Get back on the road! The borders are opening again

By Brian Crisp

I always thought 60 was old.
When my dad, a coal miner, was 60 he was old. At least he seemed old to me. Not just old in the body after years of heavy lifting, but also old in the mind.
He didn’t want to travel. His world happened in a 10-kilometre radius of where he slept. He had a very impressive veg garden, played bowls twice a week often winning a meat tray, and shopped at the local Coles.

Same old, same old

He and mum – John and Grace – ate the same home-cooked meals on the same day every week. Sundays always was a roast. Saturdays steak, chips, eggs and peas.
He was content. Happy. He moved twice in his last 45 years. The first time he moved 1.5 kilometres from Albion Park Rail to Albion Park. The second time he moved 400 metres.
That’s not me.
I turned 60 last Christmas. Although I no longer go to work every day, I’m still busy as a writer-for-hire, a gigging musician, and spend my days looking for the next adventure.
Three years ago I retired from News Corp after 30 years, packed up the house and my in-laws, and moved to Scotland. We had a ball until Covid-19 curtailed our travels. Scotland, and the rest of the UK, shutdown.

We watched enviously the freedoms everyone had in Australia and reluctantly made the decision to return home to the Gold Coast.
It cost us a small fortune. We took a house load of furniture to Scotland, and then brought it all – plus some – back with us. We sold two houses and bought another. I can’t bring myself to add up what we paid in real estate agent fees, solicitor fees, and removalist fees.
But it was worth every penny and I have no regrets.

Borders are opening

Is that my last move Or big trip? No. Hopefully not.
Every generation is different. I think Boomers, like me, want so much now because we actually did so little as younger people.
Sure we got to play outside, ride our bikes from one town to the next, and listen to the best music ever written, but that was it. There were very few of today’s big ticket activities.
Our family went on holidays once a year. Most years we would drive from Albion Park Rail to Burleigh Heads on Christmas Day after lunch for two weeks in the Queensland sun.

Mum and dad booked the same flat, next to the same people (the Hoggs from West Wallsend in Newcastle), every year. We would swim in Tallebudgera Creek, run around all day, eat exactly the same meals we would at home before passing out at night from exhaustion.

It was awesome, but there wasn’t much to it. Each day was the same.
Now, research shows Boomers get edgy if they don’t have three holidays on their “to-do” list – even in these challenging post-Covid days, especially now that the borders are opening.
Companies like Scenic, APT, TripADeal and Luxury Escapes are kept floating by Boomers spending every spare cent on travel. None of us want to sit still for too long. We want to cross countries off our list. We want to explore places like Sri Lanka, The Maldives, India and Vietnam.
I’ve visited 67 countries so far in my life. And now that our borders are opening up again, I’m ready to explore 68, 69 and 70.
Let the fun begin Again.

(25 March 2022)