“Follow me, Grandma!” The most dangerous words on the ski hill.
“Grandpa, will the story tonight be very scary? I hope so. Can we turn the lights lower?”
“Watch this, Grandma!” Four backward somersaults underwater.
“Try this one, Grandpa!” A bucket of water pouring out and lifting the trap door, permitting the golf ball to sail into the hole. A hole in one!
The wonderful feature available to us as members of RTOERO is the freedom to travel the world and know that we are well covered for medical issues and travel delays. Few can out-travel RTOERO members, who show up on every continent every year. From Lima to Land’s End, Cape Town to Canberra, our members have an insatiable urge to learn and explore.
It has always perplexed me, though, that vacation or time away has to be associated with exotic travel plans and complicated air schedules. The expected response to “Where did you go on your vacation?” is “Somewhere out of the country.” There is a palpable disappointment if the response is “We enjoyed multiple sleepovers with the grandchildren and loved exploring their imaginative worlds for a couple of weeks.”
Many of our members travel the world every year. Many more elect to enjoy the occasional staycation when school is out so they can more deeply connect with family and friends nearer to home. Still others combine the best of both options and elect to share world travel experiences with their families.
Sharon and I love to travel and enjoy exploring the sights and learning other cultural traditions and languages. We also find pure joy in spending quality time, at our home, with our grandchildren, Madeline, Evan and Violet. There is something so special in the intergenerational connections between seniors and their grandchildren.
For RTOERO members, the world awaits. In between those exotic adventures, a staycation with loving grandchildren and family honours yet another beautiful world.
Safe travels,
Jim
