Retirement: Time To See The World

You've been saving up for retirement all your life. It's time to enjoy the fruits of your labor.

You don't have to be rich to enjoy a globetrotting lifestyle in your golden years. With some planning, cost cutting, and coupon clipping ahead of time, there's room for tasty travel travails even with a modest budget.

Stick to your regimen

First of all, pin down your travel budget. You don't want to blow your entire nest egg on a spectacular round-the-globe extravaganza three weeks after getting that gold watch and your first IRA distribution. Draw up a long-term plan that allows for an occasional adventure in Arizona, or a sojourn to sunny Spain, without sucking your accounts dry.

Make a serious effort to stay within that budget on every trip. If you simply must stay an extra week to fully appreciate Cambodia's Angkor Wat, you're purloining funds from the next planned excursion.

The usual suspects

If the wad of bills that you've set aside for seeing Boston in the fall looks too skimpy, you have some new tricks up your sleeve-say hello to senior discounts.

Join the AARP, and the AAA, too, for good measure. These fine organizations offer generous discounts to retirees on everything from cruise packages and theme park tickets to car rentals and hotel rooms. When you've exhausted their rebate rosters, there's still more cost cutting out there.

Flash a photo ID, and get 10 percent or more taken off airline fares. Hotel chains can be even more generous: some of the top operators in the business give seniors as much as half off regular prices. Go online and check prices at your favorite hotel's website, but don't order anything there. Instead, call the hotel and ask about discounts. Besides AARP or plain senior rebates, you might find even better deals thanks to the career you left behind: teachers, military personnel, and government employees can get surprisingly generous price cuts.

Outside the box

If you've looked at all the obvious budget-boosting schemes, but the travel plan still comes up short of Shangri-La, it's time to get creative.

Find people who share your wanderlust, and reap group discount rewards. There are tour companies, travel groups at your local church or retirement community, and even alumni associations that can help get a party together. Or talk to your friends, cousins, and golf buddies. You're looking for numbers, not corporate backing.

In "The Holiday," Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz trade places with one another for an unusual vacation. You, too, can do the same thing. You can save thousands of dollars by handing over the keys to your French Quarter bungalow in exchange for an apartment off the Champs-Elysees or Broadway. There are several services online that will help you find a temporary dream home.

Let the travel bug bite you hard, and see the sights you've always dreamed of. You can do it, with just a bit of planning ahead.