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Discovering The Mature Lifestyle

Don’t let hearing loss inhibit your travels Column inside

Adventures & Travel

December 14, 2017

December Issue

35 countries in 20 years Richfield woman is still traveling By SUE WEBBER Contributing Writer

Kay Nelson of Richfield has traveled to 35 countries in the last 20 years. “I’ve had so man y e xciting trips,” Nelson said. “I feel lik e the luckiest person in the world.” She gr ew up in P arker’s Pr airie, Minnesota, and w as on the way to Minneapolis two days after graduating from high school. She w orked f or Prudential Insurance Co., raised two children alone, enjo yed m usic and singing. Twelve years of night school at Normandale Comm unity College and Metr o State University came la ter, with Nelson finally graduating in 2001. “I loved it,” said Nelson, w ho studied human services , writing and sociology. Nelson, now 74, retired at 62. Her traveling, now amounting to two big trips a y ear, has constituted a master’ s degr ee, she said. She’s been to India, Costa Rica, Iceland, My anmar, the Holy Land, Egypt, J ordan, and Morocco. “The first trip w as to England,” Nelson said. “I w ent b y myself on a Trafalgar tour. Most of the time I go alone , or with a group. I’ve traveled with friends seven times . I’m an e xtrovert. I always figure there will be someone I will get along with. I’ve met just some wonderful people.” At one point, Nelson hosted a foreign exchange student her e, so it was natural to take a trip to visit her. “India w as quite an amazing trip,” Nelson said. “ A gr oup of 12 of us w ent from church,” she said. “We went on a tiger hunt, riding on elephants; ther e w ere four people on each elephant.” She also enjoyed a trip to Nepal and Kathmandu. On a trip to Scandinavia, Nelson found herself in Stockholm at the same time Princess V ic-

toria w as being married, w hich meant a lot to Nelson since she’s half Swedish. “We were told w e couldn’t do the tours, but somehow I ended up along the par ade r oute and got to see the bride and gr oom in their carria ge,” Nelson said. “I never, ever, ever thought I’d be standing at a royal wedding.” Other highlights of her travels include riding camels in Egypt, Jordan and Morocco, swimming in the salty w ater of the Dead Sea, and riding in a hot air balloon in T urkeyy f or w hich she

she has seen. “I w ean it to 300 pictures for a video , and then I find m usic to go with it, ” said Nelson, w ho does photo graphy as a hobby, but depends on some technical help to put the D VDs together. “I used to keep a scrapbook for my aunt, w ho couldn’t travel.” Nelson gr ew up as an onl y child. Her par ents were children of immigrants. “My dad w as 47 when I was born,” she said. “He was in World War I.” She recalls loving music when she w as a child, and pla ying piano and or gan. She also r emembers w anting to tr avel. “I had an aunt w ho w as a libr arian,” Nelson said. “She sent me

PPHOTOS: Morocco was Kay Nelson’s location here.

left at 5 a.m. and w as in one of 100 balloons. Celebratory champagne and T -shirts followed the ride. “I’m very lucky,” she said. She took a 2014 trip to the Sahara Desert in Mor occo with a gr oup of 13 people on a trip arranged by Overseas Adventure Travels (O AT). They arri ved in time for Eid al-Adha (Festival of Sacrifice). Nelson has gi ven Ar m Chair Traveler pr esentations f or the Minneapolis Comm unity Education Department, including four or five presentations at Hosmer Library. She has made DVDs from the photos she collects on her trips , so she can show her friends what

books, and that stirred my interest more.” Prior to r etiring in J une 2005, Nelson w as an emplo yee for 13 years at the Alzheimer’s Association Minnesota-North Dak ota Chapter and w as the Helpline/ Safe Return manager. She then took a part-time job a t Staywell Health Management as a behavior change health coach and r etired again in 2008. THE NEXT ADVENTURE Now w aiting f or a ne w passport, Nelson has planned a trip to South America f or spring 2018, including Rio de J aneiro and Buenos Aires. “I’ve had two knees replaced and one hip , but

as a long as I can go , I will, ” she s said. Nelson said she is a “light packer” w hen she tr avels, p though she al ways tak es t three pairs of good w alking t shoes. “I don ’t take an ums brella,” she said. “If I need b one, o I can al ways get one wherever I’m going.” w When Nelson first started traveling, she said, “I thought it would be scary. But once I get to where I’m going, I don’t give it a thought. I have never felt frightened.” She thinks more people should travel, perha ps starting with a bus tour. “When you travel, you find tha t people all w ant to be clean, want to be r espected, and want to eat,” she said. Nelson pr efers trips of 9-15 days in length, though the trip to South America was 15 days, she said. “I always take pictures of the food,” she said. “We had herring for breakfast in Sweden.” She r ecalls riding an ele vator in T urkey with a man and his

son about two years ago. “They asked w here I w as fr om, and I told them I li ve in Minnesota, ” Nelson said. “Oh, Minnea polis. Prince. I’m so sorry Prince died,” the man said. When she isn ’t tr aveling, Nelson is always busy. She has been in the choir at Hennepin Avenue Methodist Chur ch for 45 y ears, and is a member of Read- A-Story Theater in Richfield, plus being a member of two book clubs, and a member of the boar d for senior acti vities a t Richfield Community Center , w here she does aerobics three times a week. She also w orks with a grief and loss support gr oup a t the Animal Humane Society . The group meets a t 7 p .m. e very Monday night in Golden V alley. “Five or six of us facilita te the group,” said Nelson, who owns a cat that she entrusts to the Humane Society for boarding when she tr avels. “We each do a cer tain month. I do September and May.” Nelson has thr ee gr andsons and one great-grandson.

December 2017

Discovering The Mature Lifestyle December 14, 2017

Lions, the Great Wall, snorkeling in the Galapagos are trip highlights By SUE WEBBER Contributing Writer

Growing up in South Dakota, Anne Darna y remembers her famil y’s annual trip to Minnea polis. They also w ent to the Black Hills f or a w eek once every year, she said. Her goal gr owing up “was to get to Minnea polis so I could get a good job and be successful, � Darnay said. She got a master’ s degree in ma th a t South Dakota Sta te. “I arri ved in Minneapolis at the a ge of 28, got a job , and took off,� Darnay said. “I loved the human contact.� Fast f orward to w hen she w as 45. “I v entured out a little bit and started taking cruises ,� she said. “I w ent to Ital y b y m yself f or tw o w eeks. I had opportunities to go with friends to Spain and Bavaria.� Her real adventures began when she was 53, Darnay said. “I sold my house and all m y furnitur e, and I quit m y job ,� she said. “I bought a 34-f oot motor home and w ent crosscountry for 18 months b y myself. It w as a r emark-

able journey.� She drove to Florida in the R V in J anuary, and spent m uch of her time there. Then she tr aveled to the Carolinas and eventually spent tw o months at Esalen Institute in Big Sur , Calif ornia, on a work/study pr ogram. The Esalen Institute is a nonprofit r etreat center and intentional comm unity which focuses on humanistic alternative education. Then the Minnetonka resident r eturned to Minnesota f or tw o w eeks in the summer. She w orked another y ear bef ore r etiring, though she no w spends three months a year doing taxes for H & R Block. At age 56, Darnay remarried. “I spend all the money I earn at H & R Block on my tr avels,� Darna y said. “I ne ver ha ve an y guilt about my trips.� Prior to r etiring, Dar nay had been senior vice president a t Health P artners and Blue Cr oss Blue Shield, she said. “It w as extremely str essful,� she said. “I decided to quit and e xplore life w hen I was 53.� She had r ead an article

pointing out tha t people tend to look to the futur e for happiness. “That started me thinking,� she said. Then she visited a psychic who told her that her life would change dramatically. That night, Darna y watched a TV pr ogram featuring Suze Orman, the nationally kno wn financial advisor, who said 58 is young in a person’s career. “The next morning I decided, ‘This is it. I’m selling m y house and mo ving on, � Darna y said. “I wasn’t living my life.� As a tr aveler, she said, “It’s been an inter esting time to go thr ough, being around other people w ho didn’t know or care who I was. I f ound that I didn ’t need all those trappings to have friends . It’ s been an opportunity to li ve in the moment.� Since then, she has had “wild e xperiences,� such as ha ving a lion right above her in a tr ee, and other lions hiding behind her truck in the shade. This y ear, at the a ge of 68, she just r eturned from three w eeks with a tour group in T anzania and Zanzibar.

Anne Darnay is pictured in a classroom at a school she visited that is supported by Grand Circle Foundation, the tour company she travels with. The tour guide’s name was Goodluck. Darnay has w orked with tw o tr avel a gencies: Overseas Adventure Travel and Ga te 1 T ravel, and has been on planned tours with 16-20 other people. She and her second husband, J on Basta ble, ha ve been to South Africa and Zimbabwe. She has tr aveled alone to Morocco. “My personal pr eference is being intr oduced to the local cultur e,� Darnay said. “W ith tour groups you meet the local people, ask questions and taste the f oods. It’ s most rewarding. I lik e learning about people in other countries. Their li ves ar e so v ery dif ferent fr om ours.� The trips she lik ed the most w ere to Ecuador , Peru, Mor occo, Tanzania

and the Gala pagos Islands, Darnay said. She visits her tw o sons in Los Angeles . She and one of her sons spent 11 days in China. She and her husband ha ve tak en some local trips this y ear, and ha ve visited Y ellowstone Na tional P ark and the Grand Tetons. “Last y ear, I w ent on a steamboat on the Columbia Ri ver,� Darna y said. “I try to come up with interesting adventures.� Darnay alr eady has plans f or a ri ver cruise with two friends next year that will include Mosco w and St. P etersburg. “I’m really looking a t Egypt, too,� she said. “I ha ve to always ha ve something planned. I lik e the e xcitement. I try to ha ve one or

two major learning experiences each year. I find that I like nature more than old buildings and churches.� Though her travels have not been ph ysically str enuous, Darnay said they do require great stamina. “In Africa, we were up at 5:30 a.m., out by 6:30 a.m. and didn’t get back until 6:30 or 7 p .m. each da y,� she said. “In China, w e w ere out in e xtreme heat 12 or 13 hours a day.� Highlights of her tr avels ha ve included seeing lions, the Gr eat W all in China, Machu Picchu in the Andes Mountains in Peru, and snor keling in the Galapagos Islands. Part of her plan is to take trips w hile she still can, Darnay said. “I push myself, because I don ’t know w hen I’ll ha ve to stop.� Now, w hen she isn ’t traveling, Darna y spends time with friends , enjo ys water aerobics, volunteers at her chur ch, and spends a lot of time talking with or visiting her sons . She used to mak e jewelry and now has started b uilding miniature houses to scale , she said. “The main thing is physical health, � Darna y said. “Tha t so defines your life.�

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Hearing loss shouldn’t keep seniors from traveling The Hearing Loss Asdisability. But they’ re sociation of America r e- wrong. ports tha t tw o-thirds of The truth is tha t the Americans o ver 700 suffer with some e Guest form of hearing defcolumn icit. Tha t’s most of f us. Hearing loss is ... by Bob now the thir d mostt common health isRamsey sue in the country. Unfortunately, seniors and others af fected ages 50, 60, 70, and bethink their travelling days yond ar e often prime are over because of their time f or tr aveling. After

all, this is the phase of life w here man y people finally have the time, flexibility and resources to tr avel and the experience to kno w where they w ould like to go . Think “Bucket List.� Likewise, today is the best time e ver for tr avelers with hearing pr oblems. Accommodations to mak e traveling easier f or those

with hearing loss ar e commonplace, thanks to the Americans Disa bility Act. Adjusting to meet the tr avel needs of those who don ’t hear w ell isn ’t just a nice thing to do anymore; it’s the law. And great pr ogress has been made in a short time. For example, a growing number of pub lic spaces and places , including air terminals, taxi ca bs and theaters are now equipped

with hearing loops . This technology deli vers customized sound directly to individual assisted hear ing de vices and allo ws hearing aid users to pick up sound fr om a distant source such as a sta ge or movie screen. More importantly than better accommoda tions, however, is the fact tha t seniors suf fering fr om hearing loss may need the benefits of tr avel mor e

than anyone. Hearing loss is a silent af fliction that can r ob people of their ability to w ork, socializ e, enjoy perf ormances, par ticipate in comm unity activities and sta y connected with famil y, friends and the w orld a t lar ge. Ultimately, it can lead to separ ation, loneliness , isolation and depression. That’s w here tr avel comes in. T ravel is empowering and liber ating. It connects people. Travel entertains, instructs , informs and inspires people

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Hearing loss shouldn’t keep seniors from traveling of all a ges. T raveling is the perfect w ay to b urst out of isolation. That’s why many audiologists ad vise their clients to tak e ad vantage of toda y’s exciting and limitless tr avel opportunities. It’s easier than most people with hearing problems think. Both hearing specialists and tr avel ad visors agree tha t the f ollowing trips can mak e tr avel ad ventures even mor e tr ouble-free and more fun f or those with hear ing loss:

• Be sur e all assisted hear ing devices are in top working condition. • P ack e xtra ba tteries and chargers. • T ry to use air ter minals equipped with hearing loop technology • Select sea ts in the least noisy section of the aircraft. • Ask sea t-mates to r epeat pilot and flight a ttendant announcements. • R eserve hotel r ooms with non-auditory alar m systems

(e.g. flashing lights) • Ship lugga ge dir ectly to your hotel ahead of time to avoid carousel confusion. • Get as m uch trip inf ormation (e .g. ca b r ates, tr ansit schedules , ad dresses and phone numbers) as possible in advance. • Review restaurant websites in ad vance to check f or hear ing-friendly dÊcor (e .g. noise absorbent ma terials, booths or seating backed by walls, not windows).

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• Ne ver hesita te to ask f or help. Good Samaritans are everywhere. Travel trul y is a window to the w orld that should be open to everyone—including those with hearing loss . “Ha ve hearing aid; W ill tr avelâ€? might w ell be the modern mantra for anyone with hear ing pr oblems. R ead m y lips: Don’t let hearing loss k eep you fr om tr aveling. Bon voyage!

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