In Praise of Discount Entertainment Sites

My husband and I have long enjoyed going to the theatre, music concerts and sporting events, but scaled way, way back when I retired last April, in order to get a handle on how best to maximize our newly defined Entertainment budget. Nicely enough, after I got my retirement legs, I discovered an absolute treasure trove of online discount entertainments sites that sell tickets at deeply discounted rates of 50% or more. As a result, we are now going out more than ever, but spending less than ever before.


We are using these same entertainment sites to purchase deeply discounted restaurant deals as well, generally 50% or more off the listed menu price. 


And not just at home. I've begun checking into discount offers at cities we have plans to visit in the near future in order to secure the same dynamite deals. Cities like Boston, Chicago, Las Vegas, New York, San Francisco and Washington D.C. to name just a few. There are so many ways to have a wonderful time at discounts of 50% or greater it's beginning to border on ridiculous. But fortunately for us, an empty seat is no good whatsoever to a venue, so they'll continue to slash prices at the last minute in order to maximize their profits. And the internet makes it a breeze to find and pickup these very sweet offers. (As opposed to having to stand in line for hours at discount ticket booths - remember those days?)


Here are some of our most recent purchases:

• Two nights in Las Vegas at a hotel smack in the middle of the strip (Bally's) plus a buffet dinner for two at either Paris, Rio or Planet Hollywood for $56 a night.
• A meal voucher worth $20 at Johnny Rockets, an old fashioned hamburger joint reminiscent of Bob's Big Boy, purchased for $10.
• Two tickets to attend a magic show, including a three-course dinner for two, for $15 per person/$30 total (just $15 a person), over 50% off the normal rate.
• Two tickets to attend Come Fly With Me (a Frank Sinatra/Twyla Tharp song and dance event), for $20 per person/$40 total, 50% off the normal rate.
• Two tickets to attend a Lord of the Dance style dance production, plus a VIP four-course dinner for two, for $22.50 per person/$45 total, over 50% off the normal rate.
• A meal voucher for four, worth $100 in food at a new local steakhouse, purchased for $40. Our voucher covered four entrees and two desserts.

My current list of favorite discount entertainment/restaurant sites are:


Groupon
TravelZoo
goldstar

Not listed, but as frequently utilized, is the Deal of the Day offered by our local newspaper. Check the website of the newspaper that services your town to see if they offer something similar.


I am finding very little overlap between these sites, so keeping an eye on all of them is a good idea to make sure you don't miss something good. As an example, our local newspaper offered a 50% off deal to visit a very popular fondue restaurant in our town. I didn't see it in time, much to my disappointment, and missed out on what would have been a really fun dining event to share with some friends.


So give it a try if you haven't done so before, and be sure to let me know what you find.

A New RV Member of the Family

Hot on the heels of my last two posts about the joy my husband and I experience on the open road in our folding travel trailer, I'm now a little embarrassed to admit that as of this morning we sold it. 

Yep, we sold it. But, the good news is that we sold it to make room for a brand new folding trailer. One that will give us the ability to be out on the road for longer periods of time in just a little more comfort.

Here are some photos of our new little family member; a TrailManor 2417 Sport hard sided folding trailer:

Let me back up and start at the beginning . . . 

As we began contemplating what retirement on the open road might look like some years back, we began visualizing multi-stop, multi-week trips that would take us into different areas and climates all around the USA and Canada. Our prior trailer (prior as of this morning) was ideal for one stop trips  of 10 days or less, but perhaps a little too austere and a little too much work for much more. As an example, our prior trailer was built to stay dry in the rain, and it does, very nicely, but the folks doing the set up and breakdown came with no such guarantee.

During this time we stumbled upon TrailManor and their unique line of trailers. TrailManor has a one-of-a-kind product: a hard sided folding trailer that provides many of the comforts or larger trailers and motorhomes, but still folds down into a size compact enough to fit in a garage. We loved the trailers, but felt the line available were all a little bigger and a little fancier than we wanted or needed.

But just this year TrailManor decided to release a new, slightly smaller and less outfitted trailer, the 2417 Sport. And as soon as we saw it, we knew it was the one. Similar to the other TrailManor folding hard sided trailers, the 2417 Sport can be set up and broken down in under five minutes. That gives us the ability to better deal with bad weather upon arrival to or departure from a campground, as well as utilize the trailer during any stops we might make while traveling with it hooked up to our towing vehicle. The trailer also has a bigger bed, more storage and more comfortable seating than our prior folding trailer, which will all be appreciated on the longer trips we plan to now take.

Although we'd been considering an upgrade for a couple of years, we had always assumed we would buy a used trailer for the obvious reasons - lower cost and less dramatic depreciation. This model, however, was brand new and therefore not available to be purchased used. What to do?

We thought and then thought some more. And eventually decided it came down to this - if TrailManor decided for whatever reason to take this model off the market after one year, and we lost the opportunity to purchase it, it was unlikely we would ever find anything remotely as well suited to our purposes as the 2417 Sport.

Another deciding factor was that we could afford it. We've already sold our current trailer and have plans to sell one more item - a seldom used motorcycle. The revenue generated by selling these two items will cover most of the cost of the new trailer, with the difference being paid in cash.

And probably the most important factor of all - we absolutely love it, and plan to make it the cornerstone of the lifestyle we'll be creating in retirement.

Delivery expected within the next few weeks, with photos to follow, just like any proud parent.

RV'ing 101

I'm hard pressed to find a more enjoyable and affordable way to get off the beaten path than RV'ing. I grew up doing it with my family, stepped away from it for a while as we raised our family, then re-embraced it at the point we became empty nesters.

I love everything about the outdoors except a few certain realities of living life too close to the earth. Meaning that tent camping is a little too rough and a little too much work for my liking. You have to think really hard about what you want to bring, then find, organize and pack it, set it up, and then both sleep and cook outdoors with, yuck, bugs. Plus it can be really cold outdoors in the early morning and late at night, which I just don't find fun.

On the other hand, our RV, a folding camper trailer, addresses everything we like and dislike about getting into the outdoors. It provides the ability to get deep into nature, but still be protected from the elements. It has enough internal and external storage to be outfitted with everything we need during a typical RV'ing trip, meaning the only thing we have to think about before we head out is what we are going to wear, and what we want to eat. Everything else is already living in the trailer and waiting for us. (This makes unpacking after a trip a piece of cake as well.)

Another plus of our folding camper trailer is that it can be stored in our garage, meaning no storage costs. We also feel very comfortable with how it tows behind our smallish SUV - because folding trailers are so compact, there are really no issues with either sway or wind resistance, which are hugh pluses.

The typical folding camper trailer consists of a sturdy box bottom, canvas sides, pull out beds and a solid, weather-protection roof. You, literally, crank it up, then pull out the beds and brace them, set the outside door in place, set up the dining area, move your clothes and food into place, and that's about it. It's about a 30 minute process to set up, and a 45 minute process to break down. (Breakdown is a bit longer because I also clean as I go.)

Although amenities vary by manufacturer and model, folding camper trailers typically include two pull out beds (ours has a king bed on one side, a double bed on the other), a four person dining area, small galley kitchen containing storage cupboards, a fridge, stove and sink with running water, overhead lights, door and a furnace. Ours also contains a small bathroom area, a hot water heater and a large storage area where we keep all of our outside items such as chairs, BBQ, floor mat, and compressed gas fire ring. The trailer is powered by propane, battery and a holding tank for water when we are camping "dry" (meaning no water or electricity is being provided) or by electricity when we have "hook ups." (The term for having both water and electricity outlets available for usage.)

Here's our current floorplan as an example:

And from the promotional brochure:

Happy promotional people above aside, the biggest benefit we enjoy in our travel trailer is that for a very budget-friendly price we have space, views, privacy and the ability to prepare our own meals in the comfort of our rig. Plus enjoy our own wine almost every afternoon, while gazing out at something magnificent.

A typical RV'ing day consists of waking up and enjoying coffee for a couple of hours as we watch the sun rise from inside of our heated trailer. We generally move outside for breakfast, enjoying wildlife sightings and the sound of the wind in the trees, or the surf breaking against the sand, depending on where we are. After breakfast my husband cleans up the breakfast dishes while I prepare a sack lunch for whatever activity we have planned for the day. Most of the time it's a 6 - 10 mile hike somewhere, but it also might be a long bike ride, or a kayaking excursion, or a trip to visit an interesting historical site. We're generally back in camp by late afternoon, which is when we take our showers and sit down to relax with some books, wine and a snack of some sort while the afternoon wanes. We usually start dinner around 6:00 PM, sitting down to eat around 7:00 PM, after which we clean up and start a campfire. Enjoying our campfire, conversation and a bit of stargazing, or on cold nights a rousing game of cards or a DVD via our laptop computer in our heated trailer, takes us up to bedtime - usually about 9:30 PM. At which point we sleep like logs until waking up to repeat the whole routine again next day.

(And a note that many RV Parks offer swimming pools, spas, movie nights and more, opening up all kinds of additional possibilities on how to spend the day.)

I never get tired of the routine, even after six years, and I still get a thrill every single time we pull our rig out of the garage and hit the road. 

An RVing Way of Life

I've loved the outdoors since I was a young girl. I grew up with a dad that must have felt exactly the same, because the majority of our weekends consisted of loading up our trailer and heading out to the wilds of Southern California for some R&R. 

My husband and I tried to incorporate camping into our family lifestyle in the early days of our marriage. Money was tight then, so we bought a tent and camp stove and hit the road. I discovered that while I still loved being outdoors, I didn't so much love sleeping on the ground and cooking and cleaning outdoors, so our camping became limited to once a year trips into the mountains where we slept in our tent, but filed down to a bunkhouse for meals. Quasi-camping if you will. 

Fast forward to 2005, when our last daughter left for college, and one morning I find myself perusing the internet for folding camping trailers, which offered indoor plumbing, comfortable beds, heater, a small dining area and an even smaller stove, sink and fridge. Within 24 hours, we have a lightly used folding camper trailer resting in our garage, and a whole new world opens up to us. Over the years since we've taken our camping trailer out again and again, to places like Big Sur, Big Bear and Mammoth, the central California wine country region, Bryce Canyon, Utah, and countless  beaches along the Southern California coastline. We've enjoyed hiking, biking and kayaking almost everywhere we've been, and seen wildlife in absolute abundance, including one very memorable skunk!

RV'ing will be a very significant part of our retirement travel plans, partly because of how affordable it is - between $20 - $50 per night at most campgrounds - and how much we enjoy spending time in the great outdoors. We have plans to spend upwards of 12 weeks a year on the road, estimating our weekly costs to do so at around $500 for gas, campsite, groceries and entertainment.

We recently spent the long Martin Luther King weekend in Malibu, California, where the surrounding coastline and mountains are so beautiful they literally defy description. The cost of the entire 3 day/3 night trip was less than $225, which includes the cost of the campsite, gas, groceries and one lunch out. The entertainment - hiking, walking along the beach, enjoying beautiful sunsets and stargazing by the fire at night, was all free!

The amazing ocean views we enjoyed from our campsite.

Looking to the east from our site at sunset.

 Looking to the west as the sun drops.

 Enjoying fish and chips at a local eatery.

A flock of birds taking off as we approached on the sand.

What's On Your Bucket List?

I am a list maker extraordinaire. I have lists for everything - what groceries I need to buy, what meals I plan to make, what errands I need to run, what phone calls I need to make, what tasks I need to complete at home, what people I haven't spoken to in a while, what social plans I need to coordinate and what books I need to read.


My favorite list, though, is my retirement bucket list. My definition of a bucket list is that it contains things I aspire to, or aspire to do, in the not too distant future, and that that I realistically have the financial or physical wherewithal to do. (No sense setting myself up to fail.) I've long practiced long term goal setting as a way of keeping life fresh and exciting, and am finding that to be of even greater importance in retirement now that I have the luxury, and the challenge really, of setting my own daily schedule.


So here is what is currently on my bucket list for 2012:


Graduate from beginning to intermediate Spanish. I'm currently enrolled in beginning Spanish, and am trying to "pump" it up by attending two additional pronunciation classes, plus a weekly dialogue class with a small group of fellow students. I can now comfortably put together six to eight word sentences, write fairly decently and follow a basic conversation as long as the speaker goes nice and slooooow. And preferably stays in the present tense! 


Graduate from Level 3 piano to an ongoing just-for-fun Level 4 piano group of adult learners. I have aspired to play the piano for years, particularly since both my husband and my two daughters play, but could not find the time prior to retiring last April. I started a Level 1 lesson series in May, and fell instantly in love. I practice, and play for pleasure, every day,  and can now read music and play beginning level compositions on my own. The Level 4 class is ongoing, with the emphasis on playing for pleasure and continuing to grow in the process. which is just what I'm looking for at this point in my life.


Bring more daily reflection into my life. I have a strong sense of my own spirituality, the third leg of that all important mind-body-spirit balance, but I can be a bit undisciplined on making sure I set daily time aside to grow and reflect in this area. In 2012, I am focusing on doing daily readings each morning for 10-15 minutes before I kick start my day into high gear. 


Run a half marathon with my two daughters. I've run a half marathon on my own, and I've run a race with each one of them individually, but I've never done either a half marathon or a race with both of them at the same time. We've all signed up to run the Santa Barbara Wine Country Half Marathon together in May, and I'm very much looking forward to the mother-daughter bonding experience I know preparing for and running this event together will bring.


Spend two weeks vacationing in our camping trailer. We love taking weekend and week long trips in our camping trailer, and hope to spend a lot more time doing so in retirement. Our longest stint in our trailer so far is eight days, so taking two week trip in 2012 will be a good litmus test to determine if our goal is realistic. In won't hurt that we'll be splitting the two weeks between Lake Tahoe and Mammoth Lakes, two absolutely gorgeous locations here in California.


Check off another National Park. I stand corrected - I do have one goal on my retirement bucket list that will take longer a bit longer than usual to achieve. I want to visit every National Park. There are currently 58 National Parks in the USA, and we have visited 18 thus far. We hope to check off at least Channel Islands in 2012, and possibly Great Smoky Mountains and Shenandoah if a cross country driving trip currently under discussion materializes. Regardless, getting to them all over the next ten or so years, particularly those located in Alaska, should provide for some grand adventures.


So what's on your bucket list, retirement or otherwise? I'd love to know!

The Pleasure of High Activity Days

Since retiring, Monday is now one of my favorite days of the week. Not because of the obvious (even after nine months my body clock is still insistent on waking me up before 5:00 AM), but because it is generally my most active day of the week.

On Monday mornings I get together with my hiking group for an 11 mile hike in a close by state park. The route is about 1/2 up and 1/2 down, ensuring I'll work hard and feel wonderful at the end. We generally spot a variety of wildlife along the way -  rabbits, coyotes, hawks, tarantulas, and on occasion, very scary rattlesnakes. To whom we give very wide birth!

In the afternoon I head over to our local university where I'm enrolled in a Lifelong Learning program for retirees. The program, part of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI), promotes learning for the sheer joy of it, and is available at over 100 campuses nationwide. Cost varies by campus, but the overall goal of OLLI is to keep enrollment fees low so that access to the program remains high.

On Monday evenings I alternate between playing tennis with a girlfriend at my neighborhood HOA tennis courts, and attending a once a month Monday night book club discussion.

We all come with different settings, and I've learned my life hums along best when my setting is on High. Life just gets a whole lot easier when my body, brain and spirit are regularly engaged. I sleep better, I eat better, I just exist better. Give me four to five high activity days a week, balanced by one to two days where I can just chill and recharge, and I'm pretty consistently a happy gal. Flip that around however, and I start to come apart at the seams!

So, my ongoing quest in retirement is to continue to build a lifestyle that incorporates as many of these high activity days into my week as possible. On the days when I succeed, it is, as they say, more than it's own reward.