It’s often said that life begins at 40, but for Maggie Counihan her real life adventure started 20 years later.

At the age of 60, she took off to India alone and carrying only her backpack.

“I was living in a comfortable unit in Perth, Western Australia and at a crossroads in my life,” she remembers.

“I’d had a recent divorce, a clean cut one, and a ‘barney’ with my adult children. Sitting alone, reflecting on my future, I thought, ‘I’ll go to India’.

“This country had been beckoning me for years, now the time seemed to be right.

“With no bookings, no plans, no internet and not much sense, off I set.  I did have a passport, a visa, a big smile and loads or optimism.”

Maggie said her overseas journeys, which has also included visits to countries such as Thailand, Cambodia, China, Mexico and China, changed her life. 

“The self-discovery was awesome. I found courage, resourcefulness, and confidence to make my own decisions,” she said.

“It was challenging, heady, empowering stuff.  And for the first time in my life I had freedom.  I could do whatever I wanted.”

Upon her return to Australia, the Sunshine Coast local documented her adventures in a book, Backpacking to Freedom: Solo at Sixty.

Maggie still hasn’t thrown off the travel bug.

Last year with her partner Rollo she visited eight countries in three months, including a four-week journey through India, riding camels and sleeping in the desert.

Maggie Counihan will share her experiences and adventures as a mature world traveller at the Albany Creek Library on 2 August and Woodford Library on 23 August.