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Post by Deleted on Jan 26, 2019 18:03:26 GMT -5
The age group is much older than the standard cruise. I’m 59, TD 60 and while we weren’t the youngest, we were at the bottom of the scale. The one thing I really liked is when I went somewhere by myself, I always found someone to talk to. I’d have absolutely no problem doing one of these cruises alone. I found that on my first cruise 5 months after DH died- Central America with UnCruise. I was a little concerned because there had been mostly couples on our previous trips with them, but with the older age group they're not glued together 24/7 like honeymooners even when happily married. I might first join the wife at breakfast and then the husband would wander in, or vice versa. Sometimes one of the pair would take a hike while the other went out in a kayak. Every gathering was different and I never felt like a 5th wheel.
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tskeeter
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Post by tskeeter on Jan 26, 2019 18:16:27 GMT -5
My in laws took a trip to Italy through Tauck. They loved it. They are doing another trip through them this year either to Scotland or Spain/Portugal. The accommodations are excellent, some meals included and they got into some attractions after hours when there were no crowds. They were supposed to go to France and do the beaches of Normandy but it's sold out when they wanted to go due to it being the 75th anniversary this year. They will go though. FIL still emails with one guy from their Italy trip. They are in their early 70s, they would never go to Europe alone. This allows them to travel without worry. When your folks go to Normandy, I hope they will consider Stuart Robertson of Normandy Battle Tours as a guide. Stuart was our guide about five years ago. He was outstanding. Stuart’s college education was in history. After school he worked as a military historian for many years. Then he moved to Normandy to live out his dream of being a guide and Normandy history educator. Since opening his guiding business, Stuart has written two books about the Normandy invasion. Check out Stuart’s web site to see a sample of the D-Day vets that Stuart has interviewed about their experiences and provided guide services to.
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Apple
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Post by Apple on Jan 26, 2019 19:10:18 GMT -5
I'm taking a trip to Sweden and Finland in late April/early May. I actually have rooms and a ferry booked already (but the rooms come with free cancellation in case I find a better deal). So, it's the most planned out vacation I've done yet! (outside of the one tour we did for the first trip). I need to pull up the flooring in the bathroom, but, fortunately, it's very small. I may or may not redo the walls while I'm doing the floors, just haven't decided. Coworkers are talking about going in together on a trailer again. If so, I can finally work on property clean up (another thorn in my side and deal that the former owner backed out on). It's a lot of work by myself, but I need to do it, so... justme You sound like you want to travel like I do. I usually leave with a general plan of where I want to go, but I book my rooms a night or two before I get to the city I'm headed to. I love walking and getting lost, and then just doing whatever I'm in a mood for. Long tours do not work well for my style of travel (although I did find the first one helpful, especially bringing a 9-year-old with me.) Between the single fees, not getting to do my own thing, etc, I've found it's just not worth it for me. A few sites I use: booking.com to find rooms (I look for cheap, but well rated, and near public transportation). Rome2rio.com to figure out how to get from point a to point b (it will show you options for buses, trains, driving, walking, etc) Google maps has gotten detailed enough to do this as well, but for some things I still prefer rome2rio. Your trip is completely doable, especially if you take advantage of a night train or flight from Italy to France so that you don't waste a bunch of time on traveling between the two areas. Also, I've walked all over many cities late at night, either by myself or with my son. I've never felt unsafe. This is something I definitely wouldn't attempt in some areas of my home state.
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debthaven
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Post by debthaven on Jan 26, 2019 19:15:11 GMT -5
justme feel free to start another thread if you think you may get more advice, but I think you're getting great advice here. But please don't worry about "hijacking" this thread!
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GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl
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Post by GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl on Jan 26, 2019 21:12:34 GMT -5
I want to settle my 4 year old insurance claim this year. Not likely, but this is a WISH list, right?
I also want to sue the incompetent contractor who botched the repairs to our house.
In addition, I’m hitting a landmark birthday this year so I’d REALLY like to do an epic family adventure/road trip/trip. Of course, the landmark birthday snuck up on me, 😉, so I’ve done absolutely no research or planning or saving yet. 😏
We also want to update the upstairs bathroom: new floor, tile the walls and ceiling around the shower, new vanity, new lighting, re-paint, etc. DH wants to do the work which will be a total first for him.
I also want to re-paint the dining room.
That’s it, I think...
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cktc
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Post by cktc on Jan 26, 2019 22:08:27 GMT -5
I found some $77 round trip flights to Dallas, so San Diego trip is being put on hold. Now we are talking about taking FIL and visiting DH's side in Oklahoma. Might be a better trial trip with the kids since it'll be less time in the car. I'd still like to do San Diego in the fall if finances permit.
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Nazgul Girl
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Post by Nazgul Girl on Jan 26, 2019 22:54:05 GMT -5
We had an interesting 2018, so 2019 should prove to be equally interesting. My husband is having some health problems, very serious, so my with for 2019 is that his health improves. At a lower level, we had a ( too ) expensive trip to Florida, so we are looking to buy a modest 2 BR condo in SW Florida if the price is right. We are saving for a downpayment right now. We have paid a lot in rental fees over the years, and when prices fall, we will try to get something of our own. We are also beefing up our emergency fund. With some of the governmental instability lately, plus really having nothing permanent settled down the road, we are saving $ 300 per benefit/401k withdrawal check that comes in. In theory, we know that SS is supposed to arrive per law, but who knows at this juncture ? Beter safe than sorry . My husband is also facing dialysis in the next 18 months or so, so I would like to find him a poodly replacement buddy to fill in the empty spot left by our puppy's death three years ago. We are enjoying our retirement and our 2 y.o. grand daughter, so things are good !
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wvugurl26
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Post by wvugurl26 on Jan 28, 2019 7:02:49 GMT -5
Well I will be going to see my cousin this year. Her family found a last minute deal on a cruise and I'm going. I've already been to the Bahamas. At least it will be warmer there.
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Anne_in_VA
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Post by Anne_in_VA on Jan 28, 2019 7:59:22 GMT -5
I want to finish remodeling the house. I want to take a “just us” vacation. We’ve always gone to visit family but now thar MIL has passed, I’d like to go somewhere else. Maybe a cruise? Retire finally.
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ohmomto2boys
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Post by ohmomto2boys on Jan 28, 2019 10:34:11 GMT -5
Booked our summer vacation. We didn't take one last year, so we are super excited. Continue updating the house. We just had the fireplace refaced and the 1/2 bath gutted and finished. Next project is the kitchen, flooring and new woodwork throughout.
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hoops902
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Post by hoops902 on Jan 28, 2019 17:24:32 GMT -5
1. Finish the bedroom and bathroom in the basement that I started building. 2. Purge un-needed stuff, mostly baby/newborn stuff in the city-wide garage sale in May. 3. Acquire snowblower (done last week), I new I was going to need/want a riding mower and a snowblower at this new house...I was right.
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travelnut11
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Post by travelnut11 on Jan 28, 2019 18:07:08 GMT -5
justme feel free to start another thread if you think you may get more advice, but I think you're getting great advice here. But please don't worry about "hijacking" this thread! justme Yes! Start a new thread with your parameters eg. location preferences, budget, travel style, interests, etc.! We'll help you plan something! I love helping plan trips. Just ask debt...I helped her on a trip to Southeast Asia a few years ago.
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debthaven
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Post by debthaven on Jan 28, 2019 18:12:21 GMT -5
Hi travelnut11 !!! justme , travelnut11 speaks the truth! She was an AMAZING help when I was planning our trip to visit DD in SE Asia a few years ago! DD was working in Laos, and travelnut helped me plan an incredible trip to Laos, Thailand and Cambodia. * Waving to Travelnut! * Hope you and your DDs are doing well! They're getting to the age when you can start travelling more again!
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travelnut11
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Post by travelnut11 on Jan 28, 2019 18:28:18 GMT -5
Don't worry debthaven. You can repay the favor when I need help on the French countryside. I've been to Paris several times (and enjoy it) but would like to sometime soon get outside of Paris and check out other parts of France.
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debthaven
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Post by debthaven on Jan 28, 2019 18:32:37 GMT -5
You can count on me!
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Post by Deleted on Jan 29, 2019 20:12:52 GMT -5
One more thing on my list- less exotic but similar to others: de-cluttering. It's a continuation of a process DH and I started before our downsizing in 2015 and I've gotten rid of more things since he died, but there are still things I don't use and that have no sentimental value (in Marie Kondo's words, they don't "spark joy"). Nothing worth selling on e-Bay - too bulky or too low-value. My preferred method is listing it as Free Stuff on Craigslist but it's kind of cumbersome. You have to include a picture, in every listing I have to retype my address and other info (I do have some Copy/Paste paragraphs in Word), you get idiots who don't read the ground rules (no, I will NOT hold it aside for you- too many no-shows), people who e-mail and ask for the address because they're too lazy to type it into their GPS from the ad. Maybe I could set a goal of one listing per week. I've also found that people are so greedy that if you put other items out at the same time and don't list them, they take those, too.
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Rukh O'Rorke
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Post by Rukh O'Rorke on Jan 31, 2019 10:06:50 GMT -5
Just on the wish list: a wood burning fireplace, to ward off polar vortices
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 31, 2019 15:56:16 GMT -5
All this travel talk is making me envious!
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lynnerself
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Post by lynnerself on Jan 31, 2019 17:13:53 GMT -5
Lots of travel planned for this year. (Costa Rica, Hawaii and Grand Canyon rafting, all before June). Probably new England later in the year for fall colors.
I need new carpet, but the prep work is delaying it. DH wants to paint and install new baseboards in several rooms first. And a lot of de cluttering should be done so that there is less stuff to move around. We were supposed to do it the first few month of this year, but guess what? Traveling instead.
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souldoubt
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Post by souldoubt on Jan 31, 2019 18:18:17 GMT -5
We thought after our big trip last year that we'd start trying to have kids but we haven't taken that plunge yet so we'd like to get some more traveling in this year. I'm headed to Europe for work in the next few months so we will piggy back off of that trip then take another trip to Europe after summer ends so we avoid some of the crowds. At home I'd like to redo our garage as it's the one area we've done nothing to since we moved in. We park in our garage so we don't have a ton of stuff in there but there's some built in shelving someone put in that need to go as it's not a good use of the space. It really shouldn't cost too much but I need to clear everything out, tear out the shelving then get someone to put in drywall and paint. From there I'll get some heavy duty shelves to line one side of the wall so we can better park our cars.
Edit - reading lynn's post made me realize that I also want to get a Hawaii trip in. It's something we've done almost every year we've been together but we didn't do one last year because we had our big trip.
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wvugurl26
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Post by wvugurl26 on Jan 31, 2019 18:41:43 GMT -5
Another small trip I want to squeeze in, Cedar Point. And if I'm going that far, I also want to go to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. DH has never been. I was in high school when I went.
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debthaven
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Post by debthaven on Feb 9, 2019 17:06:14 GMT -5
I managed to send another double payment to the kitchen loan in Feb. So although I started this thread last month, we're two months closer to the next items on our wish list. I added a third: our oven is 20 years old. We never replace appliances till they die but the oven REALLY doesn't work well. - bedroom reno - new car - new oven
I don't anticipate making any more double payments on the kitchen loan, but you never know.
What about you?
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chiver78
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Post by chiver78 on Feb 10, 2019 7:40:35 GMT -5
I need to balance my spreadsheet and update with new pay numbers. I can't say I foresee double payments on things, but payments will be increasing a lot. I just need to figure out priorities.
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debthaven
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Post by debthaven on Feb 10, 2019 16:02:33 GMT -5
chiver78 good plan! But do it sooner rather than later, so you put your new salary to good use right away.
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chiver78
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Post by chiver78 on Feb 10, 2019 16:27:44 GMT -5
chiver78 good plan! But do it sooner rather than later, so you put your new salary to good use right away. it's on my to do list for tomorrow. today, I was motivated to clean and purge.
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debthaven
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Post by debthaven on Mar 7, 2019 18:54:20 GMT -5
We ordered a new car today. A Ford Fiesta, lease-to-purchase. I disagreed with that but DH wanted that. I believe you have to choose your battles. So DH won this one. I sent another double payment to the kitchen loan in March. So just two months left on the 10K kitchen loan! It should be paid off before the car arrives (and payments start). Still on the wish list:- bedroom reno - new oven What about you?
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TheOtherMe
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Post by TheOtherMe on Mar 7, 2019 20:01:00 GMT -5
My wish list is large but until loans are paid off, nothing that isn't a need will be happening to the house.
I only plan to see David Crosby in Milwaukee for vacation.
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wvugurl26
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Post by wvugurl26 on Mar 7, 2019 20:19:18 GMT -5
The house list is growing.
Reasonably happening in 2019, finishing the patio and backyard, getting a storage shed for the backyard, redoing the steps, tiling the entry way and half bath and completely gutting the half bath.
The steps will be done by someone else. $4000 is the quote for that. This may also mean getting rid of the upstairs carpet in the hallway and guest bedrooms. I can't remember. If so probably another $1000? DH can lay the hardwood.
Entry way and bathroom is probably another $1000 assuming I don't find $5/square foot tile. My current pick is $1.77/square foot.
New living room furniture is being delivered next week. That was $1700. DH couldn't wait. Will still need to buy the recliner so another $370. That certainly wasn't in my 2019 plan. It's the first furniture I've ever bought.
Travel is coming together. I'm going to visit my best friend in April. We also go to Jamaica at Easter. I have a date for going to Myrtle Beach now. Disney in October. We may go somewhere before Christmas. That's undecided.
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countrygirl2
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Post by countrygirl2 on Mar 7, 2019 23:03:05 GMT -5
New carpet or flooring of some kind in our house especially the living room.
Hoping to feel much better this year, am not tonight.
Be able to put in a garden again, plant grapevines, an apple tree, and peach, add blackberries, out back.
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NoNamePerson
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Post by NoNamePerson on Mar 8, 2019 7:46:18 GMT -5
I don't have a wish list. I'm just flying by the seat of my pants. But then that's how most of my life has been.
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