A few years ago, we began thinking and dreaming about retirement. We didn’t really think of it as something we would be able to do soon, just someday. We were talking about what we might do when we retired, where we would live (stay put in our little rental in Richmond, BC or move to Vancouver Island), and of course, how would we spend our time and how much money would we have. All of these questions I’m sure, are on the minds of many of our generation. We sat down with our financial advisor and came up with some answers. Yes, we could retire, but our budget would be limited. We could buy or rent (she recommended renting) but travel would be limited. We had never really been much into travelling, so maybe settling down to a nice quiet life would be fine. But then we started thinking about it. If we were going to rent, did we have to actually live anywhere? I mean, couldn’t we just rent somewhere else in the world? Well, that really started the ball rolling and it rolled pretty darned fast! We have a few restrictions, living here in British Columbia, regarding long term travel. First of all, we have grandchildren, and we are not the kind of Grandparents who like to be away for too long. Second, with our healthcare system, we are allowed to be away for only 6 months in a calendar year without losing our healthcare and we most certainly don’t want to do that. So, 6 months in BC and 6 months away – sounded great to us!
Next, we had to figure out how this travel was going to happen. As I said, we are not in a position to travel with an unlimited budget, so how could we get around? We started looking online and discovered many sites devoted to just this topic, many written by people much younger than us. Backpacking sounded like fun, until we actually went down to Mountain Equipment Co op in Vancouver and tried on a backpack with weight added! No, I don’t think I could picture myself schlepping a heavy backpack around Europe – not at my age! Then we discovered another avenue – cycle touring. We both had bikes and very recently had enjoyed some lovely rides around the Pacific Northwest. We eagerly began reading blogs about people of all ages who cycle around the world on a regular basis. We decided to take the plunge and try a short 3 day tour to see if this would be a good fit for us. If you are curious about how that went, check out the blog I wrote about it at : https://www.cycleblaze.com/journals/firsttour2015/
When we came home, we knew we had found a way to travel and see the world without breaking the bank. As we moved ahead towards a retirement date of the Spring of 2018, we spent more and more time at bike shops and Mountain Equipment Co-Op, buying two very nice Surley Disc Truckers and the camping gear that would take us through a long tour. Wanting to know for sure that everything was working according to our planning, we decided to do another short tour on Vancouver Island, this one a little longer and requiring all of our camping gear. We would be out for 5 days and would hopefully find out what worked (and what didn’t). This, we called our Shake Down Tour also to be found on Cycleblaze at: http:// https://www.cycleblaze.com/journals/shakedown/
It was, indeed, a heck of a ride and we enjoyed every minute of it (even when I was pushing my bike up many hills)! If you are not into bike touring, you might want to give the blog a look anyways. We had a few days last summer and drove the same route, camping at a couple of the spots we had particularly enjoyed along the way. It is a beautiful drive or ride!
