On returning from my latest trip

As usual, I learned a lot:

1. The weather may be reasonable when you check for temperatures in Madrid, Lisbon, and Porto - but inland Portugal, where your riverboat travels, is hotter than you can tolerate with anything approaching good sportsmanship. Bright sun, dry climate, hilly with cobblestones. You sweat all day long, and the cooling device you brought breaks on the second day.

2. You hope you will never see another cathedral or another winery. For a person of faith, a church of any religion is a comfort. For you, not so much. You'd rather be out in the world, doing, than sitting in a church praying (that's a UU speaking)! And if you haven't had a drink for many years, the wineries, even with their interesting origins and modern aesthetics, are a place you have no interest in.

3. If you pay attention to your feet, you won't fall, even on cobblestones or stairways.

4. You get stronger when you walk every day and get on and off tour buses. When you get home, your massage therapist says, "you've got a toned butt!" 

5. Traveling is harder work than it was when you were younger. It takes you over a week to reclaim yourself at home. Not just the jet lag, but the energy required for a day in your life. 

6. When you can't imagine having the stamina or strength to fly to Australia for the two-week cruise there and in New Zealand - which you've booked for three months from now - you tell your husband you don't have it in you. You suspect he doesn't have it in him either, but you don't tell him that. Instead, you cancel the trip on the last day you are eligible for a full refund. You are relieved, but your husband is disappointed.

7. When you go on two river cruises in three years with a friend and without your husband, he is disappointed and a little ticked off. He would like you to find another river cruise for the two of you to go on. But another river cruise doesn't sound appealing when you're still recovering from the last trip. 

8. Being a loyal partner, you find an alternative that meets your husband's needs and yours. You sign up with Road Scholar for a 22-passenger canal barge cruise in France next April. Business class flights. Much more doable than Australia and New Zealand, on an ocean ship with 960 passengers. You hope. 

9. You are continuously grateful that you have the resources and the health to travel in your 70s.

10. Farmers grow sunflowers in Portugal.

The first four days - what I've learned so far

I've done a lot of traveling in the last 20 years, and some things are pretty similar. But now, as I'm the oldest I've ever been as a journeyer, there are some differences.

1. My travel companion Shelley and I decided to use wheelchair assist in the big airports of Seattle, Dallas and Madri. The Seattle people did a perfect job. In Dallas, there was a gate change we didn't know about, and we waited for 20 minutes for a ride to pick us up. Apparently American Airlines forgot to let us know - as well as the assist program. And in Madrid, the wheelchair people forgot about us completely, so we walked a LONG WAY to customs and baggage. I may write a critical but pleasant letter. 

2. I packed two regular canes and two "seat canes" in case Shelley wanted to use one, or my first one broke. So far, I haven't used the seat cane. I usually need it if I've been standing still for 15 minutes or more, but the only time that happened was at the Prada museum. I didn't use the seat cane, though, because if I'd sat down I wouldn't have been able to see the art over the heads of the people in front of me. 

3. At the museum, our guide Claudia explained a dozen or so paintings to us. I completely understood everything she said. As for the paintings she didn't talk about, I have no idea! That was my experience years ago in Florence as well.

4. The more I walk, the easier it is. Duh. When I get home I'm going to do it every day.

5. My poor-so-far Spanish is adequate, thanks to patient Spaniards. Many people we've met so far speak little English, even in the tourist districts. They seem appreciative of my attempts at their language. I recall my Spanish instructor warning us about how to say I'm hot. "Caliente" means I'm, you know, a hot (sexy) person. "Calor" means I'm hot, as in sweaty. In the hotel elevator yesterday, I used caliente and the woman washing the walls of the elevator corrected me with a smile. I thanked her. I may or may not tell my Spanish instructor about that one!

6. I'm communicating with family and friends at home. There's a nine-hour time difference, so I need to be careful what time I send texts or make a call. I am waking up in Madrid when my husband Art is going to bed in Seattle. Before text and internet we were pretty much out of touch with everyone when we were traveling.

7. Shelley wanted to see a flamenco dance performance. I didn't think I'd be much interested, but she was persistent, so we took a taxi to a venue last night. The performance was quite something. Shelley got some great pictures, and if you can get to my Facebook page you can take a look.

8. The BBC in our hotel room provides much less frantic news than anything we watch at home. 

9. I suspect this will be my last international trip unless I have a travel companion who's willing to have me take their arm very lightly when we're going down stairs without railings. And that, unfortunately, wouldn't be my husband, who is six years older than me and not much stronger or better balanced than I am.

This afternoon we fly from Madrid to Lisbon to join the rest of our Viking tour group.

10. I am, as always, grateful for the opportunity be here. 

Getting ready for my trip to Spain and Portugal

My friend Shelley and I are flying to Madrid in two days to join our Viking cruise adventure. We'll be exploring there for three days, then in Lisbon for two days, before boarding the 89-passenger Viking riverboat in Porto for a week on the Duoro River.

I've taken many trips - about 93 of three days or longer since I retired 15 years ago - but it's been three years since I've been out of the country. In that time I've aged physically - of course - and I need to be more careful about how I get around. I used to take long flights in stride. Now I have a newly complaining knee. I bought two seat canes for the times I'll need to sit while listening to a tour guide or standing in line. I may pack my trekking poles as well. I'll take my regular cane with me onboard.

I've been buying stuff! Pants and shirts and cooling towels and fans and sun hats and really good sandals and supportive shoes and a crossbody bag. Amazon has been my friend, and so has the nearby UPS where I have returned probably 30 of the 50 things I bought and tried on.  

I'm using ChatGPT a lot to help me prepare. I love this new tool, in spite of my suspicions about artificial intelligence overall. I have a thorough packing list specifically for where we'll be traveling, and tomorrow I'll fill the two suitcases. I wish I could take just a few items of clothing and have laundry facilities close at hand, but we're moving around. 

My biggest challenge for this evening is finding our adapter for European electrical outlets. I know we have one, but I'm not exactly sure where it is.

Forty-eight hours from now we'll be a couple of hours from landing in Madrid.

I am really grateful to be going on this trip - that I have a good friend in Shelley, that my husband Art is supportive of my going without him, that I can afford it. 

Mostly, life is good!

Slowing down, maybe?

It's been nearly a year since I last posted. I felt mildly guilty, but not enough to sit down at my laptop.

Our lives have continued in their usual way. Art and I spent November to April in Tucson in our little place at Voyager RV Resort, a retirement community. I played handbells, took two Spanish classes, went to plays and dinners, did my live volunteer things in Tucson and my virtual volunteer ones in Brier.

I have also observed that, in spite of my determination, my mobility and stamina are decreasing, as is the case with many people my age. We don't go to Friday night dances any more. We don't hike. I got on my e-bike once this spring, but it had been so long that I forgot I need to start off from the curb - so I fell off the bike right in front of my house! But I consoled myself by noting that I was still in my right mind - mentally sharp, but not as quick as I used to be.

Then we came home in May. I had two goals for the summer: to continue to study Spanish and to practice the electronic keyboard I bought to bring myself back up to the level of skill on the piano I had when I gave up taking lessons at nine, when I no longer wanted to practice. So far, so good. 

But I'm not sure I'm still in my right mind! I had so many stressors last week - mostly other people not behaving the way I thought they ought to - that I went to a meeting at my church on Friday and left my car running in the parking lot for an hour and 15 minutes. Eye rolls all around, but a little scary for me. I realized I am too busy for my own good now. So, also last week, I dropped two volunteer church activities. And another one this week. 

I also noted that, in the interest of expediency and convenience, I spent a lot of time ordering shoes, underwear and bathing suits online. And a lot of time returning them. I have now realized that to know what size I wear, I need to go try stuff on in a real store. Duh. For example, I found out that I don't wear a size 9 wide shoe. I wear an 8 double wide. When I put on the correct size my feet sighed into them. I now know what size bra I should buy, and next week I'll get the bathing suit taken care of. Facebook and Amazon are convenient, but they are time sinks, plus they encourage a sedentary life, which isn't good for anyone. I need to be walking around in stores.

So I'm cultivating a moderated life. I don't book myself from morning until night. There is no shame in free time to read, or nap, or sit on my deck looking at the garden.

When I retired 15 years ago our financial planner said, "Most people travel for five years, and then they come home." We traveled for 15 years, and we have almost come home. I do have two trips planned for this year - both cruises where I only have to pack and unpack once. But even they look a little intimidating with the amount of walking I'll be doing. I bought a Ta Da cane which converts into a seat for the times the tour guide is talking in front of a cathedral or something.  

Guess I'm slowing down! Still grateful, though.