I’m finally old enough to join the Old Fart Adventure Travel TikTok Crew. 😀
On the road in Singapore.
I’ve had many birthdays on the backpacker trail.
Tam and Les bought me birthday lunch in Little India. We had a robot waiter — though it was too uncoordinated to actually make it to our table. A waiter brought it the last mile.
For decades already I’ve been the oldest person in most hostels. I’ve grown used to the distinction.
Mostly, the kids treat me as a bit of a novelty: How old are you, if you don’t mind me asking?
The collapse of civilization around the world has resulted from massive environmental changes and global disease, which were attributed to large-scale pollution.
… one large family founds an isolated community in an attempt to survive the still-developing global disasters.
As the death toll rises, mainly to disease and nuclear warfare, they discover that the human population left on earth is almost universally infertile.
From cloning experiments … the scientists in the small community theorize that the infertility might be reversed after multiple generations of cloning, and the family begins cloning themselves in an effort to survive.
The assumption is that after a few generations of cloning, the people will be able to revert to traditional biological reproduction. …
What could go wrong?
… only “naturally” produced human in the community, Mark, seeks his own solution to the problem, and by force he leads a group of fertile women and children to abandon the community and start over …
Outsider follows journalist Brett Popplewell as he uncovers the story of Dag Aabye, an aging former stuntman who lived alone inside a school bus on a mountain, running day and night through blizzards and heat waves.
The book chronicles Aabye’s life from childhood to the silver screen, reflecting on our notions of aging, belonging and human accomplishment.
Dag Aabye is often credited the world’s first extreme skier.
His life is extreme, as well.
GREAT ending.
Into the Wild meets Born to Run meets The Stranger in the Woods in a fascinating true story of a marathon-running hermit and a journalist’s quest to solve the mystery at the core of the enigmatic man’s existence
There’s no easier way to make that distance, other than flying.
I paid about CAD$289 for that trip — after some negotiation. Travelling alone, I convinced them that an old man shouldn’t have to share a 2 person room. I got my own.
The boat and trip are minimal, at best. But even the brokest backpackers sign up, all sleeping together in one communal room on floor mattresses.
It’s become one of the classic low budget Indonesian adventures.
In fact, if you were to try to design a ship to be as awkward and difficult as possible for humans over 5 feet tall, I doubt you could make transportation any more troublesome. 😀 HOW MANY TIMES did I hit my head on the poop deck?
No air conditioning on our boat. My fan didn’t work — so I borrowed another from an empty room.
Surprisingly, everyone I spoke with liked the trip. Myself included.
It was fun. Definitely a memorable experience. AND we were all happy we made it in 4 days. At one point the motor stopped working for a few hours. Water in the diesel, we were told.
There is a more expensive luxury alternative. A number of people told me it was not worth the extra. That boat is filled with older, richer complainers, needless to say.
Day 1
The company arranges transport to Kayangan Harbour in Lombok.
Just an hour after boarding you take a small boat over to tiny Kenawa island for sunset.
This was the only place I could legally fly my drone.
Sunrise and sunsets are a big deal on the boat. We had a full moon, as well.
In fact, my favourite moments on the boat were at dawn.
I’d get up at 5am. Drink coffee until the sunrise at about 6am. The moon would set about the same time.
I nearly drowned on first attempt, unable to get my snorkel set-up in open seas with choppy water. I doggy paddled back to the boat — confirming to the kids that this old man probably shouldn’t be on the tour.
I was eldest. Another woman of a certain age enjoyed the voyage. The rest were teenagers, I assume. 😀
Second attempt I put on a life jacket and took only the mask. That worked brilliantly in these conditions. I could get as close to one whale shark as I wished. Magical.
About noon the activity was to jump from the boat — and try to get back to the ladder before the current whisked you out to great blue beyond. Needless to say, I skipped that one.
The longest sailing stretch began here. Went all night.
Pink Beach was next. I managed to lose the lifejacket. And get snorkelling for real.
The beach is tinted pink from some nearby pink coral.
I didn’t have any underwater camera, but many others on my trip did. Most just used their phone in a waterproof sleeve.
Though I fear the ocean, I do love snorkelling. It helped that I had a terrific, modern snorkel.
They have rules in Indonesia — but most are universally ignored.
No drones in National Parks is respected, however.
About an hour sailing later we stopped at famed Padar Island. One of the most iconic photo spots in Indonesia. Even more memorable for the pounding rain!
I skipped the last night party top deck. These broke travellers sure spend a lot of money on beer. 😀
Day 4
The final day.
First we stopped to snorkel at Majarinte island. Looking for sea turtles.
We saw plenty of baby blacktip reef sharks. So majestic, even at a young age.
The trip ends at Labuan Bajo, former fishing village, today a luxury stop for Komodo National Park sailing tours as well as scuba diving. There are 13 five-star hotels here!
Komodo Airport is only 3 km from the centre of town. I flew from here BACK to Java.
In Canada, average life expectancy at birth is about 81.7 years. Women live longer than men, on average.
As you get older, that number increases. For example, as a 67-year-old man in Canada, it’s predicted I’ll live to be 85-87 years.
We all need to plan and budget for a comfortable life through to the inevitable end. So I need a plan for about another 20 years.
My parents lived to ages 94 and 96.
Some use the term healthspan to sum up Healthy life expectancy (HALE), the average number of years that a person can expect to live in “full health“.
At age-67 … I still feel fully healthy. There’s nothing I can’t do today due to health limitations.
Japan has the highest HALE at less than age-75. Lesotho the lowest.
Surprisingly low are the USA, UAE, and Qatar.
Canada is NOT up with the healthiest, either.
So … we all need to plan and budget for a comfortable life once our health is failing. IF your nation has good public healthcare, costs could be lower for this phase of our lives.
Wearables MIGHT help. I’m not using my Apple Watch for any health reasons. Yet.
Warmer temperatures and longer growing seasons are causing plants to produce more pollen, and this increased pollen load is contributing to longer and more intense allergy seasons.
Rick McCharles 