My Favourite Country!

I estimate that I’ve been to about 66 countries. Several of them I have visited multiple times. It’s really difficult to choose a favourite country, so several years ago I wrote a blog post trying to narrow it down to my 10 favourites. 

However, if I ask myself which country I would return to over and over again if I could only travel to one place for the rest of my life, it would have to be Greece!

Why? It has everything really: beautiful Mediterranean climate, hundreds of islands, beaches, mountains, history, culture, architecture, and great food. I love Mediterranean countries in general; they’re just so warm (climatically and people-wise) and relaxing.

How I Choose Where To Travel Next

In winter, the decision is mostly based on the weather. I’m looking for a sunny and warm destination, preferably dry and not too hot, like Mexico or Thailand, or somewhere in the southern hemisphere where it’s summer! Of course the country has to be relatively safe and affordable as well. 

In spring or fall, I tend to choose countries in Europe where the weather is temperate and you can do a lot of sightseeing and get immersed in the culture. I rarely ever travel during summer.

No matter how many countries I visit, I keep hearing or reading about other interesting things to see elsewhere, so I always have a bucket list! Along with relative safety, cost is a big factor, which is why I haven’t seen much of Africa yet.

How Often Do I Travel

Now due to COVID-19 my travels have come to a standstill, but in recent years I’ve been spending one to three months away during the winter, then doing one or two shorter trips (two to three weeks) in spring and/or fall. I’m semi-retired and work remotely, so I’m able to spend several months abroad every year. 

During the long winter trip, I usually base myself in one place for several weeks to reduce the cost and allow me to relax and work. If I’m in an expensive country like Australia or New Zealand, I’ll try getting some housesitting gigs.

My longest trip was 20 weeks back in 1997 when I quit my job, gave up my apartment, and went backpacking solo around several countries, mostly in Asia. I was supposed to continue through the Middle East and Europe for several weeks longer, but Egypt completely disheartened me and I decided to end my trip.

My Scariest Travel Moment

My scariest travel moment was being bitten by a stray dog in Argentina. Besides the fear of contracting rabies, this also happened one week before my once-in-a-lifetime trip to Antarctica, and until I had things under control I worried that my trip would be ruined. 

This adventure certainly taught me to keep my eye on stray dogs at all times, and to always make sure I have travel medical insurance. Unfortunately, it also made me wary of visiting places that are known for having a lot of stray dogs.

Just this past winter, I had a very unpleasant and stressful experience after getting food poisoning from an airplane meal. On the connecting flight I felt very unwell and threw up three times. The crew got worried and called the paramedics on me before people disembarked. 

This was just as COVID-19 was starting to make the news and I was worried that they would force me to go to a hospital, when all I wanted to do was get to my AirBnB and sleep. Fortunately they let me go. It was then almost midnight and I was alone in Mexico City, weak and nauseous. I took an airport taxi to my accommodation and found myself in front of a locked apartment building without a security guard in sight. I rang the doorbell like a mad woman and a guard finally showed up to let me in. 

The last straw was discovering that the apartment had almost no running water in the bathroom, a leaky toilet, and the loudest street ever. I just crashed anyway. The following morning, after spending almost an hour looking for the WiFi password, I ended up moving to a hotel nearby, where I spent a couple of days recovering. 

There are some things you just can’t anticipate and you need to try to stay calm and roll with it.

My Biggest Travel Challenges

When I was younger and had a full-time job, my biggest obstacle to travelling was time. Now it’s money! Fortunately, more and more jobs can now be done remotely (including my current part-time job) and COVID-19 is also helping make remote work more commonplace.

Having said that, working while travelling is not always easy, especially if you’re moving around a lot. It’s also really difficult to motivate yourself to stay in and work when there are so many interesting things to see and do at your destination. And that’s without even mentioning regular power outages or slow Internet in some places.

The best for me is to plan to stay in one location for several weeks so I can settle down, relax, and get into a routine. I may sightsee in the morning and early afternoon, then work for a few hours before dinner. This way I don’t feel like I’m missing out.

My Advice For New 40+ Solo Female Travelers Who Want To Work & Travel?

If you have a permanent job and want to travel more than a few weeks a year (especially if you live in North America with our tiny vacation allowance) you’ll need to see if you can work remotely at least some of the time. If you can afford it, you can also try asking for an unpaid leave of absence. (I wrote about this topic at length here.)

On the other hand, if you’re OK with one or two short trips a year, you’ll probably be happier if you don’t try cramming too much into your vacation. Focus on one (small) country, or a region of a bigger country. One relaxing option is to base yourself in a city for a week or more, and explore it in depth as well as adding a few day trips to surrounding towns and attractions. These kinds of trips are also much easier to organize and book on your own, saving you time and money.

I invite you to come join my private Facebook group BigTravelNut Solo Travel Over 40 to meet and exchange with other travellers like yourself!