An Escape Plan

I exercise almost every day.
I feel better than I have felt in the past 25 years.
But then last night, sitting with a group of friends at a restaurant, I listened to the issues of aging and aged friends and relatives.
That is going to be me, I thought, I will be 80 in the short span of 17 years.
What is my future going to look like?
Are there escape routes?
How long can one defer the fragility of growing old with exercise and diet?
How long can faculties be held together with vigorous activity and Sudoku puzzles?
I was thinking about this as they delivered my Rigatoni Lucchese.
I ate the white beans and the few pieces of chicken, but the “guilty” pasta, I stirred it around in the tomato broth as I absentmindedly let a thought materialize, “we need a pre-formulated escape plan; it has to involve bicycles (maybe motorcycles), long road trips and possibly tents with survival gear”.
I could already feel the wind blowing over my “bald wrinkled scalp” as the caravan sped toward destinations not thought of by many octogenarians.
(Tierra del Fuego, the vast Australian Outback, the trans-Canadian highway, the route of the Orient Express, all by bicycle)
Everyone looked at me, wondering what strange paths my mind had wandered down but then as recognition began to dawn, someone else agreed, “We do need an escape route”.
“I would just as soon exit this mortal coil on a high plain in the mountains or beside an ocean”.
What a poetic way to say, “Sure beats a hospital bed or extended care facility”.
The real question, can it happen”?
The “starvation diet part” is easy, go on a calorie restricted diet, eat healthy and you will live longer according to most studies.
Cardio and weight training every day lead to longer lives according to most studies and have a very positive effect on brain function and brain cell renewal.
Do all three on a routine basis and who knows, possibly long term health?
Next leave the possessions to posterity and hope to carry enough aspirin or acetaminophen to ease the pains of the journey.
The one thing I haven’t totally figured out is how to stay in “touch” with the kids and grandkids
Unfortunately I think the wandering life might affect your outlook, attitude and appearance so you may be less welcome at the Thanksgiving table or the Christmas dinner since homeless may be a better descriptor than adventurer.
Maybe frequent Skype Wi-Fi video calls could be the answer (Skype Video Phones are available).
Also the spouse may not buy into this adventuring, making the decision even more difficult.
But in the end, the search for empty spaces and transcendent meditation should make all “boomers” consider the road less traveled.
Finally, if you exit while on the road, be happy, you will re-“cycle” faster just like in Spin class, “Everybody up and keep the pace”.