Take a Graycation. The joys of traveling as we age. Reviewed by Abigail Fagan

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KEY POINTS-

  • One of the pleasures of growing older is traveling without having to consider the needs of one’s children.
  • Being old enough to appreciate natural wonders takes the tarnish off the golden years.
  • Making joy a priority can help prevent vacation-related stress.

“A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving.” ―Lao Tzu

Perfect Wave/Shutterstock
 
Source: Perfect Wave/Shutterstock

One of the distinct pleasures of growing older is the ability to take vacations without having to consider the needs of one’s children. Places like Disney World are immediately removed from the list as the desire to snake around endless lines of other suffering, sweating, parents with hyper-kinetic children in tow is second only to having a root canal.

 

In the empty-nest stage of life, the vacation brochures are filled with scenes of empty beaches with a nary a concession stand in sight, mountain ranges without the obligatory burger joint at every turn, and inns that offer quiet time rather than party time. This phase of life offers the true meaning of the word vacation, which is “freedom from obligation,” and the primary concern is not “Are we there, yet?” but “When are we going to return?”

 

This does not mean that vacationing while gray, aka graycation, is without its own twists and turns. AARP discounts aside, traveling to distant places can put a dent in one’s wallet, particularly if one is a consumer of anything purchased at an airport. I recently paid an amount of money for a slice of pizza in the Philadelphia airport that would, in any other setting, be considered price gouging. Sadly, I hardly even blinked an eye as I washed it down with my $4.00 bottle of water.

 

When not traveling by air, those of us who take to the nation’s highways soon realize that rest stops are for those whose sanitary requirements have not matured and the miles between them seem to lack an appreciation for the prostate condition of anyone over the age of 30.

That being said, it’s truly a wonderful time to take time off from the daily grind. Being old enough to appreciate natural wonders, and still young enough to know how to GPS one’s way around the unnatural wonders of city traffic and confusing highway signs, takes the tarnish off the golden years.

 

With a maturing attitude toward life in general, it’s easier to suffer through the ups and downs that are a part of any trip without suffering a nervous breakdown. Gone are the moans and groans of teenagers who would just as soon see what their friends are up to on Facebook rather than what the local villagers were doing hundreds of years ago at whatever historical sight they’ve been dragged to. Gone are the days of trying to manage meals on the go for a cadre of picky eaters. And gone are the days of trying to refold maps that required the skills of a NASA technician.

 

This is not to say that graycations are without challenges—many of which are due to bodies trying to relive the vacations of our youth and others related to desperately trying to create a bucket list moment. Here are some tips to increase the chances that an ER visit will not be on the itinerary or that you will need another vacation to recover from all the “fun”:

  1. Pack medications first—even a plugged-in iron at home pales in comparison to the stark realization that one’s blood pressure pills are next to the forgotten toothbrush.
  2. Plan to get lost—despite being tracked by space-age technology, it is very likely that one will stray from a clearly defined path. Enjoy the detour and feel like a rebel again as you repeatedly ignore your map’s assistant pleas of “make a U-turn.”
  3. Take it in before taking a picture—while nothing helps secure travel memories more than being able to instantaneously create a virtual photobook, creating a digital file lacks the emotional imprinting that takes place when we are in awe of a particular moment.
  4. Eat like a tourist—the conventional wisdom of eating where the locals eat overlooks the fact that many of the locals have fallen into habitual patterns and head for their usual spots without concern for food quality or uniqueness. Take whatever gastrointestinal OTC meds you packed and live on the culinary edge.
  5. Make joy a priority—too often vacations result in stressing out in new locations. Plan a guiltless trip where all other obligations take a backseat and if they continue to nag, pull the car over and let them out.

We would be wise to remember what Robert Louis Stevenson wrote in Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes, “I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel's sake.” Whether it be across the ocean or across town, taking a graycation is vital to our overall health, and if aging gracefully is possible, then traveling for the sake of travel is paramount to making that a reality.

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