BOBCAT TRAVEL ADVENTURES
Bobcat Travels  
 
  Travel Tips 05/03/2024 10:02pm (UTC)
   
 
  1. Decide what your style of travel is.  Are you an independent traveler who wants to do it on your own terms and schedule, going to off-the-beaten-track sites?  Would you prefer traveling alone with your spouse or companion, or would you rather be with a group?  Do fakey tourist traps seem like a waste of time and money to you?  Are you a "party animal" whose main goal is to socialize within a group of penguins?  Do you have to stay only in five-star hotels with crystal chandeliers? Only you can decide.  Realize all styles are possible.
  2. Use the internet to research your travel destinations and options.  Shop for the best price on airfare and accomodations.  Use Google Earth to actually look at where you are going, walk up and down the street.  That posh B&B you're ready to book might be in a crime-ridden ghetto.  You may want to go out after dark and not be robbed and shot.
  3. Travel light.  We each travel with only two carry-on size bags and check the larger of the two.  Some people travel with a stack of luggage the size of Mt. Kilamanjaro.  You don't need to bring your whole household of possesions.
  4. Do laundry as you go.  Use the en suite bathroom sink or tub and a small bottle of liquid laundry soap.  Get or make a stretchable travel clothesline. Take only clothes that dry quickly (overnight).  Don't pack denim and cottons; nylon polyester works better.  Except maybe for undergarments, clothes can be worn for more than one day.
  5. Get all necessary innoculations.  Check with your doctor or pharmacist to see whether typhoid, hepatitis, malaria, yellow fever and tetanus shots or pills are needed for your destination.
  6. Respect the people and learn at least a few necessary words and phrases of their language if it is other than English.  American tourists often piss foreigners off by trying to act superior and abrasive.  Don't be the "Ugly American".  Be aware that they are as proud of their country and culture as you are of yours and have every reason to be. Treat them like THEY are important and they will do likewise.  If you show respect and laugh with them, they will go out of their way to help you in many ways.  Blend in.
  7. If you are young enough, begin to save and invest religiously, using your 401Ks, IRAs and using the valuable services of a recommended certified financial advisor.  Have a family budget and stick to it.  Eliminate debt.  If you are under 40 you can easily and safely double and triple your money over the long term in a BAD market!  Realize that 99.9% of advisors are not Bernie Madoff types!  Social Security has never been intended to be a retirement income plan and never will be.  It is chump change.  If you do this carefully, when you retire you will have more income than you need and the extra can take you around the world or fund any dream you have.  Plan it all ahead of time - now, when you're young!
  8. Make a "Bucket List", prioritize it and start checking them off when you retire.  
 
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  Retirement - What Fun!
Cathy and I retired 90 minutes apart on May 31, 2008. Cathy has been retired the longest (she got home 90 minutes before me). When I walked in the door, I said to her, "Okay, here we are. NOW what do we do?"

The answer was not hard to come by. We have loved to travel all our lives. We dreamed, planned and methodically saved for the day when we would be able to enjoy the freedom to travel pretty much when and where we wanted and in our own independent style.

We have learned methods of researching travel destinations, travelling on a budget and how to travel independently on our own terms.

What we have learned has resulted in a series of travel adventures large and small. These experiences have been grander than we could ever imagine and have created life-long memories aided by fantastic photos and journals.

The purpose of this website is to share these experiences as much as we can and to answer the many requests we get from family, friends and acquaintances for information, photos and how we succeed in travelling "off the beaten path."
  Off The Beaten Path
In 2008 we intended to avoid cruise ships and tours entirely.

In our travels before retirement, we had watched in horror as tour groups were herded like penguins at stereotypical tourist-trap locations. Our instinct was to grab as many of the victims as possible and help them escape. Since then, we have learned that tours at specific points of interest are beneficial. We also recently learned that an entire vacation tour with plenty of free and independent time to explore on our own is possible and even cost effective for certain places.

The TV series "Love Boat" led us to believe that cruises are for people who have no desire for natural adventure and who want to dress up and pretend to be celebrities. Having taken one high quality cruise, we learned we were right, although since we were with friends, the experience was okay. In certain circumstances and locations we would consider a cruise if it would give us off-the-boat experiences we could not practically do better on our own. If we could do it better on our own, we'd skip the ship.

In general, if you were to follow us on a vacation, you would notice that we have the tendency to find exciting places and adventures where tourists don't go. We usually travel in a group of two and like it that way. We would rather explore a native street market than a cathedral. We would rather have a conversation with a local than fellow tourists. And we would rather eat authentic local fare at out-of-the-way restaurants where there are no tourists, than to find "steak-and-taters".
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