Home, Home, Homebody?

Just a note to mention that I've added a few new bloggers to my sidebar, one of whom is the blogger mentioned below in this post. Another blogger "The Parents Flew The Nest", is actually a frugal blogger I follow who has started a second blog. As empty nesters, they have revamped a mini van into a two person camper, fixing it up so they can sleep, cook, and do the basics on the road. Since this is something I think may be of interest to some readers who are not quite into the RV lifestyle,and is something I might have considered at some point in my road tripping life, I've included it so that I (we) can follow their journey.

Food, Art and Music. My favorite things. Where I'll be tomorrow!

One of the blogs now on my sidebar (and whom I've been following for awhile), is Retirement Confidential. I started following Donna because as a woman who uses pot (with THC, not just CBD oil), I was interested in Donna's journey as she experimented with CBD oil. I continue to read her blog for many reasons aside from the pot issues. Her most recent blog had to do with travel vs staying at home (she is at the staying at home point in her life/retirement).

I have come to realize that, almost unconsciously, I have become much more a "close to home" person than an "on the road person". Prior the Colorado move, I was a road warrior, driving from Denver to San Diego via Arches National Park, Monument Valley, much of Arizona and the like (and then taking a different route home to Dallas) one a single trip alone. After a couple years of settling in and adjusting to my new surroundings in Denver, I again did some road tripping (albeit not the way I did before). Over the last couple years, I had promised myself that I would again hit the road in full force, upping my travel.

That has not materialized. In my "travel folder" I have notes and notes on the idea for a train trip that goes from Denver to San Francisco along to coast to San Diego, through Arizona and south Texas (with a stop in Marfa for example). This has not happened, and this is not just about finances  (although some adventures will be easier when I finally,  at 66 Lord help me, no longer have a child in college). I have always, fixed income and all, manged to travel when the travel calls. Nor is it about the traveling alone. I have always enjoyed traveling alone.

Somewhere in the last few years, I have become someone who  prefers short adventures, her own bed, and single week vacations more than "hitting the road". and I know that that is okay. Sometime in October  I will be celebrating my birthday. Generally I take a four day vacation, and as regular readers know, I tend to waver each year between Santa Fe, Glenwood springs, or vegging out at the Broadmoor hotel. One year i spent a week in South Dakota visiting the badlands, Mount Rushmore, various wildlife parks and more. I did enjoy that trip, even more than I thought I would.

I still visit my daughter in the Dallas area at least two times a year for multiple weeks (where I have my own room). I always take a different route there and home, and this year have at least one side trip planned while I am there. I would love to spend a week on the gulf coast (which of course means driving there and back), and taking a train to Chicago is on my radar. But except for visiting said daughter, I'm generally gone a couple weeks a year. And for now, that's enough. I live in an area where there is a great deal to do locally. I have a fairly active social life, and more weekend and three day trips in my area than I can easily cover.

Admittedly, I need to insert here that I have been unusually blessed to have lived in Europe a total of over 14 years, which has allowed me a fair amount of cheap travel in places others may not have experienced,  along with a living full time in a different culture. Any future travel, I expect to be done on this continent , at least in the near future. I don't feel the call to "see everything I have been thinking about in retirement". Also, I don't fly although I do love trains, and my continuous leg degeneration is making driving slightly more difficult every year, even with the cruise control available.

I have a lot of hobbies and interests I enjoy doing at home. I like my home, imperfect and aged as it is. I have money I would rather spend at home (getting a kick out recliner and better sofas) than I would on travel. Every week I take at least one full day to go out and do something/explore, and there is enough around her to do that every week, no matter the weather, a choice has to be made. I enjoy going to lunch, crafting and other things with friends. I could plan a weekend trip a month and the same would be true, although there are places like Santa Fe that I could visit ten times if I could visit it once.

Eventually up on graduation my late blooming son will move to another state most likely (before entering grad school. He could be in a different state than my daughter and at that point I will either be doing much more traveling or moving to be close to one or the other. For now, I'm happy where I am, almost all the time.

So I'll travel occasionally, stay home a great deal, and enjoy everyone else's adventures from afar, in my comfy chair!