I Am The Wrong Age

I just finished a four week trip to Tokyo, Sydney, Christchurch, and Nadi Fiji. For many of those locations, I signed up for tours with only myself and my travel companion because they needed 2 people and we made the minimum. There were a few tours where there were more than us. In fact, many of the people on the tour were rather elderly.

I am not 20 but then again, I’m not an elder. I am sort of in between. I discovered that I don’t spring through the hikes as quickly as the young ones but I’m quicker than the elderly. I lucked out during one walk and the person I walked with was happy to go my pace.

We talked and she commented about how they have tours for certain age groups and maybe I should look at those. I commented that many of the tours were for those above a certain age and I didn’t fall into that catagory. In addition, I didn’t want to hang with folks who were moving much slower than I.

On the other hand, I can’t keep up with the 20 year olds anymore. I’ve aged enough that I do have a few issues that can slow me down including the fact that I like seeing where I’m placing my foot. Actually, I have a tendency to trip on roots or rocks if I’m paying too much attention to the scenery.

I will admit, I loved being on the smaller tours because I could go at my own pace, I didn’t have to worry about getting back within a very short time , and my traveling companion is quite slow so he doesn’t feel rushed. In larger groups, he struggled to keep up since the pace seemed to be set for the younger crowds. He likes traveling with the elderly since those tours move slower.

At the moment, I feel like I’m between the two groups. I can keep up with normal tours but he struggles. I just feel like I’m past the young ones but not ready for the older ones. I’m also not the most social person, so I don’t spend all my time chatting and interacting with everyone else on the tour.

Oh well, one day maybe I’ll be ready to join trips designed for older people but not now and not for a while.