When Did I Become a Senior Citizen??

Somehow, I knew when I used to write Senior Coupon Books for airline tickets by the time I became a senior those advantages would be gone...and so they are! No more Senior Coupon Books, no more Senior Discounts (except for Southwest Airlines and a few international carriers). Seems like a cruel twist of fate!

The next thing to take into consideration is exactly WHO is a senior? Go to a restaurant and you will see you only have to be 55 years old. Go to Southwest and the minimum age for a senior is 65 years old. I am sure, with every business offering discounts to seniors, there are variations on the theme.

Cruise lines are often still offering discounts. When you call me to book a cruise, please remember to tell me if you were EVER in the military, if you are 55 yrs. old or older, and where you reside. There are often discounts for cruises for seniors (55 yrs. and older); active military or former military (you must have served at least two years and have an honorable discharge) and based on where you reside. California residents may be receiving a discount that residents of some other state don't receive. Not all cruise lines offer these discounts, and not all cruise lines that DO offer these discounts offer them for every sailing. Occasionally, there is even a discount offered for police and fire personnel. Usually, and that is a very broad term, the cruise lines most apt to offer a discount are Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise lines.

Past passenger numbers also will often result in a good discount with a cruise line, so it is good to remind me if you have sailed before, and with which line you sailed.

However, back to seniors...YIKES!! Suddenly I AM one...with no idea how that happened. I don't feel different, but I have now passed the magic number so that even Southwest will give me a discount.

I was talking with Tony Wiley, owner of Wiley's Scuba Locker, and happened to ask him where most of his client base came from. Surprisingly enough, many of his clients are seniors. I have no doubt one has to have a sense of adventure, among other things, to scuba dive. It seems like seniors are in better health, more fit, and have more of a desire for adventure now than ever before. Seniors also have more time and often more disposable income to fulfill their dreams. People who wanted to dive in their youth but had neither the time nor the money now have a little of both and are on their way to making their dreams come true.

This is really a good thing. Sitting in front of the TV and worrying about the status of the world and the economy is not healthy and doesn't help make things better. Going out and doing something different and exciting makes you know you are alive and still a viable part of humanity...and I speak from experience! Many of us didn't do some things when we were younger for fear we would do them badly or we would look foolish trying to do them. That fear is gone now for many of us. I have looked foolish doing a lot of things...especially when I was younger and mistook "cool" for what actually was actually pretty foolish. At this stage of my life I'm not nearly as concerned with being "cool" and also not as concerned about looking foolish. Foolish would be wanting to do something and never trying.

The conversation with Tony made me think of seniors I have known and what they are capable of doing. One woman, for many years in a row, made the trek from somewhere in the vague area we of the Owens Valley call "Down South" up to Lone Pine to climb Mt. Whitney. The last year she climbed she was, I believe, either 86 or 88. Friends of mine climbed Mt. Whitney this last year and they are 55 and 75 respectively.

On one trip I made to Cabo a woman was celebrating her 86th birthday by going para-sailing.

Obviously, seniors scuba dive, and THIS senior went horseback riding in Jamaica last year!

One of my more daring friends is going on an Alaska cruise in September and has not ruled out the possibility of going on a zip line ride. She is also not ruling out the possibility of having a wheelchair so that when the waits are long and there is lots of walking and waiting, she will have a place to sit and rest a while or be pushed along by family. She has a breathing problem. She is being safe, smart and adventurous.

For those of you who think you are too old to enjoy traveling, please think again. Travel will not make you young again...would that it could!...but it will fill you with a sense of wonder and open your eyes to new places and new ideas like nothing else I know.

Travel is available for everyone, young and old, from the most adventurous to the least. There are guided tours, cruises, independent travel. Within each of those categories are additional things you can add to make the trip more or less adventurous. You can go whale watching, learn to kayak, go horseback riding, climb a pyramid, scuba dive, snorkel, fish, climb a bridge, bungee jump, para-sail, rent bicycles and ride down a volcano, go white water rafting, take a zip line ride, tube through a cave in the dark, take a yoga lesson by the ocean; the choices are not only endless, but they are open to all of us who have passed a certain milestone in life and don't care if we don't look like a model while taking that yoga lesson. If you aren't up for scuba lessons...learn to snorkel. Don't want to bungee jump? Perhaps a bike ride is something you could try.

Of all of the things listed above, some are things I simply wouldn't do, not because of age but because of fear! I have no desire to bungee jump and I don't think you'll see me para-sailing any time soon...but I have been white water rafting in Utah and would do it again. I have seen and climbed pyramids in Mexico, but will not be on a zip line any time soon. I've taken a yoga lesson and thought I would perhaps like to try yoga. Out of all of the choices, most people my age will find a few things they are interested in trying. We are a different generation and we are more open to trying things and experiencing something new and exciting. My mother, who was very active well into her 70s thought it was rather unseemly the elderly woman from Southern California kept climbing Mt. Whitney. She thought the woman was a "publicity hound" and was only doing it to draw attention to herself. Perhaps. But perhaps she really enjoyed the mountains and the challenge.

While it was grand to sit on the terrace of Royal Plantation and have high tea, it was a lot more fun to realize I could still get up on a horse and be able to walk the next day!

Opportunity for adventure is knocking for all of us. Please give me a call and let's see what kind of adventure we can find for you. I promise, it won't remove wrinkles but it WILL make you feel younger!

Don't forget Kiva.org Helping others help themselves makes you feel younger, too!

Until next time,
Sonia