In Retirement, Delay Nothing, Especially Adventure

    Mala Mala friends

For the life of me, I can't recall why we delayed traveling to Africa. Perhaps because of the distance? Could be for it is far from the states. We took two overnight flights and one inter-country flight just to arrive within an hour's drive of the first camp. Diseases? Possibly for Ebola and Zika have been recent problems, though Zika is active in the states, too. Unrest? Yup, like the rest of the world issues exist with bombings and kidnappings, though mostly in Northern Africa with more petty crime in South Africa and elsewhere. But of course, these issues exist worldwide, too.

A year ago we traveled to Peru -- Lima, Cusco, the Sacred Valley, Machu Picchu, a really average trip in my book rather than to Africa and I can't recall why we selected Peru rather than Africa. Safety? Fear? Hmm.

What I do know is that I'm already scheming on how I can return next year, hopefully to Botswana and South Africa. Aspects of safari camp life, early morning game drives, toilet stops behind trees and bushes, things I thought would be off-putting, did not bother me. I found 6:30am drives peaceful, almost magical times, as the sun inched into the sky and some animals foraged about, others hunting for their first meal of the day. I found the chilly, at times cold, African winter mornings bracing and beautiful. There is nothing artificial about Africa. Ok, we did stay in really nice camps complete with a chef and staff, a bar, maid service and all. But the drives themselves, the viewing of animals, none of that was staged.

    African Wild Dogs off for their next meal

For instance, one morning when we set off on a pseudo Mr. Toads-Wild-Ride first through a dry river bed, then up the rocky river banks, plowing over various shrubs, the LandRover bumping crazily from side to side, I thought what fun as we tracked a pack of African Wild dogs as they zipped from feasting on their morning kill to their high speed search for their next meal.

While the experienced rangers and trackers have an idea where they might find wildlife, each day presented surprises, even to them. One morning we came upon an almost comical stand off between a young lioness and an enormous, disinterested rhinoceros, she seemingly thinking he might be breakfast and he, presumably, thinking her plan was just plain silly given their tremendous size differences. Once he stared her down, horn aimed at her head, she retreated, the stand off over.

    Cubs nursing

One late afternoon, we watched an aging lion rouse himself from his rest, lumber to the 
water hole for a long drink and then head back to finish off his partially eaten Cape Buffalo carcass only to find a pack of hyenas stripping the carcass bare. The lion roared, some hyenas scattered while others continued feeding.  As we quietly watched that day's installment of nature's best drama, our ranger whispered "This is very special to see." He was so right.

   Hyenas feeding on the lion's kill.

Then there was the afternoon when we pulled out of camp heading for the bush, when our ranger quickly did a u-turn and a bit breathlessly said "A leopard just killed an Impala close to camp." Moments later we were witnessing a young female leopard, plucking fur from her kill before she started biting into the Impala's hindquarters. We watched as she broke open
 the rib cage, pulled out the animal's intestines, ate her fill. She then began the exhausting process of dragging the kill, which was more than double the leopard's size, toward the protection of a tree for hiding from bush scavengers. Exhausted before she could safely tuck the carcass on an upper branch, she left it on the ground, had a rest....and eventually lost her precious kill to the opportunistic hyenas. Thus is life in the African bush.

   Leopard resting while moving her kill.

Don't delay adventure or anything in retirement. I'm so happy we did not delay visiting Africa any longer.

    Mala Mala's beautiful boma where we ate dinner.

African Adventure: How We Spend Retirement $$$

    Another beautiful sunset

I'm sitting on our tent's deck, a long ago memory drifting into focus. I'm remembering riding on Disneyland's Jungle Cruise, meandering down a river populated with animatronic hippos and elephants and various caricatures of safari life. 

I hadn't  thought about the Jungle Cruise ride in years.  My current setting is far from a Disneyland attraction. I'm at a safari camp in South Africa, the real deal. A Go Away bird cries its call, hardly a song and more the wail made by an upset human baby. Playful Vervet monkeys overhead in the trees jabber as I watch a herd of elephants across the dry river bed, lumber toward  tasty green trees. It is winter in South Africa, the dry, brown season and we're enjoying, really basking in our first visit to the continent.

I feel like I'm in the land where time stood still, primitive, wild, leafy vistas dotted with bobbing giraffe heads as they nibble on tree top leaves. Though we are in a private tented camp reserve, it is far from primitive or camping as I'd recognize it. Our tent has a cement floor, inside plumbing, a heated bed, a stocked bar and the camp itself offers a full staff, accommodating service, excellent food, game viewing drives several times a day, champagne breaks overlooking a pond where animals take in a drink while the humans enjoy a warming morning sun. Afternoon viewing drives end with cocktails while guests drink in a blazing, chilly South African sunset.

Is it clear how we are spending at least some of our retirement dollars? 

Travel.

We'll be setting off from Tanda Tula to another camp, but first a few highlights.

    This lioness actually made an attempt to attack the rino.

Uh Oh, This GEAR Thing is Out of Control

How did this happen? How have we so terribly failed minimalism?
In my December 2015 post, I confessed to all the winter GEAR that was accumulating in our garage.  Now we have more summer GEAR ( sorry, but I believe that GEAR is capitalized in Bend because here GEAR is serious business).

That's a photo of our SUV with the Hullavator on top. We need the Hullavator to haul the kayaks.

But something more has happened. I think we are suffering from GEAR creep..... an 
insidious  condition in which GEAR continues to creep into your garage.

Look at what has happened.

Now in addition to the kayaks, paddles, life vests, kayaking water shoes, and of course, the 

Hullavator we've added Pickleball paddles, balls, court shoes, and .....new road bikes (not 

to be confused with a hybrids).

What can we do? Move?

I don't know. What do you think?

In the mean time have a look at my guest post over at www.eretirements.com
Let me know what you think.

Who Needs Golf

   One of our many hikes

I've been itching to write this post. But I had to wait because I have a contract with myself --  I was required to finish writing a draft of a chapter (potential ebook about adventures in early retirement) before I could post again. Oh, you know about those contracts with oneself and their tight grip. So while I love writing and feel strongly about my topic, all manner of other distractions got in the way of finishing the draft --like having fun. Finally, I finished a good enough draft so off I go on a post.

On Retired Syd's blog Retirement a Full-Time Job (June 27) (http://retiredsyd.typepad.com/retirement_a_fulltime_job/2016/06/can-i-still-retire-if-i-hate-golf.html) Jared Scharen wrote the guest post -- "Can I Still Retire If I Hate Golf?" 
When I read the title, I thought at last, someone who speaks my language! I hate golf, too! 
As does my husband. Historically, I feared this preference placed  me in a rather sad 
minority. However, over the years I've learned I'm one of many.

But I digress. Jared is an MBA student at Northwestern who runs the website  http://www.eretirements.com which is dedicated to helping people figure out their best retirement location. Essentially, Jared's guest post suggests all kinds of activities retirees might pursue beyond the cliché golf game. Of course finding the right location is important because some retirement locations more readily lend themselves to certain activities.

While I like Jared's list of possibilities which include softball, swimming, walking, hiking, yoga, theater and the arts, and volunteering, I want to add a few more options.

During one's "Go-Go" years, the years roughly between 60 and the mid-70s when one has the most "get up and go," folks can be really active. I've posted previously about my little 
hometown and its possibilities for outside adventure. Here are a few more options for retirees beyond Jared's list. I've included activities for summer and winter.

Kayaking-- Prior to moving west, maybe we'd kayaked four times over 20 years. Now we 
own kayaks and all the "gear" and regularly head out to one of our beautiful lakes for a day of paddling. This we typically do with others, combining the activity with the social. We know folks who at the age of 70 are just taking up this sport.

    Looks fun, doesn't it?
Cycling -- Not sure how Jared left this off his list. In our little ski town, mountain biking is popular and lots of challenging and moderate trails exist. But road cycling is just as 
popular. Cycling is one of those activities that is easier on aging knees while still providing 
a good cardio workout as well as social connections. R and I just cycled our first Tour des Chutes, a local fundraising ride for cancer. While we did not break any speed or distance records, we cycled a respectable 31 miles over a somewhat hilly (it's all hilly here -- we live at 4000 elevation) course.

    Ready to cycle the Tour des Chutes

Others who rode in The Tour, were quite impressive. One, a 70 year old with spinal injuries,  road an adaptive recumbent tricycle, out cycling us by completing 50 miles. Another, an outstanding blind athlete completed 50 miles cycling on a tandem. Age, abilities or 
disabilities needn't limit choices and cycling is a sport for anyone.

Hiking -- I know Jared mentioned hiking but in the west we have real hiking. Like up 
mountains.

Pickleball
Don't laugh, there is such a game, I mean sport. Pickleball combines elements of badminton, table tennis, and tennis and is played with a plastic ball and a light -- think 7 or 8 ounces in weight - paddle. Easier on the knees than tennis and faster moving and also a 
wonderful social outlet.

    Who could resist Pickleball with its colorful paddles and balls

Winter Pursuits
Since Bend has a ski mountain and lots of snow parks, it isn't difficult to figure out how to spend a 
winters' day. Snow shoeing, which is really just hiking in the snow, is easy and almost anyone can engage in the sport. People of all ages downhill ski and cross country ski -- the sport I'm attempting to learn. We also have a community ice skating pavilion.

Less Strenuous Activities --

Book Clubs 
I'm in a book club that meets 11 times a year to discuss a book and once in December for a party. What is great about belonging to a book club, beyond reading and using my brain, is variety.  Since members nominate book selections for the year, members are exposed to books they may not have read. In the last year and a half, I've probably read five or six books I never would have selected myself. But I grew from reading something different, foreign, uncomfortable. Pushing myself into new territory and engaging in discussions, those are the benefits of book club membership.

Games
My life isn't all sports and reading. Games are excellent ways to increase social connection and keep the brain working. Where I live, favorites are cribbage, bridge, pinochle, and MahJong -- the game I play. I did not seek out MahJong, it found me and I'm glad it did. I'm not very good at this complicated tile game but I enjoy the people I play with because we laugh.

Volunteering 
While Jared mentioned volunteering, I want to expand that notion to advocacy. My husband in retirement has rediscovered his interest in politics and has pledged "muscle" -- time, money, action -- not just rhetoric to supporting political change. This he does happily. Lots of opportunities exist for helping to move the country forward in a peaceful, caring way.

Jared's eRetirements website with its focus on helping people discover their optimal retirement location is a great service. Where one lives dictates opportunities for well earned retirement recreation and bliss.

Get out there -- without the golf clubs!



http://www.eretirements.com/

A Short Book Review and the Meaning of Life

   A view from Bend earlier this year.

Since the beginning of the year, I've been traveling down the thematic path of ensuring I live consciously, mindfully, and meaningfully. My wise husband, who I've long suspected is naturally more insightful than I, even though I'm the one with the degrees and training, has pointed out that "You seem to be going through something." Yup, I'd say that's right on. Apparently, that's how I roll on the eve of turning 62.

Last post was about my mother and how I both include her in my birthday celebrations (at least in my thoughts) and feel relief at living longer than she did. Earlier in the year, I wrote a post discussing various essays and the book Being Mortal all of which focused, to certain degrees, on living fully, deliberately with whatever time we have. (See link below).

https://50bedsgapyear.blogspot.com/2016_02_07_archive.html

Buddhist monks meditate on photos of decaying corpses as a way of remembering that the physical self is fleeting. This monk photographed in Bangkok on our recent trip is waiting for a bus. Perhaps he'll meditate once onboard.

Without being entirely aware of my personal timeline, I set out in January on a mini quest to 
discover my own path toward living more completely and consciously with my June birthday as the loose end-date of the quest. In my existential trek toward more mindful living, I inadvertently saved the best and saddest guide for the last.

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi, MD

Since I knew how his story plays out before I read the book, I wasn't looking to learn from 
the final outcome, but rather I was seeking the emotional pleasure of joining Dr. Kalanithi's 
journey in puzzling through what makes life meaningful. My trek with him did not disappoint.

This is a rich book, one filled with thoughtful reflections and I could have filled this blog with quote after quote. But just as I plan to restrict myself to one dessert on my birthday, I decided in an effort to not spoil this book for those planning to read it to select just one quote that illuminates his message.

Toward the last third of his memoir, when he is..challenged he writes

“That morning, I made a decision: I would push myself to return to the OR. Why? Because I could. Because that’s who I was. Because I would have to learn to live in a different way, seeing death as an imposing itinerant visitor but knowing that even if I’m dying, until I actually die, I am still living" (p. 190).

I love this book. I love the essays written by Kalanithi and later by his wife Lucy. I have learned from their experiences.

But now it is time to apply all my good existential learning.
Soon I'm off to celebrate and to cycle, to ponder and to drink some wine. That's what we do at 62.

Age Is Just a Number, Unless It Isn't

    Katherine in Italy during WWII

Is one's age just a number? Or does it mean something more than its numerical value?

I have a birthday creeping closer, oh so closer. Not THE MAJOR BIRTHDAY like 65 but a significant one. How do we decide that some birthdays are more significant than others? This is a question I ponder.

I've heard people say, "Oh, my mother (or father) lived to be (fill in the age) so I'm not worried about turning....65, 68, 70.."

Once I hit 50, I started calculating my birthdays in terms of how much longer I will or have lived than my mother. Each year I "made it" passed the age she died, I was relieved.

Sound morbid? Or perhaps realistic? You decide.

Probably to a risk assessing physician who asks at what age people in the immediate family died and who in the family had what illness, my approach is realistic because it is based on data. 

My mother died when she was 55. I was 14, the youngest of five kids.

Katherine is pictured above in WWII in Italy where she served as an Army nurse. 
She looks good, doesn't she?

And here again, stateside after her tour, serving in an New Jersey hospital, hanging around until discharge. This is where she met my father.

   Katherine in New Jersey. Sorry the photo is so grainy.

I received so much from Katherine, in the brief 14 years she mothered me. I took from her an acceptance of difference, an appreciation of adventure (hell, she served as an Army nurse in WWII in Italy) and a fear of illness, and probably the genetics for celiac for those from the European North, the Scots, Irish, and plenty of UKers are celiac (if you doubt this visit Nova Scotia, Canada or Ireland some time. Completely easy and acceptable to eat GF there). Sadly, she was not a model for good health practices. She smoked and ate tons of animal fat and never exercised. Healthy routines, I crafted for myself.

But as every birthday approaches and I log one more past her last birthday, I thank  
modern medicine, my own healthy diet and exercise habits, and Katherine -- as I
roll her into the celebration. When the current cardiologist says I can openly blame my parents for my cardiovascular condition, I nod in acknowledgement to my parents and move on.

I can't change my history. But on my birthday, I like to remember what I have in common with Katherine -- good hair, a sense of adventure, an excellent laugh, a desire to help others (nurse-social worker-therapist not so far apart), intelligence, and a kindness toward animals. She witnessed unbelievable horrors in the war as a nurse lieutenant stationed in Italy and beyond; during the Vietnam War, she bought me a Mother for Peace poster (you remember the one, yellow and black with the words -- War is not healthy for children and for other livings things) when I was 13. That poster lived on my wall for years (I'd show it except the copyright police would get me).

I love how my memories of her have shaped me. I wonder what she would have thought of a woman president. I think she would have approved.
Happy (early) birthday to us.
Love, Gail 


On a different note, check out my guest post on the glutenfreetravelsite.com.

http://bit.ly/27SEMan
Even if you are not gluten free the site is helpful if you want to eat healthier. And I've enjoyed reviewing restaurants while we travel.

    Dim Sum at the Shang Palace, Hong Kong. Excellent restaurant.

Aging Actively and its Many Benefits

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    Team Green Visors before the walk. An awesome group of supportive folks

A week ago Sunday, I as part of a team, walked a half marathon -- 13.1 miles, the longest I've ever walked at one time. While completing the half marathon in itself felt like a little accomplishment, especially as I nudge dangerously close to my 62 birthday, finishing wasn't the biggest high for me or my greatest pleasure. 

Know what was? Training with a group of active folks, most who were over 55 years old (some near 70) and who challenged and supported one another. That was the best.

Want to know why this was important, especially for someone over 60?

How about some worthwhile data. BMJ's publication Heart soon will publish the findings from a study "Loneliness and social isolation as risk factors for coronary heart disease and stroke" (that's a scary mouthful, huh?). In this study, researchers found that "Poor social relationships were associated with a 29% increase in the risk of incident coronary heart disease and a 32% increase in risk of stroke" (Heart 2016). One main issue is that social isolation and loneliness can influence, and not in a good way, risky behaviors like smoking and physical inactivity.

Questioning the benefits of physical activity? Time to read physician David Brown's article "We all know exercise makes you live longer but this will actually get you off the couch" (Washington Post, Feb. 22, 2016) which adds compelling, if somewhat unsettling info. Dr. Brown reviews current research on exercising including, 

-- Just exercising isn't enough. You must stop sitting around so much (hence the get off the 
couch remark) because sedentary behavior increases cardiovascular risk. The heart likes to 
work.
 -- Some experts suggest that 10,000 steps each day or the equivalent of five miles should be a goal. Many people fall way short of 10,000 steps which can be difficult to reach if one works a desk job.
-- Only about 50 percent of Americans exercise aerobically at least the recommended 150 minutes per week.
 The good news from the article is that tracking activity and steps using simple devices like pedometers or more complicated ones like a FitBit or Smartphone -- helps motivate folks. This article is easily found on the web and is worth reading.

BMJ Open published one more little gem about retirement and risks -- "Social group memberships in retirement are associated with reduced risk of premature death." Well then. This study found that the number of groups retirees joined and participated in after retiring 
positively impacted their quality of life and health. When they stopped participating in social
groups, their risk of premature death increased.

    There I go over (or under) the finish line.

What do physical activity, memberships in social groups in retirement, and avoiding isolation have to do with my walking a half marathon? I reached all the important targets with training for and then walking the half. At the end of the walk, I had almost 36,000 steps and who knows how many floors (Fitbit counts floors). While training, I routinely reached between 12,000 and 20,000 daily steps. Also, I joined team walks weekly (social) and trained with various team members during the week. However, training for the walk and the actual walk yielded much more than the 10,000 recommended daily steps. It yielded a new community, a new social group of active people. While I live in a haven for sporty activities where one can easily find groups for any chosen pursuit and ability, I think this cure for social isolation with its physical benefits could work in most communities. 
What's the Nike slogan? Just do it! Now on to the next challenge. But first, I'm off to cycle.

Stay calm and travel and walk and cycle, but not alone!

    R ready to cycle.