This past weekend, my high school class (North Branford, Connecticut) celebrated its 50th reunion. Quite a milestone for this class of about 100 graduates — although nearly a fifth of our classmates are no longer with us.

It seems much of our class still lives in Connecticut, New England or the Tri-State area, but some traveled “home” from as far away as California, Washington state, Montana and Alabama, among other states. (My husband and I were happy to host friends from Indiana for four days; we enjoyed our own private reunion.)

The class spent a wonderful afternoon catching up with each other and telling the usual high school stories. What interested me most was hearing about the trips my classmates have taken or plan to take: Italy, France, Scotland, England, Wales, Florida, South Carolina, Hawai’i … the list goes on. They travel with partners, with grandchildren or alone; to accomplish longstanding goals (climb mountains, complete biking or walking trails, see famous landmarks or museums); and often travel to visit family and friends. In fact, according to AARP, for baby boomers, bucket-list trips are the most popular motivation for an international trip, while domestic trips are more likely summer vacations, multigenerational trips, weekend getaways and holiday travel.

What also struck me was how many of my fellow classmates are retired. True, we’re mostly 67 or 68 years old, past the average retirement age for my generation. According to Gallup, non-retired Americans on average say they will retire at age 66, a number stable in recent years but up from the 1990s, when the average American projected retiring at age 60. Times have changed. However, some of us (me included) still plug away at jobs we enjoy day in, day out, or work as consultants. I also discovered almost everyone who still works does have some degree of flexibility in scheduling it.

That got me thinking about retirement (not my own — I’m not ready!) and how those who retire plan travel in this time of life. It seems it’s the old time-vs.-money conundrum: When you’re working and have money to spend on travel, you can’t always get away as much or as often as you’d like. Once you retire, free time opens up, but do you have the wherewithal to travel in the manner you’d like?

CNN Money published a recent online article on the subject that offers advice on budgeting for travel in your senior years. As stated in the article, retirees today find travel expenses are 40 percent higher than expected, according a Capital Group study, and 58 percent of seniors don’t budget for travel in retirement at all, says Merrill Lynch. So, as with everything involving personal finances, planning is essential. Whatever your age — even though travel trends will surely change — it’s never too soon to start thinking about how and where you’d like to go in your senior years.

— Jan Hecht, senior editor