JUST PACK YOUR BAGS AND GO!

Off the beaten track - Cannero, Italy.

What a great feeling to be on vacation. You wake up as and when you please. There's a whole new day ahead of you to do whatever grabs your fancy. Life slows down to a leisurely pace. That's how a holiday should be. Not one of those frenetic package tours where you visit 101 tourist attractions in one day, and each one remains a blur in the memory.

Retirees are spoilt for choice when it comes to travel destinations. Time is no longer an issue. And with budget airlines offering discounted fares, we no longer have to save for years to see the world. Do a Google search and you will be amazed at the number of websites that cater to older travellers.


Established in 1987, ELDERTREKS is the world's first adventure company that caters exclusively for those 50 and above. A must-visit website if you love the thrill of discovering new experiences.

If your other half isn't into travelling, leave him behind. Don't feel guilty about it. It's his choice. He can feed the cat and water the plants while you join your group of friends on a cruise down the Nile. Life is too short to sit around and mope about having no one to travel with. This is a great opportunity to make new friends. Be adventurous.

Senior travel clubs are proliferating. Join one. Or organize your own travel group. A group of retirees I know are organizing a trip to Tibet from Aug 13-20. There are limited places left. If you are keen, contact seniorsaloud@gmail.com for more details.

Tiger's Nest, Bhutan. Simply breathtaking. Photo: YonGo Travel

Brothers Yong Lee Min and Yong Lee Keng are seasoned backpackers. Their Kuala Lumpur based company YonGo Travel has organised trips to Peru, Bolivia, Eastern Europe, Syria, Northern India, Korea, South Africa & Zimbabwe, New Zealand Milford Tracking, Hanoi, China Tibet, Cambodia (Angkor Wat). Their website is a veritable directory of travelogues, tips and useful links. Contact them for information about their upcoming trips.

Swap homes and save on accommodation when you vacation overseas. HomeExchange boasts a listing of over 40,000 homes worldwide, including homes in Malaysia (24) and Singapore (43).

If you think you are too old to travel, think again. My uncle Xavier will be 78 in October. He has been blazing a trail across the Americas, Europe and Asia since he retired at 55. Not even a by-pass could get him to hang up his backpack for good. Click here to view some of his travel photos.

Still youthful at 78, my Uncle Xavier continues to enjoy life as an intrepid globetrekker.

If roughing it out is not your idea of the perfect getaway, you can always opt for hassle-free package tours to popular destinations like Guangzhou or Bali. If you are like my daughter, you will want to plan the entire holiday yourself online, from booking the air tickets to arranging for car rental, and everything else in between.

The private pool at our villa in Phuket.

Relaxing at Laguna beach with a book and a refreshing coconut drink.

Kids have a major say in family holidays. My grandchildren love the beach, so seaside resorts are a family favourite. Photo: Max and Reiya showing off their tattoos.

Grandma has one too!

Why just dream of faraway places? Pack your bags and go! Explore the beauty and wonders of the world while you still can.

HAPPY 75TH BIRTHDAY, UNCLE XAVIER!

This post is specially dedicated to my Uncle Xavier, who just turned 75 on 22 October. "I'm 3/4 century old today, and life is great!" reads his email announcement on his birthday.

My uncle, a retired electrical engineer with Telekom, certainly knows how to live life. He never allowed a by-pass operation years ago to put a damper on his lifestyle. If anything, he is even more determined to enjoy each day, and make the rest of his years the best years in his life.

An avid photographer and intrepid globetrotter, he has devoted more time and energy to his twin passions in his retirement years. Almost every month, Uncle Xavier is away in one country or another, capturing the sights with his trusty camera and chronicling his travel experiences to share with members of the extensive Goh clan.

Taking in the mountainous terrain and the people of northern India.

Not one to opt for the ease and convenience of package tours, Uncle Xavier prefers to rough it out on roads less travelled. He has checked out the ancient ruins in Machu Picchu, Peru, travelled along the old Silk Route, gone off the beaten track in China more times than even he can recall, covered extensively Cambodia, Vietnam, India and Indonesia, paid a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, Israel, and most recently, visited North Korea for a first-hand look at life under a communist regime. And all this is a mere fraction of the places he has visited and the people he has met.

Apparently in North Korea, when taking photos of the statue of the former President, it must be of full length and one must not pose with the right arm raised in a similar manner.

Such billboards are common in the country.

Uncle Xavier is the livewire of the family. Blessed with a great sense of humour, he has the rare ability to look at the lighter side of things, and punctuates every sentence with a hearty laugh. If laughter is the best medicine, then uncle Xavier is the perfect example of what a daily dose of laughter can do for one's health.

But there is also a serious side to Uncle Xavier. As a responsible world citizen, he often sends out emails alerting his friends and family members to man's abuse of the environment and the violation of human rights. One recent email drew my attention to the little known horror of the brutal slaughter of whales in the Faroe Islands, Denmark.

As a teenager growing up in the small town of Batu Pahat, I used to listen enviously to my uncle share his travel tales. I vowed that one day when I could afford to, I would traverse the world just like him. My first opportunity came in 1975 when I spent almost a month backpacking alone across India and Nepal. My mother thought I was nuts. But that is another story.

Here's a toast to you, Uncle Xavier. May there be many more happy returns of the day!

(My Aunt Sylvia, who accompanied Uncle Xavier on the North Korea trip, has written an excellent first-hand account of the visit. The Star has published it under "The World's Most Exclusive Recluse")