Retirement Vacations

When one is retired, vacations are very different from those 1 or 2 week vacations - crammed in around holidays, work and school schedules. They are cherished just as much, but the flavor is so very different for a number of reasons:

1) You can go whenever you want; as much as I love children, we tend to avoid spring and summer breaks when places are crowded with families.

2) The weather. We don't have to travel during high demand periods for beaches or mountains so we can enjoy mild weather instead of record highs or lows or worse, when there is muggy weather.

3) We no longer have have manic vacations. I can remember a time when we were snorkeling in Catalina with the kids. Jim and Laura lifted their heads from the water, took the snorkel mouth pieces out and started discussing what we were going to do next! I wanted to scream - ENJOY THE MOMENT NOW!

4) While we don't work, we can do things on vacation that we feel guilty about doing at home - sleeping in, reading trashy novels, avoiding cooking or not doing the laundry.

5) We are more flexible. We rarely make a schedule for vacation other than check in/ check out date. If we see an interesting sight, we have time to stop and look, or change plans or visit with new friends - Life is good!