Scotland. Paint a picture in your mind’s eye of everything you can imagine about Scotland and most likely you’d be spot on. We spent three weeks exploring Scotland and the Lake District in northern England, and we were in constant awe. The list of adjectives we used was endless when trying to describe the splendor that is Scotland. This post is the first in our Scotland series.

Travel Hacks In Retirement

You certainly do not have to be retired, or even be thinking about retirement, to take advantage of good travel and life hacks. We’ve done a lot of “hacks” research over the years; some of which work for us, some not so much. As we transitioned into retirement we knew we’d need to find a way to make travel (and life) affordable. In this post we’re going to talk about some of our well-used travel and life hacks in retirement, and how we make it all work for us.

Harpers Ferry National Park. If you’re a US history enthusiast, Harpers Ferry is the place to see. Or, even if you just have a mild interest in the historical significance, there is so much more to experience. Harpers Ferry is the site of the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers. Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia all meet at Harpers Ferry. Four national parks and three national trails all convene at Harpers Ferry. And, it is the halfway point on the Appalachian Trail.

Santarém, Portugal. Little did we know what it would take for us to “walk” from the Santarém Train Station to our accommodations. Geography makes a difference, it almost did us in.

Looking for the Spirit of Christmas. I wrote this piece in 2020 but it still seems quite relevant. Once again, I’m hoping for a white Christmas, but since it’s unlikely to happen I’ll be at peace with the beauty of twinkle lights, the creativity of our spirited neighbors and beautiful music. With that being said, I decided to pull this piece from the archives, update it a bit, and publish it once again.

Evora, Portugal. After spending four lovely days in Setubal, we boarded the train bound for Evora. We had to backtrack to Lisbon and change trains at Oriente Station. It was an easy transition and a fairly short ride to Evora. It was our first foray into central Portugal, which is known for the region’s high temps. We had no idea just how high those temps could soar.

Setubal, Evora and Santarem. All three cities were new destinations for us while spending a month in Portugal. Each offered its own historic charm and hospitality. Our first stop was Setubal. We rented an apartment and spent four easy carefree days relaxing before adventuring further.

If it’s Monday, then it’s market day in Espinho.  And what better way to get to Espinho than by train and a good long walk along the coastal boardwalk.  It all makes for the perfect day.

• This post has been updated and newly published based on our return to Espinho in 2023.
• This post includes an in-kind collaboration

Good Eats. If you’ve been with us for a while, you know we spent the month of October 2023 in Portugal. We visited Setubal, Evora, Santarem, Espinho and Porto. A few places were new destinations for us and we’ll be writing about them and offering highlights, photos and travel tips. For Espinho and Porto, we’ll be updating our previously published content and sharing the best of our travel tips.

Annapolis, Maryland, the state capital, is a lovely historic coastal city located on the Chesapeake Bay. As it happened, we needed to file a few documents with the Secretary of State. Rather than mail the documents, we decided to make a day of it in Annapolis. Stay tuned because we have a story to tell about those documents, and it will be a good one.