Traveling As We Age
Many people view travelers as these young backpackers who are free-spirited without a care in the world, and that older people are meant to stay home. Well, nothing could be further from the truth. I do recall a time when Jeff and I took a taxi. I believe we were in Nepal at the time. Our driver, not knowing much English, wanted to talk with us and speak what little English he knew. He asked us how old we were, and when we told him, he replied, “you should be staying at your house!” We were some years younger than we are now, and here we are still traveling. We don’t carry heavy packs on our shoulders, and we’re not partying and getting drunk in the bars, which is what a lot of young people do these days. There are a lot of positive things about being an older traveler, which I will happily share with you.
- Older travelers are more experienced. Even though Jeff and I don’t know everything, I’d like to think that we’ve done enough traveling to deem ourselves as experienced, we believe in remaining grounded and humble, knowing that things are always bound to change.
- Older travelers develop a closer connection with the local community. I’m not saying that younger people can’t connect with locals, but being older typically means we have grown out of the partying phase and become more interested in the local culture.
- Older travelers tend to get more consideration. Jeff and I have encountered young travelers who are sometimes disrespectful. We are both senior citizens, and even though we are young at heart, there are times we need to play the cards we’re dealt. When we visited the Philippines, a security guard gave us priority seating on the train since we’re older. Many of the younger riders these days aren’t as considerate as they used to be, and unfortunately, it happens everywhere.
- Older travelers are usually retired, and why not spend that spare time traveling? The nice thing about having free time is that you can travel for months at a time if you so choose.
Being in our 60’s and still traveling does have its share of challenges, but that makes it that much more rewarding in the end. Just because we age doesn’t mean we’re obligated to retire ourselves and settle into a rocking chair while life passes us by. Nothing could be further from the truth. As far as we’re concerned, we have no intention of aging gracefully; we intend to seize life by the horns and embrace the traveling life as long as we possibly can. That, my friends, is the key to the fountain of youth, so drink up!
Thank you for reading!
