As my birthday looms next week, I’ve realised that my travel habits and thoughts have changed and evolved. A lot has changed since my solo travel days in my 20s and 30s that I cannot replicate in my 40s.

For one, I have been dealing with my autoimmune condition for the past 9 years. Although I’ve achieved some sort of stablisation when I had my thyroid removed in 2019, my thyroid level still swings from hyper to hypo depending on my medication dosage. I have to deal with the side effects as it changes and this has impacted me during my travels previously. There was a time when I was up the whole night in Bangkok, unable to sleep due to my hot flushes as I kept adjusting the hotel room temperature. Or the time I forgot to take my medication prior to boarding my flight so it meant that I couldn’t eat the meal until some time later. My medicine required no food before and after taking them so I had to wait while others started on their meals.

My travel has also evolved from hostels to hotels with a priority of comfort over prices. Yes, I can afford hotel rooms better now but it also meant that I lose out on mingling with others that I’ve gotten used to when travelling alone. However, I graciously accept my limitations in this new age as my body aches meant that I prefer comfort and solitude over being social with others.

Most importantly, my travel habits with my family have changed as I have gotten older. Solo travel is good for me to recharge but I’ve also learnt that making memories with family is just as important now. My father passed away in 2024 from lung cancer and I was very grateful to have pivoted my travel priority to making memories with family instead during his last few years with us. Even though we might have travelled only short distances due to his condition, having these travel memories are even more bittersweet now. It reminds me to continue making more travel memories with my other family members as I get older.

So as another year gets added to my age, I will remain committed to living life to the fullest, making more memories with my family, even if I do get frustrated with them during our travels together. I still have a lot more travel plans for more years to come and I hope that my body will hang on a bit longer to allow me to continue making more adventures for my travel memories.

I’ve also realised that this blog has been an accumulation of my past travel stories so I hope I can continue adding on to it so that I can remember when I get older in the future. If in the future, my body is no longer able to travel as much, at least I can still live through my past travel memories and reminisce. 🙂