Forward
I have contemplated writing this article for a long time, and it is finally on (digital) paper. As an advisor, I’m in a unique position to learn from retirees or near-retirees and share lessons learned and experiences. I also have a blend of personal travel experience and knowledge that can further shed light on the topic, easing the fears of taking action.
Why Retirement Travel?
Retirement: Most consider this stage of life as the land of opportunity and unlimited free time. It sounds like a dream come true, and if you are fortunate enough to have saved and planned, it can be. However, with that comes what I like to call “Month 37”. All rainy-day projects are complete. Daily routines are established. Schedules are made. Life drones on in a monotonous hum. You are currently healthy, but that time may dwindle as aches and pains creep into everyday activities. Reflectively, you can easily extrapolate your personal aging in the near future when adventure is something you must forego. So, what should you do now?
As you can glean from the title, recreational travel is a potential solution to alter retirement experiences from the mundane to the magical. Specifically, last-minute, international travel may be the most rewarding. Most people think international travel must be a “bucket list” trip planned months or years in advance. So, what is the difference now for retirees? Flexibility, time, and technology. Travel is no longer limited to vacations, and you now have a supercomputer in your pocket that can be used to ease what once made travel more difficult. This changing dynamic helps provide the opportunity to see the world from a new perspective and build memories in the process.
What about costs? - While not inexpensive, a flight and mid-range hotels to most places can be booked for less than $5,000/person for a week. You may be able to reduce this cost substantially depending on where you want to go and how fancy your accommodations must be. Luxury trips costing $20,000+ are also wonderful, but not every experience has to have a big price tag. For the people we work with as advisors, the cost of the trip is typically not the limiting factor. It’s fear of the unknown. By the end of this article, we hope that fear is reduced.
What will you get in return? - “A completely different perspective and lens of the world.” These are not my words. I heard it directly from a client who recently ventured out solo on her first international trip and came back with this reflection. Subsequently, this individual doubled down and has planned the next 8 international trips over the next 18 months! While I cannot guarantee that everything will go perfectly, I bet that any trip will be memorable and something you will never forget. Yes, it can be scary, but in the long run, it is worth it.
I can hear the retorts now. You have already gone to Europe. Great, try Japan. Try Dubai. Try Santiago. At the end of the day, the location doesn’t matter as much as we think it does. Trying something new and getting out of daily routines will shake up life and can make it more enjoyable.
Without further ado, below is a list of tools and advice that should help break down the travel barrier. I hope this sparks the initiative to leap into a new adventure soon.
Software and Technology Tools
Flight Search Tools - Google Flights. While there are many different options for booking travel, this is my favorite. The speed and search capabilities are industry-leading, and the results direct you to the correct airline to purchase tickets. The best feature for retirees is the metasearch. For example, Google flight allows for searches of an entire continent to find the best price. Maybe you finally want to go to Europe next month. Instead of picking an exact city, start with the flight. Lisbon may not be on your radar, but it could be half the price of the trip to Rome, and you will have just as good of a time. Plus, you can look at the calendar to find the cheapest days for each trip. Leaving on a Wednesday is not a problem in retirement!
Google Maps - Recently, I have been using Google Maps more and more to plan trips. I can create a “List” for the trip and bookmark everything I want to see and do in advance. That way, I know which areas are close to one another and which ones are far apart. Traveling tools now (unlike 20 years ago) provide us with point-to-point directions in most places around the world. While primarily used in the US for driving routes, Google Maps has excellent walking and public transit directions down to the suggested train platform area on which to wait.
YouTube - This is one of the best resources to learn about different travel opportunities and build anticipation for an upcoming trip. Warning: the YouTube rabbit hole can be deep, and the algorithms are very good at targeting your desires. Don’t over-research. Serendipity is a good thing as well. Knowing every inch of The Louvre in Paris takes the fun out of exploring the museum in person. A recommended resource I stumbled upon recently was the Retirement Travelers, which provides excellent guides and tips for making your adventure a reality.
Google Translate App – This is a great tool when you don’t speak the native language. Language barriers used to be a big deal, but over the last 20 years, English has become more prevalent worldwide. Unless you go to a remote town or country, odds are you will be fine getting by with English. A few local phrases can be picked up online in 20 minutes from a YouTube video , and you will be on your way to new experiences.
Accommodations - Back to the smartphone on this one. Booking.com, VRBO, Airbnb, and other sites work great worldwide. Type in the city/dates you want, look for the city center or close to it, and book something that is well-reviewed and in your price range (ideally refundable if something changes). It doesn’t have to be an American chain hotel, but it easily could be. Holiday and Hampton Inns are everywhere.
Transportation - Unlike most of the US, it is quite easy to get around without a car in much of the world. Uber, Lyft, or the local equivalent work well around the world. Trains and public transportation are clean and on time. In 2022, my family even took a FlixBus for 6.5 hours, which seems like an awfully long time on a bus, but it was the quickest way from Trieste, Italy, to Vienna, Austria. It turned out to be a great experience for $32/person…..
Communication - Travel before modern smartphones was more complicated. With smartphones, you now have access to Google Translate, live maps, and anything else you could possibly need while on the go. For major US mobile carriers, you can pay $10/day, and your phone automatically keeps working in a different country. Yes, that isn’t cheap, but that is not much different than a couple cups of coffee at Starbucks to have unlimited internet in your pocket without a second thought.
Activities - Planning activities also used to be difficult, but with YouTube and tour operators like Viator, you can find the top things to do in a short period of research for free and do them. Search Viator for a city (say Budapest) and find the top things they recommend, with a quick booking option right there.
Recommendations/Advice
Get a Passport—This is the first step in the international travel process, as it is required for most foreign travel. Even if no event is on the horizon, it is worth applying for a passport now. For adults, passports in the US are good for 10 years, cost $165, and can be obtained at many local post offices. $16.50/year of eligibility is a small cost for the ability to traverse the globe.
Pack Light! - It’s easy to think we need everything from home when we travel. The truth is, you can go to a store virtually anywhere in the world and get what you need. Socks. Underwear. Soap. Snacks. Over-the-counter medication. All of these couldn’t be any easier to get. In fact, forgetting something non-essential can enhance a trip by adding the adventure of a local shop or store you would not have visited otherwise. For a week or even a two-week trip, a carry-on size bag plus a backpack/purse is usually plenty. When in doubt. Leave it behind.
Bring a Friend—There is no better way to make memories and amplify a travel experience than to share them with a friend or family member.
Organized Tours - Group tours may be the easiest way to overcome the trepidation of making a dream trip a reality. While structured tours may cost a little more, you pay for a well-curated experience without the stress or time of planning it yourself. As your travel experience builds, you can use the likes/dislikes learned to cater future trips to your individual preferences. Organized tours also provide group companionship and a shared experience for solo travelers.
Safety - Safety is also a common worry for first-time travelers. Like in any US city, you should be fine if you use common sense. Don’t wear flashy jewelry or clothes. Don’t walk around solo late at night. In fact, many places around the world are far safer than the neighborhoods where we live. We just don’t think of it in the same way. Finally, if safety is a major concern, visit some of the safest countries, such as Japan.
Stretch Out the Duration! - This is often overlooked. Without a set work schedule or other time constraints, travel can and should be stretched out. This also corresponds with the fact that fast travel may no longer be in the cards with age and energy levels. Take your time. Enjoy it. Have that long dinner without worrying about rushing to the next museum at the exact opening time. This also goes with organized tours. The tour may be structured and fast-paced but adding a few days at the beginning to adjust for any jetlag and a few days at the end to relax before hopping back on a plane home can be the best way to travel.
You Can’t See Everything! - The world is a very large place, and there is no way to see and do everything in a new location. That is OK! Embrace and enjoy your unique experiences and live in the present at each moment.
Make Memory Dividends - This term is borrowed from Bill Perkins and his book “Die With Zero.” The concept is to build as many memories or experiences while you can. At the end of life, when it isn’t physically possible to travel and see the world, you can look back at your experiences and re-live those memories. The best part about memory dividends is that we naturally tend to remember the good memories and forget the bad as time goes on. So, if you take the trip to Paris and experience a small, dated hotel that smelled of mildew (this is possibly from personal experience), a year from now, you will remember the Louvre, the French food, and the gardens of Versailles. The less-than-ideal accommodations fade into a distant memory.
Travel Is a Low-Cost Experiment - I get it. Travel is not for everyone. For the most part, you will either like it or not, but the unknown will go away. If you like it, you can do more while there is time. If you don’t, you can always reflect on your last-minute trip to Edinburgh and say, wow, I did that.
People Are Genuinely Good - This is something you will find out the more and more you travel. In general, people are good. They love their friends and families. They want a safe, comfortable environment to raise their children. They will help you in any way they can. They value the same things that we do as Americans.
Geography Lessons - The world is a big place. Far bigger than we think looking at a map. Nothing tells you this, like being 10 hours into a 14-hour flight, looking at the map on the back of the seat in front of you as the world goes by “slowly” at 500+ mph. The same goes for relative geography. I would not have guessed the distance between Doha and Gaza is the same distance as from Syracuse, NY, to Miami, FL.
International Travel Doesn’t Have To Be Far—For those of us who do have responsibilities in retirement (such as caring for a loved one), there still may be opportunities for travel. For a reader who is in Syracuse, NY, or the northeast US in general, international travel does not have to be far. Driving from Syracuse to Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal takes less than 4.5 hours and can be visited on a weekend.
Finale
If you made it this far, you're now armed with the tools to jumpstart your retirement and make your international travel fantasy become a reality.
For those of you who have yet to enter this stage of life, hopefully, some of the tools mentioned will also be helpful in planning your next excursion.
Just remember, there is no perfect trip or experience, so enjoy the journey along the way. The Wall Street Journal posted an article on May 22nd that may also provide some tips on how to make travel more enjoyable (“How to Have a Great Vacation: What Science Tells Us” by Jeff Galak)
I will leave you with one final question, “Why Not Now?”