No the State Pension here you get whether you worked or not, it's paid to everyone irrespective. You can't really live on it here unless you have a roof over head anyway, some people do but it's a struggle. I get around $733 a month.
One thing I've always wanted to do is vacation on a House boat. That way I could just get up and go fishing 24/7 anytime I felt like it. One time I looked up rental prices for this and if I remember right it was about $2000. for a week's rental. I'm sure you would have to add deposits, etc. to that too. Anyway...that kind of put a damper on us doing that but that would still be a "dream vacation" to me.
I am sorry to hear that your ex is in such poor health, Chrissy, and hopefully, they can help him to recover again. Xarelto (and most of the other blood thinners) are supposed to be bad for the kidneys. I have moderate kidney failure from Xarelto, and my doctor changed me over to Savaysa , which is supposed to be not as damaging to the kidneys. He told me that once the kidney failure starts, it keeps getting worse; but I have been taking supplements that are supposed to help, and the cleanses that are for liver and kidneys, and so far, mine are not getting any worse than they already are. From the ads on television, it seems like there are a lot of people with lawsuits against Xarelto for bleeding and other problems, so there could be other things besides his kidneys that are causing the complications.
When I was in my 40's, I quit two jobs and tried to relocate to another state. In doing that, I was in Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Texas, Colorado, Kansas and Oklahoma. Even though I really wanted to settle down in a "Western/Cowboy" area/state, both times I wound up back in So California living again. Of course, if I would've settled down in one of those areas, I wouldn't have met my wife in So California, when I did. Even though I didn't like living in So California, I was mighty glad that I returned, due to meeting my wife. When we had our boat on a trailer in a Boat & RV Storage, there were quite a number of nice motorhomes setting in rental spaces there. Seniors love to travel by motorhome, I found out.
And, yes, there is a trade-off, to a point, in owning a boat versus being able to travel. We were able to travel more when we had a house in Colorado, because we stored our boat in our garage. Our Dry Storage fee is almost $300 per month, but Dry Storage is so much more convenient for older folks, like us. Our Colorado boat was in freshwater all the time and freshwater doesn't hurt an engine and outdrive (where the prop is), nearly as much as saltwater does. We've definitely had to put some money into engine and outdrive repairs.
If you had a companion to share that journey maybe it wouldn't seem long at all and if there is pretty scenery and nice stops along the way that could be interesting too. A journey like that would definitely need your own private sleeper though.
You might be surprised, Chrissy ! When I lived in Idaho (pre-Bobby), Robin was stationed near Ft. Eustis in Virginia, and instead of flying me out, she got me a round-trip train ticket. There was not very many people on the train all the way to Chicago, so I had all three seats in my row to relax and sleep on. I think that I left Idaho late at night, slept through a lot of Montana, and by the next night, we were around Chicago, and somewhere past DC the next morning, and I was at Richland VA that afternoon. During the day, I went up to the observation car (used to be called the Vista Dome) and could see everything in front and behind the train from there, as well as out both sides, since it was all windows up there. I had packed protein bars as snacks, and I went to the dining area in the mornings for coffee, and then got a sandwich later in the day from the little snack bar. Coming home, they offered her an upgrade, so I had a sleeper (Pullman) room, and that included one meal per day in the dining car, anything you wanted to eat. Then, I went to dinner there, and even had steak, since dinner was the most expensive meals, but I still had coffee in the mornings , too. They used to have a special train that went from one coast to the other, with almost no stops in between. I think it was Called the SuperChief, or something like that. It just went cross country from LA to Chicago, or maybe New York. Not sure if they still have this; but it might be something that you would want to check out. Definitely the plane is faster, but if you wanted to travel and sightsee all at once, you could look at going by train at least once. Just checked, and they still have this flyer route, it is now called the Southwest Chief, andhere is the Amtrak page that tells about this scenic route, @Chrissy Cross . https://www.amtrak.com/southwest-chief-train
Yes I love trains.... when I lived down in the west coast, and had to travel up to Scotland, I would always get a sleeper train... now as I live in greater London I can get a fast bullet train to Scotland which takes only 5 hours... I love to watch the scenery all the way...and sitting with laptop or ipad, and snoozing off and on, and having food..( not train food that's not very nice)... but taking your own lunch or dinner.. is the most relxing way to travel. My ambition is to travel on the Orient Express through Europe... I've driven and flown to many places in Europe, but to have the luxury of being taken through the most beautiful parts by train would be a Joy... https://www.luxury-trains.co.uk/
I remember what my last Director/Supervisor told me about travel: “In driving, a person can see a lot, but the nicer motels aren’t cheap, food along the way may not be cheap and, if by chance, the vehicle breaks down, that’s an added expense.” “Going by train is ok, but a train goes pretty fast with possibly different stops. Unless a person can sleep sitting up, a Sleeper has to be purchased and a person has to eat on the train.” “Flying has always been the fastest way to get somewhere. Want to spend more time with family and/or friends, flying is the way to go.” Of course, no matter how a person chooses to travel, travel isn’t cheap.
Back in 2009 when I quit my job at the Ethanol plant, wanted to relax from 15 years of shift work, so decided to take the California Zephyr train from Nebraska to Davis, Ca. where my parents lived. Went by myself on the trip out, then the wife flew out and we both took the train for the return trip. Scenery in the Rockies was great. I did the regular seating on the way out and we did the sleep car thing on the way back. The people were nice, helpful and the food and sleeper car made it worth doing.
A person does not have to sleep sitting up on a train Cody....the seats recline and there are foot rests, etc. too. It's easier to sleep if you don't have someone in the seat next to you but sleeping can still be done and hopefully the person next to you will be a family member or spouse, etc. They also have nice dining cars on the trains and fast food cafes too. Plus you can always bring food with you or sometimes purchase some at the stops along the way. When I was growing up and still living in my Mother's home, my stepdad worked for the Rail Road so we got free passes to ride the train...and those trips are memories I cherish. If a person is into luxury everything, then even the deluxe sleeper on .America's trains may not be to their taste...but if you just want comfort and affordability to travel....traveling by train is a good way to go in my opinion.
Being an expat, I have developed a network of other expats from all over the world. It is very handy when you want to travel to other continents. Just last summer we were in South Africa and we only paid the travel fare. An old friend from college is living there now and I thought I could visit her as she visited me when we were living in the Caribbean. Our motto is be nice every time, you do not know when it will pay off. Give whatever little you have to other people also and they will repay that. We do not have a lot of money, an ex history teacher and a registered nurse but we somehow end up in amazing places. I have lived a good life because of my husband. He is crazy and people love that! So they want to have him around, inviting us to the said places. Stay nice and humble sweeties!