I’ve been meaning to set up this blog for some time. The problem is, I’ve been too busy travelling…..

Which got me thinking. (I mean, what else is there to do on a long-haul flight once you’ve watched all the films which appeal, read the obligatory in-flight mag and drunk enough wine to ensure you get a decent snooze?)

More of we over-50s are spreading our wings than ever before – and certainly much further. The advent of Spanish holidays was always an anathema to my dear departed Dad, who insisted there was ‘plenty to see in the British Isles without having to go abroad.’

I don’t entirely disagree with him – we have some wonderful scenery in the UK. It’s just a pity we don’t get the wonderful weather to match. (But I’ll save my recollection of a wet two weeks in Wales for another occasion.)

Dad did relent a little in his later years – but never got much further than Malta.  And only then to rekindle his wartime memories.

I guess we are fortunate. Not only do we have more disposable income than our parents – in some part due to their thrift and well-intended philosophy of ‘leaving something for the children’ – but we are also healthier, live longer and are able to enjoy life in ways our forebears  would never have considered.

It’s hardly surprising, then, that those of us who have been caught up in the so-called ‘sandwich’ generation – stuck between caring for kids and ageing parents – relish the prospect of spreading our wings and flying at the earliest opportunity.

As any parent will tell you, empty nest syndrome can be a bit of a bitch. You spend all those years running around after your precious darlings and then they have the audacity to grow up and leave!! Not only are you left with an empty bedroom (or several) but an empty diary. Mum’s taxi is off the road, the school run is a thing of the past and all those hours spent watching football / ballet / brownies*  open up like some massive, yawning cavern.

Around the age of 50 or 60, you’re also likely to find your parents shuffling off this mortal coil, if they haven’t already – and being orphaned is not to be relished, at any age.

So it is that those of us old enough to be grannies and grandads – even if we aren’t – seek new experiences and adventures.

And not just to the Spanish Costas.  Did you read about the 89-year-old Russian grandmother who started travelling to discover new countries and cultures at the age of 83?  She recently returned from Vietnam and Israel.

I’m not planning waiting until I’m 83 – just in case I don’t live that long.

So, TTFN …..I need to start planning my next trip!

*insert as appropriate