By Saul Friedman
Here is a myth that needs dispelling: By the time you can afford to travel, you're too old to enjoy it.
My wife and I have just returned from an African safari to celebrate our 80th years. And our years afforded us special attention in a land where age is venerated.
It's no surprise that the travel industry now depends, more than ever during this economic downturn, on business from older people, 55 and way up. Many travel agencies specialize in accommodating and planning tours for older, even disabled, people. It's at least a third of their business.
Even in recession, many older, retired people have the time, the disposable income and broad, adult interests ranging from cruises to Alaska and the Mediterranean to touring the art and music capitals of Europe. The median age of the passengers on a couple of cruises I've taken was over 65 and many were in their 70s.
Boston-based Elderhostel, founded in 1975 to provide "adventures in lifelong learning" for people older than 55, now offers 8,000 programs a year to 160,000 older adults, with no age limit (visit elderhostel.org). One of its specialties is aimed at grandparent-grandchildren adventures. And over the years, it has expanded its programs to 90 different countries, and virtually every sort of adventurous activity (although many are not accessible to the disabled).
Ten years ago, to celebrate the millennium and our 70th years, my wife and I and a couple of friends spent eight days camping in luxury and rafting down the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon. My column about the trip encouraged a few readers to do the same. Neither they nor we will ever forget that trip; travel teaches and creates memories that can't be erased.
Living in South Africa for five months in 1996-1997, when I was teaching young journalists how to practice their craft in their new democracy, I was smitten with the extraordinary wildlife that roamed the bush. And every chance we got, my wife and I drove to Kruger National Park and other reserves to see the animals in the wild - lions, leopards, giraffes, elephants, hippos, wildebeest by the dozens, buffalo, impala, antelope, baboons and birds found nowhere else.
But in all those months, we didn't have the time or money to explore a special place, called the Okavango Delta. Located in Botswana, the tidy African democracy north of South Africa, the Delta is unique. It is formed, for a few months in their winter, when the rivers from the west empty, not into the sea, but into the Kalahari Desert. And before it dries, the clear waters, the grasses, reeds and islands of the sprawling Delta attract hundreds of animals that come to drink, hunt and mate.
The young and purist camp out among the animals. But that would be too much for a person of age. So with the help of my daughters and their husbands, we spent two days in each of three luxury camps owned and run by Desert & Delta of South Africa, which provided four- and five-star rooms in the bush. And we reached each camp by light planes of the company's Safari Air.
Each camp, Moremi, on a lagoon; Savute, where it was dry, Shinde, surrounded by water, was distinct. The morning and evening game drives, aboard high Toyota Land Cruisers driven by fine tracking guides, gave us the thrills of following a pride of lions, a leopard stalking a reedbuck, a small antelope, elephants plodding through the grass like great gray moving islands, chattering baboons bedding down in a tree, and the glittering array of exotic birds like the lilac-breasted roller. This is bush, not jungle; the elephant, not the lion, is king.
At Moremi, a leopard lolled in a tree outside the gate. At Savute, I showered while watching a herd of elephants and impala taking an evening drink at the pool beneath my hut. At Shinde, which offered boat excursions among the reeds, a hippo came through camp in the night. And an elephant came close to the tent-like cabins each night to shake fruit from a date palm.
The guides and staff - from Botswana and South Africa - understood and anticipated our special needs. There were 34 or more staff members for camps that accommodated only 24 guests. To celebrate our 80th, the camps set up special dinners for Evelyn and me (the food was fresh, plentiful and spectacular), and a picnic on a formal table in the bush on the banks of the swollen river.
Nevertheless, we could not have done this without help. We planned for a year, which gave us time to pay for the trip, so we could have the help of our daughters and their husbands (and two grandchildren). We used Desert & Delta (desertdelta.com), operating in Botswana since 1982, one of several safari companies, because it was recommended by a South African friend as one of the best. We wanted the luxury we needed at our age.
We spent some of our savings and some of our children's inheritance, but it was spent when we were with them, enjoying it in life. What else are we saving for? And it was, for them and for my wife and me and the grandkids, the trip of a lifetime.[rc]
Copyright © 2009 Newsday
July 30, 2009
USA: Aging doesn't mean you have to stop traveling
.
MELVILLE, New York / Newsday / Columnists / July 30, 2009
By Saul Friedman
Here is a myth that needs dispelling: By the time you can afford to travel, you're too old to enjoy it.
My wife and I have just returned from an African safari to celebrate our 80th years. And our years afforded us special attention in a land where age is venerated.
It's no surprise that the travel industry now depends, more than ever during this economic downturn, on business from older people, 55 and way up. Many travel agencies specialize in accommodating and planning tours for older, even disabled, people. It's at least a third of their business.
Even in recession, many older, retired people have the time, the disposable income and broad, adult interests ranging from cruises to Alaska and the Mediterranean to touring the art and music capitals of Europe. The median age of the passengers on a couple of cruises I've taken was over 65 and many were in their 70s.
Boston-based Elderhostel, founded in 1975 to provide "adventures in lifelong learning" for people older than 55, now offers 8,000 programs a year to 160,000 older adults, with no age limit (visit elderhostel.org). One of its specialties is aimed at grandparent-grandchildren adventures. And over the years, it has expanded its programs to 90 different countries, and virtually every sort of adventurous activity (although many are not accessible to the disabled).
Ten years ago, to celebrate the millennium and our 70th years, my wife and I and a couple of friends spent eight days camping in luxury and rafting down the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon. My column about the trip encouraged a few readers to do the same. Neither they nor we will ever forget that trip; travel teaches and creates memories that can't be erased.
Living in South Africa for five months in 1996-1997, when I was teaching young journalists how to practice their craft in their new democracy, I was smitten with the extraordinary wildlife that roamed the bush. And every chance we got, my wife and I drove to Kruger National Park and other reserves to see the animals in the wild - lions, leopards, giraffes, elephants, hippos, wildebeest by the dozens, buffalo, impala, antelope, baboons and birds found nowhere else.
But in all those months, we didn't have the time or money to explore a special place, called the Okavango Delta. Located in Botswana, the tidy African democracy north of South Africa, the Delta is unique. It is formed, for a few months in their winter, when the rivers from the west empty, not into the sea, but into the Kalahari Desert. And before it dries, the clear waters, the grasses, reeds and islands of the sprawling Delta attract hundreds of animals that come to drink, hunt and mate.
The young and purist camp out among the animals. But that would be too much for a person of age. So with the help of my daughters and their husbands, we spent two days in each of three luxury camps owned and run by Desert & Delta of South Africa, which provided four- and five-star rooms in the bush. And we reached each camp by light planes of the company's Safari Air.
Each camp, Moremi, on a lagoon; Savute, where it was dry, Shinde, surrounded by water, was distinct. The morning and evening game drives, aboard high Toyota Land Cruisers driven by fine tracking guides, gave us the thrills of following a pride of lions, a leopard stalking a reedbuck, a small antelope, elephants plodding through the grass like great gray moving islands, chattering baboons bedding down in a tree, and the glittering array of exotic birds like the lilac-breasted roller. This is bush, not jungle; the elephant, not the lion, is king.
At Moremi, a leopard lolled in a tree outside the gate. At Savute, I showered while watching a herd of elephants and impala taking an evening drink at the pool beneath my hut. At Shinde, which offered boat excursions among the reeds, a hippo came through camp in the night. And an elephant came close to the tent-like cabins each night to shake fruit from a date palm.
The guides and staff - from Botswana and South Africa - understood and anticipated our special needs. There were 34 or more staff members for camps that accommodated only 24 guests. To celebrate our 80th, the camps set up special dinners for Evelyn and me (the food was fresh, plentiful and spectacular), and a picnic on a formal table in the bush on the banks of the swollen river.
Nevertheless, we could not have done this without help. We planned for a year, which gave us time to pay for the trip, so we could have the help of our daughters and their husbands (and two grandchildren). We used Desert & Delta (desertdelta.com), operating in Botswana since 1982, one of several safari companies, because it was recommended by a South African friend as one of the best. We wanted the luxury we needed at our age.
We spent some of our savings and some of our children's inheritance, but it was spent when we were with them, enjoying it in life. What else are we saving for? And it was, for them and for my wife and me and the grandkids, the trip of a lifetime.[rc]
Copyright © 2009 Newsday
By Saul Friedman
Here is a myth that needs dispelling: By the time you can afford to travel, you're too old to enjoy it.
My wife and I have just returned from an African safari to celebrate our 80th years. And our years afforded us special attention in a land where age is venerated.
It's no surprise that the travel industry now depends, more than ever during this economic downturn, on business from older people, 55 and way up. Many travel agencies specialize in accommodating and planning tours for older, even disabled, people. It's at least a third of their business.
Even in recession, many older, retired people have the time, the disposable income and broad, adult interests ranging from cruises to Alaska and the Mediterranean to touring the art and music capitals of Europe. The median age of the passengers on a couple of cruises I've taken was over 65 and many were in their 70s.
Boston-based Elderhostel, founded in 1975 to provide "adventures in lifelong learning" for people older than 55, now offers 8,000 programs a year to 160,000 older adults, with no age limit (visit elderhostel.org). One of its specialties is aimed at grandparent-grandchildren adventures. And over the years, it has expanded its programs to 90 different countries, and virtually every sort of adventurous activity (although many are not accessible to the disabled).
Ten years ago, to celebrate the millennium and our 70th years, my wife and I and a couple of friends spent eight days camping in luxury and rafting down the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon. My column about the trip encouraged a few readers to do the same. Neither they nor we will ever forget that trip; travel teaches and creates memories that can't be erased.
Living in South Africa for five months in 1996-1997, when I was teaching young journalists how to practice their craft in their new democracy, I was smitten with the extraordinary wildlife that roamed the bush. And every chance we got, my wife and I drove to Kruger National Park and other reserves to see the animals in the wild - lions, leopards, giraffes, elephants, hippos, wildebeest by the dozens, buffalo, impala, antelope, baboons and birds found nowhere else.
But in all those months, we didn't have the time or money to explore a special place, called the Okavango Delta. Located in Botswana, the tidy African democracy north of South Africa, the Delta is unique. It is formed, for a few months in their winter, when the rivers from the west empty, not into the sea, but into the Kalahari Desert. And before it dries, the clear waters, the grasses, reeds and islands of the sprawling Delta attract hundreds of animals that come to drink, hunt and mate.
The young and purist camp out among the animals. But that would be too much for a person of age. So with the help of my daughters and their husbands, we spent two days in each of three luxury camps owned and run by Desert & Delta of South Africa, which provided four- and five-star rooms in the bush. And we reached each camp by light planes of the company's Safari Air.
Each camp, Moremi, on a lagoon; Savute, where it was dry, Shinde, surrounded by water, was distinct. The morning and evening game drives, aboard high Toyota Land Cruisers driven by fine tracking guides, gave us the thrills of following a pride of lions, a leopard stalking a reedbuck, a small antelope, elephants plodding through the grass like great gray moving islands, chattering baboons bedding down in a tree, and the glittering array of exotic birds like the lilac-breasted roller. This is bush, not jungle; the elephant, not the lion, is king.
At Moremi, a leopard lolled in a tree outside the gate. At Savute, I showered while watching a herd of elephants and impala taking an evening drink at the pool beneath my hut. At Shinde, which offered boat excursions among the reeds, a hippo came through camp in the night. And an elephant came close to the tent-like cabins each night to shake fruit from a date palm.
The guides and staff - from Botswana and South Africa - understood and anticipated our special needs. There were 34 or more staff members for camps that accommodated only 24 guests. To celebrate our 80th, the camps set up special dinners for Evelyn and me (the food was fresh, plentiful and spectacular), and a picnic on a formal table in the bush on the banks of the swollen river.
Nevertheless, we could not have done this without help. We planned for a year, which gave us time to pay for the trip, so we could have the help of our daughters and their husbands (and two grandchildren). We used Desert & Delta (desertdelta.com), operating in Botswana since 1982, one of several safari companies, because it was recommended by a South African friend as one of the best. We wanted the luxury we needed at our age.
We spent some of our savings and some of our children's inheritance, but it was spent when we were with them, enjoying it in life. What else are we saving for? And it was, for them and for my wife and me and the grandkids, the trip of a lifetime.[rc]
Copyright © 2009 Newsday
