If there’s any truth to the old adage that time flies when you’re having fun, then most grey nomads will feel that the weeks, months and years are absolutely racing by.
And, indeed, anecdotal evidence suggests that this is indeed the case. When life is a blur of setting up and packing up camps, seeing incredible sights, meeting new people, and generally living life to the max, veteran travellers commonly shake their heads and ask mournfully ‘where did all the time go?’.
But is that a bad thing? Hinze Hogendoorn, a professor of cognitive neuroscience at the Queensland University of Technology, is not so sure.
He says that sitting at home doing nothing can give people the perception that time is going slow, but that’s only part of the picture.
Will a first creek crossing slow time down to a crawl, or make it seem to fly?
“In the moment, this is very simple, if unsatisfying: make sure you’re bored … watch paint dry, count to one million,” he said. “Basically, make sure you’re not distracted from time passing, but this is obviously not what we actually want … we want to be able to use the time for something, that’s the Catch-22!”
Professor Hogendoorn told the Grey Nomads he would certainly be hesitant to tell grey nomads there was anything wrong with pursuing exciting new adventures!
“It would seem counterintuitive to suggest that you do fewer fun things in order to try to slow time down,” he said. “If anything, if you feel pressured for remaining time (which many adults report after middle-age), then it makes sense to me to use your remaining time to do exciting things!”
And Professor Hogendoorn says that while time may seem to fly by for fun-loving nomads living in the moment, the opposite is true when that moment has passed.
“Going on new adventures and making sure you’re doing exciting new things is a great way to make sure that when the end of the year rolls around, you can look back on a year full of interesting memories … and this prevents the feeling that time slipped through your fingers,” he said. “So, the second part is consolidating those memories, actively thinking about them, talking about them, maybe journaling about them.”
Professor Hogendoorn is also interested in how grey nomads in particular perceive time as he says the perceived passage of time depends a lot on significant life milestones.
This is why when we are younger and do things like go to school for the first time, get our first job, our first car, or enjoy our first romantic relationship, time seems almost endless.
“But when our lives suddenly become less ‘full’, for example when our children leave the house, or when we retire, then the new periods of ‘empty time’ can cause time to feel like it crawls,” said Professor Hogendoorn.
So, are grey nomads who are experiencing new firsts later in life, such as first time on a scenic flight, first time detecting for gold, or first time cooking on a campfire in a unique position to get a slowing-downtime boost from their bonus round of new milestones?
“I don’t really know if I can speak to this,” said the academic. “I’m not yet at that stage of life myself, and I am not aware of any literature documenting this observation.”
WIN A COBB GRILL GAS+
Grey Nomad members are being given the chance to win a Cobb Grill Gas+, the ultimate portable barbecue option for those who live life on the road.
The just-released grill connects directly to LPG, adding extra versatility to the existing Cobb range which already includes charcoal and Butane gas options.
The Cobb Grill Gas+ also has built-in Flame Failure Device (FFD), a wind-resistant burner design, a cool-to-touch outer base, and is easy to clean.
Retailing for $479, the Cobb Grill Gas+ comes with a cooking plate, 1.5-metre hose & regulator, lifting fork, and a carry bag.
The past 15 years of our retirement travels has gone very slowly.
We don’t look for, or have any adventures at our age,
We just enjoy relaxed travelling.
Adventures are for little kids.
