Peter Greenberg: Visiting Germany at 60+

By: Peter Greenberg | Source: AARP.org | 2008-12-17

I want to travel to Germany. As a retiree on a fixed income, and a woman traveling alone, is this a realistic goal? My destination will be Gengenbach, Schwartzwald, which has reasonable holiday accommodations set on a farm. There will be day trips to Strasbourg, France, and my ancestral village is some 80 miles away. Too ambitious an undertaking for a hardy 64-year-old?
–Paula, Albuquerque, N.M.

If you're a hardy 64-year-old, you should have no qualms at all about traveling on your own to Europe. Always consult with your personal physician before traveling, but also know that you won't need any vaccinations for Europe.

If you're really worried about your health, and even if you're not, I strongly suggest you consider purchasing medical evacuation and repatriation insurance. This type of insurance means that in a medical emergency, a special medical jet will fly to your location and take you back to the (American or international) hospital of your choice. Companies like MedJet Assist, Air Ambulance, TravelGuard, and International SOS offer this type of coverage for a few hundred dollars or less, depending on the program you choose.

And German medical care should be enough to help you until such time as your medical evacuation jet arrives. If you have any permanent conditions, prescription medications, or other health issues, it would be a good idea to look up German translations and have them on hand, just in case.

A day trip to Strasbourg should be an easy trip, as would an 80-mile jaunt to your ancestral village. Generally speaking, German roads—even fairly remote, rural ones—are in great shape and make these types of day trips easy.

If you're going to be driving yourself, it would be a good idea to get an international driver's license. These are available through AAA. Studying the rules of the road in Germany wouldn't be a bad idea, either. A good Web site to visit for the basics is HowToGermany.com.