Cheryl and I got engaged during a trip to San Francisco in 1979, got married later in the year, and then went to Austria for our honeymoon. So travel was something we loved right from the start. Then we moved to Michigan so I could go to Graduate School at the University of Michigan, and that was the end of travel for a while. Grad students are chronically poor, and new Assistant Professors are only marginally better off. But I eventually left academia for a more lucrative career as a Project Manager, and in 2015 I got hired in at Ford Motor Credit. So in the fall of 2015 we took a trip to Ireland in the company of my brother Dennis and his wife Lyra. And that got us back into it.
We always said that we wanted to travel more when retired, and we have. In 2016 we took a Boat and Bike trip through the Netherlands and Belgium. In 2017 we took our niece Erin with us on a trip out west to Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, Utah, and Colorado. In 2018 we started preparing for planned RV travels by renting an RV in Suttons Bay, Michigan for a week. And in 2019, when Ford decided they could somehow manage to get along without me and few thousand other employees, I retired but we took a planned 40th anniversary trip: a Viking River Cruise along the Rhine River. When we returned from that, we were not yet ready to go RVing, but I had promised Cheryl a break from the cold winters, so we booked a Caribbean Cruise with MSC. We were lucky, we got that in just before the Covid pandemic hit. But for the rest of 2020, and most of 2021, we were doing what a lot of other people were doing, wearing face masks and trying to stay safe. But by the end of 2021, we had purchased an RV and a truck to tow it with, and we had been vaccinated, so we ventured out on an RV trip. This took us to the Southwest for several months, and we really enjoyed it. Plus it was much warmer than Michigan.
Then in 2022 we took another Viking River Cruise, this time on the Danube River, where we learned you don’t want to travel to Europe in summer if you can avoid it, at least anywhere south of Scandinavia. And in the fall we took another trip to Ireland with family, again including Dennis and Lyra, and this time with my sister Eileen. And in December we took off on another RV trip, this time to the Southeast of the U.S. Then it was a week in Hawaii, two weeks in Spain, and a week in Colorado. This caused us to cancel another RV trip, and in 2024 we sold the RV and the truck. But in the fall of 2024 we spent a month in France, and were joined for part of the trip by my sister Eileen and her son Felix. And while we were in Paris, we got an e-mail about a good deal, so we booked a 2025 trip to Spain and Portugal for 9 days. Later on in 2025 we plan a short trip to New york City so I can perform with a group at Carnegie Hall, and then we have booked a cruise of the Eastern Mediterranean, from Venice to Athens.
I know this makes it sound like we are fantastically wealthy, but we aren’t at all. We do two things pretty well. First, we look for bargains. This does not mean always the lowest possible price, though we have done well in that regard. It means the best value for money. That Hawaii trip, for instance, was largely paid for by spending an afternoon fending off a time-share salesman. So we had to buy round-trip airfare, and about $1000 for a room on Waikiki Beach. And the two weeks in Spain in 2023 was done using an exchange for the time share we inherited from Cheryl’s parents. Our two trips to Ireland and our recent Spain and Portugal trip were purchased through Great Value Vacations, which has fantastic deals. Our Caribbean Cruise was through Vacations to Go, which specializes in cruise deals. And because we are retired, we can jump on a deal on short notice if it comes up.
The other thing we did well is to decide on our priorities. I drive a 2012 car, and Cheryl drives a 2008 car. Our home is modest, and completely paid off. At this point in our lives, more “things” is just a burden, so we use what money we have to obtain experiences and memories. Every Sunday we go out to breakfast together, and spend the time looking at different travel ideas. We bring travel brochures, a laptop, and a tablet, and look at how we can do things within our budget. And we talk to other people to pick their brains. On our recent trip to Spain and Portugal, Mike and Lorrie mentioned TravelZoo, but after looking at the reviews we decided it was not a good bet. But Bernie and Jan mentioned Caravan Tours, and they had great reviews and some itineraries we loved. So what are we looking at for 2026 and beyond?
Right now we are waiting to hear about a Church-sponsered trip to Rome that our friend Don told us about. This would be a guided trip, and hit a few places outside of Rome as well. But since we first expressed interest we haven’t heard much. I hope it does happen, and for an affordable price, and that would be my first choice. But if that falls through, our next choice would be a Caravan Tours guided trip to South Dakota and Yellowstone. It starts in Rapid City, South Dakota, goes to Badlands, Mt. Rushmore, and the Crazy Horse memorial, then to Little Bighorn Battlefield. Then to Yellowstone Park, the Grand Tetons, Jackson, and finally ending in Salt Lake City. All you need to add is airfare and a few meals, and their charge starts at $2395 per person. This is relatively inexpensive, and allows us to save up some money for a bigger trip the following year. And that would be the Road Scholar tour of Egypt and Jordan. This is a 15 night guided tour, with most meals and airfare from selected cities included. And it is very nice. The trip starts in Amman, Jordan, takes you to several historic sites in Jordan, and works down to the Dead Sea, and finally Petra! Then it is off to Cairo, the Great Pyramids, a boat trip on the Nile to the Valley of the Kings and theTemples before returning to Cairo. For me this is once in a lifetime trip. It is more expensive at $6399 per person, but I think we can save that much by the end of 2026 if we are careful. It is more expensive, but the value is really high.
And then, if we are happy with our Caravan Tours experience, there is a tour in Mexico that looks very interesting. It is called Mexico Ancient Civilizations. It is a 9 day guided tour that starts in Mexico City and ends in Cancún, and it focuses on Native history, such as Teotihuacan, the Olmec Heads at La Venta, Palenque, Uxmal, and Chichén Itzá. Most meals are included, but airfare is not. But the whole package is a very reasonable $1495 per person.
So, this is what we are looking at for our future travel. I think is quite exciting.