You’ve done the trips and learned the hard lessons. Your body doesn’t bounce back like it used to, but that doesn’t mean you’re done travelling.
This hub is for Strategic Pacers – often in their 50s, 60s and beyond – who still want to see the world, but refuse to gamble their body budget on guesswork.
- Plan if and how to go, instead of cancelling at the last minute.
- Pace each day around your body budget, not other people’s energy.
- Handle family pressure and social friction without feeling guilty.
- Protect your recovery week so one trip doesn’t cost you the next month.
Step 1 · Before you go
Go / No-Go decisions a few days before travel
Three days before a trip is when many seasoned travellers start second-guessing everything. Instead of panicking or pushing through on willpower, you can run your situation through a calm, structured lens.
Decision tool
Flare Check: Go / No-Go decision tool
Answer three questions about your mobility, pain manageability and capacity for travel stress, then tick the support options you actually have access to. The tool reflects back whether your current plan looks workable with major modifications, sits in the grey zone, or carries a strong case for postponing – plus a script if you decide not to go.
Run my trip through the Flare CheckGuided decisions
Decision Hub: “Should I even go?” guides
Short, plain-language guides for classic high-stakes trips: long-haul flights, cruises, multi-generational holidays, “once-in-a-lifetime” events and more – written for people whose bodies have a say, not just their bucket lists.
Browse decision guidesStep 2 · On-trip pacing
Pacing each day around your body budget
Once you’ve decided to go, the real work is in what you do with each day. The difference between a great trip and a lost week comes down to stairs, “just one more museum” and how often you lie down.
Activity pacing
Daily Body Budget Calculator
Five questions about your pain, sleep, mobility, mental bandwidth and pre-loaded stressors turn into a Green, Yellow or Red pacing plan for the day – with concrete rules like “one big thing + two hours rest” instead of vague “listen to your body” advice.
Check today’s pacing colourHow-to guide
Pacing & energy guide for travel days
Practical ways to use your pacing colour in real life: how to talk about it with partners, when to swap walking for taxis, and how to stack micro-rests into sightseeing days so you keep more of the trip instead of burning it in one afternoon.
Read the pacing guideStep 3 · People & expectations
Scripts for when your body says “no”
Social pressure doesn’t vanish with age – if anything, it multiplies. Grandchildren who want to go non-stop, adult children who still see the “old you”, partners who travel like they’re still 25. Scripts give you language that protects your body without breaking relationships.
Social scripts
Diplomatic scripts for Strategic Pacers
Ready-to-use wording for saying no to spontaneous hikes, leaving dinners early, asking crew for help and adjusting plans when your body budget drops mid-trip – firm, self-respecting and still kind.
Get the scriptsFamily dynamics
Travelling as the “Sandwich Traveller”
Guides for travellers who sit in the middle of the family stack – supporting older parents, keeping up with grown children and grandchildren, and trying not to lose their own body in the process.
Read the Sandwich Traveller guideStep 4 · Coming home
Protecting your recovery week after the trip
Many Strategic Pacers don’t lose trips to the flight – they lose the month after. Recovery isn’t a bonus; it’s part of the itinerary.
After-trip plan
Post-trip Recovery Week Protocol
A simple plan for the arrival day and first 48 hours home: what to eat, how to move, what to postpone and how to avoid turning one trip into a multi-week flare – especially after long-haul flights and cruise itineraries.
Plan my Recovery WeekPlanning support
Strategic Pacer planning support
If you want a pain specialist-led team to walk your body through the next big trip, explore TBL’s planning packages for high-stakes journeys and “once-in-a-lifetime” events.
See TBL planning packagesWho’s behind Ticked Bucket List?
Ticked Bucket List is led by Dr Timothy Murithi Mwiti, a pain specialist and flight physician who has seen what happens when bodies and travel plans collide at 35,000 feet. These tools don’t promise miracle cures. They exist to help seasoned travellers keep more of their trip – with realistic pacing, honest risk conversations and backup plans that assume flares will happen.