widowhood. It was the first time in her life that she was truly independent.
same for my mom. she went from her parent's house to her marital home and never really had to be completely independent. But she really likes it. She REALLY likes being by herself, too. I never even thought about how she's never been alone. there was always a kid, grandkid or my dad around. Now she can quite literally do whatever she wants! decorate how she wants, cook or not cook, as much as she wants. the thermostat is hers to control, the weight of the blankets on the bed, the kind of coffee and milk she drinks.
It's something that I never really thought about before.
I’m enjoying traveling in retirement too. I was in Mexico in January and I’m going back in May. Both flights were free because I used Jet Blue’s True Blue points to “buy” the tix. Free airfare helps a lot in planning trips. I can control how much I spend on food and drinks (and it’s much cheaper than food and drinks in NYC) so the main cost is the roof over my head there. It’s great to not have to request time off from work. I know some people who hate the idea of retiring. I don’t know why. They think they’ll be bored but it frees up so much time to do things. Here’s hoping my pension and SS survive this regime.
I'm trying to get my mom to do this - get a JetBlue credit card so she can gain points on her routine expenses, but it's not as easy as I thought it would be. That's okay, she's at least VERY open to the apps and doing everything IN the app (she hasn't asked how to print her boarding pass, lol) and she's down with points and upgrades and stuff like that.
so now i just have to get over MY anxiety of her flying solo for the first time. But she has FOUR recent flights under her belt and my uncle is meeting her at the airport in Aurba once she arrives, so I'm sure she'll be fin. she is FAR MORE competent than my anxiety gives her credit for.
