For some reason, there's the expectation that when you retire you should want to travel. I was a field service engineer for almost 20 years...I got in enough travel back then to get it out of my system, plus I did some extended road trips in my single days. Now I'm more than content to stay and enjoy home. My wife has itchier feet than I do, and while we'll do the occasional road trip together many of her excursions she'll either do solo (primarily visiting her kids/siblings) or with her sister. That scenario might not work for everyone, but it does for us.
I've been to all of the "lower 48", and while there were any number of places that were nice to visit, northern New England is home.
We actually eat out more now that we're retired, partly because we can afford to and partly because it's one less meal to cook/clean up after. Both of us are decent cooks, but it's nice to not have to do it all the time. Neither of us are food snobs, rarely do we go anywhere fancy. We both like buffet places, too bad all there are anywhere nearby are Chinese...would be nice for a little variety.
I think you are an exception to retirement travel since you traveled for work.
We have done a fair amount of traveling but we would like to do more. In fact, we would like to go live in other countries for months at a time if we could, which I suspect is the other extreme to traveling vs no travel.
My parents were able to travel a bit during their working years, far more than ANYONE in the family was able to do. It never, ever occurred to me when I was kid that I would travel. It just was not a thought because nobody in my family traveled except for military service and that is not the same.
This was really brought home to me when we visited the Netherlands and visited the Ann Frank Museum and drove over the Afsluitdijk which is the dike that separated the North Sea from the South Sea. When I read Ann Frank's Diary as a kid, the idea that I would/could visit the building they hid in was just not even a thought. To be fair, I don't know if the building was open to the public back then, but even if it was, I would never have thought of visiting it. Travel outside the US was just not done by my family and I suspect that was true for many. None of my friends traveled outside of the US.
One set of grandparents did travel when they retired. Prior to retirement they, like many, did not have the time or money to travel. But it was a one and done trip. Other family members wanted to travel, and did, but wanted to do more until health issues made travel impossible.
I used to joke that I did not want, nor need, to travel overseas because there was sooooo much to see in the US. Which is very true. If I wanted to see the world, I would just got to EPCOT and I could walk around the world in less than a day and visit the UK, France, Mexico, Italy, Germany, Japan, etc.
I was sorta joking.
I do wonder if one travels enough, it gets out of your blood, so to speak, and one is just done. Certainly, health issues make travel difficult or impossible. Then I do see people as they age just stay home and nest which I don't think is a bad thing unless they just sit in a chair watching the TV. I could easily see myself staying at home doing things on the property and not leaving the place except to get rid of the trash and buy food. We are mostly doing that now.
I like to cook and I am good at it which makes it hard to go out to eat. If we eat out, it has to be for food I can't, or won't cook, to make it worth the time and money. For some many dishes, I can cook at home faster than we could go out to eat and my food will be better tasting and healthier.
Food is one reason we like to travel. Oh my, the food overseas is sooooooo good. There is good food in the US but you have to search for it too often. Food in the NL was just outstanding except for one place that was just OK. From simple sandwiches, Sushi, to more elaborate dinners. Ireland and Scotland was the same as was China. We did have some interesting "dishes" in Ireland, Scotland and China but that is why one travels.
