Australia/NZ- I'm having wicked temptations

[Deleted]

This past week I was in Toronto at a meeting of my professional society (I'm retired but I've known some of these people for decades and love Toronto). 

Someone mentioned that our November, 2019 meeting will be in Hawaii.  Not a place high on my list- DH didn't tolerate warm weather well and there are beautiful beaches and interesting geological sites I can get to for a lot less airfare.

BUT... I would like to see Australia and NZ.  I had checked it out after DH died and the airfare was just too crazy.  (I won't fly Coach that far and I didn't have near enough miles.)  Now I'm thinking I have a halfway decent reason to spend a few days in Hawaii, continue to Australia and NZ and then head home, maybe with an overnight in Honolulu again.  And I have over two years to figure out how to pay for it. 

This might happen... stay tuned.

[zibazinski]

Put yourself on those airline watch fares.

[swamp]

Why shouldn't it happen?   You have the money. You can't take it with you.

[Opti]

I think it would be wonderful to go to NZ and Australia.

[zibazinski]

I intend to go and I intend to not fly coach.

[wvugurl26]

I want to go and soon. It was supposed to be my honeymoon. But a trip that expensive on top of my wedding isn't happening.

[Deleted]

May 26, 2017 14:09:52 GMT -5 swamp said:

Why shouldn't it happen?   You have the money. You can't take it with you.

Well, DS and DDIL would probably be able to make good use of it! (Although DS says he doesn't want my money, and I believe him.)

It just seems crazy when I map it all out:

Central American cruise last month.

Toronto this past week.

Iceland in August.

India and Nepal in March, 2018.

Hoping to take some of DH's ashes to Scotland next summer.

Made deposit on cruise that I'll likely take in early 2019 in the Sea of Cortez.

And then Hawaii/Australia/NZ in November, 2019?

Wow.  OTOH, there's not much else in my life that's an extravagance except for health insurance premiums.  That, thank heaven, will improve when I start Medicare in 8 months.  Not that I'm counting.

May 26, 2017 16:24:24 GMT -5 wvugurl26 said:

I want to go and soon. It was supposed to be my honeymoon. But a trip that expensive on top of my wedding isn't happening.

DH and I were married in June and went on our honeymoon (St. Petersburg, Russia) in November. The break worked well for us- didn't have to plan and pay for the wedding and the honeymoon in the same time frame.

[zibazinski]

Why not? Life is short and fragile.

[swamp]

May 26, 2017 19:10:57 GMT -5 @athena53 said:

May 26, 2017 14:09:52 GMT -5 swamp said:

Why shouldn't it happen?   You have the money. You can't take it with you.

Well, DS and DDIL would probably be able to make good use of it! (Although DS says he doesn't want my money, and I believe him.)

It just seems crazy when I map it all out:

Central American cruise last month.

Toronto this past week.

Iceland in August.

India and Nepal in March, 2018.

Hoping to take some of DH's ashes to Scotland next summer.

Made deposit on cruise that I'll likely take in early 2019 in the Sea of Cortez.

And then Hawaii/Australia/NZ in November, 2019?

Wow.  OTOH, there's not much else in my life that's an extravagance except for health insurance premiums.  That, thank heaven, will improve when I start Medicare in 8 months.  Not that I'm counting.

May 26, 2017 16:24:24 GMT -5 wvugurl26 said:

I want to go and soon. It was supposed to be my honeymoon. But a trip that expensive on top of my wedding isn't happening.

DH and I were married in June and went on our honeymoon (St. Petersburg, Russia) in November. The break worked well for us- didn't have to plan and pay for the wedding and the honeymoon in the same time frame.

Why is it crazy?  You like to travel. You can afford it.  There is no reason not to go.  God is not going to give you a cookie when you get to heaven because you were frugal and denied yourself things you wanted to do. 

[Deleted]

May 26, 2017 20:53:35 GMT -5 swamp said:

You like to travel. You can afford it.  There is no reason not to go.  God is not going to give you a cookie when you get to heaven because you were frugal and denied yourself things you wanted to do. 

Well, I do try to make sure that my charitable donations exceed my travel budget so maybe that balances it out!

I want to make sure to enjoy my granddaughters when they're little but I can't wait till they're old enough to travel with me. The 3-year old is crazy about tropical fish (from Finding Dory, of course, but she loves the local aquarium) and when she's old enough I want to take her snorkeling off Puerto Rico.

[Pants]

May 27, 2017 6:58:36 GMT -5 @athena53 said:

May 26, 2017 20:53:35 GMT -5 swamp said:

You like to travel. You can afford it.  There is no reason not to go.  God is not going to give you a cookie when you get to heaven because you were frugal and denied yourself things you wanted to do. 

Well, I do try to make sure that my charitable donations exceed my travel budget so maybe that balances it out!

I want to make sure to enjoy my granddaughters when they're little but I can't wait till they're old enough to travel with me. The 3-year old is crazy about tropical fish (from Finding Dory, of course, but she loves the local aquarium) and when she's old enough I want to take her snorkeling off Puerto Rico.

Athena I feel like most of your retirement is going to be us encouraging you to spend the money you have deliberately and wisely saved for your retirement.

Take the trip.

[Deleted]

May 27, 2017 7:40:42 GMT -5 Pants said:

Athena I feel like most of your retirement is going to be us encouraging you to spend the money you have deliberately and wisely saved for your retirement.

Take the trip.

DH was always encouraging when I wanted to splurge- I'd tell him I'd bought another bauble or was planning to have another jacket made for my work wardrobe (haven't done that since retirement) and he'd just smile and say, "Good". I think he'd say that about these plans, too! Nothing I can book right now, but I'm pretty much determined to go unless something catastrophic intervenes.

[zibazinski]

I'll be bleeding money come June but my house payment will be lower than my rent even including taxes and insurance. That extra is going into my travel fund. Long trips are going to not be in coach.

[zibazinski]

I'd like to travel by train but my aunt just did and she said the trains were filthy and the employees were surly.

[Deleted]

May 27, 2017 9:01:42 GMT -5 zibazinski said:

I'd like to travel by train but my aunt just did and she said the trains were filthy and the employees were surly.

I think it depends on the train. The ones through the Rockies are supposed to be nice. I took Amtrak on the Bos-Wash corridor years ago when I lived in NJ and it was a far better option than flying for D.C. and Philadelphia. The 5+- hour trip to Boston felt too long but I still felt pretty clever when a snowstorm blew up in Boston and the meeting attendees who were flying home had big problems. I got home pretty much on time. Still wouldn't take them for longer trips, though.

[zibazinski]

I looked into flying to Australia. I can fly coach to the west coast and then even handle it to Hawaii. Doing business from Hawaii to Australia isn't that bad price wise.