Cruising Past Seventy: The Inner Journeys: Being Home. Getting Renewed..

Thursday, June 20, 2019

Being Home. Getting Renewed..


We arrived from Mexico on April 3 and we leave again in two weeks for a six-state road trip. That means about three months of staying at home. What does an active traveler, even in her seventies, do?  Give in to boredom and gain pounds? 

with Bill at the fitness center
We are based in a resort lifestyle community.  Viewpoint has everything you need for an active 55+ lifestyle. I go to the fitness center every day. The pool and hot tub are always inviting. And Bill loves to invite me for a little pleasant hike around the park in the evening. There are special activities, too: movies every Tuesday, Texas Hold’em, Wednesdays, Dine-outs, Fridays and Saturdays, a birthday party here and wedding reception there. There are the very engaging activities of cooking our favorite dishes, tending to my plants, and shopping for the home. Plus the opportunity to have time with valued friends.

The surrounding cities of Phoenix, Scottsdale, Tempe, Chandler, and Gilbert all have markets, festivals, theater, opera, movies, and other activities galore. We don’t rush to go to all that this destination has to offer because we know they will always be there. So I am still more relatively still than when I am traveling. This gives me enough time for blogging and social media with lots of rest time in between.

our humble home base in Viewpoint
cooking at home

Staying home allows me to get renewed for the hectic and exciting travel days ahead. In fact, if I don’t have this respite, I don’t think I will be able to bounce around for six weeks straight on our forthcoming road trip. The time between travels has no ups and downs. There is stability in your environment. You get to follow an established routine. It's a comfort zone. It's simply home.

There must be something restorative in sleeping in your own bed, watching your own TV, or eating food that you have cooked. It gives you the downtime to get refreshed. Your travel juices are focused on planning future trips. You have time to collect facts about remaining bucket list items, time to choose among competing alternatives, and time to find the best deals.

evening at the pool
The same downtime gives you space to wonder about your wanderings. You find the inspiration to write articles with deeper perspectives. You write about inner journeys, lessons learned, insights gained, transformations achieved besides the destinations reached and activities experienced. Just like today, I write here about travel pauses.

A Fitbit Charge 3 is my constant companion, resting nicely on my wrist. It constantly tells me how well I slept and how much I moved every day. During our three months in Mexico, I slept an average of six hours, walked 7-9,000 steps, went to the fitness center, and ate three meals heartily every day at three of the nine all-inclusive restaurants. It is no wonder I gained three pounds and a little “baby bump.”

I’ve been home for almost three months now (except for a brief two-week road trip in May). I sleep the same hours and visit the fitness center each day, too. However, since I do not have to walk from building to building to get to the restaurants and activities, my daily steps are just 4-6,000. But then I also do not eat a lot (I don’t want to cook more!) So, I have lost the pounds I gained in Mexico although a piece of the “baby bump” remains. In a sense, it is even healthier during this downtime!

at Ikea, shopping for the home

A well-thought, well-spent downtime between trips and adventures is heaven-sent. Being home will get you renewed. I am glad we have it six months a year, three in spring and three in fall. As I wrote about in a previous post, that's the best time to be in the desert anyway

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86 comments:

  1. We love having you home...always a friendly smile! Your blogs and travels are amazing! Love you both

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  2. That sounds like fun doing a longer road trip that will be exciting to see new destinations after a Mexican visit. Recharge stays are always ideal in between trips.

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  3. Your home sounds perfect! It’s so nice that you get to return from your travels and find a place where you feel so good. As you say, traveling is the best thing in the world but it does feel good to stop once in a while and restore our energies.

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  4. I could not resist commenting. Very well written!

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  5. I agree, as nice as it is to travel, it's also great to come home again to the familiar. Although my home time is very busy since I'm not retired yet! But I'm never too busy to start planning our next trip once all the unpacking and washing is done.

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    Replies
    1. Oh, you are young. You can do lots. I need more downtime now.

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  6. Looks amazing! Your home sounds like the perfect oasis!

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  7. Very lovely! Your home looks like an oasis!

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  8. It certainly sounds like you keep very busy when you are at home. But I do know how great it feels like to be at home sleeping in your own bed. And catching up on life. I am sure you will be ready when it is time to head back out.

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    Replies
    1. We are ready, leaving in a week for a 6-week road trip!

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  9. It's great that you keep active when you're not travelling and stay fit, to be ready for your next trip.

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  10. I love being home from travels just long enough to start planning the next trip! It's restorative and variety as they say is the spice of life. Aren't we lucky to have both lifestyles?

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  11. Sounds like a great place to live, I love how close the fitness centre is and how easy it is to just head down there everyday as well as going for a walk. I do however struggle when I'm in one place too long and not travelling, maybe if I had all the activities and facilities in a place like this it wouldn't be too bad, the problem is when we stop for a while we're always working hard and saving so not much room for fun!

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    Replies
    1. Just wait til you slow down/retire. You will do what I am doing!

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  12. It's always nice to be home after a long vacation. I agree with you, that comfort place gives us the energy to head to the next trip. I just came across Fitbit charge and I think it's a very useful tech to have now. Wishing you energy for your next trip.

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  13. I can't get over it that at 55 you are considered a senior citizen! In Germany, you can retire somewhere between 63 and 67 - so I still have sooooo long. However, I do pamper - or take care of - myself the way you do: Sports'n'Spa are some of my favorite activities.

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    Replies
    1. I retired at 64 and that was 17 years ago. Been traveling for 10!

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  14. We also travel full time and it can be difficult for us to stay still too long. Some down time is great though and it does allow us to write more. Breaking up the travel year into two separate three month sections is smart.

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  15. I love how you are enjoying your retired life in such an active manner. You inspire the younger ones. Hope I am like you when I am this age.

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    Replies
    1. I am so glad you Saud me that. Exactly why I am maintaining this blog...to inspire the younger ones!

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  16. We've been getting renewed at home too these past three months. It's a welcome change but hopefully more travel the next few. Enjoy! Love that pic of you in the kitchen.

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    1. So I have read as I have been following you. We are getting ready ourselves. Leaving July 6.

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  17. Our home is very comfortable and I really enjoy Carol's cooking 😋

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  18. I every time spent my half an hour to read this web site's articles every day along with a cup of coffee.

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  19. Quality content is the secret to be a focus for the
    users to pay a visit the site, that's what this site is
    providing.

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  20. I'm so impressed at how active you are even when you are at home. Getting your daily fitness in is so great! It's so easy to just lounge around at home and all of sudden you wonder where the pounds came from >0< I love traveling, but being home is also nice to relax and get ready for your next adventure :)

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    Replies
    1. I love our time home as much as traveling. So our time is split 59-50!

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  21. I too am home for a bit between travels and for me, it is an opportunity to get healthy and recharged. I love the sound of your community - so much to do!

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  22. The more I travel, the more I appreciate down time at home. After all, this is my real life. With friends, family, and church. As much as I love traveling, it's always good to be back at home.

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  23. This is my first time go to see at here and i am
    genuinely pleassant to read everthing at
    one place.

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  24. Carol, we completely understand the feeling of arriving back home after an extended travel session. there is something to be said for the familiarity of home life, even though we are always looking forward to our next expedition.

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    Replies
    1. Isn't that true? When we are back home, we constantly think of the next trip!

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  25. We love cominng home (most of the time) almost as much as we do leaving to depart on another travel adventure. After getting caught up, there is the requisite relaxing and enjoying familiar and comfortable space ... and staying active too like you.

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  26. Greetings! Very useful advice within this article! It's the little changes
    that make the biggest changes. Thanks for sharing!

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  27. I totally agree - being home is so necessary to recharge and reflect on your past travels, before you set off on the next one! I never write blog posts while I'm traveling because I need to wait until I get home and think about what I want to say about the trip I just took.

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  28. I completely agree too. The downtime makes the travel more interesting and exciting! In my case, though, traveling seems to be healthier. I walk more, just like you: often in the neighborhood of 15,000 steps per day. But since I never can seem to get myself to go to a gym, that walking is my fitness routine, and I do very little walking when I'm home. I also snack less when I'm traveling. I think if I traveled all the time, I'd be healthier and fitter in general!

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    Replies
    1. If our Mexico deal wasn't all inclusive, it would also be healthier! Our other travels are road trips, bouncing from one place to the next, visiting family and friends. Not healthy either.

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  29. Hi there it's me, I am also visiting this site daily, this web page is actually
    good and the people are in fact sharing good thoughts.

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  30. As much as I love traveling, there's no place like home, and my bed is more comfortable than even the most luxurious resort. It's also when I lose any extra pounds I gained on trips.

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    Replies
    1. Dame here. The pillows if the best resorts cannot compare to those on my bed!

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  31. I agree, it is so important to get a break between travels. You have so many wonderful things to do at your resort, it is nice to have such great choices along with the pool and workout options.

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    Replies
    1. That's why we chose a resort lifestyle community as a home base. We travel winter and summer when it's extreme temps here.

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  32. We didn’t have a home for five years traveling around the globe. It was amazing and exhausting at times. We enjoy now like you to recharge on the French countryside in between.

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    Replies
    1. French countryside! Now, that's a place to settle in. Must be expensive though

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  33. A resort lifestyle after the age of 55 sounds just the ticket. I think you have been so wise to do this as a proactive rather than reactive decision. My Mum is 90 and lives in a huge house, and now due to ill health we have massive logistical problems trying to help her. I think living on a resort with everything on tap and then taking off to travel for as long as you can is a great way to live. Go You!

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    Replies
    1. We think it's the best way to recharge! And later, when we will need a caregiver, it becomes assisted living!

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  34. Looks an awesome way to get a break. Thanks for sharing through your photos and words.

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    Replies
    1. Love sharing what we have discovered to be the best of both worlds.

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  35. Your life at home sounds like a fun vacation! I know what you mean about recharging, getting in a routine, having time to reflect on past adventures and plan future ones. Your resort living sounds ideal!

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    1. Yes, we have found the best of both worlds. Traveling during winter and summer when the temps in the desert are extreme. And staying in this resort during spring and fall to recharge!

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  36. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  37. Wow ! Im inspired by how fulfilling your life is post retirement ! Definitely encouraged to do the same when it is my turn ! =)

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  38. This post just screams comfort - it relaxes and centers me just to read it. I also enjoy the breaks at home between travels.

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    Replies
    1. They are important for perspective, to see the forest instead if the trees.

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  39. Wonderful Tita! You inspire me to follow my dream I wish me and my hubby can do the same when were old. I hope I can be as young as you when I will turn 70 :)

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    Replies
    1. It's easy! Claim your happy retirement now! That's what I did.

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  40. It's awesome that you are fitting so much into to your new life at home. It sounds like a pretty perfect way to retire.

    I find that many people don't actually explore near where they live...as you are so used to travelling, I think you'd be a great tourist in your own back yard. That might increase your step count too. ;)

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  41. I agree - being at home can be so nice sometimes. I also love my fitbit. My record is 26,000 steps in one day. We walked all over New York City!

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  42. They say home is where the heart is. Enjoy and have a great time. And oh fitbits are also a good friend of mine 😜

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  43. I'm a homebody so I love coming home after a trip! When we were RVing fulltime the RV was our home, so eventhough our home was mobile, I was happy to come home at the end of a day visiting someplace!

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  44. It sounds like you have made the most of your time at home with Bill. I’m looking forward to following your next adventure as you hit the road again! - Erin

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