Brenda is a 71-year-old retired Nurse. This weekend Brenda and her sister Jackie, joined us on a 3-day Kayaking and Camping adventure on the Jurassic Coast.
Brenda is a LEGEND, living her best retired life and ticking off all the adventures she didn’t have time to do whilst working as an NHS nurse.
At Land & Wave we’re huge advocates for adventure for all ages and people, so I gave Brenda a call to find out what drives her adventurous spirit…
What did you do in the NHS before your retirement?
I started nursing training in 1973, just a month off my 20th Birthday. I qualified as a SEN in 1975. I left the hospital and went to work as a district nurse, then onto being a staff nurse before going to University to specialise as a Bowel nurse.
I retired at 65. Most of my working life has been spent in nursing. During those 45 years, I worked unsociable hours and night shifts, even taking a second job as a Marie Curie nurse. Juggling raising two children with my husband, it didn’t really leave a lot of time to do the things i really really wanted to do.
How did you find your love of adventure?
We would take the children on beach holidays, but it was mostly camping holidays. We bought a tent and went across France, up to Switzerland. We did things that really weren’t expensive; nursing wasn’t well paid, even then. We would camp one night and move on, camp another night somewhere else.
My husband was part of the Boy’s Brigade, so we would take under-privileged children to camp and to the seaside – that was our holidays! We climbed Snowdon with them, did activities with them- I really really loved it. I had my son on my back, he was only about 3 at the time.
I was coming to the end of my career at about 50 and I said to my husband I want to do things that push me out of my comfort zone, things that a 50 year old would usually do. We’d seen this program about skydiving and as a surprise for my birthday, my husband got me a skydiving experience… I was really scared but the moment I hit the ground I thought what was all that fuss about.
After that, I did another one to raise money for Marie Curie and Macmillan at age 55. At age 60 I jumped AGAIN to raise money for the WI and at 68, between the two pandemics, I did my latest skydive to raise money for Broughton House Military Veterans.
You can find out more about the charities Brenda has raised money for here:
What Adventures have you ticked off so far?
Since the four charity skydives, I’ve been white water rafting with the WI (Women’s Institute), well… the couple I persuaded to come with me! At 69, I climbed Ben Nevis with my sister and last year I did a trip from Fort William to Inverness, 70 miles starting on my 70th birthday, wild camping and canoeing the whole way. I just loved it.
What did you enjoy about your 3-Day Paddle the Jurassic Coast with Land & Wave?
You get to see things you’d never see any other way. Not by foot or car or even a small boat – kayaking gave us this amazing perspective. There’s nothing nicer that being on that water, even when it’s wavy and choppy. I’ve actually sat on those rocks – it’s fantastic! The company was AMAZING. I had complete faith in our instructors, Tobias and Matt. We had a few capsizes but we were just having a great time!
What is your ULTIMATE adventure?
I would have loved to have done Kilimanjaro! But my sister said don’t even think about it yet- it’s too expensive! I would like to walk Lands End to Jon O’ Groats, you’ve got to have a really good support team for that one. You look at the risks and think is the adventure worth the risk or not. As long as my GP tells me I’m alright to go and do something, off I go!
I did want to do a wing walk once- but my doctor said my blood pressure was too low and he didn’t want me fainting up there. I don’t do anything unless my doctor signs me off, but with all my adventures, my doctor just rolls his eyes at me now and is like ‘yeah you’re fine’!
I don’t see myself as a 70-year-old, I don’t see myself as someone who can just sit there. Having worked as a Marie Curie nurse, I’ve met so many people who tell me what they’d wish they had done – and I don’t want to get to that point wishing about what I ‘would’ve and could’ve’. My Dad died at 48, he didn’t get a chance to do some of the things I’ve already had the opportunity to do. Life is too short to sit there watching daytime telly! That’s not me – I’ve got my grandchildren today and I brought them straight out to the park.
What advice would you give to other people hitting retirement?
JUST KEEP GOING. It might not be your cup of tea, some days you might be aching but once you get going, the adrenaline kicks in – you just go! Just do it. Whatever it is, I don’t think age should be a limit. I don’t feel 71 – if you spend time with younger people it keeps you young. You don’t want to be going around with old people, they’re boring. Explore the world – it’s there for you to go and grab hold of. If you don’t grab it – what’s the point?
What’s next?
I’m trying to persuade the girls in the WI to go zip lining in Wales. There’s a really fast one there, I might give that a whirl.
We LOVED Brenda and her energy – we’re hoping she’ll come back for some Coasteering with the ladies from the WI soon!
We’re seeing a boom in people completing Outdoor Instructor qualifications in their late fifties and sixties. If you want to find out how to turn your early retirement into a PROPER adventure, find out more about Outdoor Instructor Training here .
