Grey Gappers

I thought you liked going off to the States Nonu. And Mauritius

I dooo JANE but am only gone for 12 weeks all told.
I wouldn't go away in July /Aug ,
a] Too expensive
b] Would miss the fruits of my labours in the garden . All the hard work done , now sit back and enjoy . Apart from the odd weed plucking !

Would you like to be a "grey gapper" ?

I doubt if I have the money to go swanning off for a year. The cattery fees would cost a bit at £10 a day, not that I would leave my cat there for so long.

I always planned to travel when I retired but then the GC came along, in addition to the one I already had, and I couldn't bear to go away and not see them for such a long time.

I resent the implication that anyone over 55 is 'grey'. I'm certainly not!

Should have read 'everyone'!!

I'm silver!

I was a mini grey gapper this Autumn. Went to the States to see family and then on to Vancouver and an Island several ferry trips away from Vancouver Island, to see more family. The travelling was exhausting, but exhilarating. I had a wonderful time and met a host of characters. I went on my own which I REALLY enjoyed. I took a case and back-pack to the States, but left the case there and back-packed the rest of the way, plane hopping through San Francisco one way and Chicago on the return, and picked up my case when back in the States where I stayed again. Great way to travel if you can minimize - hands free and no checking of luggage. Mr. F. stayed in France and kept the home fires burning.
I would love to do some more!

Come to Scotland!

I'll take that as an invitation.

I'd love to but won't I'd have to wait until both hubby and I both retire. Would want to do it in reasonable comfort due to achy joints & mild asthma so it would cost too much. My hubby would love to convert a van and travel through Europe who knows one can dream

DH and I would love to travel the world but for us that means a round the world cruise. We'd miss out on the people and the culture but the advantage of no queues at airports, no being squashed on rickety old busses out ways that for us. I know for some that's part of the fun but not for us

We did a mini gap (3 months) the winter after DH took early retirement. We'd saved to go to New Zealand for a month but a Round the World ticket was a lot cheaper and our trip sort of grew. For him planning it took the sting out of the shock of not working. Stuck to English speaking countries so as not to complicate things and had a fantastic time. I don't think I'd have wanted to have gone for longer though, I was starting to miss home with summer coming. The most expensive bit was the air fare - we skipped Europe and avoided cities as much as possible so living costs weren't as bad as we thought they'd be.

Same as you, annodomini. We lived abroad when the first GC was born. Sold that and moved back home. Bought a Motohome, travelled a lot, then 2nd GC came along and Motohome has been sold. What are we like.

It's a good job I do have a bit of the travel bug in me, as otherwise I'd rarely see my grandchildren.

Ana me neither. I am a super blonde thanks to L"Oreal . tee hee !

I would not want to go on a12 month gap as I like someone said earlier I would miss the "NIPS" too much .

My OH regularly works abroad so rarely wants to go far for a holiday.In the last 8 years, I've been to Australia on my own, driven through New Zealand with a girlfriend and spent 3 months volunteering in Guatemala..can't wait for the next adventure....and I'm a natural blonde, ho ho!

I couldn't wait to retire so I could indulge my travel bug, I thought of all the term time cheapies I could get and all my friends I could visit;Africa, Singapore ,Vietnam.A great time to catch up .I was single,solvent ,healthy and had the time , but life never works out as planned.
My son moved to Poland when my grandson was 2(6 now)so 4/5 times a year I pop over there. Not too far and not too expensive to fly....what is expensive is paying for my 2 dogs and horse to be looked after.
Then there is the garden....
And just to really laugh at my plans I develop a liver condition that means unless I paint myself with thick beige gunge mixed with factor 50 I can't go in the sun or I come out in large water blisters!!!WTF

I'm still doing our gap year. Too much hard graft after uni. to take time out. Post retirement we are exploring the world at our leisure. Trouble is you meet nice people who then come and stay with you and it cuts out the time you have to holiday and then there is the helping out with the DGCs. DH is away next week and I'm very tempted to go the local Premier Inn for a week with a pile of books and not tell anyone. Has anyone ever done that?

My late husband and I were planning to do Alaska and New Zealand by motor home. Haven't got the nerve to do it alone now.

DH and I love to travel, but 2 or 3 weeks at a time is enough. After that we find new experiences and sights all start to roll into one and we can't appreciate them. Always pleased to get home, enjoy real life for a while and start to plan for the next destination. A year or even 6 months would be much too long and I would miss the family too much.