Anyone else finding travel harder the older you get?

[menopausalminnie1]

Just back from a long haul trip. Had a wonderful time, but really struggled with some aspects of the trip. For context, I'm 55, menopausal, and I ache A LOT.

We had to go from Heathrow, which is HUGE. I found the sheer amount of walking required to be quite difficult, as my back kills me, and I was lugging a heavy suitcase and a backpack. Don't get me wrong, I did manage it, but it felt exhausting.

We also struggled a bit with the self check in pods and trying to figure out where on earth to drop our bags after that. Nothing seemed to be well signposted or obvious.

On a day to day basis, I feel quite young, but on this trip I felt a bit concerned about whether we were going to manage long haul travel 10 years from now, which is a worry, as we plan to travel a lot in retirement.

Anyone else?

Not harder, but more bothersome.
Gives me very little, so I do it very little.

The tour details usually tell you if there’s a lot of walking involved and whether it’s suitable for people with mobility issues.

How come you have that much annual leave? If you work in a school and did that in school summer holidays, you need to tell me your secret because that kind of trip without any rest during the summer holidays would just about finish me off. 😩

Same question to you - are you using all your annual leave up to do that or are you teachers?

@CurlyhairedAssassin It's called being retired!

60’s Go Go Go
70’s Slow Slow Slow
80’s No No No

I’m 65 but a bit disabled. I always book assistance at airports. I’m obsessed with luggage and constantly on the search for the best travel options.

I hadn't travelled by plane for about a decade. Bloody hell, things have changed. What I found difficult were the sheer volume of people and the number of queues. When I went, there were queues for queues! Honestly, it was jammed packed, we actually got stuck on one side of the hall (before security) to get to the other side because there was a huge bottleneck of people queuing to get to the security queue.

I just remember thinking that if the fire alarm goes off, there's going to be pandemonium.

Ah, I think that's the difference maybe. I am very much looking forward to being able to travel when I'm no longer working full time and am not already knackered before I've even got to the airport.

We were still making long haul, fairly active trips prior to my OH's death at the start of Lockdown 1, no Covid connection, and we were in our 70s. We simplified the trip a lot by flying via Schiphol from our little local airport, much less walking around and we could be from wheels down to home in less than an hour! Factoring in driving down to Heathrow or Gatwick, possibly an overnight hotel, parking costs etc it worked out far cheaper and less time, the US staff used to find it a bit odd, especially when we said that we flew over our house to Amsterdam then came back.

What planes/wheelie are you using? I've never seen a wheelie bag fit under a seat 🫤

Yes I do, more the being cooped up, too hot, waiting around as I'm a fidget!

My Dad well into his 70s had no issue with a backpack, sleeping in airports, buses etc.

We did that kind of trip a few times when still at the chalkface, I recall a delayed return flight which meant that I phoned a colleague who picked me up from the railway station nearest to school travelling from the airport and I went straight into a training day! I think I spent a lot of time snoozing on the back row. The 'secret' maybe is that we were a bit younger, 50s probably.

At one time Schiphol was referred to as London's 3rd airport for long haul!

OP yes menopause can bring on aches but not often to the point you seem to be suffering.

'I think it's the sheer size of some airports that I find exhausting. Heathrow is colossal. Obviously it's fine if you are young and fit, and it's fine if you get assistance, but what about all the other people, that are somewhere in between? The amount of walking was insane!'

This comment in particular has me concerned fit your overall health. Heathrow is not 'colossal' abs ffs walking is not 'insane'. If you think it is then this sounds like you do very little movement in your day to day life. Regular exercise whilst not always easy will make a difference to your menopause pain. You may have to work around certain areas when they are especially bad but at 55 you should not be finding Heathrow colossal or require insane levels of walking. Might you consider your lack of fitness is the major problem here?

It isn’t. I’m 60 and this year I did several trips - long distance train, plane, mini bus. None of it exhausted me.

For us, it's the sheer busy-ness, crowdedness, etc., i.e. too many people, that gets us. Right from leaving home, roads are congested, the transfer bus from the car park to the terminal is full and standing, huge queues and baggage drop, huge queues in the security hall, queues for shops, drinks and food, crowded departure lounge areas, queues for boarding, queues for the toilets, when you get there, queues for immigration/passport control, congestion in the baggage reclaim, queues at the car hire desks. It's such a relief to actually get to your accommodation, as long as there isn't a queue at reception. Then queues and congestion at breakfast the next morning. Not enough sun loungers round the pool. Day out to the water park and there's a sodding queue for the plastic doughnuts (not enough of them), then you're queueing for every ride. It just goes on and on.

It's awful really. Everything is cramped and crowded, too many people, never enough staff, nothing is big enough for the number of people they're crowding in.

Never used to be so bad. We started going abroad in the 1980s and it was sheer bliss. Airports were far more pleasant places - never as many people, barely any queues, shopping, eating & drinking were a pleasure - not having to muscle and nudge your way through hoards of people. More leg room on planes meaning fewer people. Hotels had more staff, hardly ever queues, dining rooms of a sensible size in proportion to hotel size, plenty of sun beds, etc.

It's definitely a "people" problem, ie the number of passengers/holiday makers has increased massively, mostly due to population increase, but roads, airport facilities, hotels, etc., havn't grown in proportion and most have now adopted the "pile em in" mentality. It's just not pleasurable anymore. Too many people everywhere.

I've always found travel hard. It's tiring and stressful. It's harder for those of us who can't just sleep anywhere at any time or who can't sleep on our backs. As we get older having the right kind of mattress becomes important, we get tired more easily and are less flexible and not everyone has more money when they're older to get better quality transport and accommodation options.
I think what you're feeling is quite normal.

I’m 55 and just about to go in my 8th foreign trip this year, I absolutely love travelling.

Retirement age for people my age is 67 or 68, noy 60.

Also because many countries got richer in the last decade or so and can now afford to travel.

Doing ok? That’s nuts. First, no you aren’t if it’s purely menopause that made that trip hard. Second - what business is it of your GP to deny you medical care because he/she doesn’t think you are suffering enough?

I'm late 50s and like many here I'm wondering about your general health, and also whether you suffer from anxiety that may have made you physically tense and may even have affected your ability to see and/ or take in information from signage in the airport.

Too hot? I find airport, planes and trains so cold!

Why do some GPs gatekeep HRT from women who'd clearly benefit from it??

There is no ‘other side’. It’s a hormone deficiency condition. You need those hormones to function properly.