It’s been a bit longer than usual since my last post. I blame these summer days – there’s so much to fit in with family time and reunions, friends, work, travel and other interests.

That and I’ve been spending time looking at travel brochures (mostly online but some paper versions).  Time visualizing the Canadian Rockies, Portugal, and other interesting potential destinations.

It occurred to me that we sometimes treat our retirement planning like looking at travel brochures or advertisements. Seemingly endless time to see new cities, lovely vistas, sumptuous golf courses and quaint restaurants with amazing food and ambience.

So, are these brochures or travel sites – or our retirement dreams – mere escapism? Hardly!

They whet your appetite for the journey and help you picture what’s possible. They underscore the potential highlights along the way – including what expectations or options you might want to consider.  And they allow you to envision and compare alternatives.

For travel, once you evaluate the options and the vision of what’s possible takes hold inside you, you can select a destination, determine the timing, prepare a budget, and plan your itinerary.

The key to a great vacation is coupling vision and interests with planning and preparation.

Make sure you’re not losing sight of this fun visualization part of your retirement planning.

Set aside time to envision a “day in the life” of your retirement. If you have a life partner or close family, talk it over with them and discuss various options.

I’ve read that much of the enjoyment that a vacation brings us is in the planning, discussions and preparation. 

The same should be true of our retirement adventure.