What Would You Do....

[spudley112]

If you were wealthy...or at least did not have to worry about money in your day to day life, what would be your dream? You find yourself in a situation where you no longer have to worry about working a job in order to provide for yourself (or your family if you have one) so you are free to pursue whatever you wish. What would it be?

Personally, I think my is getting close to being something of a reality. I will not retire with an endless supply of money, but should be able to somewhat manage well.

My pursuit has been on my mind for many many years. As a guy that only seems to feel 100% natural on my motorcycle, I have had a dream about taking to the road with the goal of visiting as many places within the United States as I possibly can. After traveling to different places around the world while in the military, I really just wanted to see as much of my own country as I could. There are so many countries in the world that are amazing places, and all of them would be fun to visit...but to truly experience the soul of "Americana" and experience these places, big and small, is just something I feel calling to me.

After retiring, I want to begin my quest of trekking out to visit these places. Sure, the big popular spots (Grand Canyon, Redwood forest etc) will be fun to see, but the little back roads, small towns, and forgotten vistas call to me. I hope to spend the winter months saving up and preparing for my spring and summer travels. I cannot wait to put on those miles!

[Gerhard Gerber]

Easy.
Visit the few countries I'd consider emigrating to, make a choice, make the move and set up my forge, make the knives I want to without a care if they sell.....

Retirement is not an option, my pension as it stands could cover food for 2 years if I was living rent free.

Private medical aid and care is prohibitively expensive, state medical care is a slaughterhouse with queues, no social welfare and state pension is a joke.

[nate j]

Spuds, your plan seems pretty good to me, and probably darn close to what I would do were I in your situation.

A van with a full-size mattress in the back would probably be more my speed than a motorcycle.  If I did that, I would only have to check into a hotel probably every 2nd or 3rd night, or maybe forgo the hotels all together and just shower at truck stops as needed.  The van would be more comfortable in the rain or cold for sure, and I could always drive with the windows down when the weather was nice.

If, after a few (or five or ten) years of that, I decided that I had seen much of America and wanted to go international, I would strongly consider eschewing the cramped, invasive, and hectic nightmare that is modern commercial air travel in favor of traveling by ship.  Of course, there are the commercial cruises (which have lots of entertainment options but tend to be expensive), but a lesser-known option is to book passage aboard a private freighter.  I'm told the prices are quite reasonable and the food is very good, but pack lots of books, cards, etc. as you are solely responsible for your own entertainment.