Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I have traveled alone more than I travel with others when I was younger. I've taken a couple of short trips in the past couple of years and would like to take more but for me it's a health issue as to whether or not I'm able.
The older you get, the less likely you will feel comfortable being alone, unless you have a group of people to congregate with on your travel.
This is my opinion and mine alone. BUT after traveling to Arkansas recently, and to Greenville SC, and Columbia, MO previously, looking at areas to move to, I will not do it again. Oh, yes, also Asheville, NC too.
I felt really OLD. I am 74 and my traveling alone has ended. If I find a group tour, that will be different, but otherwise, no. This is just me. Probably not you.
The sheer angst involved in airplane travel (stuffed like sardines in a tube), the rental of a car that has "gadgets" I don't recognize (like I had to ask someone at the gas station how to open the gas cover on the car) and finding places to eat besides fast food, and the same old breakfast daily at the hotel, made me feel like a fish out of water. And the hotel was empty. Hardly anyone to talk to there.
I had a GPS in the car, thank goodness. But I needed to go buy clothes for cold weather (it snowed) and could only find Walmart. I did not sleep well for 5 nights and never got to see what I wanted to see (Osher program). And the internet lies. Places are alot further apart than you think. And look very different once you get there.
Yes, this is a rant. I did not have a good time, but I learned alot about myself.
Maybe it depends on how "tied" you were to your spouse when you were married? Dh and I were older when we got married - had been very independent prior to marriage. Since we got married, we have still retained a bit of independence. We do not do *everything* as a pair. If the time comes, either when we're both still alive, or after one of us has gone, that one of us wants to travel solo, I am sure that will not be a problem.
A couple of years ago -- I was 60 and this was before I bought my Roadtrek -- I had a hankering to go to Southern California, just to please myself and because I was getting tired of compulsory togetherness. So I made up a business excuse and went. I was intentionally vague with DH about where I was going, which just made him more determined to discover it. Oh joy.
One of the things I did was go to Disneyland. Like the OP I was wondering if I was too old to do this by myself. The results were not reassuring. It was warmer than I expected and I tired easily. After I took the tram back to the parking garage, I could not find my car. Seriously. I'd memorized the section and space number and I could not find it. 30 minutes of panic. What would I do if I couldn't find my car?
Then I remembered after we'd parked, we had come across a walkway from another section. Found the walkway, found my car. Sat in it and wondered if this was the beginning of dementia.
I later concluded it probably wasn't. I work alone, at home, and I basically live inside my head too much, which makes me too preoccupied to notice details sometimes.
It was a wake-up call, though, and I think I need to take more solo excursions to practice awareness.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
34,722 posts, read 58,054,000 times
Reputation: 46190
We met a single gal friend from USA who flew to Ireland and UK to meet us this yr. (age 94) We had a great time.
Took FIL (age93) on 4 flights last yr. He could easily handle it solo, but he enjoyed someone carrying his baggage.
No wheel chairs / preferential boarding / 'special needs' attention in either case.
My mom (84) did a couple solo flights last yr (she gets and appreciates the 'senior attention'.) She also bought new tires for her motorhome! She is best left SOLO!!! much easier on everyone
Friends from NZ flew to USA and circumnavigated USA via rental car and trains (as a couple / age 70+)
Friends from Scotland (age 82 & 86) are coming next summer to drive the US national parks. Since they can't find a rental car company willing to service them..., I will buy them a campervan, put it in their own Montana LLC for insurance / registration reasons, and I will resell it when they are done traveling.
While living in Thailand, I was amazed that it is FULL of Euro seniors (often in their 90's) who are getting their medical and dental needs tuned up. Some I met had been coming annually for 50 yrs! (even (especially) with national HC at home...)
Last edited by StealthRabbit; 01-24-2017 at 11:57 AM..
I feel great physically but I think we become invisible to the younger people as we age and so it is more their negative reactions to us olders or the way they sometimes speak to us as though we are less than they are,that is a worry re traveling alone with others I do not know.
Well think I will give it a try anyway, if I don't like it, well I suppose I will at least know its not for me.Then maybe I will be pleasantly surpised.
I feel great physically but I think we become invisible to the younger people as we age and so it is more their negative reactions to us olders or the way they sometimes speak to us as though we are less than they are,that is a worry re traveling alone with others I do not know.
For what it's worth, many travel groups attract an older crowd. With those groups, it's the 20-30 year olds who will feel out of place, not you!
I've taken a few organized foreign tour trips with my sisters. There have always been "singletons" on the trip, and with the exception of a couple of them who had apparent personality disorders, the single travelers have always incorporated well with the group. Most have been older ladies but there have been some men and younger travelers.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
)
