You don’t have to have a ton of money to have a retirement worth living for. I was reminded of this last week while spending time at our log cabin in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.
The highlight of our trip ended up being a hike, which was basically free, and not all of the other attractions that drain the wallet and add to the waistline.
We did three hikes. Two were pretty easy and one was tough. Mount Jackson was the tough one. It’s one of the 4,000 footers in the Presidential Range. The nice thing about this 4,000 footer is you start at around 1,000 ft.
What stands above everything else when hiking with your kids (and grandkids) is how much they talk.
After about 3 hours or two-thirds of the way up it’s “When are we going to be there?”, “This is the last hike I’m doing this trip”. But before that and for two-thirds of the way down it’s random topics and questions that money can’t buy.
The night before, for example, we went to DQ (Dairy Queen) and I explained how it’s owned by Warren Buffett.
One question the next day on the trail was, “Does Warren Buffett know his employees’ names?” Not long after I replied “probably not” and started my dissertation on Berkshire Hathaway they were on to the next topic while I continued thinking about Buffett.
It’s the talking and the thinking that keeps everyone moving.
I’d like to think hiking is something we can do at home. Walks are great. But there’s something about being stuck on a trail that brings it all out. It was an important reminder that some of the greatest treasures life has to offer aren’t expensive, aren’t necessarily easy, and are there for the taking by those interested in the finer things in life.
