Time To Travel

Another blockbuster subject for retirees – travel – is so broad that we’ll just treat it briefly here. As baby boomers are approaching early retirement, they may be less interested in accumulating hard assets, and more interested in accumulating life-changing experiences. Forbes Magazine's iExplore travel website — http://www.iexplore.com — reveals the Top Ten List of Once-in-a-Lifetime Destinations:

  1. Champagne flight to the North Pole
  2. Travel to Timbuktu (Mali) and back
  3. Sea kayak the Panama Canal
  4. Stay With a Mongolian family in the Gobi Desert
  5. Cage dive with Great White sharks in South Africa
  6. Camel caravan across the Sahara Desert
  7. Trek to Mount Everest Base Camp
  8. Take a hot springs bath in Iceland
  9. Balloon safari over the Serengeti (Tanzania)
  10. Walk rainforest tree canopies in the Amazon

Whether these adventures or some other destination sparks your interest, you can track down a travel agent in your community for some guidance. Many of McHenry County’s travel agencies are listed at McHenry County Online: http://www.mchenryonline.com

Before you set off on your adventure, a visit to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website — http://www.cdc.gov/travel — can help you monitor any health issues specifically related to your destination, as well as giving you health and prevention tips on food and water, vaccinations, insect concerns, traveling with children or on cruise ships and much more. It even provides inspection scores for specific cruise ships by the Vessel Sanitation Program.

And for a little variety on your next trip, look at some different lodging options:

Timeshare owners who can’t use their designated week will rent their unit out through timeshare rental sites such as http://www.redweek.com A small registration fee is required to see details on individual postings, but researching the possible locations is free. These can be a great alternative to the ubiquitous hotel chain.

Another route is to rent a vacation home directly from its owner. A listing of those opportunities can be found at the website of Vacation Rentals By Owner, http://www.vrbo.com

Does something a little simpler or closer to home appeal to you? Day or weekend trips in Northern Illinois can start with a visit to the Northern Illinois Tourism Development Office website — http://www.visitnorthernillinois.com/resources.html — where attractions, lodging, events, packages, agri-tourism and other topics on the area are provided. Links are also offered from this site to specific Tourism and Visitors’ Bureaus.

Not far away, Lake Geneva has an incredible variety of events, parks and outings. Check out their tourism site at http://www.lakegenevawi.com