Traveling in a recessionary world

Although my wife and I have been world travelers since our early years together, traveling in our current economy is more of a challenge.  I, personally, know a lot of people who thought they would retire and travel to all the places they had dreamed of when they were younger.  The current recession (read depression) has depleted far too many retirement funds and those people are not able to travel, now.  Many are doing well, just to keep their house out of foreclosure.  Although we, too, lost a lot of money in the stock market, the real estate market, and other investments, we haven't given up on our dream of continuing to travel in retirement.

It is true, we now have to find more affordable ways of traveling, what we have discovered, over the past few years is, we can still find deals and, if we are willing to be adventurous, creative, and independent, we can still experience the good traveling retirement life.  For instance, my wife found a cruise, in March of 2010, which was very affordable.  We booked a Carnival Cruise from Long Beach California to Puerto Vallarta, then Mazatlan, then Cabo San Lucas.  It cost just over $400 per person (double occupancy) for seven days.  Sure we had to drive from our home in Grass Valley, California, to Long Beach and back, but that only added a little under $75 and we booked two excursions while in the ports of call, which set us back a total of about $180.  For slightly over a thousand dollars, we were wined and dined with a luxury and leisure that is not easily found in other ways.  

The same year, in November, She booked flights from Sacramento to Belize City, Belize.  She was able to find flights for under $500 each and, because it was two weeks before the high season, there, we were able to rent a car (with some negotiating at the rental office at the airport) for about $600 for the full twelve days we stayed there.  Hotels were reasonable (again, because it was right before the high season), food was affordable, the sights were splendid (we saw several Mayan ruins) and because the whole country is small, we were able to experience Belize from Corozal to San Ignacio, to Placencia.  From Arid Caribbean coastal weather to Rain Forests, poverty stricken communities to four star hotels.  With food, lodging and travel, we managed to spend less than two thousand dollars for the full twelve day trip.  That encouraged us, greatly. 

My wife climbing the tallest pyramid

My wife and I in front of a Mayan Pyramid

A view from our table at a four star hotel

After a break of a full year, in which our daughter and two of our grand children moved into our area and we dedicated ourselves to helping them get settled in, we are again planning on doing some traveling.  My wife was born in Berlin, Germany, and her mother,brother, and other relatives still live there.  We are planning on traveling there this June (2012) for my mother-in-law's 90th birthday.  Since Berlin has so much to offer, from 1200 year old buildings and artifacts to modern/contemporary buildings; from lazy boat, sight seeing, cruises on one of the many rivers there, to dining in many diverse and international restaurants, we are looking forward to finding the best and most inexpensive ways of experiencing all the riches Berlin and the surrounding communities have to offer.