Brooksby Village Resident Has Traveled the World and Shares Tips to Make Traveling Easier

Peabody, MA—  Dick Richmond who lives at Brooksby Village, an Erickson Living developed and managed retirement community in Peabody, MA has lived and worked for 50 years in Europe, the Middle East, Asia along with the Unites States.   This means he has done a lot of traveling! 

Currently, Richmond is packing for a trip to Rwanda and Uganda to climb in the Virunga Mountains where he will sit in the jungle among one of 12 Gorilla families that have been habituated to carefully controlled one-hour visits by a few humans.

According to a recent AAA Travel survey, nearly 100 million Americans are planning a vacation in 2019.

Erickson Living residents have two distinct advantages when they travel.  First, they leave with peace of mind knowing their apartment home and belongings are secure (in contrast to needing house-sitters).  Second, many Erickson Living communities employ a special trips coordinator who plans everything from day trips, to shopping excursions and concerts, theater events and more.

"I have traveled for many, many years and my favorite destinations have been five African safaris, hiking among penguins in Antarctica, Machu Picchu and the Galapagos, the Brazilian Amazon & Pantanal, Nepal & Tibet, and India & Bhutan for contrasting cultures," said Richmond. 

Richmond has also participated in Brooksby Village's Live and Learn program where he has shared stories and photos about all the places he has traveled with other residents.  All of the classes offered to Brooksby Village residents through Live and Learn are taught by people who live at Brooksby Village.  Richmond has shared his travel experiences to 17 different classes full of residents at Brooksby Village. 

With all this travel experience, Richmond shares some travel tips:

•  Don't overpack.  Richmond always pack much more than he needs and regularly comes home with clean clothes and sundries never worn nor needed. The price he pays is a far heavier and crammed full bag.  His wife, has a far smaller bag and seems never to lack for anything.  
• Learn about where you are going online and by looking at maps unless you like to be surprised.   Richmond prefers to do the research.
• Traveling long distance, book an aisle seat so you can from time to time easily rise and stretch your legs. However, some prefer a window seat so as to lean against it to sleep.  

"While I am in Rwanda and Uganda, I know everything at home at Brooksby Village will be safe and secure," says Richmond. 

 About Brooksby Village: Brooksby Village is one of 20 continuing care retirement communities developed and managed by Erickson Living® and is situated on a scenic 90-acre campus in Peabody, Massachusetts.  The not-for-profit community, located in Essex County, is home to nearly 1700 residents and is governed by its own board of directors, affiliated with National Senior Campuses, who provide independent financial and operational oversight of the community. Additional information about Brooksby Village can be found at BrooksbyVillage.com.