Mariella Frostrup: I have ‘more of an appetite for adventure’ in my 60s

Mariella Frostrup is sick of “the terrible idea that you end up post-50 and don’t have an interest or an appetite for more” in life.

The 63-year-old broadcaster, author and campaigner – perhaps best known for being a menopause advocate – says it couldn’t be further from the truth for people in her age group and older.

“Too often, the person I am, the person my friends are, and the experiences they want, are just not reflected back at us from the wider world,” she says.

“People of my age, you come to an understanding that you’re living the second part of your life, and actually – far from wanting it to get smaller and less inspiring and just to chug along till you slip off this mortal coil – you want to cram in all of the things that you feel like you haven’t done already.”

It couldn’t be more true when it comes to travel. An “insatiable traveller”, Frostrup says, if anything, ‘her bucket list’ of dream destinations is getting longer, rather than shorter.

Having had her two children in her early 40s with human rights lawyer husband Jason McCue, 56, who she met at 39 on a charity trek in Nepal, she feels a sense of freedom more akin to her pre-motherhood years.

“When it comes to travel I feel more like I did in my 20s, when I was unfettered and free, than I did in my 30s and 40s,” she says. “I have more of an appetite for adventure and also a sense of ‘it’s now or maybe never’ – so time to get on with it.”

It comes as new research by travel insurance provider, Staysure, has found that 43% of over‑50s feel less visible as they age. Yet, many have more of a ‘zest for life’ than their younger counterparts. Three‑quarters (76%) of the over-50s surveyed believe people get wiser and better with age, and some 34% of those aged 70-plus said they’ve started a new business, career or hobby.

Travel, it seems, is an area of reinvention in mid and later life. Since turning 50, around a third said they’d taken more or longer trips. Yet, despite this, Frostrup reckons travel is marketed at older people wrong.

“Basically everything post-50 becomes something that’s organised and safe and has medical facilities nearby. You know, there’s nice couples with grey hair in matching linen outfits, setting off on a sort of coach trip to the Algarve. It’s not about those things being bad – I love a nice cruise, I took the Queen Mary from New York to Southampton – but that doesn’t mean that I don’t want to go and climb Machu Picchu with my kids.”

The way things are marketed to older people goes beyond travel though – a demographic that, ironically, are more likely to have the financial means than those in their 20s, 30s and 40s.

“As a woman, I see clothes advertised that actually will only be able to be afforded by women my age – they’re on models and they’re not even 20.”

“People over 50, there’s an enormous market, if people just recognised who we are, rather than continuing pumping out the old stereotype of what it means to be in the second half of your life. We’re living longer and healthier [lives].

“So many people in their 50s start businesses, change careers, change relationships.”

Frostrup describes herself as “an insatiable traveller” and says she’s “never happier” than when she has a trip on the horizon.

And with age, “one of the things I might feel less inclined to do at the moment are those, I suppose, ‘safe’ holidays that you do when your kids are young – you know, book a villa in Greece, stay for two weeks, do a bit of boating and sunbathing…

“All of those things feel slightly like a waste of the time that I’ve got,” she says. “Really, I now keep looking at a map of the world and thinking of all the places that I haven’t yet been that I’ve always thought I’d get round to going to.

“It’s not about reduced opportunity. It’s about finding where works for you – depending on your health and your ambitions.”

For Frostrup, that means travel that feels adventurous. “My husband and I were talking about how much we want to go to Colombia. There are incredible treks that you can do into the jungle. And that would not be something that would be directly connected to my age group as an aspiration.

“I like to be more and more active when I go on holiday – not just sit around and have long lunches. My husband recently got his skipper’s sailing license so I think we’re going to go sailing down the south coast of Turkey, where I’ve never been but I’ve always wanted to go.

“I want mini breaks to be stimulating and in places that I haven’t experienced, and I want to be doing something, [for example] I love a cookery course. I went on a fantastic writing course in Marrakech – I’ll probably never write a piece of fiction but it was just really nice to sit and spend each day doing something different and challenging myself.”

For anyone in the second half of their life who wants to see more of the world, Frostrup advises to step out of the comfort zone.

“All of the challenge and excitement and reward in life, I think generally comes from taking risks.

And, “Don’t let the reflection that society gives you of who you are, and what you should be doing at this age, be a compulsory note for how you should live.

“Certainly for me, travelling on my own is one of the things that I used to love doing in my 20s and I’m really enjoying doing that again now.

“I think you often get more out of it, there’s a fizz of excitement. In every other part of your [life], you’re sort of compromising for family, for a partner.”

But, crucially, what’s also important as we get older is “being healthy enough to be able to do all these things”, she says.

“Often, we think of holidays as times to sort of sit back, stuff our faces and drink too much wine, when actually, some of the best holidays you can have are when you don’t do either of those things, and you come back feeling refreshed and full of energy.”

Staysure has launched its new campaign, Dream Big, to challenge ageism and empower over-50s to travel more and embrace new experiences.