Keep traveling as you age

Have you been putting off a dream trip? Now that you have the time, do you still have the inclination? Many people dream of world travel while they are slaving away at their desk jobs, but once the opportunity arrives, they are out of the habit of adventure. Here's why rekindling that dream of travel is so much more important now than it ever was when you were a kid.

Travel provides multiple forms of stimulation to the brain which cannot be replicated in a familiar environment. Brain growth happens in the presence of one thing: Newness. The neurons literally reach to form new synapses when presented with new situations. This can be a new face, a new sound, a new smell, or the wash of light you have never seen in your own neighborhood. There is a slight disorientation that occurs, and the neurons begin to reach to bridge this new gap in understanding. Disorient yourself!

I am getting ready to travel to Paris. This is my first trip to Europe, and I am over fifty. I've had a few frustrating years when the various life events occurred which kept me from doing what I most wanted to do: travel. But now that I am making plans, I can see how tremendous it is to begin extensive traveling after the age of fifty. It is exciting, inspiring, and stimulating - three ingredients of brain health.

I am learning French! Would you please forget the notion that learning is harder when you're older? Yes, there are some small nuggets of truth to this, but they do not add up to anything real. A lifetime of experiences gives you worlds of connections, places to hook your new learning to, which younger people simply do not have. Learning a language is well recognized as one of the most powerful ways to grow your neural net, or brain cells.

I am learning culture! Again, an extremely powerful brain stimulator. Striving to understand something as foreign as a country on another continent affects the brain on many levels. Besides the sound of the language, I am starting to understand little aspects of the Parisian culture, and where some of the myths about Parisian behaviors come from. It's very fun.

I am studying maps! The brain has its own maps, and looking at and learning a city from maps is an amazing way to discover a place before you get there. I want to know everything I can about Paris before I arrive, so I can toss all that and just wander the streets, finding out what it feels like, having the complete gestalt of the place.

There is much, much more to the healthy benefits of traveling into your old age. For now, I am late for my French class!