fbpx

Baby Boomer Lesson from Szechenyi Baths in Budapest

Lesson from Szechenyi Baths in Budapest

For the next five weeks Young at Heart blog posts will be focussed on Travel and all the wonderful lifestyle, cultural and historical issues that arise when you are travelling in fascinating parts of the world.

Gallert Baths BudapestWe have been briefly in Budapest and are now in Zagreb about to enjoy 3 weeks exploring Croatia. Paris then England will follow.

Somewhere in the skies, in the middle of a long and uncomfortable night, I commented that the effort of getting ready to travel, and then getting to your destination, was just not worth it! I admit I was sleep-deprived and feeling a little tired and crotchety at the time. Yes, it is an effort, but it is so so worth it!

As I looked around at the people boarding our flight, and again at the tourists we saw in Budapest, many of whom were about to join the Danube cruises, it reinforced to me how much travel is ingrained in the baby boomer generation as the “reward” we aspire to when many of the other responsibilities of life have lessened.

For those of us fortunate enough to be able to travel there are often two times in your life that you can freely do so….before your career gets underway and when you are either finished or nearly finished your traditional career path. Budapest, and flights into Budapest, were filled with both groups!

The Szigert Music Festival was on and around 40000 young people from around the world were there to enjoy it.  I wish I could share with you a photo I took at the Szechenyi Baths two days ago, but it’s on my camera and not yet downloaded.  I think the 40000 music festival participants were all at the Mineral spa at the same time as me. But they were so full of the joy of living that I didn’t mind the ridiculously crowded pools, instead enjoying their vibrancy and excitement.

But where were the baby boomer travellers?  Not at the baths, that’s for sure, but undoubtedly enjoying some of the many delights of Budapest.  I just hope they didn’t avoid the glorious Szechenyi Baths because the youth of the world had taken it over for a few days.

What did I gain from my sardine-like experience with the young and beautiful at the Szechenyi Baths? I was reminded to enjoy every moment of this travel experience, do everything we can, don’t let age stop me from trying new things, and basically live life to the full.

SaveSave

Viator

Posted in

Jenni Proctor

Hi, I'm Jenni Proctor from Boomers Next Step. Remember when the formula for success in life was simply to strive for good marks at school, gain qualifications, get a great job, work hard and save for your retirement? Yes, I believed it too! For years my husband David and I wanted to develop a business that we could operate anywhere in the world, but both of us were educated to be employees.  We had entrepreneurial dreams and ideas, but still had employee mindsets. 14 years ago I took the giant leap!  I left my job in Education to start a business as a Career Counsellor and Coach, helping mature adults transition from one career path to another, and particularly from employment to entrepreneurship.  I had studied long and hard to gain new qualifications but sadly I hadn’t learnt how to market my new business. About 12 years ago we realized that we were not tracking well towards having the sort of retirement we wanted. We’d saved; we’d invested; and like so many other people we’d also lost some money along the way. It didn’t help that my business was not bringing in as much as I had been earning as an employee. Our dreams of extensive travel and helping our family were being replaced by a growing concern that we would outlive our savings. It seemed that a traditional retirement would not allow us to maintain the lifestyle we wanted. I love helping people plan the next phase of their lives, but we realized that was not going to be enough.  We needed a way to create an income stream that would pay for the travel and other lifestyle luxuries we wanted, that would provide mental stimulation, and would interest us both.

More Articles