Becoming - and Staying - "TravelSmart"
As Canadians grow older - and by 2036, that will be 25% of the population - their lifestyles change. Retirement, relocation or health considerations can significantly impact routines. Seniors can choose to become more active with hobbies, volunteering, babysitting - or even helping to raise - grandkids. Or they may need or want to significantly slow down the pace and minimize daily activities and outings. Whichever your lifestyle, being TravelSmart can easily be incorporated into your travel plans.
Being Active
Transportation can play an important role in establishing and maintaining a healthy, active lifestyle. There are a lot of options to become TravelSmart and incorporate walking, using public transit and reducing the use of your car. If you think being TravelSmart isn't for you, reconsider what you do on a day to day level and think about the options available:
- Combine walking and transit: get the benefits of both by walking to your local transit station, thus increasing your daily exercise while decreasing your time in the car. Decrease pollution, stress of driving and costs associated with gas and parking!
- Organize outings close to transit: when getting together with friends, suggest a meeting spot close to a transit hub that everyone can access, such as Metrotown, Pacific Centre or the spectacular waterfront of the Vancouver Convention Centre.
- Make transit fun: if you're looking for something to do with the grandkids, consider taking the Canada Line to the airport and spend time in their Observation Area, watching planes arrive and takeoff. Or take the SeaBus to Lonsdale Quay to have lunch, check out the shops or see local buskers. Or hop on your local bus to visit a park, theatre or mall in your neighbourhood - transit can be loads more fun for kids than staring at the back of your head in the car!
Transportation can play an important role in establishing and maintaining a healthy, active lifestyle.
Slowing Down
If your routine is less about being active and more about slowing down due to health or agility issues, there are still lots of TravelSmart options for you to consider:
- Combine trips: rather than going grocery shopping one day, banking the next, followed by the hairdresser the day after that, consider how you can reduce the number of trips out in the car by combining errands into one trip. It's faster, more efficient for your time and use of gas.
- Ride-share: when heading out for errands, events or meals, have your friends or family share the drive rather than use multiple cars which result in extra costs and pollution.
- Take advantage of public transit's accessible services: TransLink offers a 100% fully accessible transit system. So any bus, SeaBus or SkyTrain you board is equipped to provide you with safe, reliable travel. For those with disabilities and needing extra support, book HandyDart for door to door service.
Tips to Stay TravelSmart
Once you've started exploring your TravelSmart options, you'll find it becomes easier and easier to maintain. However, to stay motivated consider these tips to stay on course:
- Keep a journal of your activities, including distances covered, landmarks explored, and new routes or neighbourhoods discovered. There's nothing quite as motivating as being able to look back at all you've done and seen, as well as what you don't see when you're TravelSmart - less stress from driving, less gas used, less carbon emitted, less impacts on the environment!
- Find inspiration wherever you can - read testimonials from others, clip out magazine articles, talk to your friends and family about the changes you've made. Take time to learn about other's successes while celebrating your own!
- Get support from others. Whether walking, taking transit or ride-sharing, it's always more fun and easier to stay motivated with a buddy.
Help other seniors and leave a comment below to share your tips, stories and experiences about being TravelSmart.