You’ve saved for retirement and made good investments, so why shouldn’t one of your New Year’s resolution be to take a trip, or start planning a post-retirement vacation? Many people are still very physically active in retirement, so biking and hiking can be great ways to experience a new country’s landscape.
Travel can be a good motivation to get or stay in shape as you reach retirement age, and new adventures keep one young. When you’re dreaming about a post-retirement vacation, consider one that includes physical activity and immersion in a local food culture. A culinary tour is a popular way to combine activity, education, and the best food a region has to offer. Some couples even view retirement as a second honeymoon.
If you think you’d enjoy Sicily in the spring, consider bicycling through the Sicilian countryside. If you think you’d enjoy bicycling through the Sicilian countryside, consider doing so with professional chefs looking out for wild vegetation with which to make your lunch. Now that you have an unlimited number of vacation days, trips can be more about experiencing culture than rushed sight-seeing. You can take the time to watch a farmer turn goat milk into ricotta cheese, catch your own tuna for dinner, and learn about the invention of cannolis.
These food-centric trips combine activity with local food to really immerse participants in a culture. In Chile you can go clamming and then cook on hot rocks outside while taking in the fjords and farms. In Brazil you can learn about native bees and enjoy wild honey. In Sicily you can bicycle through the countryside and learn about how the volcanic soil supports abundant vegetable and grape growth.
If you’re very adventurous, there is skiing, snowboarding, and bear-watching in the wilderness of Anchorage Alaska. Learn how to make salt from seaweed, find wild herbs and edible mushrooms, and catch and cook local salmon.
The popularity of culinary tours speaks to the fact that tastes and smells can form very powerful memories, which of course is what we carry with us long after we’ve left a place. After retirement, you have the time to become more than just a tourist when you’re on vacation. An educational element can make a trip truly memorable, as well as one your friends will actually enjoy hearing about. Learning new things and staying active are important in retirement, and doing so with your spouse is even better.
The professionals at Madrona Financial want to help you create a comprehensive plan for retirement. This means covering financial and lifestyle goals and even estate plans. Click here to schedule your no cost, no obligation financial review today so that you don’t miss any of the opportunities that 2019 has to offer.
