“Why another travel blog?” Because this one is different! This is especially for the folk who, like us, are now on the Senior Side of Fifty. We are still active in both mind and body; in fact, we are ready to discover more than ever so let’s get going.
In the blogs and information on this site the aim is to share our experiences, particularly those of the past 20 years. Although we are both currently in our 60s I have travelled quite a bit since 2002 and my husband, Trevor, since 2006. The ideas, the planning and also the hitches we have encountered and how we overcame them, with a little bit of humour in trying times is what I plan to share. Whenever one travels there are things which do not go as planned no matter how much planning has been done. Thus my tagline: Expect the Unexpected.
I was born with the itchiest feet that could have been created. I just loved it when our parents used to take us on exploratory drives from which we not only learnt amazing history and geography but we also learnt of the joy of new experiences. We visited historic battlefields, saw what crops are grown in different areas and met all sorts of people. It did not matter that we did not have a lot of money or that our car was over 30 years old – 1939 Plymouth – it was the excitement of all being packed into the car, we were 6 children, and went off on an adventure. One of our regular trips was on alternate Sundays when we took an Irishman in his 90s, Mr Murphy, to visit his chronically ill wife in a hospital about 40kms from our home. While he visited her, we found all sorts of different spots to have our afternoon tea, which included an ice-cream for each of us, bought by Mr Murphy.
Sometimes we found the most beautiful spot in the area where we could see for a long way and the ground was comfortable. We children could get up and run around in complete safety. Then there were the times such as that, which seemed a perfect picnic spot, turned out to be a disaster. We unpacked the car and laid out the blankets and cushions and opened up the food. On sitting down to select what we would eat and drink, we discovered that we had chosen a spot with an ant colony. Not the nice little brown ants commonly seen in our homes, but what we know as army ants and wow, can they bite. Packing up and getting going to another spot was done by 8 people jumping up and down while desperately trying to brush them off our bodies. It must have been quite a sight!
This is just a small taste of the sort of things for which a traveller must be prepared. Be ready to change plans or direction at a moment’s notice due to an unplanned hitch. Once, when we sent a message telling our daughter that we were stuck in snow her reply was “see it as an adventure.” At the time that was not the easiest thing to do but later we could laugh at it. That was one of our earliest ‘adventures’. There have been many more which I hope to share with you.
In the last 10 years or so my husband and I have travelled in Africa and Europe while I myself have also been to the USA. We have had great fun besides truly widening our mental & physical horizons. We have travelled on guided tours, hired cars and used public transport such as rail, trams, boats on rivers and lakes and the local buses. We have met and befriended many people, using these opportunities to learn about their home countries and sharing information on our own beautiful country. Each type of tour has both ups and downs and it is these that I plan to write about and that you will enjoy reading. Whether more ups than downs or vice versa, each excursion has been a joy in its own unique way.
