True confession: For a while I was embarrassed to tell people that we were thinking of getting an RV. And especially that we want to take that RV somewhere warm in the winter. It's just so . . . cliché. 

Worse: it's old-people cliché.  

And to be honest, one of my apprehensions about embarking on this new adventure has been what it will be like spending so much time among retirees. (Steve would tell you it is a misconception that most RV-ers are retirees, and he's probably right—have I mentioned how good he is at research?—but he's not writing this post.) (Also, I have nothing against retirees; some of my best friends are retired. [You know who you are.] I didn't say it was a rational apprehension, okay?)

Then last Friday we went to hear Shindig, a 60's tribute band that a couple of Steve's friends play in. They have quite a following of people who were teenagers when 60's music was first played—a lot of younger fans, too, but definitely a good part of the crowd was what you'd call retirement age. And they're really fun! Some of them have a little less hair and a few more pounds than they probably had in the Age of Aquarius, but that didn't slow them down on the dance floor. It was pretty easy to see that most people there feel the same way I do: young and eager for life but inexplicably wearing a middle-aged body.

Tetons, 1981—about to head into the back country on our first backpacking trip together

And you know what? I feel kind of shallow and narcissistic saying this, but when everybody is a little heavier or balder or more wrinkly than the "ideal" man or woman as portrayed by Western media, when pretty much everyone has gotten past the age when you compare your looks to other people's and worry about how you measure up—well, things are a lot more relaxed.

I know: a truly well-adjusted person doesn't compare herself to others at any age, and a truly well-adjusted person doesn't have to think about whether she measures up to some external standard. I know one person like that. [You know who you are.] It's not me. Big surprise.

So Friday night's dinner-and-a-band date turned out to be a minor epiphany. If we end up in RV parks with a lot of retirees, it's going to be fine. Maybe even better than fine. Because a whole lot of the people who have chosen to travel rather than stay put are probably a lot like us: past our prime on the outside, but ageless on the inside.

2014, after completing a rim-to-rim backpacking trip in the Grand Canyon

And considering the alternative, I'm pretty happy to be getting older.