7 Great Retirement Towns You’ve Never Heard Of…
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When I called my boss and quit my dead-end job in the States, I was in The City of Lights, Paris. It was the best decision I ever made, in the best place I could have made it. At the time, I was on an eight-day trip with my best friend. We explored the entire city, walking everywhere we went.
Rounding the bend of a narrow country road, flanked on either side by hedges filled with thorny briars, I caught sight of the Rock of Cashel, one of Ireland's most visited attractions. The Rock is an imposing fortress set high upon a rocky green mound.
I can see it as we leave the airport—clear as day—this large mountain range that looks like a sleeping giant, with booted feet and humongous belly, face-up to the sky. His hulking, bearded face is pieced together from the craggy, green and brown branches of tropical trees, native to the island. I've just landed in Fiji for a week-long stay.
As a travel photographer, I stayed for free in a vacation rental, a charming little authentic cottage tucked away in the lush green countryside. I photographed the cottage and interesting things one might see and do, both in the immediate area of County Limerick and as far away as Dublin, for the same publication.
England is a magical place. The weather is unpredictable and this day was no different. The mists were heavy. The morning hours were marked by drizzling rain. The land around us was barren, exposed to the elements. Filled with stories of Merlin and the Giants of Mount Killaraus arranging stones on the open vista, we made our way to one of the medieval wonders of the world...Stonehenge. Overcome by the majesty of the sight before us, everything else seemed miniscule.
Who doesn't dream about traveling to exotic places, far away from the humdrum of their everyday life? It's a great escape. I spent 22 years working in retail, dreaming about the places I wanted to go. Instead I was stuck inside a mall, often working double shifts from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Something kept telling me there had to be a way I could enrich the quality of my life.