So you’ve saved up for that once in a lifetime holiday and headed off to your dream destination. You’ve budgeted for visas, internal transfers, meals, accommodation and tours, but what about shopping for gifts and souvenirs? Most travellers like nothing more than purchasing a memento of their travels and bringing gifts back home to their…
Beware of affordable holiday packages! From our recent experience with the “cheap as chips” travel agency, TripADeal on a 14 day Sri Lanka/Maldives trip there is absolutely no flexibility. Once you’ve booked and paid there is no flexibility and no changes can be made. It doesn’t matter if you’ve moved interstate, had a death in the…
Retirement! It conjures up all sorts of images. Recliner chairs, grey nomads, endless cups of tea, lawn bowls, afternoon naps and $10 roast nights at the local club – just to name a few! Until I reached a certain age this is how I pictured retirement because this basically describes my parent’s or even my…
For the past six months or so I’ve been contemplating retiring from my part-time job as a hotel social media and communications assistant. Everyone said that I had the dream job. I worked from home with flexible hours, my work was interesting and varied and I worked with a great bunch of women. But something…
When I’m travelling or just having a short weekend break somewhere I often can’t be bothered taking my big DLSR camera with me. Let’s face it my camera is heavy, takes up valuable luggage space and is cumbersome to lug around at times. Plus if I want to take my extra lenses for my camera,…
When you first retire, it can be quite a strange feeling. After going to work five days a week for forty years or more, it can be such a change to not have to do that. But, that’s all in the beauty of retirement. Although you may want to get up and get about, and…
A few years back, when we were both still in our mid-fifties we started to think about life in retirement and commenced planning for the eventuality. Like many people approaching retirement age we were concerned whether we had enough super and enough funds to live comfortably for the rest of our lives. We trotted along…
More and more of us are travelling overseas these days, and it’s not just to Bali or Fiji. We’re venturing further afield to the continents of Europe, North and South America and even to Africa. We’re jet setting off to exotic destinations that some of us never dreamed would be possible. However when it comes…
Travelling the globe is a terrific way to spend time with a friend, family member or significant other. But some data suggests it’s also an upward-trending opportunity for some alone time. According to the 2015 Visa Global Travel Intentions Study, some 24 percent of people went solo on their most recent overseas luxury trip, up…
I often converse with women of my age, mostly those that have retired from full-time employment and have grandchildren. They all tend to lament that they barely have time to scratch themselves in their retirement and as a consequence they are tired and rundown. My initial thought is “how come they’re so busy? Isn’t being…