Settle Down but I,m ONLY 77!

Why I travel the world on my pension

- Wendy Mills

Tucking my passport into my rucksack, I walked out of the airport and breathed in the icy Canadian air.

Shivering and zipping up my warm winter coat, I smiled.

This is the life! I thought. Having mostly lived in sunny Australia, I loved cold weather.

MONSTERS, SWEDEN

SEPTEMBER 2004 I’ve lived in vicarages, houseboats, shacks in forests, flats in big cities. Even a house made from glass on a lake! But, here, I was staying in a beautiful cabin on a tiny island in Sweden. The homeowners left me their bike, so I spent days cycling around. I also went to cookery classes and learnt to make toffee.

Which was just as well, as chilly Canada was going to be my home for the next few months.

It was January this year, and despite having four grown-up children and seven grandchildren, I’d spent the last 19 years travelling the world.

And I’d done it on a shoestring, too!

Well, I was a pensioner after all.

Me and my husband Garry had always talked about travelling.

But we were always waiting for the ‘right time’.

Even after the kids left home, I was working full-time as a teacher.

Garry worked as a supermarket manager and we ran a gourmet restaurant in the evenings.