[Misc] Retirement

Ding Dong ! said:

Spend a lot of my time now doing calcs on the pensions & savings I have trying to work out when I can potentially retire. And am hoping to do this in 18 months or so when i turn 59 or certainly wind down.

Seen a nice rise of circa £40K in the past 14 months for one of my pensions due to the rapid rise in the North American fund unit price that has gone from 2.79p to 3.54p in that time.

Mans a nutter but hey if my crypto and pensions keep rising in the way they are..............Go Trump !!!!!

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Tim Over Whelmed said:

So people worry about having nothing to do in retirement. To be honest I sometimes enjoy “nothing to do” so much that I do it for longer, it’s great.

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Tim Over Whelmed said:

I am one week away from the first of three "big" adventures, this one sees my Wife & I fly to Delhi, before travelling by train to Shimla on the Shatabdi Express, taking in three days of trail walking in The Himalayas, then it's back on a train back to Delhi for a sightseeing tour. Day 7 sees us go to Agra and The Taj Mahal, followed by a train to Ranthambhore, and a jungle safari. We then move to Jaipur by rail, taking in the Amber Fort and the City of Jaipur before flying to Mumbai. Then we jump on a ship and sail down Southern Asia for two weeks. Far removed from our normal couple of weeks in Majorca, so very excited and really apprehensive. I suppose retirement was supposed to be about new adventures and pushing ourselves outside of our comfort zone and this feels that it is.

We are reasonably prepared for the potential ailments of such a trip and very excited.

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Tim Over Whelmed said:

I am one week away from the first of three "big" adventures, this one sees my Wife & I fly to Delhi, before travelling by train to Shimla on the Shatabdi Express, taking in three days of trail walking in The Himalayas, then it's back on a train back to Delhi for a sightseeing tour. Day 7 sees us go to Agra and The Taj Mahal, followed by a train to Ranthambhore, and a jungle safari. We then move to Jaipur by rail, taking in the Amber Fort and the City of Jaipur before flying to Mumbai. Then we jump on a ship and sail down Southern Asia for two weeks. Far removed from our normal couple of weeks in Majorca, so very excited and really apprehensive. I suppose retirement was supposed to be about new adventures and pushing ourselves outside of our comfort zone and this feels that it is.

We are reasonably prepared for the potential ailments of such a trip and very excited.

Click to expand...

Tim Over Whelmed said:

I am one week away from the first of three "big" adventures, this one sees my Wife & I fly to Delhi, before travelling by train to Shimla on the Shatabdi Express, taking in three days of trail walking in The Himalayas, then it's back on a train back to Delhi for a sightseeing tour. Day 7 sees us go to Agra and The Taj Mahal, followed by a train to Ranthambhore, and a jungle safari. We then move to Jaipur by rail, taking in the Amber Fort and the City of Jaipur before flying to Mumbai. Then we jump on a ship and sail down Southern Asia for two weeks. Far removed from our normal couple of weeks in Majorca, so very excited and really apprehensive. I suppose retirement was supposed to be about new adventures and pushing ourselves outside of our comfort zone and this feels that it is.

We are reasonably prepared for the potential ailments of such a trip and very excited.

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dazzer6666 said:

Similar to what we’ve been doing the last 2-3 years (different locations so far but longer, more adventurous holidays to new places)……bloody loving it. Driving Mrs nuts with planning the trips while we’re on current trips

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METALMICKY said:

Immodium is your friend!

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The Mole said:

Best advice for eating in India is to go to the busy places where the locals go. Fast turnaround in food means there’s less standing around for ages. Also eating with your hands is actually more hygienic- there are wash stations so you end up washing your hands a lot.
india assaults your senses but embrace it and you will love it. Sounds like a good trip you’ve got planned. By all accounts Ranthanbore is a bit mad compared to other safaris. Indians don’t understand that big cat’s don’t like noise. But there is no sight like a tiger in the wild.
shimla will probably be quite chilly. Everything is closed on a Monday!
we’re going back to India over Christmas- tiger reserve - Hydrabad and then Goa to meet up with friends we made last time we were there.

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Tim Over Whelmed said:

Greetings from a very smogy Delhi, it’s 4.30 a.m. and we’re up for a 14 hour journey to The Himalayas …..

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Professor Plum said:

I spent about 6 months backpacking round India, Nepal and Bangladesh in my 20s. It changed my life for the better. On the catering/sickness front it’s largely a case of being sensible. Eating meat and fish/seafood will always be a risk in India. Eating veg can also be a risk as you don’t know how clean the water was used to wash them. Use some common sense to minimise risk but expect to get a bout of the shits at some point. Getting the runs is not always about bad food or bad hygiene. It can simply be your body reacting to food and spices it’s never experienced before.

My advice is to not overlook the simple stuff that’s likely to be safest to eat, especially when travelling. Nothing worse than the shits en route to your next destination. Railway station restaurants will sell eggs and tomatoes on toast with coffee. Much safer than a mysterious meat curry. If you want something more exotic, I used to love masala dosa — mashed potatoes in a pancake served with one or two spicy sauces. Pretty safe choices.

But there’s every chance you’ll avoid the lurghy. I suspect you can get bottled water there these days. I used to have to rely on dubious tap water. Or the delicious Limca.

Have a great time. I've often said that you don’t always appreciate India until after you get back home when you suddenly think, "What on Earth just happened?"

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Tim Over Whelmed said:

I am one week away from the first of three "big" adventures, this one sees my Wife & I fly to Delhi, before travelling by train to Shimla on the Shatabdi Express, taking in three days of trail walking in The Himalayas, then it's back on a train back to Delhi for a sightseeing tour. Day 7 sees us go to Agra and The Taj Mahal, followed by a train to Ranthambhore, and a jungle safari. We then move to Jaipur by rail, taking in the Amber Fort and the City of Jaipur before flying to Mumbai. Then we jump on a ship and sail down Southern Asia for two weeks. Far removed from our normal couple of weeks in Majorca, so very excited and really apprehensive. I suppose retirement was supposed to be about new adventures and pushing ourselves outside of our comfort zone and this feels that it is.

We are reasonably prepared for the potential ailments of such a trip and very excited.

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Tim Over Whelmed said:

Just back from India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Malaysia & Singapore. As a pretty much two weeks, all-inc, in Majorca type of guy this was fantastic.

The people were wonderful, facilities, at times, eye-opening (&watering) and just a cultural overload.

I’ve never been more tired on holiday, up a 5 sometimes to do safaris, not back until 9 / 10 pm sometimes, having missed lunch or dinner, but absolutely bloody awesome.

Where next …

Similar trip but in South America.

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Tim Over Whelmed said:

Just back from India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Malaysia & Singapore.

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South Stand Bonfire said:

If it’s not a personal question (which it is!), how long were you away for and what was your budget? Asking for a friend….

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Tim Over Whelmed said:

The trip was just over four weeks, but included guided trips, day safaris, train journeys and some meals. The first part toured India and the second part was an all inc cruise with day tours.

The package was just over £11k and we spent probably another £2k on food, drinks and non included tours.

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