We are 85 and have been best friends for the past 25 years. Known as the “Traveling Nanas,” our adventures together have taken us to 53 countries, and we have no plans to stop anytime soon.
Whether we’re exploring caves in Slovenia, taking a boat along the Spree River in Germany, or witnessing the beautiful waterfalls in Iceland, seeing the world together — usually in our matching T-shirts — has been one of the greatest thrills of our friendship.
Even though we’re in our 80s, we’re not slowing down — plus, we’re not even breaking the bank.
We love showing others that adventure has no age limit
Twenty years ago, we met while on an international trip to Zambia, and after bonding over the grief of losing our husbands, we became friends and discovered a shared curiosity about the world and a willingness to say “yes” to adventure.
So, after visiting several countries together, we decided in 2023 to embark on an ambitious journey: going around the world in 80 days in our 80s.
In those 80 days, we visited all seven continents, 18 countries, and multiple wonders of the world. We rode a husky sled in Finland, took a hot-air balloon in Egypt, flew over Mount Everest, and went on a spontaneous trip to Argentina.
Throughout this 80-day adventure, we learned to adapt to the unexpected and discovered a lot about each other — namely, that one of us is the “sweet” one and the other is the “spicy” one.
Sandy opens her arms to people wherever she goes and has taught Ellie to do the same. In turn, Ellie has encouraged Sandy to step outside her comfort zone and say yes to every adventure.
We weren’t looking for fame, but after posting about our travels online, we gained a following and caught attention from people around the world.
Since then, we’ve written a book about our experiences and have even taken our grandchildren on several trips — encouraging the next generation to experience the world as well.
Despite our love of travel, we still take our age into account when planning these adventures. Even though we have a lot of energy, we’ve learned that traveling on our own — instead of joining larger group tours — works best for us, since it lets us go at our own pace and take in all the sights without worrying about keeping up with other people.
However, we typically don’t make time to rest, since we prefer packed itineraries and early bedtimes over daytime naps.
For us, seeing the world as retirees doesn’t need to be costly
Because these adventures are so important to us, we knew we needed to plan carefully to cover the cost of these trips, given that we are both retired.
We’ve chosen to spend our money on travel instead of new cars and other luxuries. Because we own our homes and our retirement income covers all the other everyday expenses, we’re able to use our savings to pay for our trips.
Plus, we’ve also earned an income from social media and book sales, which has helped us fund more adventures.
Luckily, we’ve both been big savers for most of our lives, but once we started traveling together more frequently, we became even more frugal and intentional about spending. For example, we like to save on hotel accommodations, transportation, and food.
One of our favorite places we’ve stayed at is the Royal Pyramids Inn in Giza, located in the Cairo metropolitan area, which was only $12 a night. Not only was the price incredible, but we got a great value for our stay. We’ll never forget sitting on the rooftop of the inn with a nice cup of tea while watching the light show over the pyramids.
Another perk about traveling in our 80s is the ability to qualify for some senior discounts, including at museums, on trains, and on ferries.
And even though it can be enticing to collect souvenirs at each destination, we rarely buy any — since we’d rather spend our money on riding camels in a Syrian desert or fishing for piranhas in the Amazon River.
But our one spot where we love to splurge is on excursions that create the most incredible memories — whether that’s snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef, going on a “Happy Swing” in Bali, or hiking on Easter Island. These moments are what keep us going and are absolutely priceless.
We’re not stopping anytime soon
We plan to keep going on adventures for as long as we can. In February, we’re headed to Southeast Asia to visit more countries on our bucket list.
Since our around-the-world trip, we’ve been exploring one continent at a time, spending about 30 days on each journey.
Overall, traveling together has taught us that adventure has no age limit, and we can’t wait to see what’s next.
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