What are your 2012 travel plans?

[Badger]

Sadly, no international travel for the Badgers this year. The Mrs and I are attending a conference in St. Louis (I've insisted that we drive past America's Largest Catsup Bottle so I can get a FOT pic); there may be a summer trip to Palm Desert; and there's another conference in San Diego, which I might attend solo. These should be OK trips, though it's never awesome to have to prepare research ahead of time. It goes without saying that preparing ahead of time is better than having to write your paper in the bathroom of the hotel because it's 3 a.m. and you don't want to disturb anyone but your panel is at 9 [cough, Madison, cough, cough].

We all know that jeffmac is soon going somewhere fun. What about you?

[jannilee]

Cuba - done but will probably go back next year for a more adventurous experience. Spain in April - Granada, Seville, Madrid and....??? Not fully planned yet. Travelling with my best travel buddy. We will probably go one other place in addition to those listed. We will be there for 2 1/2 weeks. I will go to Ontario in the summer and possibly DC in the fall for a Smithsonian overdose. Of course SF is on the list and so is Chicago but not sure how much more I can work in without running seriously into debt.

[GEOcycle]

Back to the USA either in Sept for a friend's wedding, or Xmas. Isle of Man / UK in the fall, or Xmas. Hopefully attending a conference in Beijing with my wife this summer as well. I should be starting work soon so hopefully that will leave more money to travel through Japan, and the surrounding countries!

[WhiteStar]

Let's see... Denver for 5 days next week. Garden City , KS, for 3 days in March. A week in Albuquerque/ 4 Corners in May. Maybe Casper Wyoming in May. Either a week in Northern CA or Montana in June. A few days in Eagle (near Vail), CO in July. A week in Minnesota in August. Amarillo, TX in September. Nothing planned for the rest of the year.....

[snowbot]

Brazil for one week this Spring (all work), hopefully a couple of weeks in Australia (vacation!), at least one trip to Madison, WI, a family trip to Alberta, and, most likely, a trip or two to Washington DC on short notice (work). I'm hoping to get to Portland, OR or Seattle, too, but nothing has been planned yet.

[BPritchard]

Travel while you can

As of the middle of June, my wife will join me in retirement.

She retired in 2000 after 30 years as a Kindergarten teacher and opened a Child Care business concentrating in teacher's children. She wanted to keep the summer, Fall and spring times opened for the grandchildren.

She was down to two 3 year girls for 2011-2012 school year. One of the girls left for pre-school so now only one is left.
Seems like the right time to close down since her current child will go to pre-school in the fall.

I retired last month as a software developer due to a RIF. I was planning on two or three more years before official retirement, but the decision was made for me.

I feel fortunate that I was able to join a Medicare Advantage plan starting in Feb 1. Also, I will get full Social Security retirement this May. At least I don't have to find employment for medical coverage. We were fortunate enough to be able to build up adequate retirement investments plus my wife's pension from the state.

She has said that this is a sign for us to travel while our health is good; especially remembering my bout with stage four cancer when I was 36 years old. We have friends that are suffering from bad knees, arthritis, and other problems that would make travel not as enjoyable.

Our big trip this year is to Minnesota this June. We also want to visit Santa Fe and San Antonio. Now we can go whenever we want to.

We also joined a Senior house swap program. This way, we can travel to a location and avoid the hotel expense.

I'll keep my skills up to date in case I want to do some contract work in the future.

So we will travel as much as we can while we can.

[snowbot]

It goes without saying that preparing ahead of time is better than having to write your paper in the bathroom of the hotel because it's 3 a.m. and you don't want to disturb anyone but your panel is at 9 [cough, Madison, cough, cough].

Oh my! And I thought losing my free day before the meeting to presentation preparation was bad.

[bltkmt]

As of the middle of June, my wife will join me in retirement.

Congratulations to you both! Enjoy your freedom!

[Badger]

Oh my! And I thought losing my free day before the meeting to presentation preparation was bad.

It's better than the time I was writing my paper in the taxi on the way to my panel.

[Badger]

She has said that this is a sign for us to travel while our health is good; especially remembering my bout with stage four cancer when I was 36 years old. We have friends that are suffering from bad knees, arthritis, and other problems that would make travel not as enjoyable.

Amen to that. I've been in school my entire life, and Mrs B and I have used our rather meager resources to prioritize travel. I've seen relatives wait for "someday" only to succumb to illness or have some tragedy befall them--so "someday" never came. While traveling isn't for everyone, I think that if it's something you value, it's so worth it to do it now and not put it off.

bpritchard, I hope you and your wife enjoy your upcoming journeys.

[nukediver]

Amen to that. I've been in school my entire life, and Mrs B and I have used our rather meager resources to prioritize travel. I've seen relatives wait for "someday" only to succumb to illness or have some tragedy befall them--so "someday" never came. While traveling isn't for everyone, I think that if it's something you value, it's so worth it to do it now and not put it off.

I couldn't agree more Badger. My partner and I live in a modest townhouse, specifically so we can travel. This year, we've already gone to Ft. Lauderdale for a week, and have many upcoming trips - a week-long Caribbean cruise (18 days from now), a week in Houston (work, ugh), 8 days on a live-aboard dive boat in the St. Maarten area, countless day trips into NYC, several weekends in Lewes, DE to visit friends, and a possible long weekend in DC later in the year. Can't wait!

[Badger]

I couldn't agree more Badger. My partner and I live in a modest townhouse, specifically so we can travel. This year, we've already gone to Ft. Lauderdale for a week, and have many upcoming trips - a week-long Caribbean cruise (18 days from now), a week in Houston (work, ugh), 8 days on a live-aboard dive boat in the St. Maarten area, countless day trips into NYC, several weekends in Lewes, DE to visit friends, and a possible long weekend in DC later in the year. Can't wait!

Man, I could use a trip to the Caribbean right now. Iowa is so unsexy in the winter time.

[Flinx]

Trip to AZ planned in a couple of months, and a trip to Vegas over Labor Day weekend (The Gathering, woo!)

The Vegas trip depends on whether I can get back to full time employment though... Currently at 24 hours a week, bleh.

Nothing else big planned, but a few long weekends for fishing, camping, and hunting are always on the menu, and will give me ample opportunity to use my Aeronaut.

[nukediver]

@badger, I kinda like winter, but as I get older, that's changing. Can't say I've had the opportunity to *enjoy* an Iowa winter ��

[marcus]

I could not agree more with you Badger. I love to travel and prefer to prioritize funds so that we can travel. I am thankful we can travel now and hope and pray that we will be able for a long time. This year so far my wife and I will travel in May on a cruise in the Caribbean. In August, South Carolina, and then this Spring a NYC trip. I would love to add to that travel.