A million isn't that much money nowadays, especially if you retire a bit early and expect to live another 30-40 years.
A million isn't that much money nowadays, especially if you retire a bit early and expect to live another 30-40 years.
We travel plenty. We wish to see our own country...there are 50 great states and we're working our way east.
I fully understand that not everyone would maximize the enjoyment of that money on that weekend but we had a blast and we have great memories!
Have you ever spent 10 days exploring the panhandle of Idaho? Do you know about the ancient cedar grove north of Wallace? 2 weeks on the Colorado summit in the summer exploring all the backroads, high mountain lakes? Hiked the continental divide? Explored highway 1 from Bodega Bay to San Simeon? Spent 4 days walking San Francisco? We select a location and we immerse ourselves. Most "travelers" we know have experienced none of these wonders......they go to other countries.
Why travel abroad instead of beauty like those examples? Why Italy or Peru instead of Colorado or Montana or the Berkshires for a week or 2? The USA is amazing!!!
Ive had some good times in a casino and some bad. But I have investigated and arrested and people have subsequently went to prison for long stretches for stealing money from old pensioners, dying nursing home residents, government taxpayers ...etc. and lots have lost their homes, their spouses, their families because they were gambling addicts. When states started using casinos to fund their social welfare programs and pay off government contractors....things turned toward the endgame. So I think I could do without legalized gambling. The neighborhood poker game is good enough.
A friend is in Las Vegas right now; just sent a thousand photos. It just looks fake and garish to me, but it's hard to tell from here. I thought at least there might be reasonably-priced food, but maybe that's just the buffets. At least the prices seemed high to this rube. I'm thinking gambling is the draw.
Yes. In my view, a life well lived doesn’t need to be juiced up with anybody else’s idea of “experiences”, cheap or no. The stuff that gets thrown at me in everyday living is enough. I don’t begrudge anybody else their own preferences as long as they don’t expect me to sudsidize them.
My dad spent a couple of years after he retired just driving around the state on day trips, visiting every covered bridge that was still in existence. I think there are over 50 of them. I went with him on a couple of the trips. Is this something I would do? No. I'd be bored at some point. But he loved it. After the covered bridges, he traveled to every historical marker in the state.
Not that he hadn't traveled during his career in the military. And after he retired, he visited his far-flung offspring in places like South Korea, Germany, Turkey and England, as well as visiting family and friends spread across the US. And there was his epic, three-month, post-retirement trip where he took all of us (7 kids and Mom) on a camping trip across the entire US, and into Canada and Mexico.
But for me the key point is--he spent his time and his money doing those things that brought him enjoyment. Expensive cars were not his thing, or a fancy house, or expensive clothing. He liked spending a day driving to a new location. He enjoyed visiting family and friends.
And isn't that one of the points of being frugal? That you can spend your money on what matters most to you?
We travel the states all the time. Yes I have done some of the things you mentioned. We love Europe for its beauty and history. Been there 4 times and will go back in a year. We don’t see a ton of countries but pick one area and explore for a few weeks. We spent 2 weeks in just the Tuscany region. Europe is not accessible at all so I tell people to see if first because you can see the states anytime as it’s accessible. But to each his own.
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