If you've been reading ESI Money for any length of time you know that I love the Caribbean. We have been there a handful times (three on cruises and twice on trips to Grand Cayman). If it was up to me, we will go there at least once per year for the rest of our lives. And by "up to me" I mean that I am planning at least one trip there per year. ;) In addition to my … [Read more...]
Grand Cayman 2019 Trip
Oops, we did it again. Yep, we went to Grand Cayman earlier this month. And it was a BLAST! I won't drag out the details into a multi-post series like I did last year, but I do want to share them with you since trips like this are a big part of 1) being retired and 2) retiring with enough income/assets to take a nice trip. If you want an overview of last year's trip … [Read more...]
Our Experience with Hilton Grand Vacations
As I write this post, I'm back from a trip to Washington, DC with my wife and son. We spent three days in DC, then drove to Virginia for a visit with my daughter (who graduates in December!) In that time we toured the White House, saw the Air and Space Museum, visited the National Zoo, ate at Pi Pizza with some blogging friends, toured the Capitol, visited Appomattox … [Read more...]
10 Reasons Why You Might Want to Consider RVing Full-Time
I'm not sure whether I've mentioned it or not, but my parents bought an RV this past spring. They are in the process of selling everything they have and hitting the road full-time. Their goal is to be out of Iowa before the winter hits, but at the rate they are going, I'm not sure it will happen. I see another Iowa winter in their future. Anyway, we've been learning a … [Read more...]
Dear Hilton Hotels, This 15-Year Customer is Done with You
A bit ago I wrote the rant-post If You Want What I Have You Have to Do What I’ve Done. Most readers loved the snarky writing and during our discussion in the comments, I said: Maybe I should start “rant Saturday” where we can all share our stories like this!! Almost everyone thought it was a great suggestion, so I put it down as a series that I would post on now and … [Read more...]
What to Do When Visiting Colorado Springs
When you live in a gorgeous, tourist town, you get lots of visitors. We've had more people visit us since we moved to Colorado Springs than we had the entire 14 years we lived in Michigan. I wonder why that is? :) Anyway, when people come here, we always give them a laundry list of what we could see and let them select their options. Since some reading this might come … [Read more...]
Is Retiring on a Cruise Ship an Affordable Option?
As many of you know, we lived in Michigan for 14 years. Overall, I liked Michigan (after all I grew up in Iowa, so my expectations of life were low) except for one thing: the weather was the worst! Now some people might chime in with "but the summers are great". Last I checked, summer was three months. Yes, summers there are nice. But the other nine months, not so … [Read more...]
A Castle, A Burned Gift Shop, and a Diner Stuck in the 50’s
One of the great things about being retired is that you can take trips whenever you want to. While my daughter was home on spring break this year, we decided to go see Bishop Castle. For those of you who don't know about Bishop Castle (which is probably most people reading this), here's an overview at their website. Or if you'd prefer a bit more detail, here's the … [Read more...]
Grand Cayman Trip and Tips, Part 4
Today I'm going to wrap up the details on our recent trip to Grand Cayman. In case you've missed any part of this series, you can start with Grand Cayman Trip and Tips, Part 1. As you'll see, we shifted into cruise control and simply relaxed our last couple of days. Now, let's continue on with our journey... Sunday, January 14 I was wakened at 6 am today by the house … [Read more...]
Grand Cayman Trip and Tips, Part 3
Today I'm going to continue sharing about our recent trip to Grand Cayman. In case you've missed any part of this series, you can start with Grand Cayman Trip and Tips, Part 1. Now, let's continue on with our journey... Thursday, January 11 This was the best day of the trip. We didn't do much in the morning -- just sat around and chatted. We had hamburgers for … [Read more...]
