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This board is mostly dead because of the silly season so let's talk fun. Where are people planning on going for vacation this summer and/of fall? If you are retired like me, can you call it a vacation or is it getting away?

I do not want to hear "I cannot afford vacation." because you really cannot afford not to take time off for some fun. Take your kids somewhere fun (i.e., Disney Word, an amusement park, UT football game, fishing, etc) because they will not be at home or young long. I do not regret taking my son to amusement parks twice a year until he graduated high school.  After he died in a car wreck, I realized all that time and money I spent was worth every penny. All the sports events I attended to watch him were not a waste of my time.

My wife and I went to a beach at least twice a year until she got too sick to travel. We also traveled across the USA as much as possible and she only had Alaska to visit to have been in all 50 states. I retired to take care of her, but we harbored no illusions that we would be able to travel because she was too ill. She died last year and I have not been able to plan travel until I realized I need to get off my butt and start enjoying life again. Do not say I plan on traveling after I retire because odds are you will not get to because one or both of you will be too sick.

So I am going to Maine and drive around New England because I can. I plan on driving to Yellowstone in late summer because that was the last major trip my wife and I had planned when her kidneys failed. Next summer it will be Scotland and Ireland for me. And at least one beach vacation.

So I challenge every able soul to plan a vacation or trip with loved one(s) just because you want to and tell me where you are going. Go now because you do not know how much time you have left. Hug and kiss your significant other (spouse I hope) and any kids you still can. Come on now; you know you want to go. Travel with your family is really more important than a new bass boat.

I require my employees to take a vacation. Obviously no one can make anyone actually get out of the house, but I CAN say "I want you to take at least one week this summer where I don't see you here. Period." R&R is good for the soul. Makes us old before our time without it.

As for me, I'm headed to St. George Island in 4 weeks and 5 days (not that I'm counting)...

I'll be taking a week to float down the San Juan river in the 4 Corners area with friends and family over Memorial Day.  Hope to get up in the Colorado high country for a 4-5 day backpacking trip as well.

While you're in Maine, rent a bicycle in Acadia NP and tootle around the carriage roads.  Flat, easy riding through the Maine forests with no cars!

A trip to Savannah, with a side excursion to an island to the North in the near term

Perhaps later this summer a trip to the UK with Mrs PV is in order

I had several discussions with employers where I had to explain to them that my family was more important than my job. If they forced me to choose between work and my job and my family, they would lose. I told them I could get another job. I was not so sure I could get any other family. I delayed my beach vacation by a week one year after my employer said if I did they would pay for the beachfront room my wife considered too pricey. Trouble is, after that, my wife wanted a beachfront room next year because she really liked it. It has been a year since our last beach trip. I just could not go this year. So I am headed north.

You just summed up some of the big reasons I am making significant changes in my life right now-- including (but not limited to) more traveling NOW instead of saving for later.

Immediate (<1 year) trip plans include long weekends in Chattanooga and maybe Asheville, a few days in Daytona to visit old friends, and possibly a week somewhere in Central America. I'm hoping the next five years will include 2-3 trips overseas but those plans are in early stages.

Already on my 6th overseas trip this year :rolleyes:
One more before the end of the month and probably one each the next two months.
Oh, and a half trip later this year ...

I already went to the Caribbean the first week of April.  Jamaica and Cayman Islands.  It was fantastic. 

I have a 3-day trip to Vegas planned for sometime this summer.  Need to decide when soon.

The wife and I got a fantastic deal for 4 days July about 10 years ago. Felt about 3° less than the surface of the sun. It was 115° F each day until the day we left when it was only 108° F. Even though the pool was cooled, I actually was sweating in the water. Broke even playing blackjack so I actually was a winner. If you can stand stifling heat, prices are usually great in summer. The last trip we made was late in April and it was really nice. Las Vegas is a fun trip even if you don't gamble.

Could I just raise one point of contention here.  Disney World is not a vacation.  It is much harder work than I have ever done, and in my school days I worked road constructions and a hot furnace at Alcoa.  Disney World is just long, tough, frustrating days.  We took the grand kids last year, and the highlight of each day was getting back to the house and into the pool.  The kids enjoyed it, but even they were burnt out on the 4th day, just made it a short day at EPCOT (their favorite) and spent the rest of the time at the pool.  We went down to Cocoa for a day before Disney, and they really enjoyed the beach.  So this year will be beach only,  The lines there are more manageable.

Headed to Australia in July

I traveled, vacationed, got away more when I worked than I do since I retired. Pressure and stress of a job made me get away....now I just don't have too. Wife and me like to take short trips or weekend get a ways. We spend more time with the grandkids...me playing golf 3-4 times a week and we fish a lot.

Well I got a deal for 3 nights free stay in Vegas through my Holiday Inn club membership.  I do have to attend a 2-hour sales pitch, but they will give me enough bonus points to have a couple other nights free somewhere else in the future.  They offered me the deal while i was reserving a couple free rooms for my recent Caribbean trip (en route to and returning from the cruise departure port in Miami).  Basically they comped the free nights while offering me an additional stay in Vegas. So I just have to figure out how to get there.  Hopefully there are some cheap flights.

I recommend hotel bonus clubs. My Hilton Club gave me 6 free nights in Paris last year, and this year my Holiday Inn membership gave me a night free in downtown Miami which was an amazing location.

I have been to Vegas twice, but never more than overnight.  This will give me a bit more time.

My much better half and I are going to be heading to Texas July 1 for 3 weeks to spend time with our son, daughter in law, grandson, and new granddaughter, who is due on June 30.  We have two grandsons - one here in Knoxville who will be 3 on that same June 30 date, and our son in Texas was two in February.  With this being our first granddaughter we are pretty much euphoric. 

Going to venture up to Arlington and see a couple of Ranger games while we are there, and see a couple of Texas Red Dirt Country acts - one in New Braunfels and the other in Austin while we are there, as well. 

I really, REALLY feel sorry for your granddaughter ... :naughty:

By the time you two finish spoiling her she will be a diva princess :toothless: :clap: :angel:

Believe me - she already is being spoiled even before she makes her first appearance.  Amazon.com has made our house a daily stop since my wife is wearing them out ordering "little girl" things for us to take when we go.  Probably going to have to rent a U-Haul for the trip down. 

And my daughter is expecting grandchild #4, also.  She's about 11 weeks along, so we'll likely have an early December baby.  Don't know the gender yet. 

She's not spoiled. Just loved. :thumbup: Enjoy every minute of it.

I'll be traveling to Oklahoma City to watch my granddaughter play in the Gold Nationals -- this is her last year of travel ball and I'll miss going to nationals with them every summer!  But she will be playing ball for Kennesaw State University next year -- close enough I can go watch when ever I want!   :clap: :clap:

Dean and I are very much home bodies -- he will make a couple of short motorcycle trips with his buddies, I'll go to nationals....and then he and I will take a long weekend sometime in the fall....somewhere.    Since we live in the mountains and are basically on vacation all the time, we just don't have the desire to leave.  Life is good!   :dude: :dude: :dude:

Right now it looks like 4 days in PA at a lacrosse camp in June with my son, and hopefully a week in Tennessee and a week at the shore.  :biggrin:

What is this vacation of which you speak? I need to take extended time and travel now. Hey, I'm traveling through Tennessee next week. That counts for something.

If you're looking for a day trip this summer and you want to see a pretty amazing example of high school students' intuition, I'd like to invite you to drop by here:

http://www.ihoneida.com/features/2016/05/museum-scot-garners-increased-attention/