Adventurous GrownUps – Barbara

Looking for a bit of an adventure in September, Barbara walked the 816km of the Camino de Santiago in Spain. She travelled on her own to St Jean Pied de Port in France to begin the trail. Carrying her own pack at age 72, she spent the next 35 days walking on average 25km each day passing through rural villages and cities along the way – and totally loved it.

Barbara says she met people from all round the world doing the trail, some of whom she is still in touch with and who have, since then, invited her on other journeys. "Camino was on my bucket list. The companionship was one of the best things about it. You'd been walking with the same people for 35 days and when we finished it, when we came into Santiago, it was such a lovely feeling. There were hugs all around and such a wonderful sense of achievement."

 
"From the moment I arrived, I never had a meal alone. I never had to take a book to dinner. You know when you travel alone, how one of the worse things is eating every meal on your own? I never had to."

Last year Barbara went to Ethiopia with a girlfriend and spent three months trekking to visit the tribes and see some of the 700 different varieties of birds the country has to offer. Two years before in 2009, she drove a campervan for the first time across 15,000km of Australia to Adelaide and did a few treks in the desert. Before that, she travelled on her own to West Africa starting with a few weeks in Morocco, before flying down to Senegal, then Mali, Burkina Faso and Ghana. That trip she admits had its scary moments, but generally she says great things happen when you are on your own.

"When I was walking down the street in Senegal, this wonderful music filled the street. You couldn't help but move to it. I met the musicians and we got talking and they invited me back to their home to show me the other instruments they play. Then I was invited back up north to one of the musicians' family village 100km away where I met his family and ended up having lunch with the village chief. That's a once in a lifetime experience that probably wouldn't have happened if I'd been with someone else."

She found a lot of the places she stayed in West Africa out of the Lonely Planet guide book, but had a bit of shock at all the comings and goings during the night after booking into a place they'd recommended for her first night in Senegal. Generally she says she organises the first place to stay and then allows herself to play it by ear after that. The planning and researching of the trips is one of the best things about it, she says, because once you get there you appreciate a lot more about its history and culture.

Barbara's first major trip abroad was to India in her 40s and from then on, she has never looked back. Being pretty fit helps. For many years, she belonged to a gym and now she belongs to a Tramping Club. Whenever she wants to go somewhere, she tends to walk even if it takes a few hours to keep her fitness up.

"Some people don't do anything. Come on! Adventure is a state of mind. Just do it. What's the worst that can happen? Everyone has the same fundamental fears, and essentially wants the same things. Nothing's going to happen to you. Pick up your courage and have an adventure."