Travel in Your 70’s

[Aerides]

Wish I had your luck. Mine have gone missing at least four times I can think of, and once they were never found. I only use a carryon these days. If I have only a small plane and it needs to be gate-checked, that's no big deal, but I really hate to worry, especially on a tight connection.

I hate to worry too, and I've had that super delayed bag, but luckily not a complete loss yet. So I will jam into a carry on when I can, but I think I probably prefer to take more shoes than you? Winter trips are tighter too as clothing is bulkier. I also love not having to wait at the carrousel, which can add 30 mins both ways.
I've had a few trips where a carry on isn't enough for me, so now I have a strategy:

1. Small personal item (bag) with basically my hair dryer* and toiletries (yes, vanity is my priority lol) designed for if they force me to check my carry on and that even goes astray even for a day
2. Carry on case - the stuff I would be hard pressed to replace, my favorite clothes/shoes, with a mix of "if nothing else arrives, I am good with this bag and don't need to go shopping"
3. Checked back - everything else I actually want to bring, with space for return souvenirs, but if it got perma-lost or didn't arrive in time for use on the trip I would not be heartbroken

My last trip my checked back was just a carry on size, but it made the stress of packing a lot easier, and I had plenty of room to add stuff for the route home.

*do not even try to tell me about how most hotels have hair dryers I am aware

 

[FIYes]

We have had bags go missing at least three times, but eventually they showed up. Our last missing bag took two weeks to arrive. Fortunately it was in the return trip home. When the bag was finally delivered, it was delivered in the middle of the night. It sat on the porch until the next day when I noticed an email telling me that it had been delivered.

Even with that, there are times when it is just easier to check bag. A checked bag makes packing easier. It is nice to have only a small backpack during long airport layovers.

 

[Souschef]

We started flying Business Class on Transatlantic ans South American flights. The comfort of being able to sleep on these flights is great. Also, the access to the lounges in the US and London is fantastic.
We stopped traveling out of the country in 2014, and have been taking cruises round trip from LA. NO airports.

 

[audreyh1]

*do not even try to tell me about how most hotels have hair dryers I am aware

We carry our own hair dryer. Most hotels are hopeless.*

Even have a European one.

A few European hotels have the Black Mambo hair dryer, and that’s a real treat!

 

[Dtail]

We carry our own hair dryer. Most hotels are hopeless.*

Even have a European one.

A few European hotels have the Black Mambo hair dryer, and that’s a real treat!

Sometimes I do, sometimes not. That is for me, not the fiance. lol

 

[Chuckanut]

-slow travel. Three night stays, often 5-7 days.

+1. Minimum three day stays unless we are on the road to someplace else, then it’s usually a one night stay for food, rest, shower, etc. Generally, any place we visit has several sites we wish to see or actives we want to participate in. Then we often take some time to just wander about and absorb what the photographer in me calls ‘Spirit of Place’.

When we have long daylight hours, I really love to return to the room between 3 and 4 PM, relax, make notes on the day’s adventures, and maybe wash up. Then I head out for dinner and wandering about around 6 PM.

 

[Chuckanut]

We check our bags and keep knocking on wood.

Never had an airline bag problem myself. But, I know people who have.

Bus and trains have caused problems. Usually, the problem occurs when another passenger mistakes my bag for their own and takes off with it. I hadto go after two people who did that.

 

[savory]

About the time we hit our 70s, we began making changes. For the most part we have eliminated camping on our bike and hiking trips. We have hiked in Iceland for 3 days in our 70s which required a full pack and food. It worked but we did have some memorable moments with a stream crossing and ice on a hill which was a challenge.

Our bike trips in our younger days ranged from 7 days to a couple+ months. Our old selves will be taking 2 trips this summer. One is a 7 day self guided bike tour in Canada with hotel stays averaging about 50 miles per day (vs 75 with 90-100 miles with camping). This Canadian tour will be a self contained trip with no guides or people carrying our stuff. But without the camping stuff, the load is light.

A few months later, we will be hiking/biking in Morocco where we have hired companies that will guide us on a multi-day hiking and biking trip. This would be our 2nd bike trip in 30 years where we hired a company for support. No carrying stuff on our bike/back and hotels and food will welcome us each day. Mileage will be limited. A great change of pace and much better food then self contained.

We are considering a six week +/- self contained bike trip to Europe next year (it would be our third trip there) and if our health is about the same as it is now, I expect we will go. It maybe our last trip on bikes without pedal assist. Right now for both of us, we still are fairly strong cyclists and when staying in hotels our load is light enough. But, e-bikes may come down to a comfort choice and just a desire to make things easier, even for around town. Smaller hills always make me happy. Sunshine is not bad either as the song goes.

As for car travel, like others have said our driving time is reduced and our attitude leans to safety. Our get there at any cost younger days are definitely behind us. And hotels have been upgraded. We have been discussing upgrading airline seating and I think that will be next. We need to finish the discussion for trip length.

It does feel good however to be flexible in our planning vs the vacation schedule and timing that we endured during our w*rk years. Compared to my younger days, FI for planning is terrific.

 

[BrianB]

A long time ago someone told me that there are three phases of retirement: Go-go, Slow-go, and No-go. We've been in the Go-go for almost a decade and I see us moving into the Slow-go. I like it.

When we first retired there were so many places on our list, but now we are trying to "stop and smell the roses". More and more we see that the beauty is in the details, and we discover so much by taking more time and slowing our speed.

The one exception is when we are going south for the winter. We look for a clear week and drive like heck to get out of the snow belt before we get stuck in a blizzard.

BrianB

 

[Scuba]

So far, the two biggest changes we’ve made are:

- Buy trip insurance for big things like cruises. A lot more unexpected events are happening now that we are older and parents are too.
- Be more cognizant of the remoteness of a destination and access to medical care. This is something that never even crossed our minds until DH’s heart attack in 2022. We still travel to remote destinations, but we research availability of medical care before booking.

 

[pacergal]

We have never had a bag go missing, but DH forgot to put one in the trunk before we left for the airport!
Clothes shopping was on our first to do list after we checked in to the hotel!

 

[Sunset]

Not a cane, but a tactical pen might do the trick: Tested: The Best Tactical Pens To Carry Daily

Be sure to pack it in the checked baggage, or might lose it.

I think a decoy wallet is better, as fighting two 18 yr olds seems like a bad idea, hurt and robbed vs just robbed of decoy.

 

[Sunset]

OP - good article, many of the things mentioned really hit home on our last trip.

Funny part, was on Japan local train, some "old" people came on, and so I stood up and gave my seat to the "old" guy. They were shocked as maybe I looked worse than him ? or because we were tourists ?
Anyhow, he took the seat, and they thanked me profusely.

 

[planuntilthefisthits]

Be sure to pack it in the checked baggage, or might lose it.

I think a decoy wallet is better, as fighting two 18 yr olds seems like a bad idea, hurt and robbed vs just robbed of decoy.

I agree.

 

[Koolau]

Be sure to pack it in the checked baggage, or might lose it.

I think a decoy wallet is better, as fighting two 18 yr olds seems like a bad idea, hurt and robbed vs just robbed of decoy.

Yep. Always a good idea - even for "every day."

 

[brett]

We switched to carry on only. Because now in our 70's we only want to take what we can each physically handle based on how we travel. That translates into about 8KG each. Not just planes and hotels. Trains, minivans, sometimes up stairs or along cobblestones, ferrys, small taxi boats...you name it. One week or 8-10 weeks. All the same to us.

We want to remain independent for as long as possible while our health is good. We do not want to be caught in a jam because we cannot handle our bags without help.

So we switched. One of the changes we made as we have aged. Challenging at first for DW. Not so much for me because I had years of business travel with only a suit bag and a briefcase. Still doing independent travel but we did do an 8 day (i think) group van tour while we were in Morocco for five weeks. We may try some more group tours or get back to doing some cruises.

 

[Teacher Terry]

My last two trips were with tour companies when I went to Europe instead of self planned trips. I just chose the trip I wanted and didn’t have to think about anything else.

Now that I’m by myself I’m not taking any more road trips cause they’re not fun alone. I’ve been on six cruises and I may take another one in the future.

 

[aja8888]

I'm leaving on a ~5,000 mile driving trip Friday. My thoughts are always about the next rest stop!

Well the 5 K mile trip turned out to be 3,085 miles as I cut out one stopover (Connecticut). Drove about 600 miles per day when on the road. Glad to be home and my dog was real glad to see me.

 

[youbet]

We're likely the oldest posting on this thread at 78 (DW) and 77 (me). Just got back from a 6 day camping trip last Friday and are leaving for a 600 mile straight-through drive to northern Minnesota to chase walleyes around the lake this Friday. I still do all the driving and do admit that the 11 hours it takes to get up there is starting to seem like a long day behind the wheel.

On both camping and fishing trips (we don't mix the two anymore) we've found that afternoon naps really help to keep us going.

 

[Koolau]

Now that I’m by myself I’m not taking any more road trips cause they’re not fun alone. I’ve been on six cruises and I may take another one in the future.

Over the years, I took several road trips on my own - typically it was travel for Megacorp that I did by car. I enjoyed every minute of the "alone" time and the freedom to take the side trips that interested me.

DW's and my interests diverge when we travel together and I always attempt to be certain she is having "fun" when we travel. Traveling alone means I can concentrate on what I enjoy. The added bonus is I get a chance to get lonely which reminds me of how much I appreciate our "together time" and makes me very happy to get home.

If this sounds like hitting one's head against a wall so that it feels good when one stops - I plead guilty.

 

[FD1000]

We never misplaced our bags; it's been over 40 years now because we only use carry-ons, even for 2-month vacations. Our carry-ons are the max size and fully loaded; the weight is probably 12-13 kg, about 30 lb.
We have used only the cheapest tickets and never had a problem finding a place for our carry-ons, even in smaller planes.
I always hated driving more than 6 hours; I very seldom drove 8 hours. I hardly ever drive in the nighttime unless I must. Most of the drives include hiking in the middle. I have been using the app AllTrails around the world.

 

[FlaGator]

We're likely the oldest posting on this thread at 78 (DW) and 77 (me). Just got back from a 6 day camping trip last Friday and are leaving for a 600 mile straight-through drive to northern Minnesota to chase walleyes around the lake this Friday. I still do all the driving and do admit that the 11 hours it takes to get up there is starting to seem like a long day behind the wheel.

On both camping and fishing trips (we don't mix the two anymore) we've found that afternoon naps really help to keep us going.

Glad to see you're not slowing down. Hope we both make it to the FL gathering next year.

 

[marko]

So I realize that we may be doing this backwards as most retirees are just starting their bucket list and traveling the world.

We're just discovering the joys of "tank away" vacations.

But DW and I had already traveled the world, accumulated 4 million air miles and lived in Europe (long term), Japan and China during our working days. Seen and done a lot of incredible things.

We just came back from our second "tank away" vacation (Martha's Vineyard) and had a notably more relaxing time than had we flown somewhere.

We didn't save any money ($1800 a night hotel suite/cottage), but as we were packing to head home it occurred to me that we didn't need to watch the clock, get to the airport early, stand in line, or any of the other airport hassle. We could even pack our meds and valuables in the suitcase! The guy put our luggage in the trunk and we didn't have to touch them again until we were in our garage.

Who knew!?

 

[aja8888]

We're likely the oldest posting on this thread at 78 (DW) and 77 (me). Just got back from a 6 day camping trip last Friday and are leaving for a 600 mile straight-through drive to northern Minnesota to chase walleyes around the lake this Friday. I still do all the driving and do admit that the 11 hours it takes to get up there is starting to seem like a long day behind the wheel.

On both camping and fishing trips (we don't mix the two anymore) we've found that afternoon naps really help to keep us going.

Nah, you are youngsters! I am just about 82. See post #43!

 

[audreyh1]

Just got off a Lindblad cruise plus extension. Majority of travelers were 75+ but looked 10 years younger. These were extremely well traveled people and very healthy and active. I was seriously impressed.