Travel

5 Inspiring people who prove travel is possible for anyone

Jun 05, 2017

If something is holding you back from travelling the world (or you own backyard), then take some inspiration from these incredible human beings. Illness, age, disability and even the possibility of death won’t stop these people from getting out and seeing the world, proving travel really can be for anyone.

1. Norma

The threat of cancer and needing life-saving treatment couldn’t stop Norma from living her life to the fullest. Instead of opting for the potentially life-saving treatment at the age of 90, Norma hit the road with her poodle, Ringo, son, Tim, and daughter-in-law, Ramie. Ramie took to Facebook to share Norma’s reaction when finding out she had a cancerous growth on her uterus. “A tiny woman at 101 pounds and under five-feet tall, an exhausted Norma looked the young doctor dead in the eye and with the strongest voice she could muster, said, ‘I’m 90-years-old, I’m hitting the road.’”

2. Don and Alison

After experiencing some health-related concerns after decades of working in a stressful environment, and realising that they’d no longer be able to keep their home and continue to travel and enjoy their lives, 70-year-old Don and his 63-year-old wife Alison, decided to make one of the biggest decisions of their lives. “We agonised over what to do for a long time until it became clear that it came down to the question of ‘Do we want to have a home or do we want to have a life?’ So we made the decision to sell our home,” Don said in an interview. “We’ve now been on the road, with occasional trips back to our hometown to restock our basic supplies and see our friends, for two years, and plan to continue living a nomadic life for the foreseeable future.”

3. Cory Lee

Cory Lee has seen some of the world’s most exotic overseas locations and he does it all from his wheelchair. He’s since been to 19 countries and counting! Cory says that the most difficult aspect of travelling in a wheelchair is actually getting to the destination in the first place. “Getting to the restroom on the plane as a wheelchair user is also next to impossible for me, so I have to factor in that as well,” Cory said in an interview. “My biggest wish would be for wheelchair users to be able to remain in their own wheelchair during flights. Hopefully one day this will become reality.”

4. Rosie Swale-Pope

By the time Rosie Swale-Pope turned 57, she had lost her husband to cancer and decided to buy a pair of running shoes to run around the world in the name of cancer awareness and prevention. It has been difficult for Rosie, she’s fractured her hip, almost froze to death in Alaska and was followed by wolves in Russia. But five years and 53 pairs of shoes later she completed her challenge and continues to raise money and awareness.

5. Tamae Watanabe

If you consider age a barrier that’s stopping you from reaching your goals, then you need to become acquainted with Tamae Watanabe from Japan. She was 73 years old when she became the world’s oldest woman to climb Mount Everest. But if you thought that was impressive, she even broke her own 10-year-old record in the process.