My wife and I get to travel a bit...Beijing, Berlin, the Philippines, Bangkok, Hong Kong were our most recent travels.
Go to the Philippines. It is the third largest english speaking nation on earth and is home to some of the most beautiful beaches and forests on the planet. I stayed in a mostly rural area in the far north area and it was just simply beautiful. In spite of it being a mostly poor area(but they get by and are largely happy), crime rates are very low and everyone is friendly. I got to meet a lot of fellow Americans too, retired or otherwise. Even ran into a Mormon missionary group. The big city, Manilla, is pretty typical of any other big city in Asia and try to avoid the far south where the Abu Sayef hang out....they will kidnap your ass. Costs are rather low and 5 grand will get you pretty far.
Or, take a nontraditional vacation. Get in your car and just randomly drive from state to state in the US. I did it once, going through Florida and winding up near Austin, Texas. No GPS. Only phone I took was just an emergency phone where only my wife could reach me. Ate at random bbq joints, took backroads mostly. Slept at a few mom n' pop assbackwards motels. Shopped at some cool stores, met some cool people, had a few adventures. There was no stress, as a vacation is normally very stressful with all the planning that is required and you often come back home a lot more tired than when you first had left.
Hope this helps.
