The Choices We Make

I have traveled to 19 countries but places that I want to visit in my bucket list keep growing.  My spouse and I enjoy traveling and creating memories.  Given time and money constraints, we are often forced to make choices about where to travel and when to travel to make each visit special and a memory to cherish. Thinking of places we have visited, the question of where to travel is relatively easy in hindsight.  Most of the places we have visited are for cultural tourism.  Cultural tourism is a kind of tourism that involves learning about the history of a given region, the lifestyle of people in a particular geographical locale, architecture, oral traditions, religions, festivals, cuisine, etc. Activities of cultural tourism involves visiting museums, theaters, art galleries, and learning about indigenous cultural communities and their traditions, lifestyle, and values.   The countries that we have visited that can be included in this category include India, Italy, Mexico

 RETIREMENT - WHEN, WHERE AND TO DO WHAT? When we think of retirement, we often think of beautiful beaches and warm weather.  But for many, retirement may not be that pleasant.  For a majority of us, the thought of retirement is very concerning.  When, where and to do what? After two careers spanning about 30 years, I have started thinking about retirement.  There are many financial tools that help you make financial decisions for life after retirement.  Fidelity has an excellent retirement planning tool. But I have not seen any tool that can tell me whether I am ready physically and mentally to retire.  I am 60 years old and not in excellent health.  Waking up at 4 am every day, to leave for work at 6 am and return only at 7:30 pm has had an impact on my body and brain.  I am tired and would like to retire in couple of years.  I have heard of many people struggling with decisions about retirement. Also, I live in Northern Virginia.  Living in Northern Virginia is

 MY STORY I started blogging and tweeting about my interests in marketing and small business about 5 years ago.  I wanted my son to become interested in my hobbies but that did not materialize. More recently, I have become more interested in sharing my experience with a wider audience and helping the readers make better decisions with the choices that we face every day. I am a 60 year old administrator and was a Professor in a Business School for 11 years before I changed my career.  My research and teaching interests were on business decision making.  I think I have made good decisions in my life and helped more than 1,000 students do well in their lives.  I have been happily married for 35 years, have a son, and a comfortable life.  In 1984, when I arrived in the USA, I had $500 in my pocket.  Our story - an American immigrant's story - has many lessons for others - to my son included.  Also, one day, I might get dementia, Alzheimer’s and other health issues and in