Years ago when we honeymooned in Europe for three months, we had so much time and so little money that there was neither need nor possibility to make every moment a masterpiece.
Since then, each vacation has been squeezed between the responsibilities of what is called “daily life,” so we traveled with a sense that no moment should be wasted…..every accommodation special, every meal sumptuous, every view spectacular.
This first trip of retirement, more than twice the duration of any vacation since our honeymoon but still half the length of that journey, is being conducted at a median pace. We cannot make every day a homerun….neither our pocketbooks nor our waist lines allow that. We are renting apartments, using public transportation, shopping for groceries, eating some simple meals in and acting abit more like locals than we did decades ago.
The fact that we traveled then at a total cost per day that is less than one good glass of wine now also has a lot to do with the pace of this journey.
JER
ALL OVER THE MAP 