“My book ‘Ants in My Pants, One Woman’s Unexpected Adventures Across Seven Continents’ is about twenty-three years of travelling around the world. My journey started in Saudi Arabia, where I worked in two different hospitals as a director in quality improvement. After, I worked with the World Health Organization, where I provided consultation in quality and improvement practices. I also wrote a quality improvement manual which was implemented and tested in Yemen and Sudan. Ultimately, I joined the International Service Corps and worked with hospitals in Egypt and Zambia.

My book also includes other stories about my travels, including the interesting people I met along the way. For instance, when I climbed Machu Picchu, I met the great grandson of Hiram Bingham III, who was the first one to discover the mountain in the wilderness. I’m an Ambassador of Adventure - I’ve travelled solo to 156 countries. These adventures have taught me to trust and grow alone and cherish unique experiences.

I look at healthy aging as a total system. First, being psychologically involved in your life – enjoying your journey, making sure you’re generally happy. You have to be physically involved too. A lot of the physical things change with age and are hard to manage, so listen to your body. For example, when I attempted to climb Mount Aconcagua, the highest mountain in the Americas while 65 years old, I had to decide whether I would continue my assent to reach the top or come down. I asked my body, and it told me I should return to base camp. I made the sad decision to descend. It was the right choice.

My philosophy of life is about the journey, not achieving the goal. I cherish having an undying curiosity about the world, its cultures, people and geography while gaining new life experiences. My purposeful goal was to travel the world and I did it - 156 countries and 31 territories.

I wish you all an interesting journey throughout your life.”

Find "Ants in My Pants" by Joyce Perrin is available on Amazon. To view more accounts of the author’s world travels and to contact the author: Ants in My Pants (joyceperrin.com)

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Joyce, 86 yrs

Mar 5th 2023