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My mom is 85, and after she retired -- she's been a widow for almost 30 years -- she was very keen on traveling overseas -- every year for about ten years, she went to a new (European) country and was very excited about planning the vacation, and she would go either by herself or with others. However, for about the past ten years, she hasn't done much of anything except take care of her home, and she appears to have no other outside interest except her youngest granddaugher (my niece), who is now 13 and was more like a daughter than her other grandkids, as she has always provided before- and after-school care for her -- the others are all now adults. My mom is in good health in every way, but has just turned into much more of a "homebody". There is nothing wrong with that, of course, but I am just wondering if that is common once someone is about 75 or so.
(The main reason I am asking this, though, is because my husband and I want to do some traveling, too, after we retire, and we are just wondering how many "good" years we can reasonably expect to have before we will probably lose interest in having new adventures that involve leaving our comfort zone.)
I hope to never lose my love of travel and adventure. When we worked 60+ hour weeks and my DH had his own business, we'd take 4 day weekends to Europe. When we retired at age 50, our pent-up demand for travel resulted in months-long trips to Europe and Central America. On one of these trips we bought a home in Mexico! We used that as a base to discover the rest of that country. We still get to Europe once a year, mostly concentrating on Spain. We are ages 64 and 65 now. I figure we have at least 20 more years of active independent travel. We have never been on an organized tour or on a cruise, so we figure we can do that sort of easy traveling when the time comes.
My FIL and MIL visited over 60 countries; they traveled constantly and did so together up until my MILs stroke at age 83. She was in nursing home for 2 1/2 years afterward until her death. By then my FIL was 89 and his health was diminished both physically and by dementia, and he stopped traveling.
My parents took overseas trips in early retirement and later on vacations in the US only. Their slow downhill slide started around 85. Although they could still handle daily routines at home, traveling took more energy and abilities than they had at that point.
I think it depends on the person, but I can tell that I'm just tired a lot more than I used to be and when I think of the hassle of traveling, most days I'd rather not bother. It just takes a lot of energy that I'd rather use for other things.
I did think that after retirement my DH and I would just go all over the place, but three years ago we retired to a gorgeous location and every time I've traveled since then, it just me realize that where I live is more beautiful and peaceful, so there's not really much incentive anymore.
I suspect in the next 5 to 10 years for international countries like Europe. After that mostly local trips or trips within USA including Hawaii, maybe Hawaii. Not more 10-12 hours flight I hope after I turn 70 or 75. A long way off, I know.
I've been to Mexico once and never ever want to go back and that was 25 years ago. Maybe Europe will be next.
The main reason I am asking this, though, is because my husband and I want to do some traveling, too, after we retire, and we are just wondering how many "good" years we can reasonably expect to have before we will probably lose interest in having new adventures that involve leaving our comfort zone.
I think it is often more a matter of not having the physical endurance, energy, physical strength, and excellent health/vibrancy to do foreign travel in the older years, rather than " losing interest in having new adventures that involve leaving one's comfort zone."
I don't think I will ever lose the DESIRE to travel places, or to return to loved places.
The biggest problem is that I'm already disabled and I don't know how long I will be able to.
We went for a weekend at a theme park, and we're so exhausted we spent the next day in bed sleeping. That seems to be the norm now...one day on, one day off while we travel.
I don't know if I will be able to when I'm, say, 60 or 65 (I'm 54).
So it really depends on your budget, your abilities and desires.
Maybe OPs mother has no desire to go anywhere, she's seen all she wanted. Or maybe like us, she finds it too difficult and required a lot of rest.
I love tv travel shows it give a glimpse of the area without the plane, boat and train ride to get there!
Why are people waiting until retirement to travel?
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