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.