nibblette

Loisco:
As several posters mentioned, Medicare will not cover you outside the US. Your supplemental private insurance may give you some coverage but you must apply for reimbursement after the fact and may not provide complete reimbursement.

Travel insurance is very good for helping you find medical help if you need it and for reimbursement for any services needed. It also will pay for medical evacuation and should something happen during the trip, reimbursement for trip cancellation/interruption.

I do take out travel insurance (Travelguard) because of the type of vacations I take (and I have been injured). You can search this forum for good information on various travel insurance providers.

praline

Loisco, it sounds like your husband is very energetic and so full of life. My husband is much younger than yours but doesnt have the joie de vivre that yours seems to have. I had to dip into savings to persuade him that he wont need to spend much when we go to England in March. Do go and enjoy yourselves. Best regards, Praline.

cigalechanta

loisco, thank goodnss I have no living relatives telling me what to do. I'm 71, husband 70 (but older in not trying out new things)We go every year to France. Have been to Italy, England, Scotland, Whales, Mexico and a few Islands but return to France where we drive coast to coast to visit friends we have made there. We are in good health excpet for my fingers deformed by arthritis and right arm patially paralyzed due to Erbs. I still went to Europe with my arm in a cast after a bicycle accident when I was hit and run.
I still bike, ice skate. I never did drive but my husband does. No tours for us, we like serindipity. We like last minute change of plans. We don't buy birthday and Christmas presents for eachother so we can each choose a special place to stay for a night or two in France.

ira

Hi lois,

As noted, medicare will not pay for service outside the US.

Check with your insurance company as to what they will cover abroad. You might need or wish to purchase short-term coverage.

Also look into http://www.diversalertnetwork.org/me...p/benefits.asp

Basic membership gives you 100k worth of evacuation insurance (not medical coverage- but just to get you home) for diving or non-diving accidents or injuries from anywhere 50 miles from your home or farther. The family membership is $44.

tedgale

No, you are not alone. My in-laws were always keen to travel. When they got into their 70s, they were finally sufficiently free of professional obligations to do so (though my FIL continued to lecture and supervise doctoral students until age 79!!)

But septuagenarians do not travel in quite the same way as the young do. You already know that.

Pace yourself, research the logistics, yadda, yadda.

I hope you have a great time.

AuntNell

Loisco--My traveling days may be over. Each time I have gone to Europe I felt I had aged 2-3 years upon my return. I am not beyond the life expectancy for an American of my sex. I do not regret going, but I do believe it wore me out and aged me quicker. Traveling is extreme stressful and exhausting. Also, the time changes confuse me more now that I am older. I just get adjusted to the change about the time I return. As a result I suffered several weeks of insomnia upon my return. Then there was the fiasco with my husband on the last trip. He became dizzy while on a gondola. We had to rush him to the hospital. It was terrifying. I colds not understand a word of what the nurses or doctors were saying. I was left in the waiting room for hours. After I found out it was not a major illness, I was relieved. But then came the financial and bureaucratic horrors (and yes we had that so called travelers insurance, which was near useless). Don't even ask about the nightmare in attempting to get him medications at the pharmacy. A lot of young people put a tremendous amount of pressure on us to go beyond our limits. I think many of them are on this board. They are mostly well meaning. But perhaps due to a need to avoid confronting their own aging, they underestimate the difficulties we encounter. They need to see us as more energetic or say we look that way so that they can feel better about their future. For many of us it is not as easy as mind over body. Only you and your husband can decide. Don't let others hold your back or push you with false claims that you can ride a marathon at 70! I am not saying not to go, but please accept the realty. And I ask the other posters on here, younger and maybe a bit in denial, to do the same for these good people.

dln

loisco, I think you can safely assume that the post above mine, Aunt Nell, is a tongue-in-cheek parody. Be amused by it, but don't take it seriously.

My own parents are both 72 years old and they travel like maniacs. I have to book them months ahead if I want to see them. They travel to Europe every year--independently, as you want to do. They have no problems because they prepare, prepare, prepare. My mother works the internet and my father makes my mother walk. (They go to Italy, so that's vital.) Are they in good shape? Well, my father is. But he's also pretty deaf. My mother? Well, she's plump and thinks more about exercising than actually doing it (though she has joined a gymn and seems a little more serious about getting fit lately, hooray!).

Do they travel successfully? You bet they do. They don't travel as fast as my husband and I do; they acknowledge and celebrate their age and gauge their expectations accordingly. They spend less time gallavanting and more time savoring. And I can tell you first hand that they never come home from a trip without a host of adventures to tell.

So will you.

loisco

I want to thank all of you for your replies. You've given me lots of encouragement. I guess tho I will have to cut our itinery down from all the stops I had in it. (we are doing France next Fall) It's so hard to decide when you read about France.Everything looks great. But I am the same way with a restaurant menu too...I want it ALL.

StCirq

My parents made their most recent trip to Europe at the age of 82 - totally independent travel, too. The only difficult part is getting a company to rent them a car. They've taken the last two years off to do some remodeling of their house (which is equally astounding in its own way), but I fully expect they'll be back in Europe before too long.

tondalaya

Poor aunt Nell, so old for being so young, she can only post five times here.

cigalechanta

Decide on the area of France you want to see, and read up on it. The less driving you do the more relaxed you'll be for a first visit. Remember we are all here to help if you have questions.

dln

loisco, why don't you post your proposed itinerary here? There are many Fodorites here who love France. We'd all be glad to help you out with suggestions and advice.

Scarlett

My sweet Mother in law, decided after her husband died, to go visit her brother. She flew, at the age of 79 to Argentina, alone. A couple of years later, she flew to Isreal. Alone.
She was not in the greatest of shape, a little out of shape, but she had the stamina and an adventurous spirit and she had a glorious time!
Sometimes I think that when people worry about a person doing something,
it is just because they love you and worry about you, even if you were in your 20's, those relatives might think of reasons why you should not do this or that.
72 and 77, Sheesh! you are just getting warmed up!!
I look forward to reading about your travel plans and then your trip reports~

Pellegrina

Loisco, Please go on your trip. Yes, maybe you will get tired and maybe not understand every word you hear. This was true for me on my trip to Spain in October. But I wouldn't have missed my room with a balcony overlooking Madrid for anything. Life is for living.

LoveItaly

Scarlett, you just reminded me. My MIL at age 77 went to Isreal also. Even have a photo of her sitting on a camel (probably one of those tourist photos but precious nontheless). And than she and a friend toured Europe for 2 months.
And she came home in great shape.

soccr

Over 70 is last year's over 60 -- if you know what I mean. People are staying vigorous for longer and longer, and it's true that you'll both be 72 or 77 either here or there. My MIL went with her offspring to Ireland when she was over 80. She needed help now and then and pacing was important; but it was unquestionably the trip of her lifetime. EVERYONE should still have the trip of their lifetime ahead of them to look forward to, even at 77.

True, you have to be good to yourself about not hurrying, not letting yourself be encumbered with too much luggage, not trying to consume the whole of Paris in one day. Oh yes, then there are the little tricks about good shoes, medications and copies of prescriptions, etc. But people 10 yrs. younger than you or more have to deal with the same thing. Esp. if you have a few extra Euros to pay people to help you with things that are a bit much, go for it.

cigalechanta

soccr, over 70 doesn't mean we can't do what Anyone else can. We don't think of ourselves limited. All people differ in their age cycles. Some of us are luckier than others. Serendipity is not for anyone who has travelling problems whether young or old. I resent the classification. We are all travellers. Age has nothing to do with it unless we consider childrn as the exception.

cigalechanta

OOPS, sorry soccr, not you! My post was directed at Aunt Nell who isn't our pal sorry!

summersquash

If your health is good go. Nothing will happen there that wouldn't happen here. Don't plan too much. Take it day by day. My Mom is 78 and I wish she was able to go with me to London and ROme in January. She has always went with us on vacations until recently. Her health has really deteriated in the last two years. None of us know what each day will bring no matter what our age is. Don't let life pass you by.

_jinx_

Age can oftentimes be a frame of mind. Approach every day positively (and thankfully), and it may amaze you what you can do.

The ageless baseballer, Satchel Page, advised, "Never look back, someone may be gaining on you". And the irascible golfer, Tommy Bolt, now in his mid-80's, said, "I may age a little bit---but I ain't never gettin' OLD".

So buckle up, pack a bag, and hit the trail.

Cheers,

Jinx Hoover