About us

In Varkala, 6 weeks into the trip. We look scruffier now!

In Varkala, 6 weeks into the trip.

Mr and Mrs Vintage Vagabond – Al and Kathie.

What probably distinguishes us from most blogging travellers is our age.  Not old, but on the slippery slope to 60.  But hey, 60 is when we’ll get at least some pension so it can’t be all bad.

After 35+ years of work we’d had enough, and our beloved 20 year old cat had gone to the great cat bed in the sky, so we rented out our house in the UK in November 2013 and spent 30 months travelling in Asia.  On a budget.  A very tight budget.  But it still beat the 9 to 5 routine.  Now we’re back in the UK for a while but still maintaining a nomadic lifestyle – over the summer we’ll be house-sitting in Wales and then….who knows?  We have signed up with Trustedhousesitters as it seems a good way to explore more of the UK and have some pets to cuddle!

We’re not new to travelling: we’ve been doing it for over 40 years.  You can learn something of our previous travels from my Tripadvisor profile and the Maps page.

However,  being an older traveller is definitely different.  I have a dodgy back which means that I can’t sit for very long periods, or sit at all on a low seat where my knees are above my hips.  This rules out a lot of public transport – I wouldn’t consider a bus journey much longer than 2 or 3 hours, and I’d rather go by train if possible.  It also means I have to carry a foam wedge cushion and plenty of painkillers.  We get tired sooner than we used to, so we avoid packing too much sightseeing into one day, and we build rest days into our schedule.  And because we’ve travelled a lot previously we’re quite relaxed about not seeing everything there is to see.  Unless it’s a Grade A World Heritage site or a long held personal dream, we’re quite happy to say “Meh – can’t be bothered”.  We travel to enjoy ourselves, not to tick things off a list.

IMG_9256There is one other member of the team – Buddha Bear jnr.  We found him waiting for a bus in Goa, looking very sorry for himself.  We took him home and cleaned him up, and he decided to tag along with us.  Here he is checking out the cherry blossom in Japan.

2 Replies to “About us”

    • Hi – sorry for the delay in replying I’ve been offline for a while. Yes, we’re very happy to consider dog sitting in Evesham – I have family in a nearby village so spending some time there would be lovely. It would have to be after September though as we are committed until then. Please get in touch on kathiesummers189@gmail.com if you want to discuss further.

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