[fred3]

is where it's at as the last child graduated today and leaves for a career in Florida in a few short weeks. Five more years till retirement and it'll be time to look for another place to spend the last few decades of living. It's gotta have good weather, good mtb trails, good fishing, good golfing and good hiking.

Let the planning begin! Now to just stay healthy.

 

[Fat Jeff]

is where it's at as the last child graduated today and leaves for a career in Florida in a few short weeks. Five more years till retirement and it'll be time to look for another place to spend the last few decades of living. It's gotta have good weather, good mtb trails, good fishing, good golfing and good hiking.

Let the planning begin! Now to just stay healthy.

Fred,

My son is 4 months old, so I'm at the opposite end of life from you, but I can make a recommendation. Hawaii. I've been here for 20 years this January and can't imagine living anywhere else. Great weather, riding, hiking, water sports of all kinds, and very important in your "golden years", excellent health care. The bonus is that local culture and local people can't be beat.

The only downside is it is very expensive to live here. But if you are coming from a major metropolitain area or California, the sticker shock won't be so severe.

Live the dream. I did and don't regret it at all.

 

[ArmySlowRdr]

Texas.
Arkansas.
OK.
maybe AZ.
maybe NM.

HI--see the latest IMBA report card and comments. The 3 years here have been good. And I have had my best friends here--but they are not local locals. The road biking I will say has been most excellent--and Kualoa Ranch on Oahu and some of the trails on the big Island are very good for XC mtb.

 

[fred3]

Cool! Where in Hawaii. I lived there in 73/74. Took my wife there in '95 and she loved it. I've been looking at homes on the Big Island, but my wife's not sure she wants to be that far from the kids/kids. Me? I say let them come for a visit and enjoy how life should be lived.

 

[fred3]

Another vote for Hawaii. So twist my arm. ;-) Now to convince the Mrs.

 

[formica]

I can see it coming.. one in college, one halfway through high school... the end is near!!!

I wouldn't live anyplace where I couldn't ski in winter, but that's just us.

formica

 

[carnage]

if you can afford it, you cant beat southern california(with in a few miles of the beach) while everyone says it gets hot in SoCal, if your along the coast, its awsome. you also have big bear to go skiing on in the winter and mountain biking the rest of the year. florida is nice to but i would take huntington beach over ANY city in florida any day

OR if this is something you think would be fun, try traveling in a RV, i have lived in southern california for a long time, and am just finishing up a year of traveling in an RV with my family all around the US and Canada, and it was an trip of a life time and i cant wait to do it again. just dont get a huge RV. www.convitali.com

 

[fred3]

Well there is skiing in Hawaii. I live in Maine now. Lots of skiing. I just don't ski. I snowshoe, but could easily give that up for beachcombing.

 

[smw]

is where it's at as the last child graduated today and leaves for a career in Florida in a few short weeks. Five more years till retirement and it'll be time to look for another place to spend the last few decades of living. It's gotta have good weather, good mtb trails, good fishing, good golfing and good hiking.

Let the planning begin! Now to just stay healthy.

Id vote for Arizona, close to Moab, Colorado, and great riding in Arizona. If i could go now, thats where I would go.

Sean

 

[avow943]

Colorado Springs, Colorado. On second thought, just stay in maine.

 

[Fat Jeff]

Cool! Where in Hawaii. I lived there in 73/74. Took my wife there in '95 and she loved it. I've been looking at homes on the Big Island, but my wife's not sure she wants to be that far from the kids/kids. Me? I say let them come for a visit and enjoy how life should be lived.

I live in Ewa Beach on the edge of the Leeward side. That was a sugarcane plantation town when you lived here last, now it's a bedroom community for Honolulu and well know for it's hellish morning commute. The Big Island is cool, but can get pretty isolated, if you want more to do along the lines of shopping, theater, concerts, arts, etc then Oahu would be my first choice.

As for the kids being far away...move here and they will come. I host guests every year with no let up in sight. Hard choice to come to Hawaii on vacation ya know

 

[Dwight Moody]

OR if this is something you think would be fun, try traveling in a RV, i have lived in southern california for a long time, and am just finishing up a year of traveling in an RV with my family all around the US and Canada, and it was an trip of a life time and i cant wait to do it again. just dont get a huge RV. www.convitali.com

I have an Uncle who's been living our of an RV for about 5 years now. His business (drilling wells and other deep holes) meant that he owns a large, heated garage in Pennsylvania. Now he parks the RV in there when he wants to stop travelling, plus he can keep antique cars (besides the one in his trailor) in there. He and his wife are very lucky in their health, and I figure they have enough capital to settle down when they need to. Definitely a nice life.

 

[racerzero]

Cool! Where in Hawaii. I lived there in 73/74. Took my wife there in '95 and she loved it. I've been looking at homes on the Big Island, but my wife's not sure she wants to be that far from the kids/kids. Me? I say let them come for a visit and enjoy how life should be lived.

Be care where you choose. Checkout everything including environmental factors. Friend of mine bought a few acres and house on the Big Island as a retirement home. He still works full-time on Oahu. He and his wife would travel to the Big Island every few months. His wife kept getting sick while there. They finally figured out it was the VOG (volcano smog). They sold the Big Island property and bought some acres on the west side of Oahu. Good thing they figured it out before they really retired.

 

[Rev Bubba]

We are in the same boat

Well, close enough. My youngest has a couple years of college but I'm retiring in six years. Wife and I have looked and traveled quite a bit but ended up realizing that everything we really want is right here in Northwest Jersey.

The ocean is two hours away and warm enough to enjoy. I'm getting too old for big surf anyway and the hurricane surf this summer kicked my butt.

Riding really is quite good no matter what the IMBA report card says.

I've taught at a Pennsylvania ski area for 16 years now and don't want to start over somewhere else. Vermont is close and the west closer time-wise when you fly.

Most of all, we do not want to leave the New York City area. Kind of spoiled. San Francisco was nice but too expensive. Made NJ seem cheap. We love Montreal but, hey, that place is too damned cold in the winter and too hot in the summer.

Hawaii? Not me. No way could I stand living on an island in the middle of nowhere no matter how nice the island was. I'd feel isolated living on Long Island with NYC between me and the world, let alone the Pacific Ocean. Besides my brother-in-law wants to move there so we can always have extended visits.

So, here we stay with the world only a short drive away from the airport.

Good luck with your choice.

 

[namaSSte]

Funny, nobody mentioned Cleveland. Fred, I'd highly recommend it. BTW, man, are you old!!! J/K, I have an 11 and 8.5 year old and want to start planning now so I dont have any wife convincing to do later.

Here's my suggestion to you guys...pick a few places each that you'd really like to be then take a year or two and travel. Embrace the adventure of it all knowing that one of those "vacations" might actually become your home. Somehow, when it's all right, you'll just know.

Good luck to you and congrats!

Peace,
nam