With great excitement and anticipation,
the date of our retirement is inching closer. Yes, there is a bit of worry and
uncertainty mixed in, but generally we are looking forward to go wherever the
nose points.
To start the journey we are
planning to take a 10 day Trans Atlantic cruise from New York City, NY to
Hamburg, Germany.
We believe that a cruise is the perfect way to ring in
retirement.
We know nothing about cruises
at all. Everything is hear-say from friends that took cruises in the past. The
other reason we decided in favor of the cruise is the fact that we will
establish our headquarter residence in Germany. It will be somewhat of a little
international move and we will need more luggage than for two weeks of
vacation. The airlines would heavily charge us for extra luggage while there is
no limitation on board the ship as long as each piece doesn’t exceed 50 lbs.
and fits comfortably in your stateroom for no extra charge.
From Germany, many destinations all over Europe are in driving distance. We plan on utilizing the wonderful network of public transportation via bullet trains,
For now, it is crunch time!
We still need to sell our home here in the US and tie up all lose ends before
we leave. For any remaining responsibilities we will put our adult children in
charge.
One very helpful and money
saving change is already in place. We started using the “Service Credit Union”
https://www.servicecu.org/index.asp
. This Credit Union is available for anybody that has some sort of connection
to service members in all branches. The benefit for us is that they maintain
branches in many countries where the United States has military installations.
With this US account we can perform transactions in Euro and other currencies
without incurring additional charges from foreign banks involved in the
transaction. That can become rather expensive in addition to the possible currency
exchange loss.
We plan on frugal living and
traveling without sacrificing the quality of life. To start with, we've already set
up camp on a 4 season campground on the island of Fehmarn, Germany, in the Baltic
Sea.
At this point, the plan is to explore the north-eastern areas of Germany
and further north located countries in short trips of one day to a week. We are
not sure yet what the upcoming cold months will have in store for us. Camping
might not be the most desirable option.
We would like to invite you to
follow us on our blog and see where we are and how we are doing. We also
appreciate your input and experience you've gained in your travels.
