Billy and I have been on the road meandering through continents for two decades (http://www.retireearlylifestyle.com/20_years.htm ). 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. Travel for older adults, like us at 57 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.

Less Is More

We are the ‘Less is More’ type of independent traveler, and it is our emphasized style even today. We don’t have to pack all the action into one day just so we can say we did it. Instead, we like our time to be leisurely, not jammed-packed with something new to do every 2 hours on the clock. Staying longer in one location and allowing more room for an event on our calendar can provide many rewarding surprises and allow pleasant detours to occur.

Consciously deciding to make our travel days shorter when we are on the road has proven to be rewarding also. It still takes us close to thirty hours to get to Asia from our place in Arizona, but if we are traveling on the ground, we break up our destinations into manageable time bites to make it possible for us to enjoy the journey itself. It’s not a race, and we’re not in competition with other travelers. We prefer this easy going approach. For instance, while traveling by bus in Mexico we’ll split up a 13 hour bus ride into a couple of days. This way we are not worn out for our destination, we don’t arrive late at night with all the problems that it entails, and we get to experience another town along the way.

As you may have read before, we are Car Free, so we utilize public transport or hire a driver wherever we go. Leaving the driving to others reduces our stress. We don’t have to worry about vehicle maintenance, where the next filling station is, if there will be a break down, how to fix our vehicle in a foreign country, or whether we have taken a wrong turn someplace. It makes travel for older adults much easier.

Be sure to check out Part IV where we discuss Packing Makes Perfect

For more information on the topic of Travel, visit (http://www.retireearlylifestyle.com/favorite_er_links.htm )and click on the extensive travel site suggestions listed there.