When travel has no age limit
From L to R: Iveta (who also knows Peg from her time in Chicago), PEG!, Nishat (fellow U.S. traveler who was Marketa’s roommate and tenant of Peg) and me.
Note: Just about a month ago, I traveled to the Czech Republic for my friend Marketa’s wedding. I was one of three people making the trek from the U.S. One person in my group was Peg, Marketa’s former landlord. I knew Peg from visiting Marketa’s apartment in the past, but I didn’t really KNOW her. Well, this trip changed that. Peg is beyond well traveled and has stories about everywhere she’s been and the people she’s met along the way for days. Her pace has not let up one bit since her love for travel began in her college days. She’s quite amazing. Enjoy!
What gives you the travel bug? For some it might be that first-ever trip. Others, it could be a particular experience on a trip, the food, music, weather or people.
For Peg Griffiths, it was a “school girl trip” between her sophomore and junior year of college at the University of Minnesota in the mid-60’s that set her up with a travel bug for life.
“I just wanted to travel, it was the thing to do at the time,” recalled Peg. “I worked a couple jobs to save enough money. Then, my two girlfriends and I met in Paris to begin our travels.”
But of course, Paris was not a one-stop shop for this group.
“Paris was interesting, but the rest of Europe was beckoning,” said Peg. “The mom of one of my friends didn’t want her to go at all unless she was going to study at the Sorbonne in Paris.”
So how did this trio manage to go from Paris to Nice, then to Pisa, Florence, Rome, Brindisi and Athens together for 2 ½ months on five dollars a day?
“My friend wrote a bunch of post cards and pre-dated them,” laughed Peg. “Then, she had someone mail them to her mother…And her mother never knew she traveled outside of Paris until she was 40!”
Wrapping up that trip, Peg branched out from her friends to visit Istanbul, where she stayed at the home of an international student who also attended the University of Minnesota. She notes that independent travel is much different than traveling in a group – whether the group is big or small!
“You just have be comfortable learning a country’s transportation system, money and more,” said Peg. “I’ve also observed that you meet a lot more people when you travel alone. I remember I was in India once by myself. I was in Calcutta, then I took a train by myself to meet other people that I knew in India. I ended up meeting up with a German international student from the University of Minnesota in Hyderabad. I have no idea how we did all that. There was no social media or emails back then.”
The following year after Peg’s school girl trip, she ventured to Egypt as part of the SPAAN (Student Project for Amity Among Nations) program. She was one of 15 students to travel to Egypt. For the school year, they studied Arabic and history before heading to the country for the summer.
“We did research projects in Egypt,” said Peg. “My project was health education in the villages. I interviewed people in the ministry of health and learned about endemic diseases. Then, I would go out and stay with some doctors in the village and observe. I couldn’t speak or do anything in the villages, but I absorbed all the information. We all took it very seriously. Egypt started me on my travels to more exotic places.”
Exotic places? Where? When? How many?
“I haven’t counted all the countries I’ve been to,” laughed Peg. “I can probably tell you the countries I haven’t been too – China, the Scandinavia area to name a few. But pretty much everything else I’ve hit. One of my girlfriends convinced me to go around the world with her when I was in grad school in 1967. When you conquer something like Egypt during the summertime at age 22, you feel like you can really conquer anything.”
From Russia to Slovenia, Cambodia, Thailand, Kenya, Tanzania and many more, Peg notes having the time and making time to travel is so important.
“When you’re young, you can be flexible with travel,” said Peg. “Or when you’re between jobs, that’s a great time to go! Taking a gap year also makes a big difference. You tend to travel on a shoestring budget, but it’s worth it. Today, it’s definitely a lot more expensive than it was back then.”
Today in her youthful 70’s, the travels still don’t stop for Peg. Just a month ago, she was back in Europe visiting family in Germany before she made her way to the Czech Republic for Marketa’s wedding.
Soon, she’ll be preparing for yet another trip overseas – back to Germany again with a group of Chicago friends for a biking trip.
And the secret sauce that helps keep her going on all her adventures?
“I have a pharmacy in my bag,” laughed Peg. “I carry with me about 12 kinds of pills from Imodium, to Ambien Extended Relief, Zpacks, EmergenC and more. I do not travel one step without it. A smart traveler will have all kinds of medications just in case. You should always be prepared.”
Peg dubbed herself “The Auntie” of our group.