Now we are contemplating our inaugural retirement trip for the summer of 2020. Our dreams are no less lofty than when we were in our 20s. We may have a little less energy, but more time and more money seem like reasonable tradeoffs.
Rome may as well swing open their hospital doors and have us bike riders steer straight into the emergency room, because it's only a matter of time, especially given Mary's and my advancing ages.
Being a visionary city, Tokyo uses Oshiya or “passenger arrangement staff” to literally shove millions of passengers aboard the trains during rush hours to maximize car space, which works quite well. Our train was so full, I could have passed out cold and never ended up on the floor.
According to local folklore, when townspeople were seeking an official name for the community the mill owner remarked, “Call it Hell. Everyone else does.” Hence a new industry was born, based on tourism.
There are a variety of sailing excursions, plus classes for all levels of expertise, and rentals. But for the sail of a lifetime spend a week on an historic windjammer. Maine windjammers were once cargo schooners and are now National Landmarks that provide affordable, all-inclusive vacations.
While in Manila plan to take a day trip to Corregidor Island where crucial events of WW II took place. Southeast of metro Manila is the impressive American Cemetery and Memorial that marks the final resting place of 17,184 Americans who lost their life in the war.
Trusting vacationers have been known to show up at a beach house or remote mountain cabin, ready to relax. Instead, they’re greeted at the door by a disgruntled property owner, who is not amused his peace and quiet has been disturbed by strangers trying to move into his house.
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Some of the travel providers that advertise on these sites aren’t on the up and up. They advertise prices that can’t be beat, you book with them, pay with your credit card, and boom, you’ve been had. The worst ones, according to Clark.com (a site that monitors scams) are those that sell cheap flights.
We went no further than Baltimore, less than an hour’s drive from our home in Washington, DC. The experiment convinced us that anyone anywhere can follow our game plan and turn a short commute into a memorable getaway.
I’d tried convincing my husband, who’s notoriously seasick-prone, to accompany me. He shook his head. He’s the only person I know who got sick in the Tunnel of Love...Needless to say, the Tunnel of Love is not lovely when your partner is leaning over the side.
Think of Houston as “Sport City Central” with five professional teams and four stadiums. Minute Maid Stadium has a retractable dome; get there early to watch the Astros’ batting practice. It also hosts many sports-related events including Olympic soccer tryouts.