Susan Michelle's Compass
TOO OLD TO TRAVEL
By travel lifestylist Susan Michelle
Jan 6, 2008 - 9:02:18 PM

A recurring theme has emerged from travelers I’ve been speaking with lately, and it’s one so frightening, so loathsome in terms of my own lifelong travel goals, that I shutter to think about it — for, more than terrorism, delayed flights, or malaria, I know that this travel problem will hit me, someday.  The horror?  Being too old to travel.

My own mother — a woman who spent 20 years working for the airlines, just for the travel benefits — has recently become victim to this calamity.  There’s the problem of her knees, the need for her own pillow, a bathroom, oh, and how ‘bout bringing the dog?   After years of globetrotting, she just doesn’t feel like dealing anymore.  Travel is a pain nowadays.

At least that’s what an older co-passenger said to me while we both waited for what seemed like forever to disembark a recent, packed flight.  “Travel used to be fun,” he said out of nowhere.  I asked him what he meant.  “Joe” was a new retiree from a job that required so much travel, he earned first-class flights to Europe, St. Bart’s, and Brazil just from miles; he was now en route to Brazil again, only had paid $1500 for the privilege.  Some privilege!  He complained about just spending four hours crammed into a coach seat that he swore was smaller than coach seats used to be.  He lamented the lack of free food on the flight: $3 for a chocolate bar or a can of chips, when he’s already shelled out $1500?  How ‘bout at least a bag of peanuts?  And security?!  I didn’t need to ask him to clarify — I’ve spent my share of time in 1-2-hour security lines since 9/11.  “People used to respect flying,” Joe said, reminding me of the dress code to which passengers generally conformed for much of last century.  I looked at the passengers on our flight: jeans, sweats, flip-flops, shorts — indeed, dressing for air passage has gone the way of dressing for dinner, the movies, and church, and all the respect those events once garnered.  

Travel might seem easier these days, but has anything about the experience of getting from Point A to Point B really improved?  For people like Joe and my mother, it seems not.  They remember another era, when travel was exciting; today, the wonders of travel have worn off, and now nothing but the hardships to their aged bodies and minds, the extreme differences from their comfortable lives, stand out.  They question whether all that’s worth it just to see another new town before they die — generally, the answer is no.

For me, I still have wonder, and I’m going to go while I can.  Until my body, my mind, or my bank account conspire to kill my wanderlust, I will pray that traveling somehow becomes easier as I age, and that I can see as many places on my travel wish list as possible before the day comes when I, too, am too old travel…Oh, the horror!