Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Flip

1 2 3

Original poster

To ask if anymore has experienced starting to worry about travelling longer distances after age 40?

56 replies

Changeshappen11 · 14/07/2019 01:56

This may sound strange but just wondering if anyone has experienced this. Very early 40’s and finding myself not wanting to travel too far to go on holiday - ie uk would be fine or somewhere in Europe a few hours flight away but for some reason I’m feeling worried at the thought of going on anything over a 5 hour flight ie further afield such as the States. Also the fact that it’s further from home. When I was younger this didn’t bother me and I would happily go a long haul if I got the chance. Anyone else experience worry,as they have got older, about the thought of going somewhere much further away, and going on a much longer flight?

OP posts:

HennyPennyHorror · 14/07/2019 02:01

Are you anxious in general? I've experienced the opposite to be honest. I'm 46 and it wasn't until I was over 40 that I flew alone....I've flown internally in Australia (I'm from the UK) and alone back to the UK.

I feel much less afraid than I did in my 20s and 30s!

puffylovett · 14/07/2019 02:17

Yes, me. I do sometimes feel it’s irrational! But I also hate getting in the car for long journeys, even just an hour to Manchester in the motorway can bring me out in a worry!

6triesbuttingout · 14/07/2019 02:22

Have you got children?

MooseBeTimeForSummer · 14/07/2019 02:27

Moved to Canada 8 years ago in my late 30s. We now have two homes 8.5 hours drive apart. I do it by myself regularly.

Original poster

Changeshappen11 · 14/07/2019 02:35

I have a bit of anxiety in general but never really experienced it regarding travelling.
Sorry, I also should have explained that I didn’t mean specifically on my own. I could be going away with my partner and the thought of a long flight or long distance away gets me feeling a bit anxious

OP posts:

curlykaren · 14/07/2019 02:39

Nope, not experienced that at all. I'm nearly 50 and a couple of years ago took my (then) 7 yr old and my Mum on a massive road trip up the Baja peninsula, accompanied by nothing more than google maps. Would do it again tomorrow at the drop of a hat.

lavenderbluedilly · 14/07/2019 02:42

Yes, I’m the same! I can’t explain it either - but I now dread holidays that are further afield, despite being in good health and having a teenager who loves travelling.

We still do long haul trips and I enjoy them once we arrive, but I tend to feel a lot more apprehensive about them now.

ltk · 14/07/2019 02:52

It doesn't make me anxious, but I do find longhaul more uncomfortable now. Still worth it to me though!

expat101 · 14/07/2019 03:18

It never bothered me until I was in Paris in 2016 and they had the ''protests'' (riots) which paralysed the City. I can barely speak French and a tour I was on ended a couple of klms away from the entrance/meeting point.

Fortunately, I eventually found the metro and when I came up to try and find my way to my hotel, armed (what appeared) riot police were at each exit point. Lots of smoke in the air with bins etc still on fire.

That scared me to be so far away from home, I felt very isolated and vulnerable. But I have travelled internationally since so it hasn't stopped me, but its been a consideration for my personal safety and wellbeing.

ajandjjmum · 14/07/2019 03:35

We do think about where we travel from a current security perspective, but having just started to ease in to retirement, our plan is to travel until we hit our 70's and see as much of the world as possible. Money and health permitting!

Mintjulia · 14/07/2019 05:02

I know what you mean OP. I used to travel for my job, every month, long haul.

This year I’d planned to take ds abroad for first time, after 5 years holidaying in the UK.

But the thought of flying with a 10yo, Gatwick, parking, currency, Brexit, terrorism etc put me off. My old confidence has gone. Or France by ferry, will the car break down.

I know I’m being feeble but holidays are meant to be fun, not stress ridden.
So I compromised and we’re flying to the Channel Islands via Southampton, no need for currency exchange, they aren’t in the EU, taxi to the airport so no faffing with parking.
I’ll be brave and do Italy or Sweden next year

Doublevodka · 14/07/2019 05:33

Yes OP, I feel exactly the same as you and I'm not sure why. I used to be really adventurous when it came to travel and now I'm the complete opposite. I have no idea why. I wonder if it's something to do with losing confidence in general as I get older.

AngryFeminist · 14/07/2019 06:30

I have lived in various East and South Asian countries for work - regular uprooting, new city-navigating and crash-course language learning, with plenty of backpacking on a shoestring type holidays.

Moved home to London and had a child, then finally decided where we were settling for good in the UK - new city but compact, manageable, very friendly. I found myself worrying about getting the bloody bus because I would need exact change and the timetables looked tricky. Age has done something to me!

lazylinguist · 14/07/2019 06:33

No, not at all. I've hardly been on any long flights, as I've only been outvof Europe a couple of times, but I'd love to if I could afford it, and would be fine about long journeys and being a long way from home.

Butchyrestingface · 14/07/2019 06:35

I’m 40. Not... quite... dead... yet.

Have passport, will travel.

Original poster

Changeshappen11 · 14/07/2019 08:01

Thanks for all the replies so far. I can see a few folk feel the same way too and can’t explain it either. I think it is something to do with getting older and thinking too much about what could go wrong perhaps?

OP posts:

ExpletiveDelighted · 14/07/2019 08:11

Yes, I travelled quite happily when I was younger, now I worry more. I think its a sign of a more general anxiety, I home in on horror stories in the news of people getting into difficulties abroad and finding they aren't covered by their travel insurance, worry about flight delays, crowds at airports etc. Also feel really guilty about the environmental impact of flying.

nettie434 · 14/07/2019 08:24

Yes! This is me and I’m glad I’m not the only one. It’s not that I don’t enjoy things when I get there but....

I actually also find flying increasingly uncomfortable now too. I hate the hanging around and being herded about. And the discomfort. Again, I do it because I have to.

I really admire all those people in their 70s travelling solo to the rain forests of Borneo or climbing Mount Khuiten etc.

Greenteandchives · 14/07/2019 08:29

I’ The opposite, OP. In my 60s I now have the time and money to do more adventurous long haul off the beaten track type holidays. The edgier the better. Our philosophy is, it’s now or never, and if our number is up and something awful happens, no one is depending on us at home. I don’t want to sit at home and wish I had been places and seen thing. I want to do it while I still can.

LadyTiredWinterBottom2 · 14/07/2019 08:30

Yes me. I've never been worried about flying. We went to NY for my 40th, there was a bit if turbulence and l left bruises on my DH arm...!! I have worrying thoughts too. But l have too much wanderlust for it to stop me.

tunnocksreturns2019 · 14/07/2019 08:32

Absolute opposite. The worst has already happened to me. More than happy to do All The Things; life is short.

ExpletiveDelighted · 14/07/2019 08:35

I think it might get easier when my DCs are older. I remember missing a connection half way around the world on my own in my 20s, I just dealt with it. The thought of the same happening with two DCs, one of whom is autistic makes me shudder.

notacooldad · 14/07/2019 08:36

No, I e gone the other way. I've more money than when I was younger and have more free time than DP so travel a lot both by myself and with friends to a lit of places a lot of holiday makers from the uk dont go to.

drspouse · 14/07/2019 08:36

I’m 40. Not... quite... dead... yet.
I'm now in my 50s and 3 years ago I started working with a team that are a 13 hour (ish, I lost track) flight away. If I said "oh, I don't fancy it, I'm over 40" I'd be laughed out of a job (though TBF if I said that long flights make me anxious I'd be offered help).

RandomNameChange415 · 14/07/2019 08:39

Travelling is so much easier nowadays than it was in my twenties thanks to the Internet. I wouldn’t think twice about leaping on a plane to Singapore or Costa Rica or Madagascar. However with age and job-related experience has come a greater awareness of the risks in some areas of the world, so I’d be hesitant about travelling to some more volatile places that I’d have been fine with back in my youth (some because they’ve changed for the worse, some because I’m now more aware of the risks)

Flip

1 2 3