What Over 50 and Thriving Means to Me

Welcome to the Over 50 & Thriving Series for 2019!

At the end of 2018, I compiled a list of the 47 Women who had taken part in the Series and their contributions. If you missed it you can read it HERE and I’m sure, like me you will enjoy re-reading their wise words.

I am delighted to be continuing the series this year and my first contributor for 2019 is someone that I literally only met before Christmas. We found each other through a Facebook group and I was keen to have her as one of my guests, especially as Ros and husband , Alan are also ‘Aussies’ like me.

Ros Cuthbertson and her husband Alan, have a lifestyle which many of us only dream about. However, as Ros shares with us, life doesn’t always go to plan and sometimes we need to stop and pursue what is important to us in life.

Their website Frequent Traveller, not only provides stories of their travels but also is a wonderful resource for planning your next adventure. I would encourage you to connect with Ros and Alan through the links at the end of this article.

What Over 50 and Thriving Means to Me

It’s funny how you can be living your life, going about your daily routine week in and week out without thinking of time passing. It’s not until life throws you a curveball that it makes you re-evaluate everything you believe in.

My reality check came when my Dad got sick with cancer. A rollercoaster ride, where each twist and turn gave a ray of hope that left me feeling like I was holding my breath and staring down into deep abyss, trying not to fall.

Ultimately the time came when I had to exhale and steel myself for my worst nightmare as I watched my beloved father’s life fade into history.

Suddenly, I began to question my life.

Why was I living my life at such a hectic pace, did I really need such a large house now that my children had left home?

Time became very precious to me, I realised that we aren’t on this planet long and I didn’t want to waste another minute.

Changing Our Life

We had always loved travel and the idea of retiring in Thailand really appealed to us, so at the ages of 54 and 56, my husband Alan and I, took a chance and quit out full time jobs, rented out our house in Australia and headed to Thailand.

We fell in love with the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai, it has a beautiful culture, is a cheap and fun place to live and we made lots of friends.

After spending four months in the city, the excitement of living in a foreign land gave us itchy feet and the heady the siren call of travel lured us to the United Kingdom and Europe where we discovered house sitting.

House sitting is a wonderful concept, you get to stay rent free in exchange for looking after the home owners’ pets and house while they go away on holiday. House Sitting gave us the freedom to explore the world.

This year we visited Vietnam, Cambodia, Hong Kong, The United Arab Emirates, The Czech Republic, Finland, France, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia and are now back in Chiang Mai Thailand.

Along the way we have discovered a lot about ourselves, we cope well out of our comfort zone, we don’t need a lot of “stuff” to be happy, that travel keeps you young at heart and that the world really is a fascinating place.

Last year I turned 60, I really like the sound of that number, I know that I am getting older, but I don’t care, I have a wonderful life and I plan to enjoy every second of it.

Meet Ros

Australian Ros Cuthbertson and her husband Alan. Both in their 50s quit the conventional 9 to 5 workstyle in 2014 to travel the world full time. For part of the year they are based in the vibrant city of Chiang Mai Thailand.
It is from here that they regularly travel to nearby Asian countries sourcing content for their travel Blog Frequent Traveller. When not exploring Asia, they travel further afield and have over the course of the last few years travelled to many European destinations, as well as North and South America.

Connect with Ros

Website URL: https://www.frequenttraveller.com.au

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FreqTraveller

Twitter: https://twitter.com/fretraveller

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frequenttravellers/

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com.au/frequenttrav