Life is short. We hear it ALL the time! But what does that really mean? When it comes to travel, does that really matter? How does that really affect my decision making on where to go and when?
If you are in your mid 40’s and you like to do trips where you are hiking, biking and going on activities, is it likely you will be doing that in your mid 60’s? What about sitting on the beach, snorkeling and sailing? How many years do you think you will still enjoy activities like that?
My dear mother climbed Mont St Michel with us a few summers ago and it just about broke her! She was 70 and climbed all 350 steps to the top and it sent her sciatica into a whirl that took a year to recover from. We loved the experience, she was so proud of herself that she did it. But when we got to London for the last half of the trip, it was filled with lots of benches to sit and rest and she missed out on cool things like the kitchens at Hampton Court Palace because she couldn’t walk without pain. It was so sad that she missed out on so much! But she was still glad she did it.
So now that that trip is over and she knows how long it was to recover, she isn’t likely to want to do something like that again with so many steps – which means certain destinations like Machu Piccu, the Spanish Steps or Skellig Michael in Ireland (pictured below) are totally out.
She’s happy to bring on more cruises and more low key travels but the activities are changing. So what does that mean for you? How many summers do you have until you see your activities changing? Do you think you have 20 summers left of adventures? If you do 1 every year or two thats only maybe 10 major destinations? I recently helped plan a trip that had that many destinations in 3 weeks! I don’t recommend it! Spend a few days in each place if you can to at least see and explore. Then you’ll know if its somewhere you want to come back to.
We are cruising for our anniversary in September. GREECE!! I’m thrilled because I haven’t been yet! We get to spend 2 days in Istanbul and we plan to use those wisely to see as much as we can!
Which brings me to this – when you are looking at travel planning, really think about what TYPE of travel you want. Do you want a trip with lots of activities, things to see and places to visit? Always expect that it may be the only time you visit there, and think about what it is you want to explore. OR is it a vacation you need? Just a beach, a chair and a fruity cocktail? Something all inclusive so you don’t even have to think about where you need to go to dinner that night? These are two very different types of travel and I LOVE planning both! What can I plan for you??
