The problem that older folk face if they want to undertake year-long tours is that most services are aimed at youngsters taking a gap year. So, although we may be reasonably fit and strong, we are not well-suited to lying on ground sheets in cold tents, climbing mountains with a heavy rucksack nor clubbing in seedy urban settings. We may have done these things thirty or forty years ago, but we know that trying them again will probably lead to expensive, foreign hospital treatment.
So our planning for this year's tour through north and south America includes:
- establishing a firm financial basis so that we know we can survive without resorting to squatting, begging and - even worse - going back to regular work!
- identifying the most practical means of transport: we are drawn to the idea of buying a second hand motor home in Vancouver, driving around Canada and the USA before selling it off, taking thye coach around Mexico, flying to Rio, coach to Iguacu and Bunos Aires, fly to Lima and walk the Inca trail.
- taking out health insurance - just in case our careful planning fails to avoid expensive, foreign hospital treatment
