#2 – Ingrid Reckard Doesn’t Like Being Unhappy

Ingrid Reckard [00:03:25]:

So that’s just kind of I like planning things out.

Ryan Doolittle [00:03:27]:

Yeah, your natural personality.

Ingrid Reckard [00:03:30]:

Right.

Ryan Doolittle [00:03:31]:

Okay. So you made the plan, and it sounds like you stuck to it.

Ingrid Reckard [00:03:35]:

Yeah, I mean, it was hard sometimes because I really wanted to retire probably ten years before, but I couldn’t afford it.

Ryan Doolittle [00:03:44]:

Well, the money is I mean, it’s not the most romantic way to put it. Right. But money may or may not bring happiness, but it’s kind of hard to get the happiness if you don’t have the money. Right. Because then you don’t have the flexibility. Yeah.

Ingrid Reckard [00:03:59]:

And I’m basically living the same lifestyle that I did when I was working, except now, actually, I probably have a little more money because I don’t have the debt.

Ryan Doolittle [00:04:14]:

Okay.

Ingrid Reckard [00:04:15]:

Yeah.

Ryan Doolittle [00:04:16]:

Wow. So you have more money than you.

Ingrid Reckard [00:04:18]:

Did when you I mean, more discretionary money. I mean, I made more money then, but, I mean, it was eaten up with taxes. Wow.

Ryan Doolittle [00:04:27]:

That is the dream, to have more discretionary income in retirement.

Ingrid Reckard [00:04:31]:

And you’d be surprised how okay, your bills really should only be X, but then all of a sudden, you want everything and you spend all the money. It’s funny how that happens, right? Tomorrow is not promised to you.

Ryan Doolittle [00:04:47]:

Exactly. Yeah. My mom recently bought some jewelry that I think was probably nicer than she would normally let herself buy, and she almost seemed like she felt bad about it. And I was telling her, you’re the one who earned this money, you should be spending.

Ingrid Reckard [00:05:09]:

Well, you know, in September of last year, I went on vacations with my childhood friend, who I knew from the age of five, Wendy, and my college friend Denise, and we were celebrating our birthdays, and our motto was, if not now, when do you spend it? Go ahead and spend it. We worked all this time to save money so that we could have a nice retirement, and we’re here, so spend. Exactly.

Ryan Doolittle [00:05:43]:

Otherwise, what was the point?

Ingrid Reckard [00:05:45]:

What was the point?

Ryan Doolittle [00:05:47]:

Yeah, I completely you’re going to leave.

Ingrid Reckard [00:05:49]:

It for somebody who’s going to go through it like that. Yeah. And they don’t appreciate it, I know.

Ryan Doolittle [00:05:57]:

Well, yeah, if you’re not the one who worked for it, it doesn’t have the same value. Yeah. So you said you wanted to retire before you were able to. What age were you able to retire? Okay, edit that out. I was going to say you’re only 45 now, so how did you do that? Well, one thing, some people, when they retire, they have to recreate their identity or rebrand as a marketing person might say, but you seemed like someone who already had that figured out, and you just kind of continued it. But with a better daily and weekly schedule.

Ingrid Reckard [00:06:44]:

I was raised to be my authentic self. And I’m even more so now. I remember when I was in a Bible study and I was probably in my forty s, I think. And I remember this older woman, she was in her seventy s and she said the good thing about getting older, you can say whatever the hell you want. And that’s what I feel.

Ryan Doolittle [00:07:09]:

Yeah.

Ingrid Reckard [00:07:10]:

I’m who I am. I’m going to say whatever I want.

Ryan Doolittle [00:07:12]:

Yeah.

Ingrid Reckard [00:07:13]:

Some people like me, some people won’t. But guess what? It was going to be that way anyway.

Ryan Doolittle [00:07:18]:

I may as well be myself, right.

Ingrid Reckard [00:07:20]:

And make me happy. Why should I be trying to make everybody else happy and myself miserable?

Ryan Doolittle [00:07:25]:

Yeah, man, I’m going to start living this way. You’ve inspired me. I spend too much time thinking, oh, what did I say? Was it okay?

Ingrid Reckard [00:07:35]:

And another thing. When I was a teenager, my mother used to tell me, never envy anybody for what they have because you don’t know what they did to get it and you don’t know what they’re doing to keep know. So that’s just my background.

Ryan Doolittle [00:07:52]:

That’s right. I may have seen you in your BMW and thought, well, she’s not happy. And I was wrong.

Ingrid Reckard [00:08:03]:

Right. You have to make yourself happy.

Ryan Doolittle [00:08:07]:

Yeah.

Ingrid Reckard [00:08:08]:

Can’t rely on other people to do it for you.

Ryan Doolittle [00:08:11]:

No.

Ingrid Reckard [00:08:16]:

If I’m home for any length, like a week or two, I’m itching to go somewhere else.

Ryan Doolittle [00:08:20]:

Really? In that short amount of time, you’re ready to get out.

Ingrid Reckard [00:08:23]:

Because when I got back from Jamaica in June, I said, you know what, I’m going to stay home this summer until I go to Ghana in October. And then I said, because I actually changed the trip to New York, I had canceled that. And I said, you know what? I have some points. I’m going to go to St. Martin. I booked it.

Ryan Doolittle [00:08:46]:

Wow.

Ingrid Reckard [00:08:48]:

Yeah, just like that. And then I had some more points. I said, okay, I don’t have anything to do in August. I’m going to go to Mexico. I can do it. Why not? And that’s what I love. Yeah, I love doing this.

Ryan Doolittle [00:09:02]:

So why shouldn’t exactly. There was no reason not to.

Ingrid Reckard [00:09:06]:

No reason not to?

Ryan Doolittle [00:09:07]:

Yeah.

Ingrid Reckard [00:09:08]:

I could be dead tomorrow. I don’t know.

Ryan Doolittle [00:09:11]:

Oh no, don’t say that. I guess any of us could be, right?

Ingrid Reckard [00:09:15]:

Any of us could be.

Ryan Doolittle [00:09:16]:

Well so March of 2022 is when you retired, right?

Ingrid Reckard [00:09:21]:

Yes, March 1.

Ryan Doolittle [00:09:23]:

March 1. And the very same day you were on a plane to Costa Rica?

Ingrid Reckard [00:09:28]:

March 2. The next day I was on a plane to Costa Rica and started my retirement. Hallelujah.

Ryan Doolittle [00:09:39]:

So you did not mess around. You were literally the next day ready to go.

Ingrid Reckard [00:09:44]:

We got our bonuses on the 15 February and that’s why I planned my official last day was March 1 and my plane ticket was March 2.

Ryan Doolittle [00:09:58]:

So in the past year. You correct me if I’m not getting a complete list, but I have down. In the past year, you’ve been to Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, Rome, Venice, Paris, Amsterdam, and Cape Town, South Africa.

Ingrid Reckard [00:10:14]:

That was last year.

Ryan Doolittle [00:10:15]:

That was 2022, and then 2023. Did you go to Las Vegas in February, then Australia in April. In May, you went to Iceland. London, lisbon. June was Jamaica. July was New York. And then in October, you’re going to Ghana.

Ingrid Reckard [00:10:35]:

Yes, and I started off the year in Panama in January. Yeah. And I went to Cancun in April, too, and then I’m going to Ghana in October, and then I just got back from Martin.

Ryan Doolittle [00:10:51]:

So in retirement, you’ve started your own travel consultant company. Is that how you describe it?

Ingrid Reckard [00:10:59]:

I’m a travel advisor. Right. I do all the planning for trips from beginning to end the hotels, the activities, the flights, everything.

Ryan Doolittle [00:11:11]:

Okay. Getting into travel, since that’s your biggest core pursuit, and your job in retirement, do you have any tips? I mean, I have a bunch of questions about specific tips, but I know you study up on airline loyalty, credit card points. You even register with the US. State Department if you’re going to go on a foreign trip, I think. Do you have any specific tips on people that don’t really know much about it but love traveling?

Ingrid Reckard [00:11:41]:

Well, I mean, for example, if a person likes the beach and stuff and all know the best places, most people go to Jamaica or Dominican Republic or Mexico. Mexico is probably the least expensive, and they have a lot of choices in terms of all know the I usually book things during shoulder season because you’re going to get better rates, and it’s not as crowded, and the shoulder season is going to be in between low season and high season. So it’s like the middle season.

Ryan Doolittle [00:12:26]:

Oh, so that’s the shoulder season. And then the other season would be like the neck.

Ingrid Reckard [00:12:32]:

Right. The shoulder season is the time I like to book because it’s a better value.

Ryan Doolittle [00:12:41]:

Right, yeah. That’s I think, what I would want to do. I don’t want to go when everyone’s there and it’s less of a experience. Okay.

Ingrid Reckard [00:12:49]:

And then if you’re in a city, like, for example, people living in Atlanta Delta is if you I fly Delta everywhere. I’m part of their loyalty program. So I get a lot of sky mile points, and those points either help reduce the price of the trip, or it pays for the trip. All I may have to pay is taxes, which can be as low as $12.

Ryan Doolittle [00:13:19]:

Wow.

Ingrid Reckard [00:13:20]:

Yeah. So it’s important to and getting credit cards that like I have the Delta American Express cards that I put everything on. I have two credit cards, a Delta Reserve card that I get extra points, and I can use the Sky Club Lounges. I’m very spoiled now.

Ryan Doolittle [00:13:42]:

Yeah.

Ingrid Reckard [00:13:43]:

And then I use the Chase Sapphire reserve card that also gets me into lounges, but I also can get travel off of their travel portal using points.

Ryan Doolittle [00:13:59]:

Oh, okay.

Ingrid Reckard [00:14:00]:

Yeah. Because in January, I’m going to go to the Galapagos Islands off of Ecuador.

Ryan Doolittle [00:14:06]:

Wow.

Ingrid Reckard [00:14:07]:

And the hotel will be paid for with my Chase card, the points from my Chase card, and then the flight into Ecuador. I’ll have enough Delta Sky mile points to pay for that. So that trip is basically free.

Ryan Doolittle [00:14:23]:

Oh, my gosh.

Ingrid Reckard [00:14:24]:

Yeah. Except for the this past. I don’t know if they’re going to do this every year, but Delta sky mile points were worth 40% more on Cyber Monday. The Monday after Thanksgiving.

Ryan Doolittle [00:14:45]:

Yeah.

Ingrid Reckard [00:14:46]:

And that trip to Australia, I paid a fraction of what I would, of course, because I stayed at very nice hotels, four and five star hotels. And I went business class with the flatbed.

Ryan Doolittle [00:15:01]:

Yeah. That’s a game changer, I would think. I’ve never done it.

Ingrid Reckard [00:15:06]:

And if you get medallion status with airline, you get a lot of perks. You get upgrade certificates for domestic travel as well as you can get them for international travel. So, for example, now with my Delta status, which is diamond, I’ll purchase domestically. And going into Central and some parts of South America, I’ll purchase a main cabin seat. But immediately I can upgrade to Comfort Plus. And then I’d say 80% of the time or more, I get upgraded to first class, but only paid for main cabin seat. Yeah.

Ryan Doolittle [00:15:55]:

Wow. Wait, why do they upgrade you?

Ingrid Reckard [00:15:57]:

Just because of my Medallion status. When you’re in a loyalty program, there’s certain silver is the lowest, and then you get gold and then platinum, and then diamond. And with each category, you get more and more. So the silver, you basically get free luggage check. In gold, you’ll get a little more. I don’t even remember what you get into with gold. Platinum, you start with you purchase main cabin and you automatically get upgraded to Comfort, starting at the platinum level. And then you can get regional certificates to upgrade even more. And then diamond, there’s a host of benefits you get with diamond, one of which is upgrade certificates for transatlantic flights. Like when I go to Australia.

Ryan Doolittle [00:16:54]:

Right.

Ingrid Reckard [00:16:54]:

So, for example, when Australia for that first class ticket, if I had bought it alone without a package, it was something like $11,000.

Ryan Doolittle [00:17:05]:

Oh, my God.

Ingrid Reckard [00:17:07]:

I used the upgrade certificate and I did a package through Delta Vacations and that whole no, four hotels because I flew into Sydney, went to Keynes, where the Great Barrier Reef is, and went to Melbourne, and then came back through Sydney to come home. I mean, it must have cost me maybe $6,000. Where the airfare alone, if I didn’t have all those things, would have been $11,000 just for the airfare. Oh, my gosh, I love it.

Ryan Doolittle [00:17:42]:

Yeah.

Ingrid Reckard [00:17:44]:

And I love figuring out stuff. Well, I sit home at night. How can I do this.

Ryan Doolittle [00:17:50]:

It’s like a riddle. It seems like a riddle that you figure out.

Ingrid Reckard [00:17:54]:

Right?

Ryan Doolittle [00:17:54]:

And so if people want to do this is the best way to contact you. Okay.

Ingrid Reckard [00:18:01]:

Of course.

Ryan Doolittle [00:18:01]:

How would they contact you?

Ingrid Reckard [00:18:04]:

They can contact me. Ingrid At Easyworldtravel Biz okay, so that’s.

Ryan Doolittle [00:18:12]:

The place to go because you’ve got it all figured out. I don’t even know if these loyalty programs have an annual fee or if they’re free.

Ingrid Reckard [00:18:21]:

No, the loyalty programs are free.

Ryan Doolittle [00:18:23]:

They’re free.

Ingrid Reckard [00:18:23]:

The credit cards have a fee.

Ryan Doolittle [00:18:25]:

A fee? But it’s probably like only $100 a year or something, I’m guessing.

Ingrid Reckard [00:18:29]:

It depends. The ones I use are like $500. But all the benefits, because of the type of traveler I am, it pays for itself.

Ryan Doolittle [00:18:43]:

Right.

Ingrid Reckard [00:18:44]:

Because I travel so much. If I didn’t travel so much, and I did start with a lower level delta credit card that doesn’t have a fee, it depends on the amount of travel you do.

Ryan Doolittle [00:18:59]:

So the lower level ones, you still get some perks and you pay less. And then if you decide that traveling is your core pursuit, then you upgrade. Kind of like you did.

Ingrid Reckard [00:19:10]:

Exactly. Okay, well said.

Ryan Doolittle [00:19:13]:

One thing I was wondering that I assume you’ve taken into account because you’ve mentioned it’s fun to travel with people, but you’ve also said, don’t forget that sometimes traveling alone can be fantastic. Traveling alone, especially internationally as a woman, is that something you’ve had to take time to think about or do you feel completely safe?

Ingrid Reckard [00:19:36]:

No, I could feel completely safe. I mean, I grew up in New York. I learned how know navigate.

Ryan Doolittle [00:19:43]:

So you everywhere else is a cakewalk after that type of thing.

Ingrid Reckard [00:19:47]:

Right. I don’t go around with flashy jewelry. I pay attention to my surroundings. If I’m alone. I don’t go out at night by myself. I get oriented to the area. So just common sense type of things.

Ryan Doolittle [00:20:07]:

So stuff you probably do wherever, even if you’re home.

Ingrid Reckard [00:20:11]:

Right, exactly.

Ryan Doolittle [00:20:12]:

And when you’re on these trips, I assume that dining is a big part. You taste a lot of the cuisine.

Ingrid Reckard [00:20:19]:

Oh, yeah. I like to eat where the locals eat, though. I usually try to find that out at the hotel. I’ll usually ask, well, where do you the bartender or the concierge? Well, where do you eat?

Ryan Doolittle [00:20:34]:

Right.

Ingrid Reckard [00:20:34]:

And it’s more fun. And also where do they hang out? But typically some of the places I like to explore when I go to different places, I love jazz. I usually try to find a jazz love. I’m into the arts and culture, so I usually go to an art gallery, a museum. I’m going to go to Greece next year. I’ll probably take a cooking class in Greece.

Ryan Doolittle [00:21:02]:

Oh, wow. Okay.

Ingrid Reckard [00:21:04]:

Winery. I love wine.

Ryan Doolittle [00:21:07]:

One thing I’ve noticed about wine is I like the taste, but also it kind of makes me feel good. Have you ever noticed that, Wes?

Ingrid Reckard [00:21:15]:

Absolutely. And in Portugal, I love their wine, and it’s so inexpensive. I get a white wine from Trader Joe’s. It’s like six.

Ryan Doolittle [00:21:28]:

Wait. There’s there’s Trader Joe’s in Portugal?

Ingrid Reckard [00:21:31]:

No. Here in Atlanta.

Ryan Doolittle [00:21:35]:

I wes going to say, wow, a.

Ingrid Reckard [00:21:38]:

Section with Portuguese wine. So the white is like, $6, and the red must be, like, $9 or something.

Ryan Doolittle [00:21:48]:

Okay, I’m going to have to try that. I have heard that Portugal is some of the best value for the travel because it’s gorgeous, but for some reason, it’s not as expensive as even Spain or some of its neighbors.

Ingrid Reckard [00:22:00]:

Exactly. It’s very affordable. The people are nice, very kind and welcoming, and it was consistent throughout my whole trip. And more affordable. Great food. Yeah.

Ryan Doolittle [00:22:13]:

Well, okay. The amount that you’re traveling now, we’re going to get into a little of the there’s a Puerto Rican word called boccinche, which is the gossip. So you said that traveling so much has ruined your love life. Tell me about that.

Ingrid Reckard [00:22:30]:

A man I was seeing for many years, he didn’t like to travel, and he was actually scared to travel, and it really changed when I started traveling a lot. So we’re not seeing each other anymore. Didn’t work out.

Ryan Doolittle [00:22:47]:

He didn’t like to travel? Is that what you said?

Ingrid Reckard [00:22:49]:

No. I mean, there were some other issues, too.

Ryan Doolittle [00:22:51]:

Okay. We’ll list them, and then we’ll reach out to him.

Ingrid Reckard [00:22:56]:

No. Okay. I’m gone so much that it’s hard to really start a relationship here in Atlanta, but who knows? Maybe I’ll meet somebody on one of my trips who loves to travel. Like me?

Ryan Doolittle [00:23:15]:

Well, it goes back to what you you’re who you are. So if they don’t love to travel, they weren’t going to know you weren’t going to have fun with them anyway.

Ingrid Reckard [00:23:24]:

That’s right.

Ryan Doolittle [00:23:26]:

Yeah. If you meet someone who loves to travel, it seems like you’re all set.

Ingrid Reckard [00:23:29]:

I’m all set. And that has to be a prerequisite.

Ryan Doolittle [00:23:32]:

Yeah, exactly. Don’t even say hi to them. The first question is, do you like to travel?

Ingrid Reckard [00:23:39]:

Right. Exactly.

Ryan Doolittle [00:23:40]:

Yeah. Okay, then I’ll talk to them.

Ingrid Reckard [00:23:42]:

Then I can say hi.

Ryan Doolittle [00:23:43]:

Yeah. What about on the trips? Do you ever meet people in other countries or there’s too much going on.

Ingrid Reckard [00:23:51]:

I think because of my banking career, too, it’s easy for me to talk to people and stuff like that. So a woman traveling alone is very easy to meet people. Matter of fact, I meet more people when I’m alone than when I’m with others, because when you’re with others, you’re talking to each other, but people will reach out to you and talk to you and want to spend time with you. And usually when I go to a destination, one of the first things I do is I’ll sign up for, like, a walking tour.

Ryan Doolittle [00:24:26]:

Oh, okay.

Ingrid Reckard [00:24:27]:

Lots of times you meet people on the walking tour, and they want to do things and stuff like that.

Ryan Doolittle [00:24:32]:

Oh, so you end up maybe going out to dinner after the tour or something. Would you consider that? I mean, do you join social groups either at home or on your trips?

Ingrid Reckard [00:24:44]:

Not really.

Ryan Doolittle [00:24:45]:

Not really? Okay. But it sounds like you still sort of do it manually, like maybe not an official group, but you meet people that leads to that. Right, okay. Because we find community is kind of important. It’s hard to just be alone. I mean, some people can well, of.

Ingrid Reckard [00:25:05]:

Course, I’ve lived in Atlanta for a long time, so I have family here and friends, so I do have a community here. But even when I travel, when I travel by myself, I can be around people as much as I want or not. It just depends.

Ryan Doolittle [00:25:31]:

Yeah.

Ingrid Reckard [00:25:33]:

And I’ve never been the type of person that had to be around people all the time. I’m just not that person.

Ryan Doolittle [00:25:39]:

Right. Even you do seem very social, but it sounds like you don’t have to have that all the time.

Ingrid Reckard [00:25:44]:

No.

Ryan Doolittle [00:25:45]:

Yeah.

Ingrid Reckard [00:25:46]:

I need my downtime, too.

Ryan Doolittle [00:25:48]:

Right. I’m the same. If I go to a party, I need a week to sit alone. Not a week. Okay, maybe a day.

Ingrid Reckard [00:26:00]:

But even as a child, I was like that, too. Yeah.

Ryan Doolittle [00:26:03]:

Oh, you were more of an introvert as a child?

Ingrid Reckard [00:26:06]:

No, I was social, but I was very comfortable being by myself, entertaining myself. Right. Yeah.

Ryan Doolittle [00:26:17]:

Okay. Yeah. Well, it sounds like you don’t really feel a whole lot of limitations in retirement. In fact, you seem to have less than you did when you were working.

Ingrid Reckard [00:26:27]:

Yes, for sure.

Ryan Doolittle [00:26:28]:

So how would you suggest other people get to that point?

Ingrid Reckard [00:26:33]:

Well, I think first is that they have to want it, because I have friends who are still working, and for whatever reason, that’s their life. And they’ll probably die at the job. They don’t want to leave the job.

Ryan Doolittle [00:26:51]:

Okay.

Ingrid Reckard [00:26:52]:

So if you want to retire, it’s a good idea to know ahead of time what are some of the things you’re going to do in retirement? How will your days look? Because it is a difference. After two or three weeks, you realize you’re not on vacation.

Ryan Doolittle [00:27:12]:

Right. I think some people, they think, oh, I don’t have to work. I can just watch TV and love it. But that doesn’t really yeah.

Ingrid Reckard [00:27:22]:

You have to have some type of purpose, something to do that you really enjoy.

Ryan Doolittle [00:27:27]:

Yeah.

Ingrid Reckard [00:27:28]:

And I do have friends who retired who I call them. And how are you doing? What are you doing? Oh, nothing. I’m watching TV and it’s the same thing, but that’s what they want, and it’s all about you and what you choose to do.

Ryan Doolittle [00:27:48]:

Right. Well, I guess if someone dies at their desk, if they love doing that, that’s one thing, but if they just had no other purpose so they didn’t know what to do, that’s another.

Ingrid Reckard [00:27:58]:

Yeah. Some people, they just have no vision.

Ryan Doolittle [00:28:02]:

But your vision was always there.

Ingrid Reckard [00:28:05]:

I’m a visionary.

Ryan Doolittle [00:28:06]:

So when you always had that, I’m going to do this, I’m going to.

Ingrid Reckard [00:28:11]:

Travel, I’ve always been very independent. I like doing my own thing. Whoever likes it, good. If you don’t, good. Well, I had wonderful parents who I’m very thankful for. They’ve passed on now, but I’m very thankful for them as parents.

Ryan Doolittle [00:28:38]:

It sounds like they instilled you with all the tools.

Ingrid Reckard [00:28:42]:

Yeah, they were really great.

Ryan Doolittle [00:28:45]:

And in fact, your mom was your she inspired you to travel in the first place.

Ingrid Reckard [00:28:49]:

Yes, she loved traveling. She traveled up until her mid 80s wow. When her health started to decline and she couldn’t travel anymore.

Ryan Doolittle [00:29:02]:

And the two of you traveled a lot together?

Ingrid Reckard [00:29:05]:

Oh, yeah. She was my travel companion.

Ryan Doolittle [00:29:08]:

Oh, wow.

Ingrid Reckard [00:29:10]:

That’s so introduced me to traveling.

Ryan Doolittle [00:29:13]:

So she sort of took you on the first trip, and that’s when it kind of hit you.

Ingrid Reckard [00:29:19]:

Yeah, we had fun. She was very lively person. Yeah, very lively. I’m a lot like her.

Ryan Doolittle [00:29:28]:

Yeah. I was going to say the apple didn’t fall too far from the tree.

Ingrid Reckard [00:29:33]:

Yeah, she was funny. We used to have a lot of laughs.

Ryan Doolittle [00:29:37]:

Well, you said that you wake up every morning in a thankful mood because you just feel so content and blessed.

Ingrid Reckard [00:29:45]:

I really do. I’ll say to myself out loud, I’m talking to myself, I guess, and I’ll say, oh, I’m just so happy. I thank God every day. I really do.

Ryan Doolittle [00:29:59]:

Is there something you can say to someone who wants that and doesn’t have the same confidence as you? They’re wondering how they get it.

Ingrid Reckard [00:30:08]:

Just try to do little things at a time. You don’t have to take big, giant steps. For example, if you don’t have anybody to travel with or you’re curious about traveling alone, just go away for the weekend somewhere nearby and start that way to kind of get out of your comfort zone. If not now, when? My thinking always has been, okay, I’m going up the hill, and then when I’m 50, I’m at the top of the hill, and then the descent starts. Not in a bad way, but then the descent starts. You have to go up the hill and be at the top and then start to descent down and do things you enjoy.

Ryan Doolittle [00:31:06]:

Yeah, the descent down can be I mean, rolling downhill is more fun than struggling to get up the so right?

Ingrid Reckard [00:31:15]:

Yeah, that’s right. That’s the way I look at it. That’s very good. Yeah.

Ryan Doolittle [00:31:20]:

There’s the story of Sisyphus, who kept pushing the rock uphill and then down. I don’t know if he was doing it right, but it sounds like you are.

Ingrid Reckard [00:31:29]:

I hope so. I’m enjoying, and if I’m not, I’m happy that I don’t know, I’m not.

Ryan Doolittle [00:31:35]:

Well, what’s the difference if you think you are? I think you are.

Ingrid Reckard [00:31:43]:

That’s right.

Ryan Doolittle [00:31:44]:

Yeah, that’s right.

Ingrid Reckard [00:31:46]:

But everybody has to choose their own way to be happy in retirement, for sure, because everybody has different like the friends I grew up with, they don’t like traveling like I travel. They like having a house on the beach or a Martha’s Vineyard or something and going staying at one place or another that they own. That’s wonderful. But that’s not me.

Ryan Doolittle [00:32:19]:

Right.

Ingrid Reckard [00:32:20]:

But that works for them.

Ryan Doolittle [00:32:23]:

So find what works for you and.

Ingrid Reckard [00:32:25]:

Go get what works for you and go get it.

Ryan Doolittle [00:32:27]:

Yeah.

Ingrid Reckard [00:32:29]:

Time is moving on. We don’t know how much time we have, so go for it.

Ryan Doolittle [00:32:33]:

Exactly.

Ingrid Reckard [00:32:35]:

Yeah.

Ryan Doolittle [00:32:35]:

And if anyone wants specific info on travel, where do they go again?

Ingrid Reckard [00:32:40]:

Ingrid at easyworldtravel, biz. B-I-Z.

Ryan Doolittle [00:32:45]:

Okay, well, Ingrid, thank you so much for being a guest on the Happiest retirees.

Ingrid Reckard [00:32:50]:

Well, thank you so much. Thank you for having me.

Ryan Doolittle [00:32:53]:

Oh, of course. All right, well, keep send me a postcard on your next trip.

Ingrid Reckard [00:32:58]:

Okay. Bye.

Ryan Doolittle [00:32:59]:

Bye. Bye.