Last Updated on July 10, 2019 by PowersToTravel
Or is it better to go around the world in spits-and-starts, in manageable and affordable chunks, and let that trip last a lifetime?
A few years ago, as I approached retirement, I considered a “trip around the world” as a possible retirement present to myself. It sounded so exotic, so defining.
“Oh, she’s the one who took a trip around the world!”
“I wish I could take a trip around the world, like her!”
I have been learning in these past few years that accompanied by my insulin pump, my continuous-glucose-monitoring system, and my husband, I can do so much more than I ever dreamed possible. So, the dream “is” possible. But is it really desirable? Will I get the most dream for my buck?
I’ve decided “No.”
The intensity of each smaller trip we took before my retirement, each ten-day to two-and-a-half week trip has impacted me permanently. I can still feel the “Oooo” of wonder as I sat on the grass overlooking the ruins of Machu Picchu,
or struggled to control my sled-dogs in Svalbard.
Do I need many more of these experiences crammed into a smaller time-frame to increase their intensity? I think not.
I don’t want to be a travel blogger who must write each day while traveling, in order to keep up with the overload of people, environment and knowledge that overwhelms you when traveling. I would much rather experience the country fully, take a few well placed notes, and write about it upon my return.
The cost of such a trip is also overwhelming. In retirement, when you withdraw funds from an IRA or retirement plan, you have to pay taxes on them. Withdrawing in bulk certainly would force you into a higher tax bracket. Suddenly that trip isn’t just what the airlines charged you, or the hotels, but what Uncle Sam is charging you as well! Money withdrawn at a more modest rate carries more modest taxes!
Even with my technology, keeping sugars balanced requires focus. When I travel, I am more focused on avoiding disasters – the sugars will ride a little higher as I try to avoid a crash during a long adventure. The longer the focus is required, the more lazy I will become. “Oh? a 200? at least I’m not falling on the pavement.”
Food in strange locales do strange things to your blood sugar levels. No sooner do you adjust than you are off to another strange culture with strange ingredients.
I also carry all my supplies with me, in my carry-on. (Click here for my article about carry 63 days worth!) The supplies are very expensive and my life depends on them. I have learned from other diabetics who have traveled for long periods that obtaining these supplies overseas can be fraught with danger. It’s not just the US Postal Service that is transporting the goods – it’s international services with international tariffs, laws and inspections. Things can go wrong if not properly planned. Is piecing together a myriad of countries and small trips a single long one really that beneficial?
So, I began my retirement with “baby-steps” – a 63 day trip to Southeast Asia
The trip didn’t start out to be that long; as I planned and investigated, must-do’s insistently presented themselves. “How can we go so far, and be so close, and not see xxxx?” Before long the two country trip (Thailand and Cambodia) which I had originally envisioned turned into a six country odyssey.
When the planning reached 63 days I had to call it quits – the cost grew too high, and the number of days away from home overwhelming.
However, the length of the planned trip, and the challenge of the Southeast Asia culture and environment thrilled me. It would indeed be a challenge for my lifetime. You can see it all here. Unfortunately I still have not completed my writing. I certainly did not write much during the trip!
We began to feel a sense of repetition during the trip. How many times would we be cajoled to see an Insect Market, or eat Cashew Chicken, or have to take off our shoes for a temple? The repetition was itself amazing, for that never happened at home! But it was repetition nonetheless.
I expected that the effort to keep insulin refrigerated for the first 35 days and cool for the remainder would be exhausting, but I found it was not so because almost all of our hotels had small refrigerators. But if they had not? If we traveled in countries that did not cater to Westerners in that fashion? The effort would have been tedious to say the least.
I think it was the requirement that insulin taken out of a refrigerator be used within 28 days that really drove me to shorten the length of the next trip.
Our Eastern European Trip lasted ONLY 33 days
“ONLY?” you ask? Yes, ONLY.
I originally dreamed of a trip to Eastern Europe as another 60-day odyssey: train our way from Germany east through Austria, Hungary, to Romania, then back west through a southern route of Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, through Switzerland back to Germany.
Even as our Southeast Asian Odyssey was winding down, you could hear me say to Greg, “Nope, no Slovenia, No Croatia”, then “No Serbia”, as I mentally slashed days from the next trip.
Upon our return, and when it would come to the final planning for Eastern Europe, I trimmed it to 33 days. Just five more days than the magical “insulin taken out of a refrigerator be used within 28 days.”
With the variety of transport and cultures we encountered on the Eastern Europe trip, I felt upon its conclusion that I had chosen well. Airplane sometimes, train at times, even a Danube boat, and last but not least, a hired car and driver for one city-to-city sprint all contributed to an exhilarating feeling of variety.
Oops – We’ll be gone for 40 days this fall
Yes, I slipped up, and I know exactly how. The trans-Pacific airline tickets which I had scoped out for Australia suddenly hopped up in price when I was finally able to compare real days. Pay a lot of extra money to the airline, or leave a week early and pay that extra money to the hotels and for adventures we would have. Leaving a week early became the easy choice. I’ll only need to guard my insulin for the first week and a half of the trip, and then I’ll be in the clear. All the hotels I’ve chosen have little frig’s, I’ll be carrying it in my custom insulating box, so we should be all set!
And where will we be going? Three weeks to Queensland Australia and the Great Barrier Reef at Heron Island as well Lady Elliot Island. Then we “hop” over to Japan for three weeks, once again trying our hand at rail travel, and perhaps a little “over-templing.” Why Japan? Vanessa, Greg’s daughter is there, with her family.
What would our trip look like, if we had compressed the last eight years into one “Around the World”?
Here is a glimpse:
I want to space out my excitement. I want to always have something new and different to look forward to. I want my retirement funds to last until the ends of the earth!
