Retirement Misadventures: Adventure Planning

My bucket list, like most peoples, is primarily a listing of all the different places I'd like to visit. There are so many fantastic things I'd love to see in this country in addition to checking off all 50 states. But I also want to visit other countries. I love learning about the history and culture of an area, meeting the locals and getting a feel for how they live, exploring the natural wonders and trying new foods.

This first year my BIG trip will be to Ireland. One of my dearest girlfriends (I'll call her TM) will be my traveling partner. We've vacationed together before and found that it just works. She says I'm the husband of our union because I do all the planning and she just has to show up. Works for me because I love to plan trips.

For European travel, Rick Steves is my go-to authority. Anticipating the Ireland trip I preordered the newest travel guide to Ireland last year so I would get the newest version as soon as it came out. I've read it a few times, taken notes and finally have our itinerary mapped out. I made that sound like an easy task but with my usual flare for overcomplicating everything I actually composed multiple itineraries before settling on anything. Now I just need to plug this in to specific dates. Looks like it's going to be July for us.

TM and I visited Scotland in 2016. We managed pretty well but one thing I didn't count on then was carting heavy luggage up 2-3 flights of stairs. I think only one place had an elevator. So this year I'm going minimalist with one backpack style carry-on and a personal bag. Of course, I couldn't do this without my usual exhaustive research. Seriously, I think I watched at least 25 hours of videos on the best carry-on backpack. I finally decided on the Osprey Fairview 40 which I got from Amazon. I have to say, it looks pretty small but I'm confident my packing cubes (another few hours of research) will manage the small space.

Next I was checking out advice on packing lists. I happened to come across a blog that offered a free downloadable printable checklist. She has traveled to Ireland multiple times and gives a lot of travel advice. If you're planning a trip to Ireland I highly recommend checking out her website, Infinite Ireland. It'll be listed under my favorites. I believe she is also available to assist with travel plans if you would rather enlist someone's help rather than plan your own trip. Or you may decide, like me, to utilize her awesome packing list and tips.

Another feat that proved a little difficult for me on that trip was driving a manual car on the wrong side of the road. I have often commented how the smell of a burning clutch would forever remind me of Scotland. This time I am going to reserve the automatic up front. It seems the cost of an automatic increased the closer we got to our trip. Which is another good reason to be one of those people that can make decisions quickly and easily. I'd also recommend to anyone renting a car to give it a good lookover before you drive it off. If there is ANY scratch, dent or ding make sure it is recorded on your paperwork. I've noticed there are a lot of articles on what type of insurance is needed that are begging for me to read them. Duty calls!

This will be the biggest trip planned this year but hopefully not the least of all the fun times ahead as I navigate this road of retirement. I hope you'll follow along and see how these "misadventures" progress.

Thought I'd share a few pictures from our Scotland trip in 2016