Siobhan is 62 years old. She retired from the BBC two years ago, after 30 years working as a Reporter, Presenter and Producer in News. During that time she juggled being a single mother with working full-time. When she was nearly fifty and her daughter went off to university, she took a gap year from work and backpacked solo around the world. It was then she hatched a plan to one day travel around in a motorhome when she retired.
By her mid-fifties she felt burnt out after dealing with symptoms of the menopause, ageism and bullying. She realised she needed to find her escape plan.
So it was in 2019, aged sixty, she bought a motorhome and embarked on her solo trip around Great Britain, to champion positive ageing and to challenge ageism and ageist stereotypes of what society thinks a retired woman does. She wants to change narratives around ageing from ANTI-AGEING to POSITIVE-AGEING. She has faced her fears and weathered severe storms and a pandemic along the way but she feels the highs and lows are all worth it.
She hopes her experiences inspire women, both young and old, to embrace ageing.
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Show notes
Who is Siobhan
Learning more about her background
Buying her motorhome and travelling Great Britain
Her goal to promote positive ageing
Having a hysterectomy at 40
Taking a gap year from the BBC and going solo backpacking around the world
Feeling ageless and alive
Wanting to retire and go travelling
Planning her gap year with Trailfinders
Going with the flow and meeting incredible people
Fears and concerns before the adventure
Magical moments which bring joy
Dealing with change
Facing each challenge and breaking it down into little bits
Running marathons in her 50s
Not being a planner - “My plan is to have no plan, to go with the flow and see where life takes me”
Losing family members and going through the menopause
Struggling with life
Out of adversity comes opportunity
Being a stubborn Yorkshire lass
Finding a way to do things
Fitness and exercise and how it’s evolved over her life
Training for her first marathon and her feelings after crossing the finish line
Top tips and advice for new runners who want to take on a marathon
Why you are never too old for adventure
What pro ageing looks like
Changing the negative narrative
Retirement rebellion and why its a chance to have more adventures
Working on a farm for 5 weeks in Dorset
Feeling liberated after selling everything
Confidence around driving the motorhome
Enjoying her own company
Sharing her life online and blogging
Writing a book?! And signing up with a literary agent
Living her life by 4 values
Talking about bravery
Being an anti-ageism campaigner
Being true to yourself and age as positively as you can
Why you should enjoy and embrace ageing
Plans for 2022
Taking the motorhome over to Europe
How to connect and follow Siobhan
Final words of advice for other women
What do you want to do? What would make you happy?
You will work out a way to have your adventure
Social Media
Website: shuvonshuvoff.co.uk
Instagram: @shuvonshuvoff
Twitter: @siobhandaniels
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