Savvy seniors know that they can better enjoy their travels when in good physical shape. Running through airports, climbing aboard cruise ships and wandering through cities all take lots of energy. Before leaving on the next journey, you need to exercise and eat smart. However, that’s not enough for the heavy schedule ahead. You also need to put your brain on a regular workout regimen.

To get started on brain exercise, you must be less focused on the TV and other electronic doodads that have taken over your intellectual life. The mental gymnastics can have many varieties. With eyes or ears, read books every night before sleeping. If travel plans will take you to foreign lands, first study up about their history and current ways of life. Learn some of the language and make more specific plans to visit museums and other historic destinations.

Keeping your mind busy with new experiences is similar to trying different kinds of physical exercise. This brain activity goes far beyond just preparing for travel. Latest scientific studies show that regular mental activities significantly slow down the onset of age-related brain decline.

Mental inactivity compares very much to the inevitable loss of muscle flexibility when an older person stops regular exercise, and the aches and pains take over to make it worse. With the brain, inactivity isn’t just a mental decline. Medical reports indicate that seniors who continue to use their brains actually create a healthier blood flow to the vital organ.

In a recent article on Yahoo, Dr. Sandra Bond Chapman of the University of Texas at Dallas wrote: Adopting this new, healthier way of thinking translates into real-life benefits that support our ability to make decisions, think critically, reason and plan. In other words, shaping your brain by engaging in the right kind of daily mental exercise has the power to reverse brain aging and actually make you smarter.

Therefore, senior traveler, before you set out on your journeys, make sure both brain and body are in tip top shape, so you can enjoy your wanderings to the utmost!

Reference: www.seniorjournal.com/NEWS/Aging/2013/20131112_Boomers_Seniors_Vastly_Improve_Memory.htm