Planning for a “Trip of a Lifetime”

(April-May 2023) When one travels, how does one prioritize where to go, how long to stay there, and what to pass up? And should our priorities change when we continue to travel well into our later years? What would you do if you were planning for a voyage that was to be quite possibly your last trip ever? Not to be a Debbie Downer, but as I am passing from my early- to my mid-60s, and I’m planning a trip, these thoughts quite naturally pop into my head. Do we approach it as if it’s our last -- the trip of a lifetime? Or, as we plan, do we blithely reassure ourselves that this trip is just one of many more to come?

Never, ever would I have imagined myself in the position that Bob and I are now in. But, three-and-a-half years into our lives as part-time Parisians, we are presented with this conundrum twice annually.

As I have mentioned before in this blog, Bob does not relish the idea of spending four weeks a year exclusively in Paris. While I am much more the Paris fanatic, I can certainly see his point, so we have agreed to branch out at every opportunity. For anyone from a country as large as the United States, the mind boggles at how easy it can be to visit neighboring European countries simply by hopping a train for a few hours!

Our next trip is set for late August 2023. When we sit down to contemplate side trips from our Parisian homebase, my first thought is to go for something entirely new to both of us. Prague, I think! Or Prague and Vienna…or Prague and Berlin?? It’s funny how quickly the possibilities fly into our heads when we’re planning an adventure! In the end, however, after checking flights to and from Prague from Paris, or from Paris to Prague and then home, we are quickly brought back down to earth by the exorbitant prices. Okay, maybe not ALL of Europe is so easily reachable, even from a city as cosmopolitan as Paris. After all, we do still have our relatively moderate travel budget to consider.

I am fully aware of the dangers of coming off here as insufferably bourgeouis. And I could easily understand if you were tempted to roll your eyes while reading. It’s just that, unlike so many other ways we could be spending our money in our senior years, we have decided that travel is our number one priority. We want to do it as often, and for as many years, as we can – at least until well into our 70s.

So, here we are, planning our next trip by fits and starts. After the Prague idea, I fixate for a time on Switzerland. I think, Bob has never been there, he should jump at the chance. In the end, however, gorgeous, snow-capped mountains and melty, gooey cheeses are not a great enough draw for him. Switzerland just isn’t calling…or yodeling to him.

This is where the bucket list, “trip of a lifetime” angle comes in. As Bob feels his biological clock ticking, his inner voice begins to urge him, “Hey! What about Scotland?! It’s time to visit Edinburgh…and why not throw in a quick side trip to beer-loving Bruges while you’re at it?” So, Paris, Scotland and Belgium it is!

It's now June 1st, and our European trip is fast approaching. Reservations have been made -- travel guides consulted. The rest of the summer promises to be eventful as well, with day trips to nearby Ocean City, a possible New York City excursion, concerts in Easton here on the Eastern Shore, and in Columbia and Baltimore across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. We are in the process of selling our old house in the city, which, along with the recent death of a longtime friend, adds a bittersweet note to the atmosphere. Now, as we go about our day-to-day routines, we have come to accept that nothing in this life is guaranteed, so we need to make every day, every experience, like a “trip of a lifetime.”