60 Before 60 Project: #59 - Go on a Mediterranean Cruise
Ever since I can remember, the thought of cruising the Mediterranean always seemed so exotic. The idea of being able to visit multiple cities in Europe while being shuttled on a luxurious floating hotel that provided food and entertainment always seemed like the ultimate trip.
So while planning our trip to Spain for my epic 60 before 60 final adventure, we thought we would include a cruise.
The cruise we selected was relatively short – just five days long. It was departing from Barcelona, Spain with stops in Marseille, France and Genoa, Italy. We also were going on a cruise line that we had never taken before. This cruise line typically attracted a more European clientele rather than North Amercian so we thought that the additional cultural experience might also be interesting.
The ship we were on was massive and able to accommodate about 5,000 passengers. It had an extensive list of onboard activities. There was a waterpark, zipline, bowling alley, casino, gym plus multiple entertainment options.
The nightly entertainment was also substancial – from major productions in the theatre to musicians and singers in the multiple lounges and bars across the ship. You never had to look far to find something to keep you entertained.
I would love to say that this cruise was amazing and exceeded my expectations, but unfortunately, fate played us a different card. My husband unfortunately fell ill after the first day which caused us to spend two days in our cabin while he recovered.
Not quite the Mediterranean cruise experience you see in the brochures.
But that’s life. You can plan and imagine all you want of how things are supposed to go but then life can throw you a curve ball.
As I sat with my ill husband in our cabin, I couldn’t help but think about our retirement plans. Travel definitely played a major component in what we were hoping to do but I realized that we needed to be in decent health in order to realize these dreams.
Sitting in this dark cabin as my husband slept, I thought about the reports and studies I had read about longevity. Even though we were extending our lifespans, our healthspans were not improving.
For instance, in report published by McKinsey Health, they shared that since 1960 our longevity has increased from 54 years to 73 years in 2019. However, the proportion of time spent in poor or moderate health has not changed. Also, as published in the Edward-Jones / Age Wave study, “The average Canadian spends the last 11 years of life with their activities at least partially—and often seriously—curtailed by illness, injury, or cognitive decline.”.
Travelling can be physically demanding.
When you’re travelling, you are packing and moving around luggage, walking long distances through airports and depending on where you’re going potentially losing sleep and adjusting to different time zones. While away, your food and sleep habits also tend to become less structured which can also cause some challenges.
I realized that if I wanted to realize our dream for travel later in life, I needed to be in good physical condition and decided right then that this will be by next area of focus. To get in the best physical and mental health I possibly could to try and extend my abilities to the longest time possible.
I also recognized that if we did want to travel, we needed to do it sooner rather than later. Because later may not necessarily be an option.
This definitely wasn’t the expected outcome that I was hoping to have on this cruise but who knows, it may turn out to be the best thing for my future travel plans.
