Posted: 3/14/16 | March 14th, 2016
One of my favorite things to see on the road is an older person in a hostel. For some reason, it fills me with awe and envy. I always think to myself: “That’s so cool. I hope when I am older, I’ll still be doing exactly this!” I also hope when I’m older I can still stomach dorm rooms! Older travelers in hostels also have the coolest stories.
I once met this one guy in a hostel in Warsaw who, besides drinking everyone under the table, had some interesting stories from the hippie trail days of the ’60s!
Because of that, I’m excited that our featured reader this month is Sherill, a 72-year-old woman who has been traveling for the last ten years. In our interview, she discusses how she packed up her house, sold her stuff, and went out to finally realize her travel dreams. Stories like this remind me that I’ll never be too old to travel.
Her interview is filled with wisdom and practical tips for others looking to do the same!
Nomadic Matt: Tell everyone about yourself.
Sherill: Since my dad was military, I was traveling before I knew what traveling was. At age 5, I flew from Boston to Buffalo on a prop jet and decided that I wanted to be a stewardess, wear a nice suit and hat, and fly on a plane.
Years later, I married a military man and traveled in the United States, and also spent three years in France and in the Bavarian Alps.
That really put the travel bug in my ear. But during the years of raising children and working, traveling was at the bottom of the priority list — until retirement age.
At 62, with the kids out of the house and the husband gone, I cleaned out my life and packed up what was left in a Plymouth Voyager van with my cats and two tents (I could not decide which one I wanted), and I headed south from Tacoma, WA, to Mexico. The plan was to camp on the beaches for the winter and figure out the rest on the way. Ten years, later I am still traveling.
What inspired your current trip?
I read 1,000 Places to See Before You Die, checked off the ones I had already seen, and marked the ones I wanted to see. I wasn’t getting any younger, so I just went!
My road trip to Mexico was my shakedown cruise. It was only meant to be for the winter but lasted three years.
After my Mexican adventure, I returned north to volunteer for BLM in Oregon at a remote, 10-site camping area. This month was followed immediately by the remainder of the summer as a camp host at Mt. St. Helens, where I met some interesting travelers from Europe, including one woman in particular from the Netherlands, who, as it turned out, worked in the train museum in Utrecht that I had visited several years before! It’s such a small world!
Now I’ve been on the road for 10 years, and I have no regrets. I work and travel and get to experience life how I want!
What obstacles did you encounter when you were planning your trip?
” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer”>The biggest obstacle was packing and fitting everything I needed (clothing, personal products, shoes, books, electronics, and everything else) into one bag. It was difficult. After all, the airlines do limit your weight.
I asked a couple of my friends to help me make choices as well, and they benefited from what I could not take. You certainly accumulate a lot of stuff over the years!
The primary concern of older travelers seems to be more about the level of medical care than anything else. You can check out the US State Department list of doctors in foreign countries who speak English and some who will make house calls to your hotel or hostel. I’ve been lucky to have minimal problems while traveling; however, I have seen people who have gotten injured, fallen down on uneven pavement, etc.
I had a personal brush with this in Italy and was very glad I had the list. The person I was traveling with would not have known how to handle this, and the concierge, a young Italian student, was not of any help.
The more information you can have at your fingertips, the less stress you will have traveling.
I have travel health insurance as well as insurance for emergency evacuation for medical or disaster assistance. I would not travel without either, although I have never had to use them. The cost is worth the peace of mind.
It is also a good idea to use Google Translate ahead of time and print out some medical terms you think you might need on your trip.
Pharmacists in most European countries can dispense many medications without a doctor’s script. I’ve used this in England, Spain, and Italy. Pointing and pantomime will sometimes work when words fail.
Now that I am in Albania, I am finding how important it is to look for places that have prices listed on products.
Even though I am a fan of farmer’s markets, when you do not know the language you can be pretty sure you will be paying more than the locals.
Did people think you were crazy for going off to travel the world alone when you’re 72?
Yes and no. People who knew me well were not surprised. People who knew me casually were either horrified (“You’re doing what? Alone? At your age?”) or awed (“You’re doing what? Alone? At your age? Good for you!”). I was either a crazy lady or a beacon of hope. I like to think of myself as the beacon.
I have a travel blog for my friends and love to hear them say what an inspiration it is to them and how great it is to have an adventurous friend, or from my friends who physically cannot travel, how they enjoy seeing and learning about new places in the world. A couple of my friends even use my travels to awe their friends.
How are you traveling the world? Hostels? WWOOFing? What are you doing to travel on a budget?
HelpX has been my primary source for volunteering, lodging, food, and new friends. Like everything, nothing is perfect, but this resource has been 95% great. It has allowed me to meet new people in small villages, stay in places longer, and save money. It’s given me insight into so many places in the world! I feel like a walking encyclopedia of little-known facts!
My second resource is Trusted Housesitters. It is not as lucrative in terms of opportunities, but it is useful for short-term stays.
And, yes, I’ve also used hostels, but usually only when I am traveling from place to place. I do prefer to stay where I can volunteer in exchange for room and board; it certainly has saved me a lot of money.
I volunteered for five weeks at a “luxury” hostel on the Ring of Kerry in Ireland. Hostels used to be large dorm rooms, but today you can be in a hostel in an en suite room, or you can be in a 16-bed mixed dorm!
They’re really for everyone now, though, I must say that the only thing I do not like about hostels is that everyone uses all of the kitchen items, and there are almost always no great sanitation guidelines. They can get pretty disgusting so I tend not to use the kitchens.
When I am in a place where I can cook, I do cook — and bake, because baked good are usually safe to store unrefrigerated. When cooking is not available, it’s the farmer’s market for fruits and veggies that can be washed and stored. (I try to always have a baggie with vinegar water to wipe down produce that I cannot wash in a sink).
I’ve found that, unlike the US, many countries do not typically box up the uneaten portion of your dinner. If you ask, you may get it in a plastic bag or just in waxed paper. You might want to bring along one plastic container just in case.
What advice would you give other seniors who are worried about doing this?
DO YOUR RESEARCH! Online resources are out there, and once you find one, others will show up. Make a list or matrix of what you want and stick to it until you have a good picture of where and how to travel.
Then if you want to look at other options, do it. Lots of people get stuck in the planning and never get their suitcases packed and tickets purchased. If you are really nervous, have a return ticket in your pocket and taxi fare to the airport.
If you like farming and general labor, use WWOOF; if you want to volunteer in hostels, B&Bs’ restaurants, or spas — or are interested in labor/farm jobs — go to HelpX or Stay/Work, or just put “volunteering in __(name of country)__” in your search engine.
Want to teach English? Not a certified teacher? Enter “English immersion programs” and the country you want to visit in your search engine.
I just finished being hosted in a small town in northern Italy, where I taught English to elementary-age students. It was a lovely experience, eager minds ready to learn, and there were three host families who took great pleasure in showing me Italian art, history, and food in Verona, Bologna, Parma, and Montova, two of which were UNESCO sites. The school’s English-language coordinator found me through HelpX.
I have done this in Madrid, Spain, and will be in three cities in Poland doing this in April. The idea is for them to get comfortable speaking real English, not book English. You do not need to speak anything except English.
You can also find short-term free lodging through SERVAS and Hospitality Club, through which your membership allows you to contact hosts who want to meet travelers and who will host you for a few nights in their homes.
I am traveling on my Social Security, and by the time I return home, I will actually have a little nest egg in the bank because my biggest cost — lodging — is usually free.
What reaction do you get from younger travelers when you’re on the road? I always think it was cool to see older travelers backpacking the world.
This is one of the BEST parts. Younger people are surprised at first, especially when I tell them I am 72. Then the questions start.
Why now? Have you always traveled? Where have you been? What about…? T
hen the zinger always finds the target. It’s when they say “I wish my mom, dad, sister, cousin, uncle…could meet you” or “My fill-in-the-blank is only ____ and acts like life is done.” It’s both fabulous and sad to be the role model.
How are you staying on budget while you travel?
I only budget 75% of what I have monthly and often spend less than that. I plan each move and look for cheap travel, short distances, and discounts.
Many countries also offer discount railcards for seniors. Spain has the Tarjeta Dorada, which offers 40% off travel Monday through Thursday and 25% off the other days for 6 EUR. Italy has a 30-euro discount card. There’s always a senior discount available somewhere!
Traveling on off days, early morning, or late at night usually comes with a discount. My friend and I just purchased a Spain Pass for 175 EUR, allowing us four trips anywhere in Spain. We went from Madrid to Algeciras (near Gibraltar) to Granada, and also Alicante to Valencia, then Valencia back to Madrid. We each saved more than 100 EUR on this pass.
What’s been your favorite moment so far?
A friend of mine just took her first trip out of the United States. She decided, on a whim, to meet me in Madrid (she searched and found a round-trip for under $800 USD). She unabashedly admitted that she was nervous about everything: the long flight, changing planes at Heathrow in London, going through customs, not understanding the language, using foreign money, not knowing where she was going… everything. She said she would not have done it by herself. But now that she has done it, she said she would do it again and again.
She was a trooper, diving right in by learning basic Spanish words. How proud she was when she could order breakfast by herself! She learned directions, she could easily say thank you and please, how to order food – we added about 3-5 words a day!
We took the local bus from Algeciras to Gibraltar; she saw the coast of Africa from “the rock,” and had a monkey sit on her shoulder; in Granada, we visited the UNESCO world heritage site the Alhambra and watched an impromptu display of flamenco dancing in the square — and Granada is where I celebrated my 72nd birthday. In Alicante she celebrated her 60th birthday by standing with both feet firmly planted in the Mediterranean Sea and hands in the air, yelling out “I’m in Spain!” After which we sat on the beach and drank Spanish wine. “It doesn’t get much better than this,” she said.
What words of wisdom do you people on the fence about traveling? As someone who didn’t start until they were 62, what would you tell someone younger than you?
I’ve met people of all ages, from many countries, who all have stories of why and how they travel. Everyone has said the same thing: the only reason I go home is to find a job, save money, and get back on the road again.
Those of us who are travelers, we want nothing more than to experience the world and its people — even if we have some problems along the way. The benefits of examining and sharing the way others live, think, eat, work, and…believe broadens our understanding of the world, brings us closer together, and makes us more human.
For me, personally, Willie Nelson said it best: “I want to be on the road again, to see things I’ve never seen before, and may never see again.”
Sherill’s story is really inspiring. While more and more people are learning you can travel at any age, the amount of “older” travelers that email me has exploded in the last year. Too many people think that you can’t travel when you’re older. I hope interviews like this change that!
Become the Next Success Story
One of my favorite parts about this job is hearing people’s travel stories. They inspire me, but more importantly, they also inspire you. I travel a certain way but there are many ways to fund your trips and travel the world. I hope these stories show you that there is more than one way to travel and that it is within your grasp to reach your travel goals.
Here’s are some other examples of people who made traveling the world a priority a little later in life:
- Why a 50-Year-Old Couple Sold It All to Travel the World
- How this 70-Year-Old Couple Bucked Convention to Travel the World
- How this Boomer Couple Traveled the World for a Year
- Olivia and Manny Quit the Cubicle to Follow Their Passion
We all come from different places, but we all have one thing in common: we all want to travel more.
Make today the day you take one step closer to traveling — whether it is buying a guidebook, booking a hostel, creating an itinerary, or going all the way and buying a plane ticket.
Remember, tomorrow may never come, so don’t wait.
How to Travel the World on $50 a Day
My New York Times best-selling paperback guide to world travel will teach you how to master the art of travel so that you’ll get off the beaten path, save money, and have a deeper travel experience. It’s your A to Z planning guide that the BBC guide the “bible for budget travelers.”
Click here to learn more and start reading it today!
Book Your Trip: Logistical Tips and Tricks
Book Your Flight
Find a cheap flight by using Skyscanner or Momondo. They are my two favorite search engines because they search websites and airlines around the globe so you always know no stone is left unturned.
Book Your Accommodation
You can book your hostel with Hostelworld. If you want to stay somewhere other than a hostel, use Booking.com as they consistently return the cheapest rates for guesthouses and cheap hotels.
Don’t Forget Travel Insurance
Travel insurance will protect you against illness, injury, theft, and cancellations. It’s comprehensive protection in case anything goes wrong. I never go on a trip without it as I’ve had to use it many times in the past. I’ve been using World Nomads for ten years. My favorite companies that offer the best service and value are:
- World Nomads (for everyone below 70)
- Insure My Trip (for those over 70)
- Medjet (for additional repatriation coverage)
Need to book your trip?
Check out my resource page for the best companies to use when you travel. I list all the ones I use when I travel. The are the best in class and you can’t go wrong using them on your trip.
Veronika
Beautiful and inspiring! I wish Sherrill good health and many inspiring encounters on the road. Like you Matt, I also hope to be like her when I\’m that age! This lady rocks 🙂
Helen
Matt World Nomads dont insure over 60 which was a huge disappointment because their rates are so good. I wonder who Sherrill uses? It would be good to know.
Partly because of your blog giving me itchy feet and others, I have just taken six months out from running a busy restaurant and have been doing headstands at a yoga retreat in India…so much fun…I am heading off to the Andaman Islands next.
Maxine Terry Salpeter
I think the age limit for World Nomads is 70. I bought insurance from them last year and I am 63.
Robert
World Nomads now insures to age 70, and they want to eventually insure even higher aged people. More and more people in their golden years are traveling . I travelled south east Asia for four months at 61 years of age and lost weight and felt great. My blood pressure went to normal and I was able to go off my medication. Returned to Canada and put the weight back on and blood pressure went up again. I\’m 64 now, but still strong enough to carry my full max carry on sized backpack. (Tortuga). Planning to return to south east Asia again this year may and maybe live out the rest of my life there. Feels to me like I don\’t belong in Canada anymore.
donnae
Robert I just tried to get a quote and it will only allow for under 60… how did you do it?
sherrill
I use Cigna for my health insurance and Med Jet Assist for my Emergency Evacuation insurance.
Janet
Hi Helen,
I found Geo Blue insurance at the last minute before leaving for my 3 month trip to Africa. I am 57 and I’m not aware of age limits as they were suggested by a friend in his 70’s so they must insure “elders”.
Their reviews are better than any out there that I have researched, as far as reimbursements and typically they have a list of medical providers and hospitals in major international cities who they partner with…so there is no out of pocket expense to pay for care. If they are not a partner then you get reimbursed easily when home if you save receipts. Good luck…BTW….their rates are great!
Connie Schwartz
Hi
I use diversalertnetwork.org. (DAN) DAN is focused on scuba diving but you don’t have to be a diver to join or buy insurance. A membership is currently $35/yr and for that you get two awesome magazines and $100,000.00 of emergency evacuation insurance anywhere in the world – you just have to be 50 miles from your home. They now also offer travel insurance – one big trip or multi-trip per year and the prices are very competitive and coverage very good.
I had occasion to use the emergency evacuation when I fell off the top of a bus in Nepal. I was 4 hr. and 3 landslides from Kathmandu. I was there working in a resort and was 56 at the time. We passed the bus going to the resort and I asked them to phone the office in Kathmandu (phones weren’t working where I was) and start my DAN ins. I was in the Kathmandu hos. emergency room for less than 30 mins. when a Dr. in Philadelphia, PA, USA reached me by phone. I spoke with him several more times before finally flying home 3 wks. later on my previously scheduled flight. They would have flown me out had I wanted to do so. (I had fractured my pubic bone)
I highly recommend this company.
Susana
I am 71, and I too wonder who Sherill uses for insurance. The plans for over 70 are very limited and quite bit more expensive. Are there any other over 70’s here who can give a suggestion?
Phebe
We’ve been travelling for six years – I’m 63, my husband just turned 70. We’ve been getting our travel insurance through Global Insurance (which is backed by Lloyd’s of London) – we contact insuremytrip.com each summer and purchase 363 days of insurance for the coming year of travel. They not only cover medical expenses (minus the deductible), they also cover trip interruption for things like a death in the family. (We had to use that one about four years ago – it was surprisingly easy to be reimbursed, which is great when you are dealing with the death of a parent.)
Not sure what we’ll do next year, since Global doesn’t cover over 70s. Will let you know once we find out.
Winfred
Hi Phebe! I’m 65 and wondering how much a month you paid for Global. Is it where you pay for a year at a time? I hope I can self-publish a novel I’ve worked on for 4 years. I guess that’s not a get rich quick proposition, but fulfilling some of my bucket list to have it for sale online when I leave. I want to go everywhere I can and maybe live somewhere if I like it there, maybe with the ocean as I’ve hardly ever been around the sea. My social security will be $683 a month… so I’ll have to go to lower cost countries. Already 2 siblings not wanting me to go. Can they be desperate and legally stop someone from traveling? I have back issues and hope to get a 2 wheeled cart that attaches to the hips. You can vary the center of gravity so you can like with 100lbs adjust it so there’s only 5lbs on your hips. If anyone else knows please let me know. I hope your travels have been great adventures since your comment.
Tracy Collins
Fabulous interview – I have been travelling for 30 years and never plan to stop. There is no age limit – just go for it!
We are nearly 50 but will be moving to Australia next year to begin our explorations there (luckily applied for a visa just before I turned 45) and now my daughter is grown up it may be time to let go and just go with the flow! Never too late! Though never too early either – recent post on my website about how travelling solo in my 20’s changed my life is proving very popular! As a child I dreamt of a life well travelled and that IS the life I live!
Ann
May I ask what visa you got? 🙂
James Robertson
Wow, how inspiring!
Lynn
Thanks for posting such a great interview with an older traveler! There are many of us out here, and so much of the travel info – books and blogs and websites – are about and for the young. Sherill offers some great advice and inspiration for people of any age 🙂
Rafael Ulloa
inspiring. it is never too late. hopefully i will start traveling myself soon.
Angie
Love this post, very inspirational!! But I have to know — what happened to the cats?!
Jennifer
I haven’t yet read the whole story but word searched “cat” to see if they were mentioned again. :O)
Linda
Yeah! I want to know too as I have 2 of my own and that keeps me home right now.
Ani
Find a good home for the cats. I didn’t go into the Peace Corp as I didn’t want to leave the cats back when I got out of college. What an idiot!
Phebe
I hoped you joined the Peace Corps later on!!! One of the best things I’ve done with my life! (And there were people in their 60s to 80s in my group – I was in the “sort of old” group at age 27!)
Lindsey
Cool read. How inspiring! Brava to Sherrill for finding a way to really enjoy life after raising a family and to inspire her friends and so many others to do the same. Here\’s to healthy active travel at every age!
Kara
What an inspiration! And she does it all on social security……amazing.
Diane
What’s truly inspiring to me is that she is able to do what she does on her social security income. Gives me hope!
Angelica Urbas
After reading this interview it really feels great and inspired. Sherrill is an admiration for all those people out there who had passed their retirements and are willing to move out and scan the world. I Wish her best wishes.
Vikramjeet Singh
Thats a badass granny there.But thats what we should be doing.. Doing things that make you happy. Glad she is living her dreams.
Wondering if you have heard about spiti valley. I went there on a bike and it was awesome.
Surabhi
You are rocking at 72.. I love your commitment, dedication and hard work.. keep going.. live long!
Laura
Great interview! I hope when I am 72 I will still be able to be a backpacker.
Cristian Carrasco
You are very inspiring and I wish I have your energy when I’m 70!
I’ve had some wwoofing experiences but I was wondering if you (or anyone) have ever stayed in a farmstay accommodation… I’m planning my next trip around the US and I’m trying to get as much info as I can!!
Neno
As the world population ages thos will become more and more common.
Maybe we should start a special hostel chain for old people.
Neno
Sherrill
We used to have Elder Hostels but I do not know where they are now …
Yannis
How inspiring! And what a role model!
I was also watching a movie before reading this post and it was about people defying social norms and conventions and making their life what they’ve always wanted it to be.
Bottom line: It’s never too late to do what you love!
Rhona
So inspiring. I got teary eyed when her friend yelled out, ‘I’m in Spain’. What a wonderful experience she will always have with her. I just need to hurry up with nursing school so I can get back on the road again.
Sianna
Great spirit! And such an inspiring story especially the part about Spain!
Maxine Terry Salpeter
Great interview. I am a little younger than Sherill and I just returned from four months on my own in Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Sherill’s interview has inspired me to keep traveling. One comment about hostels for older people — I was amazed how helpful everyone was during my travels. Hostel staff and travelers looked out for me and I never felt “too old”. Thanks again for wonderful post.
Stephen Gollan
Ive been travelling for over eight years now. The people I meet abroad who inspire me most are the older folk. While I was in Afghanistan, all my travel advice was from people who travelled there in the sixties. There stories and how they travel now is something all of us younger travellers should base ourselves on. This is an amazing post!! Keep travelling no matter how you are or what age. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
Laura
Great interview! Seems like 70 is the new 50. I recently met two women in their late 60s traveling in Maluku, Indonesia. I hope to be doing the same at that age.
Ellen
Her travel adventures are an inspiring story! Makes going anywhere in the world seem possible. I would love to be in Albania with her just to seek out Albanian folk dance and the music that goes with it. What a treat that would be. However, I have my own annual travel stories. My stories are within the US and take me from the Pacific Northwest ocean shores to the shores of Lake Erie annually (and back). The stories come between those two points. Let me know if you’d like to learn more.
Isabella
Amazing story and inspiring!! Another piece to add to my “motivation board” next February it will be my turn.. I hope to contribute as well and inspire more and more younger and older to follow their dreams … Thanks for your work Matt!
M S
I understand. I have lived half time now for 14 years in the Baja. Driving the Baja is amazing. I took my first trip, alone after my husband died. I was 65, now I am 68. I have a new guy and persuading him to go is not so easy. (He is in the Baja with me and has gone on two short trips tho) I think we have China in mind. He keeps saying it is not safe here or there, funny how people find excuses not to go. I am finding in him a person who likes home. I may just leave him dog and house sitting and head out. But deciding where to go next is my main problem. So much to choose from! Thanks for your story, age should never stop a person from going.
I have a daughter who is 41 , widowed with two young sons. She is a teacher. After buying a new/used SUV she purchased a small tent trailer. For the last two summers she has taken her boys for a summer trip in the National Parks in the US. Lack of money has not stopped her from traveling with her kids, nor does a lack of a husband. I say go!
Sherrill
What happened to the cats:
The cats came with me and lived in Mexico. One was an older Maine Coon and he passed away in Mexico. One got sick and when her quality of life was questionable I decided to have her put to sleep. My last cat traveled with me and camped at Mt. St. Helens for 2 summers and has now adopted my former roomies.
Laura
I met Sherrill because she went in our primary school as a volunteer to teach English with us.
Her live is amazing and she is amazing, so wise !
Sherrill
Thanks Laura. Teaching the kids was great fun. If anyone reading this is a female, native English speaker and would like to teach kids in a great little town get in touch with Laura. Host families were spectacularly hospitable.
Connie Schwartz
I forgot to say – I’m leaving on a 6 month overlanding trip thru Asia, SE Asia in just a few weeks. I will turn 72 just prior to departure. After the trip ends in Singapore, I’ve allowed a month to explore Indonesia (hoping to do some workaway spots) (workaway.info) before flying to Estonia to visit friends from 5 months in Africa in 2013 and then travel down to Lyon, France to visit another friend before returning to the USA.
I went back to driving dump trucks for a paving co. last year to make the money for the travel. I’ll keep going as long as my body lets me!!
Leona Arsenault
Thank you for sharing Sherrill’s story. I am 66 years old and I have been saying “some day” I will travel for the past 50 years. Sherrill’s story is very inspiring and by reading her blog and following the Nomadicmatt.com site, I am sure I will get all the inspiration and help I need to fulfill my life long dream of travelling. I am thinking more and more of selling my house and just take off. I am a photographer and travelling the world would make me so happy to take all the wonderful landscapes and I love meeting people of different cultures and nationality. Every time I catch my self saying “someday” I correct myself and say “very soon now”….
Olga
This is so great! I want to be just like her when I\’m 72! I wish my grandmother would travel more at her age, it\’s a pity she never did… Now she\’s 78 and I don\’t think she ever will :/
John and Laurel Rodgers
Much like my wife Laurel and I began full time travel only two years ago at age 63 and 64 . We now travel to around 10 to 12 countries on an average year. Our goal is 10 this year and when we hit the ground in Myanmar the end of this month that will be the first three. We just have to get through Songkran next week here in Chiang Mai.We have really been waiting for warm weather in the North and as soon as we leave Myanmar then China, Mongolia, S Korea and Japan will all fall into place while it is warm. We know we will be spending June and July in Mongolia.
We do not teach or anything else as time goes by, We get a total of $1925 a month from Social Security and with a little from our three blogs that is enough to get us by. We spent the last 5 months in Chiang Mai and actually saved an average of $1000 a month.
Good luck to you Sherrill and I hope we see you on the road some day.
Nanci J Kersch
I also was lucky enough to have met Sherrill in Poland… What an inspiration to me. I am 9 years younger than Sherrill and have been traveling (also like Sherrill) since the age of 3 years old. First with my family, then hitch hiking across America, Drove to Florida for Orange Juice(it used to be free on the turnpike), Drove to Boston for Boston Creme Pie. Then camping in a first hot off the press Chevy blazer ( with my boyfriend and my Afghan dog!) Going across Queens Highway in Canada), then to Jamaica (4 times) . I’ve hitch hiked (back in the day of course b 4 credit cards) I think a phone call was 10 cents from Ft. Collins to Austin TX. I put a sign out on a street near Hippie Vendors spot looking for a ride to NY(shared gas expenses). Moved to Woodstock ,NY, Got married and went around the world with my travel partner Allan on a World Pass(I think it was 15 countries?)!Went to Morocco(Marrakesh to Tangiers), Gibraltar and Costa Del Sol by ferry. Went to France(got some awesome jewelry from St. Maarten at the top of Eiffel Tower) for my anniversary! Went to Venezuela, Zurich for a business meeting; oh yeah, Russia and Latvia for another business meeting… And meeting Sherrill was a highlight of my trip to Poland. I left Italy b 4 Poland and Sherrill turned me on to Laura the English teacher; Extraordinaire, whom I have yet to meet but hope to work with Laura… following Sherrills footsteps. Although I have probably left out a few places (Italy was my 42nd country), SHERRILL IS MY HERO!
Katie N
What an inspiration! That’s what I love about travel- it doesn’t matter your age, race, religion, gender, creed, etc.- we’re all just citizens of the earth. Our identities as fellow world-travelers transcend anything else that might differentiate us. Best of luck!
Vladu
Highly inspiring lady!
Laura
I love this! It’s so nice to read about a traveler older than 25. Thank you for presenting a new kind of story. Looking forward to following her on her blog.
Jamie
Fantastic interview and an inspirational woman! This piece really shows that life is yours to take charge of!
Mara
Wow! Sherrill is amazing! My mom travels with me at 89, but we’re nowhere near as adventurous. Though mom still rides horses. ? Wishing Sherrill many fabulous journeys.
vicky norbert
you are inspiring, I have 1.5 years til age 62 and I am making my plans now to travel using my SS. I am glad I am not the only woman that will be on the road. I hope our paths cross.
Julie
Very inspiring! So many wonderful women traveling the word solo.
Terri
Sherrill Do you have a travel blog. And thanks for reminder about discounts for seniors.
Big ups to everyone reaching their vision.
Burcie
I’m 62 and on the fence about traveling the world… your blog is inspirational and helping me to “just do it”
Denault Steven
Hi
Steve (61)
Thank you for finding and sharing these interviews with older travellers, very inspirational. In 3 yrs I’m going to do it.
How about a seniors version of your travel book for low budget senior travellers?
Cheers
Steve
Ste Anne Manitoba
NomadicMatt
I think my book is apt for seniors too! It covers a lot of various ways to save money that are good for any low budget traveler. Are there specific things you want advice for?
Janette
Have you seen the Occasional Nomads? They would be a great couple to interview.