This is Willoughby, an 88-year-old, SOLO female traveler from Seattle. She spent 17 days at a hostel in the Historic Center of Oaxaca. I saw her at the airport and introduced myself as I had to learn her story.
This was her first visit to Oaxaca. She didn’t take any group tours but explored on her own every day. I asked her about mobility issues (she had a wooden, carved walking stick with her, presumably from Oaxaca), and she said there were issues. Still, there was always someone, usually a local Oaxacan, who would jump in to help… young and old, male and female. Given my own experience and observation in Oaxaca and Mexico in general, this does not surprise me. Older people are revered and treated with care, love, and respect.
Her motivation for traveling to Mexico was the same as mine: wanderlust and weather. Seattle was rainy (NYC was bitterly cold).
She usually travels with a partner, but he was unavailable for this trip. They are going to Hamburg, Germany, for a couple of months this spring to experience my favorite kind of travel, slow travel.
She doesn’t know Spanish (she speaks German and English), but says she intends to learn it so that she can return to Mexico again and have an even more impactful experience.
88 years old. Still traveling and still learning. Willoughby so inspires me. Maybe I will get to all of my “gotta get to” places after all… or at the very least make a dent.
It’s never too late to be the best version of yourself.
