If you follow my blog, you know that one of the topics I blog about is sage-ing or positive aging. One of the main ways to age gracefully is to continue to learn and wisdom comes from processing our life experience. So I am going to share with you in several future posts what I have learned and discovered during the past two weeks.
A year ago, my husband planned a trip to Europe in 2016 to celebrate our 60th birthdays. The first time I had been to Europe (only London and Paris) was for our 40th birthdays. Then we returned to Budapest, Prague, and Vienna to celebrate our 50th birthdays. So we wanted to return for 60. You just never know how many more decades you have left!
For the past two weeks, we have been in France on a river cruise down the Seine River for 10 days with Grand Circle Travel. Then we took the Eurostar through the Chunnel to London to a long weekend to attend a 60th birthday party of some friends from Iowa, but who have lived in London for 30 years. It was a trip of a lifetime in so many ways, but the main way was how much we learned about how we want to live the next phase of life.
We have always been intrigued with river cruises because they tend to be smaller and allow you to go to places where big cruise ships can not go. While we have only taken an Alaskan cruise, this was a smaller boat with about 100 people and Grand Circle has a focus on learning and discovery. We had lectures and discussions before each tour. Then after each daily tour, they would ask us: What did you learn and discover today?
My husband and I discovered that most of the 100 participants on the cruise were members of the “Inner Circle.” This means they have participated on three of more tours with Grand Circle and travel and education were a priority for them. We learned a great deal from the numerous conversations over the course of great French meals on the ship. After much reflection, I will be sharing what I learned.
If traveling is something you are doing or want to do more of, then stay tuned. While I don’t have answers because we are all different, over the next few weeks I will share options that I did not even know existed and you might get some ideas–that is my hope.
What did you learn and discover today?