Tomorrow you are leaving on an extended dream vacation – plan or not plan?

What if you decided to go on an extended vacation but did not go to the effort to plan for the trip. That would lead to entertaining and chaotic scenarios! Here are funny examples of what might happen if you went on an extended vacation without preparation:

You pack only one shoe: You show up at your destination and realize you packed only one sneaker and no sandals, leaving you to rock a one-shoe look for the entire trip.

You pack all winter clothes for a tropical vacation: You arrive at the beach with a suitcase full of heavy sweaters, scarves, and gloves, looking out of place as everyone around you is in swimsuits and flip-flops.

You forget toiletries: You arrive and discover you have no toothpaste, deodorant, or shampoo. Your friends start calling you “The Human Scent.”

You cannot find your hotel: After hours of wandering the streets, you find yourself in a random part of the city, calling for a cab, but end up accidentally walking into a local’s backyard BBQ party instead.

You try to order food in a country where you do not speak the language, and your attempts result in a plate of something unrecognizable and inedible. You start trying to figure out if it is a bizarre new culinary trend or just someone’s idea of a prank.

You forget dietary restrictions: You arrive in a new country only to realize that your gluten-free, dairy-free, meat-free lifestyle does not really align with the local cuisine. You spend the next week surviving on plain bread and the occasional side of rice.

Overzealous local food sampling, gone bad. You eat way too many unfamiliar dishes from street vendors and end up in a long-lasting battle with food poisoning. It is a memorable vacation… for all the wrong reasons.

You only packed clothes for two days. You have a huge bag filled with five pairs of shoes and three pairs of pajamas, but you do not bring enough actual clothes for the trip. You make friends with the hotel’s laundry service, asking for fresh clothes on a daily basis.

The only tech-related item you remembered to bring is your phone, but in your rush, you forgot the charger. Now you are trying to find a charger that works in a country where the plugs look like they belong in an alien spaceship.

You forget to turn off international roaming, and your phone bill becomes a nightmare as you rack up $500 in data charges just from trying to Google your way around.

No reservations anywhere for lodging. You find that every hotel booked, and now you are roaming the streets with nowhere to sleep. You end up in a 24-hour coffee shop making friends with fellow travelers who are all trying to figure out where they will stay next.

You run out of money halfway through the trip and must resort to extreme measures. On a trip to Kenya, I found out all their debit and credit cards were using chips, none of mine had a chip.

Now compare a vacation to your plan for retirement readiness.

You did not consider your health or have a clear understanding of Medicare, long term care insurance, disability, and life insurance, especially the cost of those expenses. Will you be able to secure insurance for a reasonable price, other than Medicare, you will find these benefits may be out of reach?

You did not begin your savings programs like 401K, HSA, investments with a financial advisor and now you are realizing that you cannot live on social security alone.

You wanted to Travel more, but it is harder than you thought. It costs more than you thought. It takes going through airports with delays, cramped seats, delays, canceled flights, heavy bags and it is just not senior friendly any longer.

Retirement readiness will make the retirement years more enjoyable and is just as important as planning for a vacation, and it will last longer.

Plan now for your extended dream to come true in retirement.