Travel for Older Adults Part II
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By Billy and Akaisha Kaderli
Billy and I have been on the road meandering through continents for two decades (http://www.retireearlylifestyle.com/20_years.htm ) since we decided to retire early. While we like to think of ourselves as spry, flexible and ready to take on the world, truth is, we are no longer twenty or thirty years old. Traveling at our age over 50 presents challenges that we didn’t have when we were younger. Energy levels have changed and our bodies require different comforts in order to feel well.
If you are in your fifties and sixties with active wanderlust, independent journeying is still possible. Take advantage of what we have learned over the years about travel for older adults.
Divide up Duties
We travel full time, and it's more pleasurable when duties are shared. Destinations and travel routes must be determined, figuring out which sort of transport we'll take and whether or not visas are required needs to be researched. Tickets might have to be purchased ahead of time, lodging located, and arrangements for financial management to cover expenses while on the road all has to be thought through. Even packing travel food is an essential element of successful journeying. In your partnership, decide who will take care of what, realizing that each of these categories is important.
When we leave our hotel room we have a system that prevents sour surprises. Billy goes down to firm up our bill, and I do a ‘room check’ or ‘walk through’ before we turn in our keys. I look under the bed, in all the drawers, in the bathroom, and on all the shelves to be sure we haven’t left something important behind. This prevents lost and forgotten items from becoming an issue and interrupting our travel plans.
When we traveled through both islands of New Zealand on the Magic Bus (http://www.retireearlylifestyle.com/a_little_bit_of_magic.htm) , Billy would stay with the crowd to grab our luggage while I went ahead to choose our room and pay for it. This allowed us to get both the best choices of rooms and our bags without wasting time waiting in two lines.
Tip: Although it might be different in your partnership, when searching for a hotel room, I’m usually the one to decide on where to stay. With most men, all they need is a bed and bathroom, but we ladies seem to have other requirements. So to prevent disappointment or needless fussing, we have found that it’s best to let me decide.
Commit to Paper Instead of to Memory
Making notes of where we have hidden our valuables in our home base location while we are on the road has proven important several times. We write things down on lists instead of committing them to memory and we’ll email that list to ourselves so we don’t lose it. Being away from our home bases for months, even a year or more at a time, can cause us to forget our best and most secret hiding places. If we put our treasures or documents in such a good place that even WE can’t remember where they are, returning home can be a stress-filled event. Now we simply check our list and refresh our memories.
Be sure to check out Part III where we discuss Less is More to enhance travels for older adults.
Akaisha and Billy Kaderli retired almost 2 decades ago at the age of 38 and began traveling the world. They wrote the popular book, The Adventurer’s Guide to Early Retirement (http://retireearlylifestyle.com/orderpage.htm ) which has sold in 40 countries. Their new book, The Adventurer’s Guide to Chapala Living is available on their website as well as more of the wisdom, creative lifestyle options and information they share. RetireEarlyLifestyle.com ( http://retireearlylifestyle.com/ )
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