The trip to Venice was an experiment.
Venice (Photo credit: Monosnaps)
I keep talking about ‘outrageous retirement’ but my retirement lifestyle has been pretty routine so far. I say that I want to do unexpected things and cling to the ordinary. Part of the reason for this is inertia but there is also fear. What if I don’t have what it takes to live outrageously? What if I fail? Finally I pushed outside the ordinary and planned the trip to Venice. It wasn’t the ultimate adventure- but it was a start, a test to see if my wife and I have what it takes.
At age 70, I was in denial about the aging process. I believed that sheer will and determination was enough to overcome the inevitable breakdown of my body. I believed that I could do the same things, in the same way as a youngster of say 45 or 50- at least that’s what my conscious mind way telling me. My subconscious was more suspicious. It knew that even though the mind was willing, the body might not be able to deliver.
It’s been a goal of mine to travel more in retirement. I have been talking the idea up for years, always with the excuse that tomorrow would be better than today. Tomorrow I would have more money. Tomorrow my wife’s business commitments would be less constraining. Tomorrow, I would finally get all the ducks lined up and do the trip right. The excuses sounded rational but they were really masking the fear that it just might be too late.
We took action!
About one year ago my wife and I had a serious discussion and decided that we might not be able to do everything but we needed to do something before the aging process made it impossible. I wanted to go for a month but we didn’t have the money. We used frequent flier miles and booked a ten day trip to Venice. We wanted to know if we could be happy spending an extended time in one city and we wanted to find out how we would like living in an apartment away from the tourist bustle in a foreign country.
If we were still wanting more after ten days in Venice, then surely a month would be even better. We would also be learning what we needed in our rented apartment and what we didn’t and learning the tricks about traveling. We would also be finding out whether we were physically capable of making an extensive trip and more importantly, whether we would enjoy it or discover that we were just too old- either mentally or physically to enjoy travel.
So what’ the verdict?
Well, today, the experiment is officially over. We are back at home and getting into the routine of normal life. It is time for reflection, analysis and honest discussion about the trip. What went as we expected. What surprised us- both in positive and negative ways. What did we learn and can we use our lessons to make the next trip better?
The quick answer is that we are very excited at how well the trip went. We enjoyed every minute even though we found that our bodies weren’t so resilient as they used to be and we took more down time due to aching muscles and bones. That in itself is an important lesson and an even better justification for staying longer. An hour or so napping or reading is wonderfully refreshing. We found the Italian lifestyle with it’s long mid day break quite in sync with our not so strong muscles.
Our time in Venice was too short. We only scratched the surface of a fascinating city and we had no time for the reading and sketching that I had hoped to do. A longer trip would provide a more relaxed visit with a day off from time to time for R and R. We could easily have stayed on longer.
It was outrageous!
So to conclude today/s report, the experiment was a success. The subjects survived and the lessons learned will help us plan the next trip. I will have more about specific aspects of the trip but the general conclusion is that for aging individuals with no serious health problems and an adventurous mental state, travel is wonderful. At least a long term stay in an interesting environment with adequate amenities like our stay in Venice. We came back refreshed, stimulated and ready to see our regular lifestyle in new ways. More importantly, we came back excited to plan our next trip. Time’s a wasting.
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