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it also showed the biggest buyers of higher end cars are in their 70's .
Could that be a desperate attempt to find a car that's not too uncomfortable for them? Just like a rich person whose feet hurt might have a closet full of expensive shoes because they're never happy with any of them because their feet hurt in all of them.
But what I want to know about discomfort at ages 70-90 is whether you can comfortably build a snowman. Because, if not, there's not much point in moving to a winter wonderland for retirement. Being stuck at home because you can no longer travel comfortably, is it better to be stuck in winter or summer, north or south? Lots of people say summer, because the cold makes their bones ache or something like that. But doesn't the heat trigger just as many health problems?
Ride it right up to the loading gate, and an air line employee will fold it up and stow it for you, and deliver it back at the departure gate when you get off the plane.
Remember to add time to flight connections to allow for getting it back - over the last couple of years, I've noticed more airlines using gate-check for bags and what used to be a 5 minute wait for the gate-check bag was almost half an hour on my last flight at DIA. This is true for bags, scooters, wheelchairs, strollers, etc.
Yes, I know that it varies with the individual. So the answer could be age 60 for one person and age 90 for the next. What I am curious about (and failed to find a way to condense into a good thread title) is individual stories of people whose age-related disabilities have made it difficult to travel. It would be instructive to include the age as well as the nature of the health problem. And the example could be the poster him or herself, or the parent, sibling, neighbor, or friend of the poster.
I'll start. I have a female cousin, age 72 who, for the past several years has had circulatory problems in her legs such that she cannot remain seated for very long. She can ride in the car for shopping trips, but not for travel. She would have to lay down in the back seat in order to elevate her legs on even a short trip. For example, even a trip as short as Baton Rouge, Louisiana to Beaumont, Texas (less than half a day's drive) would be very problematic for her. It would take a major event, such as a funeral, to cause her to undertake that trip. She was going to try it a year ago for the funeral of our last surviving aunt, but had to give up on the idea because of a medical emergency on the part of her husband.
By contrast my mother, now deceased, drove alone from Baton Rouge, Louisiana to Little Rock, Arkansas when she was 80. That was her last long road trip and she finally gave up driving altogether at age 89.
At 71, I still drive and fly about as I did when I was 21. I find the airline seats uncomfortable, but hey, life is not a bowl of cherries and it's still quite doable. I flew to Little Rock and back within the last month. A year ago I made a three-week, solo road trip as far east as Blue Ridge, Georgia. I assume my experience is normal for age 71, and that my female cousin's experience is an unfortunate anomaly.
I was prompted to start this thread because over the years I have noticed people talking about no longer wanting to drive or fly to see relatives, and I've always been curious about that, curious about the age and about what specific conditions cause the problem with traveling.
My travel usually involves driving, which I love to do and can go a long ways. My last trip was about 2,500 miles in a week. I hope to be able to do it for a long time to come.
My mom took her last trip to Australia when she was about 80. An 18 hour flight with only one stop in Honolulu. Once there she stayed with her various siblings but had to take the train to get to a few of them. When she got back she declared, "That's it! No more traveling for me!" The last few years she didn't even want to go 50 miles from home because it was just too hard for her to sit for an hour. She managed to make it to doctor's appointments out of town, with me driving, but by the time we got home she was worn out. One hundred miles round trip plus all the waiting/testing at the doc's office. She and my dad did a ton of cross country drives over the years, into their 70s, but Dad had to eventually give up on that too at about age 80.
After reading this I have to ask. Why do people work so long so they can retire when it looks like the retirement travel window is small.
Hmmmm...interesting question but it makes me think that if a person retires in their mid to late 60s and lives to mid 80s, or so, that's about 20 years. You could do a LOT of traveling in 20 years so I don't see a small "travel window".
I was fortunate to travel the world for business and afford to do so for pleasure. Traveling was fun. People catered to you, especially the airlines. I also lived in places (NYC, LA, Chicago) that had frequent, non-stop flights to most anywhere. The airlines are now the subways of the sky. The delays get longer and longer. Arrivals and departures are not dependable and security delays can be horrible. What could be an easy in/out day trip is nearly impossible.
Been wanting to take a river cruise in Russia or China but due to the air travel (3 flights) I will not do it.
I now find myself making more car trips than I ever did. I can better control where, when, how, etc. and not be at the mercy of others. I also build in plenty of time in case I decide to take it easy like stop and smell the local roses along the way. What was once was a one day 16 hour trip became an overnight trip. I now plan on it being a two night trip as the local roses smell sweeter.
I have a neighbor who had to stop driving and sold her car when she was in early 80s. She had macular degeneration. So sad. Very hard to be so restricted.
Remember to add time to flight connections to allow for getting it back - over the last couple of years, I've noticed more airlines using gate-check for bags and what used to be a 5 minute wait for the gate-check bag was almost half an hour on my last flight at DIA. This is true for bags, scooters, wheelchairs, strollers, etc.
Snap!
Last timeI flew, the baggage-gate-check line was three times as long as the check-in-and-check-your-bags line. I think I'm done with pre-check-in until they fix that.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Caltovegas
After reading this I have to ask. Why do people work so long so they can retire when it looks like the retirement travel window is small.
exactly... travel is very important to me, and seen how frail / difficult it is for folks to travel, best to get as much done early as possible! During my stay / work assignment last yr... There were scores of crippled / obese / 'difficult to get around' Europeans in Thailand still traveling annually to get their medical needs taken care of (As they have for 40 - 50 yrs). Retire early, retire often!
I hope to start a 1yr RTW trip in Dec. (still WAY before the conventional 'retirement age')
Fortunately work has paid us to live / work / travel to very NICE / fun / interesting places. I still have quite a few places I would like to visit. / live.
Last time I flew, the baggage-gate-check line was three times as long as the check-in-and-check-your-bags line. I think I'm done with pre-check-in until they fix that.
if you don't have a connection to make, it is still much faster to gate check (you go through TSA no matter what - I fly a lot so I am Pre-Check/Trusted Traveler: no laptop out, shoes stay on, no liquids out). I checked a bag the trip before the last in DIA and the time between getting out of my seat on the plane and picking up the luggage was about 50 minutes, so not much difference EXCEPT less chance of losing my luggage.
In 30+ years of flying, I have completely lost 3 bags and had about 5 delayed, up to 2 months. So I go with gate check.
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