Snowbird with a backpack
Friday, November 29, 2019 at 07:20AM 
"So where are you going next?"
"We haven't decided yet."
That was often the response I would hear from young backpackers in the hostel where I was staying on short hiking trips. Gathered in the lounge area, kitchen, or bar, these usually 20-somethings seemed uncommonly relaxed - for tourists. Whether in Colombia or Cambodia, these lucky kids were on a months-long adventure, seemingly with only a vague outline of destination and a distant deadline for return to their home countries.
I was envious.
The bulk of my hiking and exploring was done by tacking a few days on to the end of an international speaking or consulting gig. A job in Lima allowed me to hike the Inca Trail. A conference in Nairobi put me close enough to Kilimanjaro for a week-long climb. Conferences in Bangkok let me visit Angkor Wat and Luang Prabang and Bagan. While I enjoyed these experiences immensely, there was always the little voice in my head that nagged, "Hurry up. You have to be back to work on Monday!" I pledged that one day, I too would throw on the backpack and experience traveling without a plan.
So in this first year of my retirement, I am going to honor that pledge to myself. A week from today, I'm flying to the Philippines to start a three month escape from Minnesota's winter. Having lived a life of planning, I am not totally "schedule-free." After a few weeks on Luzon where I will go back to the rice terraces that amazed me a few years ago, I will fly to Vietnam where my son is getting married. My friend Heidi will meet me there for the wedding and after the ceremony we are spending 10 days hiking in northern Vietnam. I'll then wander for a couple weeks in Thailand (or Cambodia or both) before flying back to the Philippines to ramble in some of its southern islands. I do have a return ticket to Minnesota for the end of February where I am expecting winter to be winding down.
When traveling alone, my goal will be to spend less than $50 a day on food and lodging. I will be carrying only a 45 liter backpack with the bare essentials - a few changes of clothes, my Kindle and Chromebook, a rain jacket, and slip-on sandals. I'll wear my hiking shoes. I have a number of long(ish) books cued up to read, including Michener's The Source and Simon's Hyperion series.
As I have downtime, I will continue to work on a project I started a year or so ago - reviewing the 3000+ posts I've made to the Blue Skunk over the past 15 years and organizing the "keepers" into book format. The criteria for retention is whether the post might be of interest one day to my grandsons. Narrows it down radically.
Security experts and common sense advise not sharing one's travel plans on social media. Yes, my townhouse will be unoccupied for three months. Be warned, potential burglars, I have a very nosey neighbor and not much of monetary value worth stealing. (I think my TV is well over 10 years old.) I will turn off my water, lower the heat, unplug what I can, close the blinds, set a lamp on a timer, and hope when I return, the place is still habitable.
I sense that when people travel for long periods, those remaining behind fear that they may never return. Or return as a person who is changed from the one who left. Those of us who travel take the same chance - those who stay not be the same people when we return.
Enjoy your winter. I know I will enjoy mine!
Reader Comments (2)
What a fun adventure. My hubby loves to travel with no plans too! We have decided to stay in Florida for a few months to deal with cleaning out my parent's house and trying to decide if we want to keep it or sell it. We will probably keep it and use it for the winter months. Meanwhile we got off one cruise last Thursday and on Sunday got on another ship. We get great last minute deals we can't pass up. Everyone asks us when we are coming home and we keep saying, when we get tired of where we are (but actually we need to be home in January to pay taxes and get new car tags! LOL) Have a wonderful trip and I look forward to hearing all about it!
Hi Pat,
Sounds like quite the life! I am not a huge fan of cruises (except the bike and boat ones), but I say different strokes for different folks. How do you find out about your last minute "deals"?
Enjoy Florida and stay warm.
Doug