She herself had been on a transatlantic passage on QE II. Every time she talked about it, we both remembered old treatment for what ails you – an ocean voyage. If your boyfriend broke up with you (and you were rich), your mother took you on an ocean cruise. If you suffered some reversal of fortune, there was same solution. It was assumed an ocean voyage would cure you.

You will know what it cured one of. We all go through these things, though not all of us are lucky enough to do healing on a cruise ship.

Not that I’d experienced any loss, rejection or trauma, but I was ready to get out in ocean and feel magic.

After we'd explored ship and done some things, she sat me down in a deck chair and brought me a libation and we chatted while I enjoyed ocean view and began to unwind.

"How far out we are," I thought. "How vast this ocean. So this is what it's like to set sail and venture far from land. No wonder people used to take ocean cruises to heal after a trauma. Here we are, so tiny in middle of water. How marvelous it is to see no land in sight. How freeing.”

For a start, would you be fit for it? It will take up a huge chunk of your time (perhaps take over your life for a while at outset) cutting severely into other retirement interests.

Would you have finances for it? Might you find it stressful dealing face to face (perhaps for first time in your life) with your prospective clientele? Perhaps most importantly, are you willing to learn? Chapter 3 of ‘How to Turn a Buck in Third Age’ poses crucial questions that need answers before pursuing offline route.