Aging ain't for Sissies
Aging isn't easy. Make sure your complete well-being is handled with a community and information that can make it easier and FUN. Aging needs humor, which you can find in the "Aging ain't for Sissies" Podcast, along with informational guests that give us the information we need.
Aging ain't for Sissies
Travel Doesn't Stop When Your Knees Start Creaking
Ready to dust off your passport and embrace adventure in your golden years? Traveling doesn't have to stop when the knees start creaking or reading menus requires glasses. If anything, our wanderlust grows stronger with age, when we finally have the time, perspective, and freedom from work schedules to truly savor new experiences.
After returning from my hiatus, I'm sharing hard-earned wisdom about navigating the world as a seasoned traveler. From the absolutely non-negotiable tip to use wheelchair services at airports (seriously, use them—that's what they're there for!) to strategic packing that won't leave you struggling with heavy suitcases on cobblestone streets, these practical insights will transform your travel experience. Did you know November might be the perfect month for European adventures? Fewer crowds, cooler temperatures, and off-season prices make it ideal for those no longer restricted to traveling during school breaks.
The beauty of traveling later in life lies in our shifted perspective. We're no longer racing through attractions to check items off a bucket list. Instead, we're sitting at sidewalk cafes, people-watching, and truly absorbing cultural nuances. We're choosing meaningful souvenirs (like a piece of jewelry from each destination) rather than collecting dust-gathering trinkets. We're embracing slower travel—giving ourselves permission for afternoon breaks, carefully selecting walkable destinations, and recognizing that memories are made in quiet moments as much as grand vistas. Even during my cancer treatment journey, I discovered that with proper preparation, health challenges don't have to ground us permanently.
Whether you're planning an ambitious international adventure or a simple road trip to explore family roots, remember that aging isn't for sissies, but it certainly is for travelers with soul, sass, and a carefully packed carry-on. Subscribe to hear more candid conversations about navigating life's later chapters with grace, humor, and just a hint of glucosamine.
Well, welcome back to Aging Ain't for Sissies, the podcast where we keep it real about getting older with grace and just a hint of glucosamine. I am your host, marci Backus, and today we're taking off literally. We're going to talk about traveling and aging. It's been a hot minute. Since I've recorded an Aging Ain't for Sissies podcast, I took a break for a while. I have a other podcast that you're welcome to listen to Inside Marcy's Mind. Again, both of these Aging Ain't for Sissies and Inside Marcy's Mind are found wherever you find your podcasts, and you can find Inside Marcy's Mind at my website podcasts, and you can find Inside Marci's Mind at my website, insidemarci'smindcom. I'm going to have to get my new website back up and running for Aging Ape for Sissies, but I felt like it was a time to split my two podcasts and talk about aging on this one, and I keep getting downloads from this podcast. So I thought people are still wanting information, and Inside Marci's Mind is a little bit more. I don't want to say fun, it's just different, whatever's in my mind. So I thought it would be fun to talk about traveling, and not just talking about traveling, but what makes it different when you're a little older? So that's right. We're talking about traveling at an older age because, guess what, we might have bad knees, but we still have good taste and we're not done exploring yet. So I travel a lot. Love to travel. I hope you do too. And if you don't, I hope that aging hasn't stopped you from traveling. Because let me tell you something, it shouldn't. And I know it's scary and I know that. If you're not able to walk, well, if you have a walker, etc. But first thing I'm going to say, before I even get into anything use the wheelchair services at the airport. Let me say that again Use the wheelchair access at the airport. It is the greatest free gift still given from airlines. Use it If you're slow, if you have bad knees, if things hurt, if you have a walker, if you have a wheelchair, I don't care what it is Use those services, don't be embarrassed to use them. Use them. That's what they're there for. And, trust me, I see a lot of people that don't need them that are using them. If you need them, use them. If you don't, don't. You know, have you ever seen I don't fly Southwest very much anymore, but I used to there could be 17 wheelchairs lined up to get on Southwest, two to get off. We call that the miracle of flying Southwest. If you know what I mean, you know what I mean. Anyways, I'm very happy to be back on this podcast. This is my original podcast. I enjoy doing my podcast, so welcome If you are new, welcome. I hope you keep listening, share with your friends Aging ain't for sissies. If you ever hear me say Inside Marcy's Mind, it's because I have two podcasts and then I'm going to get confused. But right now we're talking about aging ain't for sissies.
Speaker 1:The itch to wander never ages. You know, the desire to see the world doesn't suddenly disappear once you start reading restaurant menus with your readers. If anything, it just gets stronger. I don't know. Maybe it's because we have finally have the time, or maybe it's because, after raising kids, working jobs, surviving pandemics and figuring out how to use the TV remote again after a software update, we've earned it.
Speaker 1:Traveling is important. If it's important to you, don't let anyone tell you traveling is a young person's game. Please, please. I've seen 25 year olds needing a nap after climbing the Acropolis. I've climbed the Acropolis twice. I'll just say once when I was not in good shape and once when I was in better shape. On the other hand, I just need a gelato break and I'm good to go. Hashtag strategic resting Be strategic about your resting. Plan lunch after you climb the Acropolis. Let me tell you, the best Greek salad I ever had is in the restaurant across the street from the Acropolis. Oh my gosh, still to this day. And I I am a Greek salad aficionado. I've been to Greece twice. I only eat Greek salads when I'm there and French fries that's my two things. And I have had a ton of Greek salads still till this day. The restaurant across the street from the Acropolis it's kind of a fancy place Best Greek salad ever, fancy place, best Greek salad ever.
Speaker 1:So what are the realities about traveling when you're aging? I don't know, let's be honest. Oh, I don't know. I'm thinking about it. We check proximity to bathrooms before we book a seat. We pack medications like we're opening a small pharmacy. So, for those of you that don't know, I am on a cancer journey right now and I did travel to California during chemo. And I am on a when I'm on chemo I'm on radiation right now, but when I'm on chemo, I do chemo pills Everybody thinks, ooh, a pill.
Speaker 1:Now let me tell you something? You poison yourself on a daily basis. The low dose days are 12 to 13 pills. The high dose stage is over 30. So it's not easy, but when I traveled with that, oh my goodness, talk about. We pack medicines like we are opening a small pharmacy. We need a neck pillow and, oh honey, it's no longer available. It's a lifesaver, those neck pillows. So if you don't have one, get one.
Speaker 1:But here's the secret to traveling at our age it's all in the prep. So if you need that wheelchair, plan on it, and it's worth it, because when you're older you know how to travel. You skip the tourist traps, you book the better hotel and you stop pretending hostels are charming. They're not, they're bunk beds and bad decisions For sure. But I think all those things are true. I think you can travel off season, which to me is the biggest benefit of being retired. I don't have to travel during season, and Craig and I have found November to be one of the best months to travel. Yeah, it's a little colder, it may be a little wetter, but let me tell you I am not sweating like a cow with a bunch of tourists around me with bad body odor. It's just a better time to travel. So here are some tips that I want to share with you for my fellow silver adventurers Plan downtime.
Speaker 1:Don't pack your itinerary tighter than you pack your suitcase. Now. On my other podcast, inside Marcy's Mind, go check it out, because I did a whole segment on travel and packing and y'all know how I feel about that. Don't pack your itinerary tighter than your suitcase. That is a fact. Give yourself downtime. Now with Craig that's very hard, but I have learned now I plan my own downtime. If he doesn't want downtime, he is more than welcome to go sightsee, and he does, and he does and I rest. We traveled when I got out of the hospital a couple of years ago and I was not up to the speed of a Craig traveling, and he does fine going out on his own. So if one of you needs to rest and the other wants to go, it's fine Go.
Speaker 1:Choose walkable cities. Athens, yes. Icelandic lava fields maybe, not so much. Only if your knees say okay. Don't do the narrows at Zion National Park unless you've got good knees, because you're going to slip and fall.
Speaker 1:Think about your traveling. Choose walkable cities. Choose walkable things. It's okay to take a slower group trip. We're going to Ireland in October, when I'm done with all this cancer nonsense, for Craig's 70th birthday, and we've taken a tour group plan a tour group. Pick a tour group. Pick a tour group that moves at a slower pace. Now this is something I haven't done and I think it's time for me to start.
Speaker 1:Invest in travel insurance, because nothing says fun like having to find a dentist in Barcelona. Travel insurance is not a bad idea. As we get older, the chances of something going wrong when we're out of town is greater. I will say if I'm going to Europe, I always plan a dentist trip at least two to three weeks before I go. If they find something like a cracked tooth and that it gives me time to get it fixed. I never, ever, ever want to be out of the country and have something happen like that.
Speaker 1:Embrace slower travel More time in fewer places, deeper experiences and fewer blisters, but embrace slower travel. You don't need to be on. I will tell you why. I like a Viking cruise. We've done several of them. We did one last year, we did the Christmas markets. Those tours do not move fast. They actually move a little too slow for me at times, but you know what I appreciate, that I don't want to feel exhausted. I don't want to feel like I've been drug all over and unhappy. Craig did that to me in my youth. I'm not doing it in my old age.
Speaker 1:Pack snacks, pack snacks, pack snacks. If you're in a customs line and you're on an empty stomach or you're on a plane, that's not giving you the amount of food you think you need, make sure you pack snacks, pack protein, pack some almonds, pack some candy, have some fun. Life's short Eat the Reese's, the joy of it all. Here's what I most love about travel. Now I see things differently. I am not rushing to check off bucket list items anymore. I'm sitting at sidewalk cafes watching people go by wondering what their stories are. I do a lot of sitting and watching when we travel. Now I enjoy listening to other people at tables talk about their adventures. I'm not just visiting places, I'm soaking them in, because I know that my travel days, my big travel days. I'm two thirds into my life, I'm in the last, I'm in the, I'm in the back nine, as they say it when you're golfing, maybe the back three, I don't know, back six.
Speaker 1:You know I have never been a souvenir buyer and, yes, bring back. But this is our time of life, we're not collecting crap, so don't bring them back and, trust me, nobody wants them. I buy one piece of jewelry everywhere we go, why? Because when I wear that jewelry, I remember that trip. Who remembers a snow globe? A towel for your kitchen, a bar of soap? Nobody, nobody, but a piece of jewelry. You put that on and I have the greatest earrings from Barcelona, a beautiful necklace from Finland. I have a beautiful swan necklace from the Swanstein Castle in Germany, where Disney got his inspiration for Sleeping Beauty's castle. So those are the types of souvenirs I bring back. So my story is bring back the best things you can, and the best thing you can bring back are memories.
Speaker 1:I take a lot of photos too, and I love to go back and look at my photos. A lot of people take their photos and print them into books. I haven't done that. It's so easy to do. So I'm going to suggest that, even though I haven't done it, if you have pictures on your phone, you can send them to CVS. There's a million different places that you can have printouts made. You can have books made, and maybe, when I can't travel so much, I'll have the time to stop and make those books of our travels. I think they'd be lovely gifts for our kids to have when we're gone. Travels I think they'd be lovely gifts for our kids to have when we're gone. I would love. My parents traveled a lot and my dad did slides and I could care less about a slide. So think about your trip. I the one thing I want to.
Speaker 1:I am going to talk a little bit about packing, even though I have it on my other podcast. Packing is really important. Do not overpack. You do not need to. I use an app called Pack it. It'll tell me how many underpants I need t-shirts, this, that and the other. You can customize it. I always travel with a black and white wardrobe and I choose one color. Maybe hot pink, it may be in the blues. I only wear pinks and blues as my secondary color in my wardrobe.
Speaker 1:Keep it simple, stupid. Always take a scarf. A scarf can be used a million ways. It can dress up an outfit, dress down an outfit. It can be a rain hat. It can be an over the shoulder. It's too cold in this restaurant.
Speaker 1:Scarves are amazing. They take up little room. Take more than one. Um, scarves are amazing. They take up little room, take more than one. Have one in your carry on, one in your pack suitcase. But scarves are amazing and they can change the look of an outfit. Keep it simple, stupid. The kiss method, kiss. Keep it simple, stupid. Keep it as simple as possible.
Speaker 1:Let me tell you something All your fancy um skincare routines and hair care routines can stay home. Most hotels these days, especially if you're traveling within the United States, most hotels all now have shampoo and conditioner in the shower and body wash. Use it. Use it. Don't pack that crap. They have blow dryers. Don't pack your blow dryer. It Don't pack that crap. They have blow dryers. Don't pack your blow dryer. Like relax people. Let your hair be curly on vacation, put it in a ponytail, wear a headband or have no hair, like me, and then you don't have to worry about it. But pack light. Do you need all your makeup? Do you need to contour? Do you need? No, I have an eyeshadow palette. I have a set of brushes that are already in my travel bag and I just have the essentials.
Speaker 1:I've actually downsized by two thirds of what I used to carry in my cosmetic bag. I've cut that way back. I don't take shampoo, I don't take conditioner, I don't take body wash. I take one moisturizer for my body, I take one for my face, like I have cut way back on what I take.
Speaker 1:So as we get older, do we want to be falderalling around with all these suitcases? I'll tell you when you're in Europe. You don't, because you're going to have to drag them down cobblestones. And if you're already worried about tripping on the cobblestones, the last thing you want to worry about is a big ass suitcase. So excuse my language, but downsize, find yourself the best carry on size suitcase.
Speaker 1:You can Make sure it has a zipper gusset. What is that? That is that zipper that lets it expand just a little bit more. When you leave on your trip, you should have the zipper gusset closed. That is because you always need more room coming home, and it's not necessarily because you buy things. For some reason you just don't pack the same coming home. So that is my soapbox that I stand very highly on, because I practice what I preach and I only pack a carry on. And then I have one other small little carry-on that has miscellaneous stuff in it.
Speaker 1:But if I'm traveling with Craig, I take the carry-on on the plane because Craig can put it in the overhead? I cannot, and because I am an Amazonian woman, no one will ever help me. I have bad shoulders. I can't lift that up and put it in and I can't lift it out and take it down. So if I travel on my own I check it. But again, I have status so I don't have to pay for it. I only fly American because I have status on American and that's just my little. If you want to know about status and you want to know about all that again, go to my Inside Marcy's Mind traveling recent episode and you'll get all that.
Speaker 1:You're never too old to roam. So if you're dreaming of that trip, book it, whether it's to the Amalfi Coast, a cabin in the mountains or just a weekend escape two hours away. Travel doesn't have to be epic, it can be close by, I will tell you. It just has to be meaningful. My next road trip that I'm going to take here is to Minnesota, to where my dad grew up. I've never been there and now that I live in Chicago and I live in Illinois, it's not that far to go. So that's going to be a summer road trip at the end of the summer for me, because aging ain't for sissies, but it is for travelers with a soul sass and a suitcase full of memories. Happy travels.
