The pair have been to Europe, South America, Africa, China, Russia, and even to the Everest Base Camp.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was quite a highlight,\u201d David said.<\/p>\n
After Patsy died, David had to decide whether travel still would fit in his life.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought about it a lot, and I know that she would have been telling me to do it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf it had been the other way around, I would have been saying to her that she\u2019s got to live a life, and you have to carry on.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s sort of to honour them, to be honest. I don\u2019t think anybody wants somebody moping around.\u201d<\/p>\n
David recently returned from his first overseas trip alone since his wife\u2019s death, a cruise to Singapore. <\/p>\n
He had been anxious before leaving, particularly because his eyesight had declined and so much of modern travel now involves online systems, he said.<\/p>\n
But the experience gave him confidence.<\/p>\n
David now lives independently in Ahuriri after moving from the P\u0101k\u014dwhai area, where the couple\u2019s property was flooded during Cyclone Gabrielle, just five months before Patsy died. <\/p>\n
On that day, a neighbour rescued her by dinghy, and she was later winched from a shed roof by helicopter. David was also rescued by helicopter from the roof of the garage about seven hours later.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was one of the last major experiences we shared,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
David Mitchell points to a photograph on the wall of his Ahuriri home showing his late wife, Patsy Mitchell, during her rescue in Cyclone Gabrielle. Photo \/ Rafaella Melo<\/p>\n
Now, David keeps himself busy through a local car club, friendships, and occasional trips around the country. <\/p>\n
Some of those are with Bay Tours\u2019 Senior Guided Tours programme, which offers about 80 trips a year, ranging from day trips, multi-day holidays and overseas tours. <\/p>\n
Bay Tours owner Kerren Withington said most travellers were from Hawke\u2019s Bay, and in their 70s and 80s.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe pick everyone up from their home, take them out, and then, at the end of the day, we drive them back home,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Withington said the service was about making travel easier and helping older people stay connected while supporting local businesses.<\/p>\n
While cost-of-living pressures were affecting travel decisions, she said demand remained strong with many repeat customers and a growing number of new members joining the programme. <\/p>\n
Best Travel senior agent Jacqui Quilliam said the desire to make the most of retirement was something she had seen often in Hawke\u2019s Bay.<\/p>\n
Jacqui, 70, has worked in the travel industry since 1974 and said many clients in their 70s were now more \u201cadventurous, fit\u201d and determined to travel now, \u201cwhile they\u2019re healthy\u201d.<\/p>\n
She estimated at least 60% of her clients were aged 60-plus, and said many travel solo, often after losing a partner.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you lose a partner, you suddenly find yourself on your own, and you tend to lose confidence in yourself,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut going away and getting out of your comfort zone and meeting other people just makes it so much easier.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said cruises and guided tours often created opportunities for solo travellers to connect, with some forming new friendships.<\/p>\n
Jacqui also knows personally that later life can still hold unexpected chapters.<\/p>\n
She married her husband, Bob, for the second time two years ago, 17 years after their divorce. <\/p>\n
They had first married in 1983, separated after 20 years, then reconnected after Bob returned from Australia following retirement.<\/p>\n
Their daughters were bridesmaids at the second wedding.<\/p>\n
Jacqui has no plans to retire any time soon.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am still quite young,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
For Jeanette and Paul Odell, retirement is all about having more time to travel.<\/p>\n
The Havelock North couple, now aged 75 and 80, have spent much of their 43-year marriage packing suitcases, boarding planes and chasing their next adventure together. <\/p>\n
They estimate they have done close to 30 cruises and visited more than 60 countries over the decades.<\/p>\n
Jeanette and Paul Odell at the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt in 2023. The couple have visited more than 60 countries together.<\/p>\n
These days, retirement life usually includes two or three overseas trips a year, plus regular visits to one of their sons in Christchurch and flying over to Australia, where the other son lives on the Gold Coast. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a kind of excuse to go, really,\u201d Jeanette laughed. <\/p>\n
And they rarely need much convincing to pack their bags. <\/p>\n
One Christmas was spent in Fiji with the whole family. <\/p>\n
Another year, they stayed in Nevada with an American man whom they first met on a cruise ship. <\/p>\n
He has since travelled to Hawke\u2019s Bay and stayed with them too.<\/p>\n
\u201cTravel gives you great education,\u201d Jeanette said. <\/p>\n
\u201cYou meet people you would never otherwise meet.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jeanette and Paul Odell with locals in Amboseli National Park, Kenya, in August 2019.<\/p>\n
Jeanette, a former Air New Zealand flight attendant, says travel was always part of their lifestyle, but retirement brought something different: time. <\/p>\n
Time to stay longer, book another cruise, say yes to one more trip, she said.<\/p>\n
The pair already have their next trips booked, including a 35-day cruise in August, and another one booked for next year for 72 days.<\/p>\n
They know not everyone can afford the kind of travel they\u2019ve been lucky enough to experience. <\/p>\n
But if there is one thing retirement has taught them, it is not to wait too long for the things you want to do.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t think, \u2018I\u2019ll do it tomorrow or next year,\u2019\u201d Paul said.<\/p>\n
\u201cNext year, you might have had a stroke or whatever. You\u2019ve just got to do it while you can.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rafaella Melo has more than 10 years of experience as a journalist in Brazil. She has worn many hats, from radio and TV presenter and producer to magazine editor before joining the Hawke\u2019s Bay Today team as a multimedia journalist.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The pair have been to Europe, South America, Africa, China, Russia, and even to the Everest Base Camp.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":553592,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[10791,3017,1561,1976,30538,221,185,111,43,139,69,24808,72694,530,223,274,1530],"class_list":["post-553591","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-ageing","tag-ahead","tag-bay","tag-hawkes","tag-helping","tag-how","tag-is","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-older","tag-redefine","tag-residents","tag-the","tag-travel","tag-years"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/553591","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=553591"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/553591\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/553592"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=553591"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=553591"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=553591"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}