They’re climbing volcanoes. Taking Antarctic expeditions. Reliving the Battle of Gettysburg. Like Jack Nicholson in The Bucket List, many retirees are clamouring for exotic adventure.
Watching a lava stream erupt from a volcano was exciting for Albert McIntosh, of Oakville, Ont. Yet during his Africa trip he also enjoyed pushing a broken-down van and camping on open ground in a thunderstorm.
“Every day was an adventure,” says the retired Ford worker. “The highlight of the trip was bouncing around every day wondering what we were going to have for dinner.”
McIntosh, 68, previously backpacked in Australia and took group hiking trips overseas. “You don’t feel the challenge,” he says of the latter. More memorable was hiking in Kenya and Tanzania with Footprints Tours. The company offers customized walking and bird watching itineraries in East Africa.
His adventure included travelling with a spear-toting Masai guide, climbing Mount Kenya and taking bumpy Land Rover rides.
“You have to have a sense of humour or you’ll never make it,” notes McIntosh. “You can get really grumpy.”
He recalls dozens of teenagers grabbing for his ice cream cone, and riding in a ‘Matatu’ van jammed with 15-18 people and their chickens. “When you get off an African bus, they treat you like one of the rest and they take you for everything.”
McIntosh suggests a month-long adventure to feel more acclimatized and accomplished. Bring a good camera and be in good shape, he adds.
He says for his generation, adventure opportunities weren’t available earlier. “You were trapped with kids and family. This is a way to break loose.”
When ElderTreks laid claim to being the world’s first adventure travel company for 50-plus in 1992, the concept was ridiculed.
“I was told ‘What’ll you be doing, pushing wheelchairs through the jungle?’” recalls president Gary Murtagh. “It’s amazing how much attitudes have changed.”
The physics graduate from Wilfrid Laurier University discovered travelling during an overseas work term. “I couldn’t get enough of it.”
His Toronto firm offers explorations of Mongolia by camel, Antarctic penguin safaris and many other itineraries.
“There are still a lot of people over 50 with a lot of energy and a lot of vitality who want to do things all over the world,” says Murtagh. “But they don’t want to sleep on the ground on a sleeping bag. We take the edges off.”
Still, he warns of bumpy roads and unreliable electricity in Third World countries. He suggests starting someplace with good infrastructure and a similar culture, like Costa Rica.
Murtagh says trips to Iran and hiking in South America and Africa are popular. “People want to challenge themselves physically and mentally and take themselves out of their comfort zone.” Fitness levels and desires vary greatly, he says. “There are some people in their 70s who are looking for more remote areas and are willing to put up with more to go in the jungle.”
For long-time traveller Ruth Hastie, 81, learning is an adventure. “When you’re older, you realize there’s so much in the world you don’t know about.”
After her husband Jack passed away and another travelling companion became ill, the North York, Ont. resident started touring with Elderhostel, taking 25 trips.
The not-for-profit educational travel organization for the 55-plus, which recently changed its name to Exploritas, offers heritage explorations along China’s Yangtze River, pilgrimages to mansions in Natchez, Mississippi and much more.
Hastie, who drives herself to destinations, likes combining independence, security and companionship of peers. “That’s the beauty of it. We have things in common.”
She grew up in Philadelphia and takes tours to the United States. “I’m going to cities I’ve always wanted to go to and combining it with subjects I’m really interested in.”
Favourite experiences included seeing libraries of U.S. presidents Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower on a Kansas trip and touring Gettysburg, where she walked battlefields while a ranger described the epic U.S. Civil War conflict.
Her allowances for age include avoiding overseas flights and multi-city tours. “I’m past the stage where I’d be in a different bed every night while travelling.”
Hastie plans more trips. “When you’re 81, you keep going as long as you can. Do a lot while you can do it comfortably.”
For more information, contact footprintstours.com (905-546-1716), eldertreks.com (800-741-7956) or exploritas.org (1-800-454-5768).
