Life is generally pretty good for Rowan and me, but we have been challenged over the past six months. Now, don’t get me wrong, I am the first to say that many other people experience far greater challenges than we do. Having said that, a few things have happened and as a result I found […]
Penang
Penang – the Pearl of the Orient – and a terrific compare and contrast to our time in Singapore. Almost everything is different here – definitely the prices and yes it is grubbier and not as well maintained – but this is Asia, in a way that I know Asia, whereas Singapore maintains its charms […]
Two speed Singapore – tips for visiting without breaking the budget
Singapore – how would I find it nearly 40 years after I first visited? My emotions drifted from excitement and anticipation through to fear that I was visiting a City which was hyper-expensive and lacking character. Whilst we aren’t budget travellers we also don’t travel in the heights of luxury, so I was wondering how we […]
Step up or step aside
Employment for the over 50s is nearly as much a hot potato as housing for younger Australians. Many baby boomers feel pushed aside and this adds to the invisibility factor I talked about a couple of weeks ago. It isn’t nice to feel undervalued or unappreciated. Many of us need to work for financial reasons, […]
Be visible; don’t suffer with invisible woman syndrome
Invisible Woman Syndrome is currently being discussed in the media, with women of a certain age complaining that they no longer get attention anywhere. A recent article in The Daily Telegraph included an interview with Nikki Parkinson of Styling You where she affirmed the syndrome is alive and (un)well amongst her followers. A read of […]
Share the Dignity
Homelessness is a rapidly growing issue in Australia and I was horrified to learn that the highest growth cohort is women over 50! Can you imagine that? At a time of our lives when we are looking forward to living life a bit more on our own terms, to suddenly find oneself homeless due to […]
Are we to blame? Baby Boomers and intergenerational relationships
Baby Boomers are being blamed for everything these days – from damage to the environment, to high housing prices and of course the high cost of social security. But are we to blame for all of that? Updated May 2022 I think we can take quite a high level of blame for environmental damage, although […]
A gap decade and a new dog
David is 58 years old and Gill 48. It is just on two and a half years since David retired as a management professional, or as he describes it, started his ‘gap decade’. Gill continues to work full-time in a busy senior management role. David and Gill are tertiary educated and describe themselves as socially […]
Travel packing for blokes
Fellas, this is the closest you’ll come to thinking like a woman, so listen up. There’s a message from the airlines: ”We don’t like weight!” Particularly on international flights. If you are flying to a single destination, in a warm climate for just a couple of weeks, packing should not be a challenge. However, if […]
Christmas past and present
Christmas! When I was a child that word held so much excitement and promise. It was rich with tradition and expectation. It started weeks before the actual day, with the arrival of what seemed to have been hundreds of Christmas cards which were opened, passed around for reading and then displayed on the venetian blinds […]