Tom and I are lucky as our leisure time costs very little money. On this TV programme they were talking about cruises for retired people and to be honest sitting around on a cruise ship, not being able to go anywhere fills me with horror. Our idea of a nice day is to take the dogs and a picnic somewhere pretty and spend our day exploring. Other days we will leave the dogs at home go to one of the market towns in Sussex and search around the charity and second hand book shops. This programme talked about a "two tier system" as if the pensioners who shopped in charity shops were the poor ones but what they seemed to miss the point of, and the lovely pensioner they spoke to quite clearly didn't, it can be a lot of fun!
One of the nicest days we have had is when I bought a large lot of second hand books on ebay for collection only. "They are in Gillingham" I said. "Lovely" said Tom "Kent, we can make a day out of it and take some lunch." It was only when I had bought the items I realised there is a Gillingham in Dorset! We set off at the crack of dawn with my youngest daughter who has a spirit of adventure too and drove to pick up the books. After we had collected the books, we looked on the map and just chose a place to explore nearby. It was a place called Shaftesbury and I was completely overwhelmed by it. We sat on the hill eating our packed lunch looking at the view. "I think I have found my Spiritual home! " I said. It is the town they made the Hovis advert that was so popular on the TV in the 1970s and it was as if we had stepped back in time. After lunch we explored the church and all the little back streets at the bottom of the hill before walking all the way back up for an ice cream to recover. We still talk about that day often. Look how beautiful it is there. Much nicer than any old cruise!
I know you have to make an effort to live healthily and take plenty of exercise but I still think as you get older taking the time to do the things you enjoy, no matter how small they may seem, is the key to a long life and I'm certain it is the key to a happy one.
