Introduction.
Debbie and Michael Campbell, the Senior Nomads, started travelling full-time in 2013 when they were 57 and 67 respectively. Earlier this year they announced that they were settling down and more recently they told members of their Facebook group that they had decided to buy a permanent home in the US. They inspired me to take the idea of travelling full-time more seriously, and you can find their blog here.
It made me think about my situation. I’m now only two years older than when Michael started his journey and it made me wonder what I will do when I feel it’s time to call it quits.
I’ve been homeless for over seven years now, have slept in more than 160 beds and visited over 30 countries in that time. At some point I am going to have to address the question of when to stop. Is that point now?
What might make me stop?
1. Health.
Although I am fairly hale and hearty at the moment, I notice a big difference between how I am now and how I was at 62 when I started out. The main thing is my balance and attitude to taking risks. In Ireland and Scotland, I thought nothing of walking up rough moorland paths or sliding downhill. I used to cross the road and walk on uneven pavements without a care. Now, after a few falls, (thankfully none of them serious) I am much more cautious – particularly as I know being solo and immobile would be a disaster for me.
I also have a double-whammy of IBS and diverticular disease and although they have not stopped me from going to some fairly exotic places, I have to be careful about what I eat to ensure I don’t get struck down with a flare-up.
Then there is the cost of travel health insurance — a tricky topic for older nomads. I will reach a change point at 70, when some long-term travel insurers will no longer cover me, so this might be difficult to overcome. I know some older travellers have decided to go without insurance and pay out of pocket … but that brings me to my next deciding factor.
2 Finances.
Travel health insurance is a major expense. Whilst there are plenty of companies that will insure backpackers in their 20s and 30s, finding one that will insure full-time travellers in their 60s and beyond is considerably more difficult. My hospital stay in Georgia, which I talk about here, was covered by my insurer at the time, but when I wanted to renew I was refused because I was now considered to have an ongoing condition. Currently my insurer is a US company and is expensive, even with a high deductible. I have met some older travellers who have decided to self-insure – in other words, fall back on their savings and pay for medical treatment if the need arises. That has always felt too much of a gamble to me, as the strap line to my blog says …
I have recently read about an 86-year-old full-time traveller who suffered a serious fall in Malaysia and is now facing significant medical costs without insurance. It made me wonder whether insurance might eventually be the thing that stops me travelling, even if my health and finances are still robust.
As well as insurance, there are the ongoing costs of accommodation, food and transport. The problems in the Middle East, showing no end in sight, may also make air travel considerably more expensive. This is becoming increasingly relevant to me. I’ve put off flying as much as possible, but as I travel further from Europe and still need to return to the UK occasionally, travelling exclusively by land and sea is becoming increasingly impracticable.
Which brings me to …
3. The state of the world.
The Middle East, Russia/Ukraine, even closer to where I am in Thailand and Cambodia – there are conflicts and flare-ups in various parts of the planet which can affect travel in many ways, including pushing up fuel prices and closing certain travel routes. My original idea when trying to travel overland and by sea from Ireland to Brazil was to get a train across Iran, a country I would really love to see. Alas, that is unlikely to happen. The closure of the Suez Canal was another door shut.
Global warming is another concern and I hate that – because as I get older, and I’m moving further away from my home countries, I may be contributing to it. Air travel isn’t something I relish and I know about the cost to the environment. I try to minimise that by only flying when there is no other practical option, and by the fact that I don’t own a car and travel mainly by public transport.
I am currently in Korea, where the highest temperature ever recorded was reached in a nearby town last week. A heatwave is happening in my home country of the UK too. I wrote about my flooding experience in Thailand here. I know disasters can happen anywhere, so perhaps I would be safer back ‘home.’
What entices me to continue?
1. Health.
I know it seems counter-intuitive but I am sure that travelling full-time has kept me reasonably healthy. For a start, and particularly since selling my car, (for £75) in 2022, I have been walking a LOT more than I did at home. Food is often fresher, with less ultra-processed stuff and when I eat out I try and go to the places the locals favour. I have lost a considerable amount of weight and feel that if I had stayed in England I would have just vegetated in front of the television watching travel programmes.
Health isn’t just physical. Dealing with the logistics of travelling, such as booking trains, negotiating buses, ordering food in various languages – indeed trying to learn some words in the countries I travel through – does, I believe, keep my brain more active and so may help to stave off cognitive decline. I still make mistakes though – as this early blog post proves.
2. Finances.
In many countries, the cost of living is far cheaper than in the UK or Ireland. Sure, it varies enormously and there are some quirks such as Austria where the cost of accommodation is relatively cheap, but the cost of groceries and eating out is expensive.
It could be difficult for me to live back in my ‘home’ countries. If I eventually decide that being constantly on the move is no longer practical, that doesn’t necessarily mean returning to the UK or Ireland. At some point I may have to consider settling somewhere else in the world. So part of the remaining journey may well be scouting for a new place to be.
3. The State of the World.
I once thought that I would see the world before I was too old and frail to do so. Now I wonder if I need to see the world whilst there is still a recognisable world to see.
One of the reasons I started the trip was to see more of the beauty of the planet. It is still a beautiful place despite the pollution, habitat loss and environmental destruction. And the kindness of some of the people I have met has been an unexpected pleasure.
Conclusion ... well sort of.
Those are my current thoughts on stopping the journey. Of course, the major factor at the moment is that I don’t want to stop, but to keep going for as long as I am able. My ability to do so is the deciding factor, and health and finances might eventually become the reasons to call a halt. It could even come down to the practical fact that travel insurance is no longer available to me. Of course, there may come a time when I have to carry on travelling rather than wanting to, but at least if that were to happen I would know what’s involved.
A couple of days ago I reached my ¾ -of-a-decade anniversary. I’ve been on the road for 7½ years. I originally thought ten years would be my maximum; now I’m wondering about 15. I know my life will be shorter than the time it would take to visit all the places I want to go to, but the time I have is now, and I still want to make the most of it.
