I’m 53.
And lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about time.
Not in a morbid way. More in the way you do when you realise that somehow you’ve reached an age that once seemed a very long way off.
When I was younger, 50 sounded old.
Now I’m here, it doesn’t feel anything like I imagined.
I still want to travel. I still get excited about a great road, a new car or motorcycle, a place I’ve never been, a good meal, getting stronger, learning something new or just seeing what’s around the next corner.
If anything, I feel a greater urge to do those things now.
Because there’s one big difference.
I understand that time isn’t unlimited.
Queenstown Tasmania
Someday Is a Dangerous Word
We’re very good at putting things off.
I’ll do it when work settles down.
When I have more money.
When I’m fitter.
When I have more time.
Next year.
One day.
Someday.
I’ve probably said all of them.
But eventually you realise that someday isn’t actually a date on the calendar.
And there are things I don’t want to keep postponing.
I want to see more of Australia.
I want to travel further.
I want to ride motorcycles down roads I’ve never ridden.
Drive cars to places I haven’t visited.
Walk through cities I don’t know.
Eat food I’ve never tried.
Stay strong enough to carry my own bags, climb the hill, get on and off the ground and keep exploring for as long as I possibly can.
And I want to occasionally do things that make me slightly uncomfortable.
Because increasingly, I think that’s where a lot of the good stuff is hiding.
I’m Not Trying to Be 30 Again
This isn't about fighting ageing.
I'm not interested in pretending I'm younger than I am.
There are things about getting older that I actually like.
I know myself better. I'm less concerned about what other people think. I appreciate experiences more. And I'm starting to understand that how I spend my time matters considerably more than how busy I can make myself.
There are also knees that make strange noises, reading glasses that seem to reproduce around the house and mornings when getting out of bed takes slightly more negotiation than it used to.
That's part of the deal.
The goal isn't to go backwards.
It's to make the most of where I am now.
Pangong Tso, India
That's Where Plenty Left Came From
Plenty Left isn't about creating a bucket list and desperately trying to tick everything off before time runs out.
It's almost the opposite.
It's a reminder that there's still a lot ahead.
Plenty left to see.
Plenty left to learn.
Plenty left to experience.
Plenty left to improve.
Plenty left to laugh about.
And probably plenty left to get completely wrong.
This website is where I'm going to document some of it.
There'll be road trips and travel.
Cars and motorcycles.
Food and places worth stopping for.
Training, health and my attempts to keep this 53-year-old body capable of doing everything I'm asking of it.
There'll also be thoughts about getting older, changing priorities and figuring out what I want the next part of life to look like.
I'm not an expert on ageing.
I'm certainly not going to tell anyone else how they should live their life.
I'm just a bloke in his fifties who's realised he doesn't want to sleepwalk through the next couple of decades.
So, What Now?
I think the answer is surprisingly simple.
Go somewhere.
Try something.
Look after yourself.
Call someone.
Take the long way home occasionally.
Say yes when it would be easier to say no.
And stop saving everything for someday.
I don't know exactly where Plenty Left will take me.
That's one of the things I'm most excited about.
This is the first entry in the Journal.
Let's see where we end up.
There’s plenty left.
Let’s make it count.
— Rob
