Having just had a birthday and being retired for three years now, I
suddenly started thinking, I have so much more I want to do and see.
Places, countries, cities, and states, will I have enough time and money
to see it all before I leave this earth.

My Birthday dinner on vacation

I am a healthy youngish (I would like to think) baby boomer that has a
long Bucket List and I need to start checking them off much faster these
days then I am. But just when I think that, I came across a great article
that gave me hope and certainly inspiration.

It was written in 2012 by a woman who was born in 1923 and has travelled
her whole life. Let me share some of that article.

“In the fall of 2012 I was 78, I found Rome a city of beauty, food
and smokers galore. Wine Wine Wine. Cathedrals were everywhere,
each more beautiful than the other. I pinched a good-looking Italian man, who turned and frown, then saw me and said with a big smile, “Signora,
Grazie, Grazie”. Evidently I made his day and he certainly made mine”.

Lucille would go on to tell about her continuous travels that would include
Malta, Greece, Brazil, and India. All with a cute story like the one in Rome.
Along the way, she would meet new travel companions and they would
continue to travel to such places as New Guinea, Japan, and China.

In 2012 Lucille, who by then was almost 89, was still traveling. Her
travel companions had passed away, but she was still in pretty good
health and nothing was stopping her.
Lucille would say:

Here it is, May 2012, and I’ve got a stack of brochures and am
looking to go to Tanzania. My friends all think I am crazy, I say, “Your
missing out on so much”. They say, “There could be riots,” but I say,
“Something could happen anywhere. You might as well go.”
And I once read something I will always remember, life should not be
A journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive
and well-preserved body, but, rather, to skid in sideways, Chardonnay in
one hand, chocolate in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn
out, and screaming, “Woo hoo! What a ride.

I loved this article. It proves that you can continue to do all that you
love, even in your 80s. What stamina Lucille must have. Could I do that
at her age, not sure, but she gives me inspiration and hope. I wonder
about her, is she still traveling or has she traveled on to be with her
travel companions. I guess I will never know. But thank you, Lucille,
for that great inspiring story.