My range has definitely shortened, and my demands have increased.

I’m just back from New Zealand, and can’t fault it at all. Like the coast of Maine with a beautiful old English feeling.

But at 15 hours, I won’t be going back. It’s two days of recovery on both ends and New Zealand just was not spectacular enough to warrant the effort.

Also similarly edited from my bucket list:

Papua due to a lack of safety, and Peru, due to the many hassles of traveling there.

But I might do both those on a tour. I am booked for a tour of Sikkim and Gantok in October.

For me, a tour is less exciting, but it’s sort of like prepaying a personal trainer: it ensures that you will go. Travel is as essential to my mental health as gaining muscle mass past 70 is. I still need the shock of the new to keep me excited about living.

My GF has a job that involves traveling around the region. Singapore and KL are next for us.

Neither is a city place that I am dying to visit again, but taking in some gardens and looking in some bookstores will be great.

I’m grateful to live in Bangkok where a three hours plane ride takes you to about a dozen great places – and I have yet to visit China.

China definitely seems like a country and culture enjoyedin small bites.

A decade ago, a three month marathon would have been my first instinct

22 hours ago, Mr Awesome said:

Really? Nana is disgusting.

It is indeed, but the great thing about birthday's at Nana is, after buying 50 bargirls a drink that night, you might just get a free one on the house for your birthday.

47 minutes ago, BilllyGOAT said:

It is indeed, but the great thing about birthday's at Nana is, after buying 50 bargirls a drink that night, you might just get a free one on the house for your birthday.

Not a hope.

23 hours ago, BilllyGOAT said:

Wow, amazing. I mean, who wouldn't want to, right? Hard to imagine anything better than being there in such a divine place amongst all your REAL friends for your birthday. Oh, wait...

Yours doesnt work anymore? Im sorry. Try Taladafil, my friend wass a Limpy Louie even in Nana till he took some.

Ill try to do an extra gal for you hahahahahahahahahahaha. I will look for number 88 to honour the loons here. Hope she isnt a fatty

3 hours ago, Prubangboy said:

Definitely shoot me a line, and let’s meet up at the propaganda bar

Billboard and Thermae. I had my 35th birthday in Thermae

13 hours ago, Fat is a type of crazy said:

Be interesting to see Azerbaijan. Once accompanied a big oil delegation from Baku to meet with the Victorian premier who was a lady. She said why are there no women in the delegation. They said we leave our wives at home. A different time

Fabulous city, clean, historical, walkable. Great food, one of the best Ukrainian restaurants I have ever eatin in was there. Gorgeous girls. Neat history. I like to sip tea in the Cafes there and pose. Weed is scarce and rough but I manage. American tourists are veritable gods with the locals. Same with Tashkent and Tibilisi. No Face Control in the Clubs for us hahahahaha

13 hours ago, Fat is a type of crazy said:

Komodo was interesting. We walked up the hill with a goat. They killed the goat in front of us and all the komodos came out and tore it apart. Not sure they'd do it that way now.

Great memory!

10 hours ago, Yagoda said:

Yours doesnt work anymore? Im sorry. Try Taladafil, my friend wass a Limpy Louie even in Nana till he took some.

The topic was birthday parties at Nana and your response to me is to inquire about my penis. Nope, nothing creepy at all about that, bro. Try Susan, I heard she/he likes reach arounds.

On 4/4/2026 at 8:42 PM, JackGats said:

The days of rewarding globe-trotting are over.

I remember traveling on school vacations with my golfer parents late 1950's early 1960's when men put on a jacket and tie when getting on an airplane.

27 minutes ago, JerryM said:

I remember traveling on school vacations with my golfer parents late 1950's early 1960's when men put on a jacket and tie when getting on an airplane.

Things have changed.

On 4/4/2026 at 9:46 PM, simon43 said:

My recent trip to Myanmar with my backpack containing my computer and school books etc to donate indicated to me that I'm getting older, and a heavy backpack is not a good idea! So as I'm passing through Bangkok on my way back to Siem Reap, I've bought a wheeled, cabin luggage size suitcase for my next trip :)

But one advantage of getting old is to be able to jump the long immigration queues at airports! Use a stick, hobble a bit, look as if you're about to keel over and you are whisked to the front of the queue! (It works for me....)

I have stopped traveling now, just too old. However, when I did travel, I found the best way was to book wheelchair assistance. It was almost like being first class. All the hassle in the past, having to take shoes and belt off, just didn't happen. When asked to remove either I said on a few occasions, 'You take them off, you put them back on, because I can't'. Worked every time. I wasn't quite up to business class, but premium economy was almost as good. First on was very good, but last off was a bind. One instance where I almost got left behind, was at Heathrow, where the guy delivering me to the departure point, left me in the wrong place. I didn't realise until my name was called for boarding. There was then a mad scramble of staff to get me on the plane and to my seat. It was then the service was top notch for my return journey to Bangkok. I never once got an upgrade, but I guess beggars can't be choosers.

I live for travel. I did my first big trip at 19 on the hippie backpacker trip to Europe for 3 months.

Did South America at 24, Hawaii at 26, Alaska at 29 and finally, Asia at 41.

30+ years later and I'm still out there. Just back from a motorbike trip in Vietnam and

heading back to Europe next week. Still going strong at 76, grid willing.

One of the lucky ones, I guess. Health is good and bank account is suffficient.

I tried to get a job with the airlines as a flight attendant but it didn't happen.

No matter, I learned how to budget my time and money to achieve my goals.

The highlight was the 6 month around-the-worlder in 93 at the age of 42.

Mostly overland with minimal flights. Saigon to Amsterdam was all overland.

5 minutes ago, LALes said:

I tried to get a job with the airlines as a flight attendant but it didn't happen.

I did get an offer as a flight attendant, but it was all graveyard shifts and I don't think I would have handled it well and would have been too jetlagged to appreciate the destinations. So I passed.

I know a guy who worked on a cruise ship. He went around the world 5 or 6 times.

Decrease as one gets older such is life

I think during my working years I had more desire to travel but not the means. Now I have the means. I still enjoy traveling but it definitely is more of a hassle these days if you are flying somewhere. Thai spouse is retiring soon and we plan to do some more traveling--but likely sticking to Asia this year.

I was fortunate enough over my years as an educator to have had the opportunity to travel to 25 countries with introductory study in the language, culture, history of 7 of those countries. With being retired, a more limited budget and current global conditions, air travel has long ago lost its glow. Travel now is closer and driving is preferred in country (although we are currently escaping the pollution and took air transport in coiuntry this trip).

Mine decreased after traveling most of the places I wanted to go see and experience.

Then remembering what a pain in the *** traveling is. Wait in Queue to check in, wait in queue for immigration, wait in queue to board, wait in queue to exit plane, wait in queue for immigration entering country.

Then packing and unpacking everything every couple of days.

It use to be fun with exploring new destinations but when you get older it does not seem worth the effort.

I travel a lot but in the last couple of years I got lazy . Thinking of preparing all stuff to travel is boring and than infinite hours on planes , cars ... possibly in places I already visited before . Boring .

With age, the travel urge does decrease, as all you need is a good long lasting, happy end finish, good clean fresh and mainly cheap food, nice weather and no western drunks or nut cases around you in public ranting against anything or nothing and mainly not to get cheated and overcharged by any service provider. This is what age is about. This is mainly what Thailand is about. 😜

At 85 the comforts of a happy home life are what appeal. I no longer want to travel.

For me, I still like to travel - and I'm retired. But I do definitely get what you mean about all the preparation and hassle involved. I also prefer to spend longer in one place/country and make my way around slowly as I feel like it - not overbook everything. Also, if limiting the number of trips and staying longer, you might splurge what was saved and get a good deal on biz class, which as I get older I really want (any flights over 6 hours - so long hauls).

There are also health factors as we get older - some have lots some have few. So it depends on that too.

On 4/4/2026 at 3:11 PM, simon43 said:

Now in my retirement, I have my own reasons to travel. I got back from Myanmar 5 days ago, and after locking myself in a wardrobe for the Water Festival period, I'll apply for a tourist visa to return for a few weeks, having 'updated' my kit for coping with the lack of electricity up-country :)

I’ve always loved my trips to Myanmar. I think I was one of the first «  real » tourists. My planning was done by letter . I was in phuket ar the time and found a person in Rangoon who found me a government hotel. Meals were found by myself in peoples houses ! It was wonderful. Up country horse and cart,

All temples were empty. The man who rowed me around Inle lake treated me like family, and the drives around the north took me to old abandoned British homes, with fireplaces and garden gates and stables.Have’t been back since Covid and sad.

Same with South America and Central, Machu Picchu with just some old Germans with sticks, me huffing and puffing, spent Âges visiting wonderful places on my own, all the Andes , Asia ,Australia. But my dream was to see the Polynesian islands because of the sheer beauty. It was all-planned for 2022 but fell through . Now,I feel it’s too far, too expensive and too late.

I never worried about then »what if » health issues then. Now yes.i know my travel agency won’t save me.

Travel is always on my mind, Thailand still pulls me there, still lots to see off the beaten track . I love Bangkok, except the pollution.

Sometimes, thinking of where to go stops me sleeping, or sends me to sleep. It’s always on mind since I left my sleepy village at 16 years and 5 months , true it’s called the travel bug.

I have a great collection of suitcases and backpacks. And memories.

12 hours ago, BilllyGOAT said:

The topic was birthday parties at Nana and your response to me is to inquire about my penis. Nope, nothing creepy at all about that, bro. Try Susan, I heard she/he likes reach arounds.

How does posting a childish selfie contradict your manhood issues? You aint getting lucky at Nana even if you could take advantage of a blind gogo dancer.

Whose Susan?

1 hour ago, Yagoda said:

How does posting a childish selfie contradict your manhood issues? You aint getting lucky at Nana even if you could take advantage of a blind gogo dancer.

Whose Susan?

There is way too much going on in that photo for you to understand it or its purpose. Ask someone smarter to explain it to you, which basically means just about anyone. And if you still do not know who Susan is after spending half your life on this site, I am starting to think you might be beyond help. I will give you a hint though: Susan and Rockyroad have quite a bit in common, and they know each other very well.

32 minutes ago, BilllyGOAT said:

I will give you a hint though: Susan and Rockyroad have quite a bit in common, and they know each other very well.

Oh another of those? Lots of them here. Never saw a Susan, who was it before?

that is decided by how painful it is to travel,

im 58 and dont want to go outside any longer,

while a 70 year old friend just came back from an africa safari

I used to drive everywhere and loved it....

Now, at 78 I find myself unbothered by the airport routine and less inclined towards driving on long trips.... I still do all our driving - but it's more of a chore to me now ...

Part of that could be that our vehicles are stored in Texas and there really isn't much natural beauty to be seen while driving there....

On 4/4/2026 at 5:38 PM, bkk6060 said:

Fortunately I have traveled to the places I wanted to see. About 25 countries.

No desire to travel anymore like you say, too much hassle.

22 Countries, most before 40. At 74 not much get up and go. Do it all when young. First trip to Thailand in 1971, at 21.

Maybe need to be cautious with travel now?

A major event could shut down travel like during Covid and you will be stranded.

Maybe not very likely, but not entirely impossible given all the madness going on.

Do you think its more the humidity and heavy luggage that puts a damper on things...that was my last exp. in Vietnam recently. Though too many frequent hotel bounces meant packing unpacking events. I think I just squeezed too much into the itinerary this time.

On 4/6/2026 at 6:36 AM, BilllyGOAT said:

I never knew Eddie Izzard had tats. Maybe that's why she always wears long sleeves.

On 4/7/2026 at 7:58 AM, pgrahmm said:

I used to drive everywhere and loved it....

Now, at 78 I find myself unbothered by the airport routine and less inclined towards driving on long trips.... I still do all our driving - but it's more of a chore to me now ...

Part of that could be that our vehicles are stored in Texas and there really isn't much natural beauty to be seen while driving there....

Not sure how long you lived in Texas but it was my home for 32 years, and one of my favorite things to do was driving around with a friend or children, listening to music and looking at the scenery of the Hill Country and Texas west of it, along with the coast and south Texas while hunting, and through the piney woods of east Texas. Lots of beautiful places , although with so much of the building, it's losing acreage every year due to greed.