Agree. I met DH through OLD in my early 40s. We are now nearly mid-50s. He is more outdoorsy than me and runs, but I've always liked walking and independent travel.
We did lots of amazing backpacking adventures all over the world in our 40s together, and they weren't cheap. We generally stayed in local mid range hotels and small guesthouses and ate out in local restaurants. We did hikes in amazing places with incredible scenery.
But we travelled independently on public transport, organised our own itineraries and carried minimal stuff in a small backpack each, hand washing our clothes in hotel rooms.
We look back really fondly on those trips. It was a choice, not a consequence of being unable to fund a better lifestyle. For us, this was better.
The reason we have stopped is to try and save more as they were getting expensive, and we have been considering the environmental impact of flying .
We used to spend around £6000 on a 19-day trip like this, both in Asia and Europe. Looking at prices these days, what we did would cost more like £9000.
The past few years, we have been doing hiking trips in the UK. We bought a tiny micro caravan for this purpose. Neither of us would like tent camping. We need more comfort, a proper bed, and a toilet. At our age it is really good for our health. And it means we can go away more regularly. But in the evening after a day's walking, we like to snuggle up in comfort and watch Netflix together and relax.
Our worst nightmare would be a cruise or an all-inclusive beach holiday. We have professional jobs, and a good joint income could afford to go on one. We just wouldn't as they are not our kind of thing.
His outdoorsy mindset has been good for me, I've done things I wouldn't have otherwise considered, and it keeps me active. And he says he has travelled to places he wouldn't have been sure about going to independently.
He would do longer hikes than I could manage, and I push myself a bit more than I would otherwise. But overall, we compromise and stick to something I feel won't completely exhaust me, but that he feels worthwhile.