Cross-Country Travel

I just watched About Schmidt yesterday (in my obsessive phase of reading, writing, watching in excess due to no job); it's a pretty old movie from back when I was in high school--2001 or 2002, something like that. It's a Jack Nicholson movie--I've been in a Nicholson frenzy it appears as well--but the main drive of the movie got me thinking...

After Schmidt retires at 66, he really begins to start opening his eyes about his life, and he stops living in that pattern of Monday to Friday at an office job. His wife dies, allowing him more time to sit and reflect about the past 66 years, but at least he gets the chance to really think about his life, especially at such an old age when you've learned so much already.

What would you do if you're 66, retired, you have some money in the bank, and your spouse dies?

In the movie, Schmidt takes his Winnebago and drives around the country--something that I would LOVE to do given that I retire and have the ability to do so. He goes to all the old places he grew up, like his childhood town and college, basically reconnecting himself with his old stomping grounds.

Personally, I would probably sell my house and get rid of a lot of the clutter from the past 66 years. I would downsize, perhaps a condo or something, and do something similar: I'd get a smaller RV and travel around the country, perhaps with a close friend who is also retired. Imagine! Life would be so simple, and you would have no time limits, nothing holding you back...

If you were going to travel across the country by car somehow, what stops would you HAVE to make?

I'd definitely want to go through the West, definitely to Chicago, Arizona, Seattle, up the coast of California, Louisiana, Maine, and a nice stop in Canada, somewhere, anywhere.

What would you do? Where would you go? The possibilities are endless here...