This retired couple is making up for a lifetime of missed holidays

CHITLADA and Vichit Apisukh never took a vacation. Not when the young Thai immigrants met and married in Hawaii nearly 55 years ago. Not when they moved to Florida to start a family and open a restaurant north of Orlando. Not when they travelled around half the country, Japan and Thailand to support their children’s athletic ambitions.

- 

Only after selling their business and emptying their nest did the Apisukhs finally take a trip for themselves. Now they can’t stop.

“Life is about moving and seeing new things,” said Chitlada, the matriarch of the family, which includes daughter Lanna and son Jade. “You have to get up and go while you can, because you never know when your last day is.”

While many friends in their peer group are slowing down, Chitlada, 76, and Vichit, 82, are speeding up. Since retiring in 2012, they have visited multiple states, national parks (Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Mount Rushmore), New York City, Niagara Falls (both sides), Austin (for barbeque), the Pacific Northwest, Vietnam and Thailand.