to Spain. Next year will also include Wales and Germany for a couple of special occasions.



Visiting friends and taking it easy.

scottiescott

It's holidays all the way for me!
When I was working my only thought was when my next holiday was going to be.
Since I retired 3 years ago at 56 I've averaged 6 trips a year, a couple to Cyprus and the rest to Spain.
I'm definately in the "life's too short" camp.
Hasta mañana!

Marine_life

BLB53 wrote: »

I have taken the message of Greta Thunberg and her generation on board. Therefore during my retirement I will be doing minimal travelling, certainly no long haul flights or cruises. I sincerely hope everyone will start to think about personal lifestyle choices and their carbon footprint. We all share a responsibility for the future of our children and grandchildren.

I don't disagree with the sentiment (that we all share a responsibility for the future of our children) but for me (as regards long haul i.e. where no alternative mode of travel if practicable) the social and economic benefits of travel outweigh the carbon cost. However, I believe we do have a duty (1) to travel as responsibly as possible (2) to support / promote causes / political parties which seek to make change for good (3) To think about personally offsetting one's own carbon footprint.

hugheskevi

My wife and I plan travel in a rather unconventional way. We are going to front-load it, traveling for about 3 years at the start of retirement and then not at all afterwards (as we will have quite a few pets). This will also help avoid flying and the environmental consequences, as much of the travel will be overland.

My wife hasn't done much long travel previously, but I've spent about a year on the road 3 times in my 20s, between 1999 and 2007.

1. How much is your retirement travel budget

Very hard to calculate given we will not have any definitive plans, just a broad idea of direction. So some places will be expensive, others will cost little, especially if we are just hiking and running. I'm planning £60,000 per year to cover everything for both of us. The total amount of time away is flexible so money won't be much of a consideration hopefully.

3. Will you make significant changes to the way you travel (e.g. perhaps upgrading to premium or business, or maybe spending longer on each vacation?)

Compared to past trips, yes. We plan to spend much longer in destinations, being very flexible and so perhaps doing things like pet sitting in return for free accommodation. We will also hire some AirBNB places in great spots for maybe a month or more at a time. I plan to hire cars quite a lot too, so it is more like conventional living, staying in a place for quite some time with own transport than traveling.

4. Where are you going and why?

From tip of North America to tip of South America (main trip, taking 1 to 2 years), east and north east Africa, Nepal and Mongolia, south east Asia, Australia and perhaps New Zealand.

squirrelpie

It's true that climate change needs tackling, but there are people in poorer countries especially who would probably rather have a job and take the risk of climate change impacts. And more people in developing countries are flying because they too want to enjoy the benefits of travel.

Just because there are poorer people doesn't give richer people carte blanche to ignore realities.

Spend/invest money on projects to help those poor people become richer if they're truly what motivates you. Donate money to help people everywhere understand the need to reduce carbon emissions (and BTW, reduce doesn't mean offset).

Sorry, but I think it needs to be said.

zagfles

Marine_life wrote: »

I don't disagree with the sentiment (that we all share a responsibility for the future of our children) but for me (as regards long haul i.e. where no alternative mode of travel if practicable) the social and economic benefits of travel outweigh the carbon cost. However, I believe we do have a duty (1) to travel as responsibly as possible (2) to support / promote causes / political parties which seek to make change for good (3) To think about personally offsetting one's own carbon footprint.

There's loads of other things as well, apparently a dog has a bigger carbon footprint than an SUV, but dog owners don't tend to take kindly when you lecture them about their pet's carbon footprint. As I found out after a dog owner tried lecturing me about my travel carbon footprint

Eating meat is another, the rain forests are being cleared to make way for grazing cattle to feed the world's demand for meat.

So I'd prefer to give up meat and pet ownership to travel :cool:

JoeEngland

zagfles wrote: »

There's loads of other things as well, apparently a dog has a bigger carbon footprint than an SUV, but dog owners don't tend to take kindly when you lecture them about their pet's carbon footprint. As I found out after a dog owner tried lecturing me about my travel carbon footprint

Eating meat is another, the rain forests are being cleared to make way for grazing cattle to feed the world's demand for meat.

So I'd prefer to give up meat and pet ownership to travel :cool:

To be even more controversial, having children increases your family's carbon footprint. We have no kids so maybe I can consider that as our carbon offseting!

JoeEngland

squirrelpie wrote: »

Just because there are poorer people doesn't give richer people carte blanche to ignore realities.

Spend/invest money on projects to help those poor people become richer if they're truly what motivates you. Donate money to help people everywhere understand the need to reduce carbon emissions (and BTW, reduce doesn't mean offset).

Sorry, but I think it needs to be said.

TBH I don't think it's about richer people ignoring realities, almost everybody ignores them. A poor person who gets out of poverty and eventually has the money to travel would probably fly if they can. It's about human nature and I see little evidence of the world population wanting to give up aspiration and luxuries. So I'm somewhat pessimistic about what is achievable in the fight against climate change, and don't see the point in me not flying if most other people carry on doing it.