The Elderly Nomad

After 12 years in China, at age 69, I was finally faced with “forced retirement.” Then came the decision: should I return home to BC or should I continue discovering the world. Not without some trepidation, I chose the latter.

For many people, this could be a major challenge. It can be a very scary world out there, especially being female, being older, being on one’s own and living on a significantly reduced pension income. However, for me, these concerns evaporated quite quickly.

As a transition from being fully employed to being fully unemployed, I undertook a three-year volunteer stint in Jordan. Not only did that allow me to continue teaching, which I love, it also provided me with free accommodation and meals, and that, in turn, allowed me to feed my travel bug.

I was able to explore all of Jordan – a stunningly beautiful country – with visits to Lebanon, Egypt, Cyprus and Turkey. To this day, my favourite experience is having slept out on the desert sands of Wadi Rum under a brilliant starry sky.

At the end of my three years in Jordan, I was ready to make the transition to being a full-time nomad. I was 72.

I limited myself to one medium-sized backpack, which I used for almost an entire decade. (I finally traded the old backpack in for a ‘wheelie’ on my 81st birthday.)

My wardrobe is ‘easy care,’ consisting primarily of jeans, t-shirts and sweatshirts.

On the road, I live fairly frugally. I’ve found that studio apartments tend to be cheaper and far more convenient than hotels.

I don’t eat the standard three meals a day. Rather, I snack throughout the day. I don’t eat at restaurants; I typically head to local produce markets and buy what’s in season. I supplement snacks with various types of nuts and with small cans of fish, Portuguese sardines being among my favourite foods.

In any given destination, I walk just about everywhere. That allows me a leisurely exploration of cliffs, coves, caves and hiking trails.

As a single female, I’ve often found it useful to wear a wedding ring. This idea really paid off when I was in Beirut. Some young military guy, dripping in bandoliers, came running over to me belligerently demanding to know, “WHERE is your man?”

My first inclination was to tell him to take a hike, but then, seeing all his ammo up close, I reversed strategies. A little white lie was in order. I looked down at my ring, squeezed a few tears out of my tear ducts, and quietly said, “He’s dead.”

His whole demeanour changed instantly! He took me by the arm and gently led me across the intersection, then insisted on walking me back to my hotel. One of the greatest assets one can have in a nomadic lifestyle is the ability to quickly adapt to unexpected situations.

Like most other choices in life, the nomadic lifestyle comes with both pros and cons.

Some of the pros include:

• The ultimate sense of freedom. I am not chained to ‘things,’ such as property or a vehicle, with all their associated costs.
• The excitement of novelty. This excitement was ignited when I first stepped foot in China many years ago.
• The sheer joy of discovery – castles, cathedrals, palaces, museums, art galleries, mosques, madrasahs and synagogues. The more I learn, the more I want to learn.
• Most of what I find delight in is free, harms no one, and leaves no hangover – sunrises, sunsets, seascapes, landscapes, deserts, forests, gardens and parks. Above all, solitude.

And a few of the cons:

• Takes considerable time and effort beforehand to find affordable and acceptable accommodation. This can be a hit or a miss. For example, in Bulgaria, I inadvertently ended up at a ‘love’ hotel. However, it turned out to be one of the funniest 90-day experiences I’ve ever had.
• Potentially a very lonely lifestyle, as it’s difficult to cultivate friends within the typical 90-day visa-free stay. Nomads have to like their own company and feel comfortable in their own skin.
• Requires patience in dealing with a foreign language. This is especially true when dealing with health issues. I contracted Lyme’s disease in Poland, but I didn’t get it diagnosed and treated until after I’d arrived in Serbia. That was a bit of a challenge because I speak neither Polish nor Serbian and, contrary to common opinion, English is not always a lingua franca.
• Requires extra vigilance when handling a foreign currency. For example, I became a millionaire in Uzbekistan and had to be extra vigilant with high denomination notes: $100 USD bought me about 1,150,000 Soms.
• Requires a huge sense of humour when dealing with a foreign culture. For example, in Bulgaria, an up-and-down nod of the head indicates ‘no’ and a side-to-side nod indicates ‘yes.’ Can result in some embarrassment.
• Being a resident of nowhere is almost impossible for residents of somewhere – that’s most people – to understand. This situation can be incredibly frustrating when dealing with bureaucracies.

In the past several years, I’ve managed to explore 24 different countries, and I’ve found that the more I experience, the more I want to experience.

I expect that with the bulge of baby boomers coming up behind me, there will be a few more ‘elderly nomads’ doing exactly what I’m doing. And, what an inspiration they’ll be to those who follow them.

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