WHILE globetrotting is often considered a young person’s game, 62-year-old Bridget Rice is proudly redefining the ‘solo traveller’ stereotype.
The grandmother’s zest for life shows absolutely no signs of slowing down – after she quit her job and sold her home in order to fund a mammoth adventure in her sixties.
On a holiday in Tunisia a few years back, she felt burnt out from her job as an operations manager in the hospitality industry, and saw the better part of a decade looming ahead before she could retire, or afford to pay off her mortgage.
It planted the seed, with Bridget starting to think that perhaps she would prefer to sell up, stop work and – a dream she had always harboured.
Just before turning 60, she took the plunge, and hasn’t looked back – visiting 15 countries to date, and only nipping back to the UK to meet her new grandchildren.
It’s a life she could have only once dreamed of, and one that she describes as having “total freedom”.
Single Bridget, originally from Northampton, said: “I sold my house, quit my job and ran to the airport with a big smile on my face.
“It was a no-brainer.
“I had a mixture of a s****y job, burn-out, and a mortgage that was never going to get paid off until I was 70 – which pretty much decided my fate.
“Once a woman has finished looking after everyone else, then she can put something back [to herself] – and travel is a great way to do that.”
To date, Bridget has visited Crete, Corfu, Spain, Portugal, France, Tunisia, Switzerland, Turkey, Egypt, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Koh Samui, Bali, Vietnam, Cambodia and Singapore.
The sale of her £420,000 home, near Bath, Somerset, has funded the trip – though Bridget also credits as giving her this financial freedom over the past few years.
The now-seasoned traveller has also sniffed out incredible bargains, with her favourite choice being Hoi An in Vietnam, where she says you can get a delicious meal for just £2.
She added: “Hoi An has something for everyone and every age – so many things to do, a pretty good night life, backstreet restaurants, boat rides and night markets, it’s all there.
“It also caters for every budget – you can find a hostel for £10, a homestay for £15 or a top hotel for £200 a night.
“I loved the place and it reminded me in a way of a lovely little Cornish village in the old part, purely because it had narrow streets with cute little independent shops and a market that has the best street food I’ve ever tasted.
“Asia has got to be the cheapest of all places I’ve been to and Vietnam was the cheapest – if you looked for it.
“There is a theory I tried out – the lower the chair on the side of the road with a small food carts had the best food, and I’m happy to confirm it was true for me.
“For roughly £2 you can get a great home-cooked meal and it is delivered in double quick time.”
She initially set off accompanied by a friend, who later decided the travelling life wasn’t right for her, and they made the decision to book the trip while enjoying a few drinks in Tunisia in 2022.
Bridget said: “We were both in a place where we were suffering from burn-out with our , and we both knew there had to be more to life than what we were facing.
“Eight or nine more years of working in a thankless industry, so we could then retire and wait for god – no, that was never going to be my destiny.
“During that holiday, we had planted the seed to sell our houses, quit our jobs and just go travelling.
“There was a lot of Bacardi at the time, but those thoughts of being completely free for the first time in my life – with no mortgage, no and total freedom to go wherever I wanted – took hold, and I never stopped thinking how great that would be.
“A year later, everything had materialised into just that.
“We started in Crete, but when we got to Sri Lanka she decided that travel wasn’t for her.
“I had a choice – leave with her, or carry on. I wasn’t prepared to throw in the towel!”
Her first trip, which kicked off in September 2023, lasted 19 months, before Bridget came back to the UK for a few months to visit family.
She said: “I was getting itchy feet again, so I decided to go and ended up in Vietnam and Bali.”
And there have been no regrets, with her life completely changed from her solo adventures.
Bridget said: “Your brain changes and comes out of being on autopilot, as it is trying to navigate all the different smells, sights and experiences and it’s true – you start to think differently.
“I felt free; my mind wasn’t bogged down with its usual responsibilities and details like paying the bills, going shopping, seeing the family.
“Instead, it was thinking about not getting lost or where I go for food and which hotel I choose next.
“Travel temporarily removes your social roles – at home you are someone’s mum, partner, employee.
“When you are travelling, those labels go and you start to become the real you, which in turn helps you relax and hear what your real desires are for the first time – and not what is expected from you. But most of all you feel alive.”
While on the road, Bridget has connected with other travellers, many of whom love that she took the plunge later in life.
She said: “For the first time in a long time, I felt I was being seen. I had value, and my age wasn’t a consideration.
“I was just a real person doing something that should be celebrated.
“Life was there to be enjoyed and I think when you meet other travellers, all of those barriers are not there.
“You share tips on places to go, good restaurants, how to get through airports easier, which guide or trip to go on.
“Ultimately, the people I met while travelling were in the same state of mind of living in the moment and just enjoying each other’s company.
“The only time I got a shocked reaction was in Sri Lanka, Vietnam and Bali.
“It’s the men who couldn’t understand why I would want to travel on my own.
“They all assumed that I had a husband and he was with me.
“It incited a few funny looks and a lot of questions.”
Bridget is currently back home visiting her family in the UK, after her son welcomed baby twins.
But she won’t be staying put for long, and is set to jet back off to Chiang Mai and explore more of Thailand this autumn.
She added: “My plan is to carry on [travelling] for as long as I can.
“The [in the UK] is ridiculous compared to Vietnam or Thailand. I can live in either of those countries for about £200 per week, and that’s all in.”
Bridget’s plan is to “escape” the UK by fleeing to south-east Asia, and returning in the summertime to see family – potentially buying a static caravan to stay in when she is home.
She added: “What I had left after paying off my mortgage has been enough for three years of travel, and so many wonderful experiences – I wouldn’t change a thing.
“I’ve spent about £60,000 to date.
“I might end up as an 80-year-old living in a caravan but I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it!”
Bridget has also started her own Skool community, Solo Departure Lounge, where she offers guidance to other women over-50 pursuing travel.
