RetirementHomes.com - Lodging

Joie de Vivre! Top Destinations to Retire by the Beach

aadmin — Tue, 04 Mar 2014 12:56:21 +0000

‘Joie de Vivre’ or the ‘Joy of Life’ is something that takes on a whole new meaning when you retire. This is particularly true if you retire by the beach to enjoy a laidback lifestyle with plenty of excitement.

If you think life after retirement means spending long days sitting indoors parked in front of the TV, or pottering in the garden waiting for flowers to bloom, then you are quite mistaken. If you are on the lookout for more excitement, and plenty of fun in the sun, sand, and surf, then retirement destinations by the beach is for you.

Be it in your home country, or in lands far away, a coastal setting offers an idyllic getaway to enjoy a carefree lifestyle, spending days soaking up the sun, engaging in thrilling water sports, and taking in heavenly sunsets. It's a life full of possibilities and new adventures that offers the chance to make new friends, or spend quality time with that special someone, sharing in the joy of life.

While the beach may be just a “beach” to some, each coastal destination offers a truly unique experience. In the Caribbean, the island of Ambergris Caye in Belize is an ideal option. Fans of ‘Temptation Island’ know the picturesque isle was used as a location for two seasons of the reality TV show. Look forward to plenty of beach side areas to enjoy life by the sea. Discover the second longest barrier reef in the world within easy reach, offering plenty of diving and snorkeling.

Spain's Costa del Sol is another top destinations to retire by the beach. The seemingly never-ending Andalucian coastline offers spots of sublime seclusion by the sea, perfect for those looking to get away from it all. Amid these tranquil beaches, there are captivating villages and towns, adding to the charm of the region’s sun drenched shoreline.

Asia also offers enchanting beach destinations for retirement exotic flair. Vietnam's Hoi An makes a good spot for retirement. This busy seaport is well known for its pristine beaches. For a break, explore the town to find ancient buildings and Chinese temples which provide rich cultural insights.

Consider Thailand's Phuket, a beach destination surrounded by the turquoise waters of the Andaman Sea. This magical island is set in golden shores, lush greenery, and awe-inspiring rocky headlands. There is a large retirement community here where one can find like-minded individuals and couples looking to share in new adventures.

Sri Lanka is known for its golden coastlines and famed for its rich culture and cuisine. It offers several beach locales well suited for those interested in active retirement living. Consider staying at the retirement village of Heritage Grove in Negombo, along the island’s West Coast, with its soft sandy beaches in a tropical paradise.

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Four Winter Get-aways for Adventurous Boomers

aadmin — Wed, 11 Dec 2013 15:12:06 +0000

I could never resist the call of the trail – Buffalo Bill

Many boomers seek well-trodden paths, like Florida, Vegas, and Cancun. But, there are a growing number of open-minded middle-aged travelers choosing adventurous paths, closer to home.

Boomer Travel Patrol
This online resource offers free-spirited travel tips to boomers during the holiday season, and year-round.

Founder, Liz Dahl, a former travel agent, realized that an increasing number of her clients were people in her age group – baby boomers. She started to send them to distinctive destinations beyond the highly-sought 18 to 49 year-old-demographic for advertisers.

“I suggest travel spots beyond cruises and bus trips,” she said. “Boomers are looking for new experiences.” All writers for Boomer Travel Patrol are born from 1946 to 1964. “My generation.”

For a nonconformist RV winter camp experience, Boomer Travel Patrol suggests Brown County State Park, near Nashville, Indiana, easy driving distance from Indianapolis, Cincinnati and Louisville.

There's a highly-touted park nature center offering interpretive services. The park features 16,000 acres of hilly terrain and dusky moraine, ice fishing, and nearly a dozen easy to moderate hiking trails.

Palo Duro Canyon State Park
Near Amarillo, in the Texas Panhandle, the Palo Duro Canyon can be reached by car within four to five hours from Dallas, Oklahoma City, and Albuquerque.

Eric W. Miller, Director of Communications, Amarillo Convention & Visitor Council, said the canyon is a special place for art lovers. “It was a favorite spot for Georgia O’Keeffe from 1916 to 1918 when she lived in the area,” said Miller.

O’Keeffe would walk eight miles from her home and descend into the canyon. “The big sky, the vivid colors of the canyon and the light helped impart her special style and touch.”

The canyon still remains a favorite spot for artists. During the spring and fall, artists test their skills during sunrise or sunset visits.

There are over 30 miles of roaming trails through the park, including spectacular views of the Red River. Several of the trails are mountain biker friendly, and the canyon has become a top mountain biking destination in Texas.

December weather averages 50.1 F and 21 sunny days. For those who want to get their kicks, Route 66 runs through Amarillo. For more information – visitamarillotx.com

Mohave Desert
Sounds improbable and unbearably hot, but Los Angeles and Las Vegas are connected by a four-hour stretch of the I-15 Interstate that runs along the perimeter of the Mohave Desert.

Desert amphibians, reptiles, mammals and birds can be spotted with the help of park interpreters. The endangered desert tortoise makes its home in the Mohave. The Joshua tree and other drought-resistant plants are on display for tourists who decide to prolong their visit. For more information: www.nps.gov/moja/index.htm

Northern Edge Algonquin
For Boomers who miss the traditional season, Todd Lucier has created a dog sledding experience in Ontario’s near north where boomers can learn to lead dog teams across the frozen terrain.

Participants can expect to see the Northern Lights and make early 2014 resolutions on a night sky filled with shooting stars. Sledding season is offered from January to March.

Lucier said participants consider dog sledding as a bucket list experience. "Afterwards they’re smiling from ear to ear," he enthused. "It takes a while for them to get to know the dogs, but by the end everyone is snapping close-up photos of each other."

Rustic cabins are available with high-quality solar panels for warmth. Northern Edge Algonquin offers a year-round holistic retreat for the spiritually-minded boomer crowd.

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House Sitting - One Woman's Never Ending Story

aadmin — Wed, 30 Oct 2013 13:56:25 +0000

Americans have specialized in alternative lifestyles that can be traced back to Thoreau’s call to step to the beat of a different drum.

California’s Kelly Hayes-Raitt has heeded a distinctive rhythm by financing a political activist’s life as a house sitter in Lake Chapala, London, Paris, Copenhagen and the outskirts of Amsterdam.

Her nomadic existence has offered the opportunity to write and edit about Iraqi and Palestinian refugees at LivingLargeInLimbo.com and by blogging for Violating Sanctions.

Hayes-Raitt is a lifelong political activist and spokesperson for campaigns championing women's rights, environmental cleanup, consumers' rights and other social justice causes.

She has house sat in Chapala, Mexico since 2010, her away home from mid-September to mid-February and from April to June.

Setting Up House Sitting Arrangements

Hayes-Raitt, 52-years-old, has established a trusted relationship with an older retired couple. They cover all the expenses of the house, including a house keeper, a pool maintenance man, and gardeners. She’s responsible for making sure the house runs smoothly during their absence, including caring for their dog.

She rents out her house in Los Angeles – an ongoing source of rental income – incurs no housing expenses in Lake Chapala. With lower expenditures in Mexico, compared to California, she saves on income.

“It’s perfect,” said Hayes-Raitt. “I love the community.” She feels she has roots in Chapala because she’s lived there many seasons. “I enjoy the house and the dog and I’m friends with the neighbours.”

HouseSitMexico.com has been an excellent web departure point for the roaming activist – and TrustedHousesitters.com – where home owners with pets search for house sitters.

Retired people in Mexico often return to the USA or Canada for medical care or extended visits with families and grandchildren – or they’re seasonal retirees – half the year in Mexico – the other back home. A house sitter ensures safety and security, especially pet care.

The Role of the House Sitter

Flexibility and a spirit of adventure are the key house sitter traits. Every home has its quirks so they need to be comfortable with pets and all household routines – and be available on the house owner’s timetable – their departures and return dates. “It requires emotional, financial, and time flexibility.”

Hayes-Raitt's resourcefulness is supplemented by“a hell of a lot of faith.” She'll leave Chapala for Los Angeles in January 2014, then off to Europe for the summer months. But she’ll be unable to firm up her plans until April or May when summer house sitting season opens across the Atlantic.

Her run-down on house sitters types:

Vacationers who want to spend several weeks or months without paying for accommodations
Toe-tippers. People who want to check out retirement in foreign communities
Entrepreneurial house sitters who create income from their rental property and pare down expenses while living in a foreign country
Writers and artists – like Hayes-Raitt – who free up time for their passion
A combination of the above

Whatever the aims for boomers and younger middle-aged house sitters, Hayes-Raitt advises that they know their goals and basic needs.

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Politics and Government

Travel

Travel Tips

The Top Seven Reasons to Retire in Mexico

aadmin — Mon, 28 Oct 2013 14:25:15 +0000

Mexico has become one of the most popular international retirement spots. It’s estimated that 1-million Americans have settled south of the border while hundreds of thousands of snowbirds fly in for the harsh winter months. The reasons are easy to understand.

1. Weather
Tim Leffel, travel writer, author of 4th edition of World’s Cheapest Destinations, lauds Mexico as a land of many desirable climes for northerners tired of long winters.

“There’s hot and sunny beach weather in Cabo San Lucas, La Paz and Puerto Vallarta, explained Leffel. “Or there’s year-round, high altitude, pleasant climate – San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato or San Cristobal de las Casas – eternal spring weather.”

2. Money
Mexico offers a better lifestyle for a lot less money compared to Florida or Phoenix or Taos. In Mexico, retirees can enjoy a similar or better climate, a bigger house, and similar amenities at one-half the price.

“Labor is less expensive. Domestic help is available for substantially less. Americans with average savings can live like wealthy people," Leffel said.

3. Generous tourist visas for snowbirds
Older people can escape the cold winters and head back home in the spring. The Mexican government extends a 180-day tourist visa making Mexico a prime target for snowbirds.

4. Quality health plan
Legal residents can access the Mexican health care system including public clinics and hospitals. Private health care plans are widely available at a fraction of US expenses for private hospitals and clinics.

International travel insurance is widely employed to cover Mexican private health care which can be combined with paying out of pocket. "Or just pay out of pocket because it’s inexpensive, even at a private clinic," said Leffel.

Santiago Hernandez MD, runs ChapalaMed with offices in Chapala and in the nearby cosmopolitan center of Guadalajara. He services the growing ex-pat population.

"I charge one-third of US family doctor's fees,” said Dr. Hernandez. The Mexican-born doctor has resided in the USA for most of his life. He worked in a family medicine practice for two years in Franklin Park, IL and another two years in Aurora, IL, before returning to his homeland.

5. Work
Guadalajara’s Metropolitan Area possesses a 4-million plus population and has become a transplanted high-tech hot spot for a growing number of US companies – HP, Dell, IBM, Kodak, Siemens, Intel, etc. “They're full-time, foreign workers, in their mid-40s to mid-50s," said Hernandez. “Many are have double income no kids. One spouse teaches on the side.”

6. Culture
Retirees have to be willing to adjust and have liberal attitudes. Candidates for Mexican retirement can expect lives that are not clock-driven; Mexicans aren’t a rushed people. They spend more time in conversation. “People are more interested in face-to-face relationships and relaxation than the back-home work ethic,” said Leffel.

7. Safety
Despite reports of crime in Mexico, insiders report that it’s very safe. Parts of Mexico are dangerous, Leffel warns, especially near the US border where drug trade conduits exist. But spots where groups of retirees live are always safe.

Leffel described the Yucatan as safer than most US cities. “If you’re away from drug dealing zones, there’s no problem in terms of getting caught in the cross-fire.”

There could be more than seven reasons for a Mexican retirement. Time to take the plunge if you're willing.

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Cruising

aadmin — Wed, 12 Oct 2005 04:56:57 +0000

From: Janelle Spence's Travel Chatter for mature travellers

Ahoy there!

Have you ever thought about taking a cruise but wondered if you might get seasick, or if you don't like it you would be stuck on board for days. Well now you have the opportunity to try cruising for as little as two nights. Cruising has become very popular and we are lucky to see more international ships coming in to Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Fremantle. It is a great way to travel and see the sights, and only unpack once.

On board, you can be as active as you like, or as relaxed. With such a variety of activities every day it is a wonderful holiday, and Photo of cruise ship especially for those who have different interests. I knew a couple who cruised every year for their annual holidays. She liked to lie around the pool, read and play bingo, and hubby liked to be active with golf and pool volleyball. Each morning they would go off to their different activities and meet up for lunch and dinner with lots of interesting tales to tell each other of what they had been doing and who they had met. But you can also spend your days together!

When you wake in the morning you will find a copy of the daily news under your door. It tells you what is on, at what time and on which deck.

After you have eaten your way through the previous day (all meals included) you might want to start with an early morning jog around the deck or a workout in the gym. There are also the cinema, bingo, quizzes, handicrafts, dancing, table tennis, shuffleboard, ship tours, the casino, beauty salon, and the list goes on. You definitely won't have time to get bored.

And then there are the ports of call.

My husband doesn't own a dinner jacket I hear you say. Well not to worry. On the majority of ships the dress is quite relaxed. Casual clothes by day and for after 5.30pm, smart casual attire in the lounges and restaurants. They do have 1 - 2 formal evenings per cruise where you get to meet the Captain. For these evenings the dress for men is a suit and for women, an after five number. Flat shoes preferably for day time on deck but you can bring out the high heels for night time.

If you are worn out from your daytime activities, you can even have your meals brought to your cabin.

If you haven't cruised before, it would be best to start with an outside cabin. With a window or porthole you get natural light into the cabin. You can check what the weather is like before going on deck and you can see where you are going. Inside cabins are the same size but can be a bit claustrophobic as there are no windows to look out and it is totally dark unless you have the light on. If you would like a bit of privacy and quiet times to while away the hours, then go for a balcony cabin.

Why not start thinking about your next holiday - sailing away into the sunset.

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