Travel, Wanderlust and Navigating Midlife's Foreign Terrain with Susan Heinrich of Midlife Globetrotter
Show Snapshot:
Meet Susan Heinrich, a former news reporter turned stay-at-home mom, who found herself nearing 50 and feeling utterly disconnected from her life. Susan launched Midlife Globetrotter to reacquaint herself with wanderlust and reignite her sense of self. She joins me today to talk about fabulous destinations, how to give solo travel a try, and why travel is a chance for women in midlife to rendezvous with parts of themselves that get lost in the daily shuffle of caring for others. Plus, last gasp summer travel ideas and do not miss fall bucket list destinations.
In This Episode We Cover:
Midlife as a foreign terrain.
How travel can spark a rediscovery of self.
Midlife vertigo—and how to regain equilibrium.
Wanderlust, reinvention, and the magic of travel and new places.
How (and why) to give solo travel a try.
Packing tips, packing cubes, and ideas for travel minimalism.
Make travel matter—or how to travel and do good in the countries you visit.
Bucket-list destinations, fall travel ideas, and the best (and worst) times to visit Europe and the national parks in the U.S.
Quotable:
As I approached 50, I suddenly started feeling like my life, which until that point I had been very content with, just didn’t fit me anymore... it was a very disorienting feeling, to suddenly not be happy in a life that you had been content in... Why did I suddenly feel that way and what was I going to do about it?
Travel can be so magical because it pulls us out of our daily lives. It’s much easier to imagine new and different things for yourself when you’re not at home and doing all the errands and making dinner...Travel creates a really special opportunity for us to explore things about ourselves, focus on ourselves, maybe rediscover passions that we let go when we didn’t have time.
Transcript:
Katie Fogarty [0:30]:
Welcome to A Certain Age, a show for women who are unafraid to age out loud. Have you ever noticed how certain words or phrases spark feelings of excitement? Words like “summer vacation” or “passport.” Phrases like “wheels up.”
My guest today is Susan Heinrich of Midlife Globetrotter, another word that absolutely sparks joy and feelings of wanderlust. She joins me today to talk about fabulous destinations, how to give solo travel a try, and why travel is a chance for women in midlife to rendezvous with parts of themselves that often get lost in the daily shuffle of caring for others. Welcome, Susan.
Susan Heinrich [1:12]:
Thank you, I’m so happy to be here, thanks for inviting me.
Katie [1:14]:
Yeah, this is going to be a fun one. I love to travel, I have wanderlust, I have some trips in mind for the summer and I’m really excited to talk all things travel with you. But I want to do a quick intro first. Your business is called Midlife Globetrotter, why the emphasis on midlife, what made you launch this business?
Susan [1:35]:
Well, my background is in writing, I’m a writer. I was formerly a newspaper reporter early in my career and then I have two young adult sons, so I definitely stepped off of the career track in those years when they were young. I had continued to do some freelance writing but as they got older and I approached 50, I was ready to embark on something new. Like you, I love to travel and obviously I was a midlife woman at that point and actually, midlife had become a very, kind of, tumultuous time for me that I had navigated through... I think we’re going to talk a little bit more about that. But I felt this concept of the opportunity about how travel could be unique for midlife women resonated with me and I thought it would resonate with other women as well. And since I’m a writer, writing about my experience, sharing my experience through writing and photography made sense for me.
Katie [2:34]:
I love it. So, one of the things that did attract me to you and to your website is that there’s a lot of content about travel, beautiful imagery on your Instagram but you also do talk about, you know, how midlife sort of felt like a strange new land that you needed to navigate. I would love if you’d be willing to share a little bit about why midlife felt tumultuous with our listeners.
Susan [2:59]:
Yeah, absolutely. So, as I approached 50, I suddenly started feeling like my life, which until that point I had been very content with, just didn’t fit me anymore. There was no obvious reason for me to be feeling that way, so it was a very kind of disorienting feeling, to suddenly not be happy in a life that you had been content in. So, I had to embark on a journey of figuring out what was going on. Why did I suddenly feel that way and what was I going to do about it? And that’s why I have used the term “vertigo”. That’s what it felt like. It just felt like my world... nothing obvious had shifted and yet everything felt different for me, and I had to figure out what was going on.
Katie [3:45]:
So was this midlife vertigo, do you think that this experience of disorientation and feeling not content with this life that you had built, do you think it was related to menopause, was it more about your kids being on the cusp of adulthood, was it a hybrid?
Susan [4:02]:
Yeah, it’s a great question. It’s hard to know for sure. Definitely, it had to do with, I think it was a hybrid, I think it was a combination of all of those things. My kids were growing up and needed me less, which frankly I was kind of thrilled about. But I think I had lost a bit of myself in my role as mom, and like many of us, we give so much of ourselves to other people, especially if we have families, happily, but... I think it was this feeling that they needed me less. And I think it was for me, that I felt like I really wasn’t using my talents and my passions and really, that part of my life felt like it was missing. Although I had been doing a little bit of creative work, I think I really felt like I needed to embrace that part of me in a much bigger way than I had been.
Katie [4:56]:
Yeah, it’s sort of like a phantom limb. It was something that you had done for so long, it was a big part of your identity to be a news reporter and a news writer. But to have that... I don’t want to say atrophy because that sounds so terrible but, you know, I can really relate to a lot of what you’re sharing. I remember at one point sitting on my front porch with a friend of mine and I had three young kids at the time and I’m like, "What happened? What happened to my life?” How did I get to this moment where it’s all about childcare and being in service to my kids solely, versus I had a career and at one point I was a journalist and I succeeded in school and I did all these different things and I really let a lot of that kind of wane as I focused on family life. So, as your kids got older and you had the chance to reinvent this again, what caused you to focus on travel versus any other thing that you could have been doing?
Susan [5:59]:
Yeah, it’s a good question. I’ve definitely always had wanderlust and been passionate about travel. And one of the reasons was because around this same time, in 2017, I actually went on a trip to India without my family. My kids were 14 and 17 at the time and I left them and my husband for 3 weeks to go on a trip to India. And of course, I missed them enormously, but that trip really reminded me how it felt to be Susan, not mom, writer, dog walker, school volunteer, all the other roles that many of us play as women. And that feeling was just so refreshing and invigorating and I felt really excited about life again.
So, it reminded me that travel can be so magical because it pulls us out of our daily lives. It’s much easier to imagine new and different things for yourself when you’re not at home and doing all the errands and making dinner. So, being physically pulled out of your normal life and put in a new place – obviously India was a very extreme example of that, and you don’t have to go that far to get this experience – but I think travel creates a really special opportunity for us to explore things about ourselves, focus on ourselves, maybe rediscover passions that we had that we let go when we didn’t have time. And that’s why. Because it was such a meaningful experience for me, and because I love to travel and hope to do more of it at this stage of life, it made sense for me to focus on that and help other women discover ways that travel could bring new things into their life at this stage.
Katie [7:37]:
Yeah absolutely, to take yourself a little bit out of your day-to-day and put yourself into the magic of travel. I noticed that your website... although your Instagram show you all over the world in all different locations, you in some ways focus on two types of travel; one is solo travel for women, and you also have a lot of content on travel for good.
But let’s start with solo travel because you took that trip to India alone. What is a solo female traveler need to know? What’s a great trip to try for a first-time solo traveler who might be listening to this, who is thinking, I really want that alone time but I’m a little leery of India, where do you recommend that they begin?
Susan [8:20]:
Yeah, so those are great questions. First of all, with the India trip, and this will tie into one of my suggestions, although I went without my family, I was on a group tour. So, I was on a small group tour of 12 of us with a tour guide. And so, you can be an independent traveler and maybe you’re traveling solo because you don’t have a partner or your partner doesn’t want to go where you want to go, or you just want that experience of being on your own. I think small group tours, especially if you want to go somewhere that’s a little more culturally different than where you’re from, like Morocco, India... there are a lot of places. Even in Europe, there are a lot of wonderful trips for women. So, that can be a really great option.
If you actually want to travel on your own, then I think deciding where to go, you know, depends how adventurous you feel. If you’re quite nervous about it, one thing I suggest for people is if you’re going somewhere anyway with your family or friends, tack on a couple of days on your own and the beginning or end of a trip and just explore what it feels like to be on your own. And that can be a nice way to give yourself a bit more confidence that you can navigate a place on your own.
I really love European cities for solo travel because there’s so much to see and do and it’s such an immersive experience and with museums and everything that I feel like that’s something you can do quite happily on your own. I was in Paris on my own for 10 days last fall and it was just a fantastic experience. Paris is a great place to go on your own because Parisians dine alone very often, it’s something that you see. Often times the dining alone part is something that trips us up a little bit. We think, "Well, who am I going to have dinner with?” and that’s going to feel awkward. But since so many Parisians dine alone, I ate on my own every night and was perfectly happy to do it.
And I think listening to your own intuition. What are you craving? If you’re craving a beach holiday where you’re going to be relaxing and not worrying about sightseeing, then fantastic. I think giving ourselves permission to really dream about what we want to do. And then once you know what you want to do, you can kind of reverse engineer it and figure out, can I do that on my own or is that better trip to do with a small group, for example?
Katie [10:45]:
You had me at “Give ourselves permission.” That’s been a theme of this show, I hear this from multiple people about giving ourselves permission to try a new career on for size, give ourselves permission to try something creative, write a book, write a screenplay, learn something new. Give yourself permission to take the trip that helps you explore what it is that you want to focus on. So smart, such great advice.
Susan [11:17]:
One other little tip that I think if you are going somewhere solo, that I do, and I was just in Greece and I was in Athens on my own for three days and I do this all the time. The first night I was there, I joined a walking tour. Because you have a guide that takes you around, they help you orient to the city, you get your bearings a little bit, you get comfortable. And then oftentimes they’ll give you their telephone number as well in case something comes up and you have a question. So, it’s just that little feeling of security. But evening walking tours or guided tours are wonderful because that’s the time that maybe many of us are a little bit less comfortable exploring on our own. And so, I’ll often join a walking tour in the evening. I think that’s helpful.
Katie [12:02]:
Super smart tip. We’re going to be heading into a commercial break, but when we come back, I want to ask you about another solo travel tip that I saw on your Instagram. We’ll be back after this quick break.
[Ad Break]
Katie [13:31]:
So Susan, we’re back after the break. You shared a wonderful tip heading into it that if you’re leery about walking around a strange city by yourself at night, to consider signing up for a walking tour, even if you’re not in that country on a big group tour. Very tactical and smart.
You share so many wonderful tips on your Instagram and on your website. One that caught my eye was how to get photos as a solo traveler. You were saying you were in Paris alone, how are you going to get somebody to take a picture of you in front of the Eiffel Tower? You share some concrete ideas besides just passing your cell phone to somebody to take it. Can you share some of those ideas with our listeners?
Susan [14:13]:
Yeah, so I will pass my phone to strangers. If I really want a photo and I can't get one because I’m not with someone, I’ll look for people who are trying to get a photo of themselves. You know, they’ve got their arm out and they’re trying to get a selfie of their group and I’ll just walk up and say, "Would you like me to take a photo of you?” And then they’ll say, “Oh, yes, please.” And then they’ll reciprocate, and they’ll take a photo of me. So, that can work really well.
I also travel with a little portable tripod that I use, and typically I’ll head out in the morning if I’m in a city because there aren’t as many people around, and the light is always really nice in the morning, so, I’ll be a little more comfortable just setting my tripod up on something and then taking pictures. So, definitely playing around with your phone before your trip, so you get comfortable with the self-timer, is great. If you’re taking pictures of yourself, ideally you have a little tripod, or you can just lean it up against something, but you need to use the self-timer function. And yeah, otherwise, I’ll try to get some on my own, but usually, I’ll ask people. I find that’s the easiest.
The other thing I maybe mentioned is I’ll actually tell people what I want. So, I’ll frame... Because I like photography and I’m a blogger, so I do need these images of social media and my blog, so I’ll kind of scope it out and look through my viewfinder and figure out how I want the picture to look. And then I’ll, sort of, show them and tell them, can you take some sideways and some up and down. So, I think giving people a little direction can be helpful as well.
Katie [15:59]:
Absolutely, give them a lot of direction. I do that to my Instagram boyfriend a lot, who is actually my husband. I’ll say, “This is how I want the picture to look.” So, don’t be afraid to tell people what your expectations are.
So, packing tips. I know that you shared on your website that packing can sometimes feel overwhelming even for a travel pro like you. I always feel overwhelmed when I look at a suitcase. What would be a handful of tips we should consider to make it easy to travel light in this day and age when airlines are charging arm and leg for every extra bag?
Susan [16:38]:
Absolutely, I love this topic and I will tell you; I struggle with packing every time. I really dislike it and it’s a struggle. So, I’ve been picking up some new tips and trying some new things. I do use packing cubes especially if I’m going to be on one of those trips where you’re and unpacking every couple of days, I find packing cubes that essentially function as drawers can be really helpful in staying organized. I won't use packing cubes if I’m going on a beach holiday for a week because then you’re unpacking once into a drawer. You don’t need them.
I think the easiest way to keep your wardrobe to a minimum is to pick a color palette to go with. So, I created a spring capsule wardrobe for Instagram because many people were asking me for capsule wardrobe ideas for travel. So, I created a spring capsule wardrobe that could fit into a carry-on, and the idea was to one week in Europe. I started with a color palette, navy and white because I love navy and white, and I have many items in that color. And then I just added a few scarves, accent pieces, pink as an accent to liven it up a bit. But if you were more into neutrals, you could truly just stick with navy and white. Or you could go with cream and black, or you know, tan and dark brown. But I think starting with a color palette, so most of your things mix and match, and adding in a few accents is really helpful.
The other big thing that I think, Katie, you’re going to probably agree with me here, that most of us run into problems with as women travelers is shoes.
Katie [18:13]:
Yes! [laughs] That was already in my head. You were talking, and I was like, "But what about all the shoes?”
Susan [18:20]:
Right. Shoes are... I think that’s where many of us get hung up. The next time you pack, note how much room your shoes take compared to everything else; shoes take up an enormous amount of room in our bag. So, I would limit any trip to no more than three pairs, and I really don’t care how long you’re going for. Unless maybe you have formal events that you’re attending or something, I don’t think any of us really need more than three pairs of shoes.
Let’s say for warm weather in Europe, for example, where you’re going to be walking a lot. It’s a lot of walking, and it’s hot. I think the key there is starting with a fantastic pair of sandals. They need to be uber comfortable, have good arch support, and be cute enough that they can work with shorts but also with your sundresses and skirts. If you get that pair of sandals right, you’re going to wear them... I was just in Greece recently and I wore the same pair of shoes 80% of the trip, which are sandals that fit that description that I gave you. And then it’s easy to pick two other pairs for accent, maybe one pair of sneakers that you’re going to travel in and one pair that are a little something different for the evening because maybe you don’t want to wear the pair that you’ve been wearing around all day. But I take three pairs of shoes, I just did ten days in Greece with three pairs of shoes, and I’ve gone to Europe for longer. I was there for three weeks and took three pairs of shoes. So, I’m telling you it’s possible. And I love overpacking, but I think getting the shoes right is important.
Katie [19:50]:
Yeah, that’s such great advice. And I agree with the three that you’ve outlined as well. And honestly, the way fashion is right now, women of all ages are wearing little, cute white sneakers with sundresses and jeans. Your shoes can really sort of multitask across different outfits. I myself love Birkenstocks. I think those are so comfortable to walk in, so that can be your sandal.
Susan [20:18]:
Yeah, those would be ideal, a Birkenstock, as your sort of every day, walking around sandals because they’re so comfortable and cute.
Katie [20:26]:
Absolutely. So, let’s talk about travel for good. I know that you on your website call it “travel that matters.” I saw a blog post that you wrote about how we as travelers can empower and support women across the globe. We can support economic empowerment in the places that we visit, and this caught my eye. I wanted to hear your suggestions on how we do that.
Susan [20:53]:
Yeah, I love that topic. You know, tourism makes up almost 10% of the world’s GDP and is very significant in developing countries. An enormous amount of people work in tourism. And increasingly, in places like Asia and Africa, those are women. Women who don’t necessarily have as many opportunities in traditional roles in the workforce are actually finding opportunities in travel and tourism and not just working for other people but also starting their own businesses, starting little hotels, starting restaurants, starting businesses as tour guides.
So, I think if we can make a little effort to find those women, and sometimes a travel agent can help you with this..., and I’m working on resources for my website, I do have the one story where I link to different resources where you can find women tour guides, for example. So, if you make a point, of course, not every restaurant that you go to is going to be owned by women, but I think if you just go with this mindset of, “I know there’s a lot of women working in tourism that I can meet and support,” maybe do a little research before you go and then once you’re there ask around... There’s an incredible opportunity to support women-owned businesses while we travel, and our travel dollars make a huge difference in their livelihoods.
Katie [22:12]:
And what are some other ways we could travel for good?
Susan [22:15]:
Okay. So, I think that making sure that you are... Well, one example would be with hotels. What you want is you want your travel dollars to go to the people in that place as much as possible, women or men, as opposed to big multinational companies that are in the United States or Europe. So, one example would be choosing a locally owned hotel over a hotel owned by...
Katie [22:46]:
Like a Hilton or a big...
Susan [22:49]:
Exactly. So, that’s one example. Another one is sometimes you can hire, so rather than, obviously, if we’re going on an organized tour, many of those tour groups will be owned by American or European companies. But sometimes, there’s an opportunity for a travel agent to book you some accommodations, excursions... I did this when I went to southeast Asia, there was an organization that was based in Asia, and she put me with, she set me up with them, so they were overseeing my activities. They got me a guide, they got me my transportation. So, it’s another example of think about, as much as possible, if your dollars can be going into the pockets of people who are local, then your travel dollars are making a difference in their lives.
The other thing is, I think, just being culturally sensitive. Going with a sense of curiosity and not expecting things to be exactly like they are at home because they’re not going to be. Having a lot of patience and being open-minded about what can I learn about this other culture? And being respectful of their culture and not asking myself the whole time why the place isn’t more like home because we travel to have different experiences and learn about other places in the world. So, I think that mindset can go a long way to making it a more meaningful experience for us but also being travelers that other people enjoy getting to know, and it is sort of an opportunity to learn about each other.
Katie [24:27]:
These are great suggestions. I love the notion of getting to know different cultures in that way. I’m going to add a suggestion. There’s a wonderful travel organization, and it’s something that my daughter actually traveled through. I’m hoping I’m getting the name right, it’s IVHQ, International Volunteer Head Quarters. It’s a travel program that allows anyone, my daughter did it after high school as her gap year, but you could do it as a family, you could do it as a senior citizen, you can travel to countries across the globe, and IVHQ sets you up with volunteer opportunities in those countries. Grace actually volunteered when she was in Tanzania, and she worked with women who had HIV, helping them make jewelry as part of their business.
Susan [25:23]:
That’s fabulous. How fantastic. I hadn’t heard of that; I will make a note of it and add it to that article.
Katie [25:28]:
It’s so great. Because if you just show up in Tanzania and you want to volunteer, it’s sometimes hard to find those opportunities. So, organizations connect you to things, and opportunities across a range of different countries. That’s such a wonderful way of experiencing a culture.
I myself lived in Japan after college, I taught English, and I spent two years in Japan. Obviously, when you’re living and working in a country, I was doing it for two years, and Grace was in Tanzania for a month... it allows you to get connected to the community in a way that you wouldn’t if you were simply a tourist. So, it’s such a wonderful way to experience...
Susan [26:10]:
Yes, I agree, that’s fantastic. You mentioned that made me think of another one. There’s one called Pack for a Purpose, and you can actually go on their website, and depending on where you are going, they work with local charities that always need items, sometimes items that aren’t readily available there. Usually, they can organize fairly easy drop-offs. Just have someone come and pick it up at your hotel. So, you can bring with you, I don’t know, English flash cards for a school, they’ll have lists on their website about what they need.
Katie [26:40]:
Fabulous. I love that. We’re putting that into the show notes. So, Susan, we’re talking about traveling with purpose. It’s a wonderful thing to be doing. Sometimes we just simply travel for fun, all kinds of travel are welcome. This show is at the beginning of August, we still have a few weeks of summer. Any last-minute travel destinations we should have on our list for summer fun?
Susan [27:04]:
That’s such a good question. Well, I’m originally from Canada, so summer for me is all about jumping in lakes. So, I would look at... depending on where you are. A Great Lakes trip, maybe somewhere in Michigan would be really fun, or one of those old lodges in the Adirondacks, that would be my dream summer getaway; early morning canoeing, jumping in the lake, tennis. So, I think something like that would be fun and unique. I think that’s kind of unique to summer in North America. The ocean is available, you can go south to the ocean or to California any time of year, but I think summer is a really nice time to do that kind of lake holiday.
Katie [27:52]:
I love that. Okay, so August will eventually end. We’re looking to fall. Are there any favorite domestic or international trips that are fun to do when the seasons start to change?
Susan [28:06]:
Yes, okay. Well, let’s start with domestic. I love the national parks of the west in the fall. If that is something that is on your bucket list, the summer crowds are gone, and it’s not as hot. I live in Denver, and the west is very hot in the summer. The Utah parks are extremely hot. Even Wyoming can be very hot in the summer. So, I think the fall is a fantastic time, Grand Teton is one of my favorites in Wyoming; it’s absolutely stunning. It’s not huge, so you can see it in just a few days, and if you like upscale food and accommodation, the town of Jackson, which is right next to Grand Teton, is a wonderful place. You could add Yellowstone National Park at the same time if you wanted because they’re next to each other. In the west, I also love Zion National Park in the southwest of Utah, it’s one of my favorites.
And then of course the Northeast in fall, late September and early October to go see the leaves changing. Maine would be beautiful, Acadia National Park if you like to hike. If you like city trips, I would go to New York, my favorite. [Katie laughs] That’s where you live, right?
Katie [29:09]:
Yes, well, I live on Long Island now, but I am originally a New Yorker, and I’m getting back there at some point.
Susan [29:19]:
I’m not a fan of New York necessarily in the summer, it’s just so hot. So, I think the fall is a beautiful time to visit New York or Chicago. And then Europe, if you want to go somewhere international in the fall, fall is my favorite time to go to Europe. I know many people like the spring, but I love late September, I was there for three weeks last year, the last two weeks of September, the first week of October, and it was perfect. I would not go to Europe in the summer, it’s crowded, it’s hot, it’s expensive. In August, all of the locals go on vacation in Europe, so many restaurants and activities and things are closed. So, I think the fall, if you’ve been dreaming of Europe, I think the fall is a fantastic time to go to France, Italy, Greece, Portugal, any of those places.
Katie [30:10]:
Yeah, absolutely. Once you get a little bit older and your kids.... you become empty nesters. I still have a 15-year-old, so we’re still on this school schedule that dictates our vacations. But as you get older, you really have the luxury of heading out and packing up and hopping on a plane on your own calendar, so it makes sense to really take advantage of that.
You mentioned at the top of the show that you are married and that you have two young adult children. What are your recommendations for family travel? How do you get them excited? How do you get them involved? Do you, as the travel pro, pick the trips? Do you pull your kids in to help you decide? Walk us through how we can make a family trip successful and fun for everyone.
Susan [30:58]:
That is a great question because the older they get the more opinions they have about these things and also, the busier they are with their own lives and their own schedules. So, my boys are 18 and 21, and one of our challenges now is just... my older son has graduated from college, so it’s not even his school schedule, but now he’s working. So, I had asked him if he wanted to do a family holiday this summer before he started work, and he just didn’t have time with all of the various things he had going on.
So, I would say 100%, you want to get them involved. They are going to have their own opinions about things, and I think it’s going to be a lot more fun if it’s collaborative. Let’s brainstorm, let’s have some fun, and let’s have a family dinner. Everybody come with one place that you are interested in, and we can talk about it. My kids have very specific ideas about things. My older son is a foodie, so any trip he wants to do, he’s going to want to do food experiences, learn about the local food, and that kind of thing. The younger guy is probably more interested in water-based activities, he likes swimming. So, you kind of want to plan something for everyone.
Once you decide on a destination, I would ask them what they most want to do because you’re not going to be able to do everything for everyone. But at that stage, they’re old enough to understand, "Today we’re doing this because Mom really wants to do it.” So, there’s a little bit of something for everyone. Get them really involved. Maybe some people have very easygoing kids, and they’re happy to just say, “Yeah, I’ll go. You plan it, we’ll be there.” That’s not my family. [both laugh
Katie [32:39]:
I have a feeling that for a lot of people, that’s not their families. People do have opinions. I also think doing trips where there are activities... When we were in Italy as a family, one day, my daughter and I went shopping while my husband took the boys to where they got to pretend that they were Roman gladiators. It was like a gladiator experience. So, we kind of divided and conquered that afternoon, but then we met back up to do family pizza making, which by the way, everybody loved.
Here’s kind of a weird and funny tip for people who’ve got kids who are in the midrange, or perhaps you’re traveling with grandchildren. Do not be afraid to book tour guides that actually are used to working with small children. Because when we went to the Vatican, I hired somebody to be our tour guide who was good about translating the Vatican and its history into language my kids could understand because they ranged from 5 to about 12. But guess what? I was happy to get the 12-year-old version of the Vatican because I was tired and jetlagged and the tour guide, who nominally was there to talk to the kids was actually terrific for us as well. So, work with tour guides that aren’t going to inundate you with facts if you’re there to get a topline, fun overview.
Susan [34:08]:
Absolutely, that is a great tip. The other one that I think is really good with kids is I think it’s important not to, and us as well, I think we can take a lesson from this as well, is not to overschedule every little moment. Everybody needs time to... It’s nice just to walk around and explore a place and have time, "Oh, can we stop for ice cream and just sit on this bridge and watch the people go by?” And be able to say yes instead of no because we need to run to this next activity. Because it can be exhausting traveling like that. So, not planning every minute, I think is important too.
Katie [34:39]:
Yeah, downtime. And plenty of time for gelato and ice cream, I agree.
Susan [34:44]:
And just so that if something, it gives you time to be open to something unexpected that might come up.
Katie [34:51]:
Absolutely. All right, this has been fun. We’re going to be moving into our speed round because our time is coming to a close. This is just so we can cover some more ground and end on a high-energy note. So, there is just one- or two-word answers to a question, okay?
Susan [35:06]:
Okay, I’m ready.
Katie [35:08]:
Let’s do it. Launching Midlife Globetrotter was _____.
Susan [35:13]:
A steep learning curve.
Katie [35:14]:
Nice. Okay, honest answers, we’re here for those. Last country I visited: _____.
Susan [35:20]:
Greece.
Katie [35:21]:
Next destination: _____.
Susan [35:23]:
Canada.
Katie [35:25]:
Where in Canada?
Susan [35:27]:
Well, I’m from Toronto. For the next international, I’ll be going back to Europe in the fall. =
Katie [35:31]:
Nice. Okay, best budget travel hack: _____.
Susan [35:34]:
Ooo... That is a good one... Have a little kitchen in your accommodation, so you don’t have to eat every meal out.
Katie [35:44]:
Yes, perfect. Especially for things like breakfast or feeding small kids, I agree. Favorite travel indulgence worth a splurge: _____.
Susan [35:55]:
A rooftop cocktail with beautiful scenery.
Katie [35:58]:
Nice. Put this underrated destination on your list: _____.
Susan [36:01]:
It’s quite far afield, but in Southeast Asia, I really loved Laos. Many people go to Thailand, and I thought Laos, a small landlocked country in Southeast Asia, was just incredibly magical; wonderful people and beautiful scenery.
Katie [36:19]:
Nice. The country I could return to again and again: ______.
Susan [36:23]:
France.
Katie [36:24]:
Surprise, this super trendy destination disappointed me: _____.
Susan [36:29]:
You know, I like San Francisco, but I don’t love it as much as some other places, and I’m not sure why.
Katie [36:34]:
That’s all right, not everything is for everyone.
Susan [36:38]:
Sorry, San Francisco people. Maybe you just need to email me some tips and suggestions for my next trip.
Katie [36:45]:
Exactly. All right, if you’re listening from San Francisco, DM Susan and tell her things that will help her fall in love with your city.
Susan [36:53]:
Yes, I always answer DMs on Instagram.
Katie [36:56]:
Perfect. On my bucket list: ______
Susan [37:00]:
Ooo, on my bucket list is Africa. I’ve not been to any African country, and that’s my next big dream trip. I have a very close friend who lives in South Africa so I’m hoping to get to South Africa and possibly some other countries in Africa in the next couple of years. I would love to go to Rwanda or Uganda to see the mountain gorillas.
Katie [37:22]:
That’s on my bucket list as well. Okay, last question, your one-word answer to complete this sentence: As I age, I feel _____.
Susan [37:31]:
Invigorated.
Katie [37:33]:
Fantastic. I love this. Of course, you’re invigorated, you’re traveling the globe, and you’re doing what you love. Thank you, Susan. This was a total treat. You’ve gotten me excited. I’m hoping to be in Acadia myself over the summer.
Before we say goodbye, how can my listeners find you and Midlife Globetrotter?
Susan [37:51]:
Yes, I am on Instagram, that’s the social that I’m the most active on, and that is @Midlife.Globetrotter and my website is MidlifeGlobetrotter.com. I’m also on Facebook, and I think it’s @_MidlifeGlobetrotter on Facebook.
Katie [38:08]:
Thank you, Susan. This wraps A Certain Age, a show for women who are aging without apology. Join me next Monday when nutrition and exercise pro Heidi Skolnik shares ideas from her New York Times best-selling book, The Whole Body Reset: Your Weight-Loss Plan for a Flat Belly, Optimum Health & a Body You’ll Love at Midlife and Beyond.
Special thanks to Michael Mancini, who composed and produced our theme music. See you next time, and until then: age boldly, beauties.