To arrange an interview with Siobhan, please contact:
clare@fireworkpr.co.uk
07974 161127
In The
News.
What You Will Hear in This Episode: Siobhan’s story Societal pressure around aging. Cross generational discussions about aging. Ageist assumptions that hold us back. Older role models. Traveling in a motorhome. Finding an audience for her message. Changing the narrative and the outlook at an early age Advice Siobhan’s book Quotes
“I love being old and I love showing that old is good and old can be fun.” “I’ve lived, I’ve laughed and I’ve loved and I’ve earned those wrinkles, I’m proud of them.” “Kindness is a strength.” “Somedays I do nothing but just take in my surroundings.” “Don’t limit yourself in what you can do.” (Click image to listen)
Kaye Adams is searching for the answers on How To Be 60, and together with her retired, if very rude friend, Karen MacKenzie, she speaks this week to Siobhan Daniels who gave up the rat race, quit her job, sold her house and bought a camper van.
Now she travels the country, with no ties, no worries and, occasionally, no shower! (Though she does know how to fix it.) Prepare to be inspired! (Click image to listen to the podcast)
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Siobhan Daniels is a retirement rebel - she sold her home and belongings to buy a motorhome and set off on a UK road trip.
She tells us how the journey's going...
In my fifties I became increasingly disillusioned with how we were all living. So many of us were working long hours to earn money to buy STUFF that we did not really need and because we worked long hours it left little quality time to spend with family and friends. (Click image to read full article).
Siobhan Daniels inspires young and old alike. As a woman who has endured a variety of pains life had to throw at her, she is now not only living her best life into retirement, she’s on a mission to encourage others to do that too, and to promote the enjoyment of growing older.
(Click on the image to listen to the podcast).
After suffering bereavements and a dark period in her 50s, Siobhan Daniels, 62, decided to embrace adventure. So she swapped her flat for life on the road.
Siobhan Daniels is giving a virtual tour of her home. “I’ve got my gin bar,” she says, flicking on decorative lights, “an oven big enough for Christmas lunch ... and a full-size shower and toilet.” The moment she walked in, she knew it was the home for her. She gave up her flat in Kent, disposed of most possessions – and moved into this two-berth Auto-Trail Tribute motorhome. (Click image to read full article)
Handmade Christmas Gifts
(Click image to listen)
Retirement Rebellion with Siobhan Daniels
Joining Jo this week is Siobhan Daniels, who reacted to workplace bullying by donning a backpack and taking a grown up Gap year! This proved a good training ground for her unusual "retirement" - determined not to give in to the "beiging" of older women, Siobhan sold her flat and most of her possessions, bought a motorhome and hit the road... welcome to the Retirement Rebellion! (Click image to read full article)
Contractor recalls using hair dye in his 50s to 'dent appearance of age' amid ageism fears
OLDER workers are being impacted by ageism in the workplace, which has drastically impacted their prospects and comfort, a study has shown.
Older workers are continuing to navigate the job market, and with the state pension age increasing, this is likely to become even more of a societal norm. However, many have spoken of their experiences of feeling shut out and overlooked within the workplace, and forced out of employment opportunities. A study released today by organisation 55/Redefined in collaboration with UK charity, ProAge, has demonstrated the extent of the problem. (Click image to read full article)
The retirement rebellion: why we aren’t quitting – and what we’re doing instead
Forget carriage clocks and cruises, these modern retirees stepped off the treadmill and started living the lives they'd always wanted
Grilled by a financial advisor three years ago, when she asked my planned retirement age I recoiled and answered “Never!” The thought of retiring, of giving up on the vital stuff of life to play golf and tend a vegetable patch, was about as far from the life I pictured for myself as Mars. Work is what we do, right? It’s how we stay young, vital and engaged with the world. (Click image to read full article)
From radio to rucksack
Siobhan is an absolute Thrill Seeker! If two jobs in high-pressured environments, two marathons and the Yorkshire peaks aren’t enough to persuade you – she’s now off to Malawi!
Siobhan is one of eight children, whose mother and father were both nurses, so naturally Siobhan fell in to nursing, working in the fast-paced intensive care unit where she continued as a nurse for nine years.
Upon the birth of her brilliant daughter, Siobhan taught herself to type and applied for a job as a receptionist at BBC Radio Leeds (all be it, not a very good one – her words!), but it got her foot in the door! When she heard about the BBC Trainee Reporters scheme, seven and a half thousand people applied, but after a couple of days of interviews, Siobhan’s natural ability shone through and she got the job!
For Siobhan, her new position meant that she was travelling to many different radio stations and had to make big sacrifices within her personal life. However, she felt that this job could provide a better way of life for both herself and her young daughter. (Click image to read full article)
Aging Disgracefully
Siobhan Daniels joined our #AgeisNOTjustaNumber movement literally on the move from her motorhome, Dora the Explora, while adventuring solo across Great Britain. Challenging ageism along the way.
After a 30-year career as a BBC presenter, writer, and producer in radio and television, Siobhan, 61, became increasingly disillusioned with the way older people were depicted in the media, advertising, and marketing. Here’s her story:
“I felt there was a terrible ageist attitude, and the images used in stories bore no resemblance to the people around me I saw in their 50s, 60s, 70s, and beyond. (Click image to read full post)
Siobhan Daniels menopause story
HOW OLD WERE YOU WHEN YOU FIRST DISCOVERED YOU WERE IN MENOPAUSE?
During my early to mid forties I was experiencing what I now know where peri menopausal symptoms. And I struggled because I had no idea what was actually happening with my body and my emotions.
But to put it in context I have to go back to the fact that over twenty years I had suffered with gynaecological problems. They discovered that I had C111 cells of the cervix when I was pregnant with my daughter. And throughout the years that followed I had laser treatment , cone biopsies and various surgical procedures so my hormones had been all over the place for ages and I was used to very heavy bleeding and passing blood clots. So when It was actually the start of the menopause that was exacerbating the symptoms I was oblivious to it. I thought that feeling anxious achy and tired was all part and parcel of having the cervix problems and in fact I worried that I had cancer.
My work was so unsympathetic. And being in a newsroom I had to be on the ball even when I was feeling anxious and was bleeding heavily. ( I mean so heavily that I always had a stash of nighttime sanitary pads in the toilets at work and I had to put three in at a time to stop myself flooding. It was so hard to continue working.) (Click image to read full post)
'Siobhan Daniels has run two marathons, trekked through iNDIA, CLIMBED MOUNT Kilimanjaro and flown across America. now she's travelling solo across the British Isles in a motorhome fir for a queen' (Read full article below)
Ep.46 Out of the Bubble with Solo Traveller Siobhan Daniels
It's guests like this weeks episode that offer so much inspiration for women of all ages. I joined Siobhan Daniels during lockdown, over on Zoom, from her camper van.
Siobhan retired last year and at 60 she is determined to knock down some of those stereotypical portrayals of the retired woman. She sold her home and invested in a motorhome to travel around the UK.
I had so much to talk about with Siobhan and her attitude to life is wonderful. (Click image to listen to the podcast)
I’m speaking to Siobhan Daniels, a 61-year old ex-BBC journalist with a fascinating story. She’s given up her home and is travelling solo around Great Britain in a motorhome in a bid to challenge the stereotypes around retired women and have some fun and adventures along the way. Although her odyssey has been rudely interrupted by lockdown, she’s simply parked up in a field and she’ll be on the move again as soon as the rules allow. “Ageless fearless women, that’s what we are!”, she says and she certainly lives up to that impressive description.
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We discuss ageism in the workplace and Siobhan’s frustration at the sense that younger colleagues were writing off women over-50 as old, which fuelled her determination to change the dialogue around ageing. (Click image to listen to the podcast)
Emotional ROLLERCOASTER
Emotional rollercoaster as my Motorhome madness adventures start again after the easing of lockdown
On April the 11th I went to bed feeling very anxious because I knew that the following day I would be joined by other people in their motorhomes on their site. The 12th of April 2021 saw an easing of lockdown and campsites opened up but many had to keep their facilities closed. I came to this field on the edge of Blakeney in north Norfolk, at the start of November 2020, just before the lockdown started and I had been here alone for over 5 months. (98 days) At the start it was quite scary because the locals were unhappy that I was here in my motorhome. Things soon settled down though and they got used to me being there. (Click image to read full article)
EP8 | Siobhan Daniels | Fulltime Vanlife UK
In this episode we speak with Siobhan Daniels who has retired from her role in the BBC to travel the UK in a motorhome.
Having sold her flat and most of her possessions, she bought a motorhome with no previous experience of vanlife. Siobhan talks passionately about using her retirement at the age of 61 years young to challenge ageism and ageist stereotypes.
She also discusses her round the world backpacking trip at the age of 50 after taking a break from work. (Click image to listen to the podcast)
I went from being the life and soul of a party to spending hours and hours lying on the sofa unable to do anything, even getting a shower some days. I also piled on the weight. I became increasingly angry with everyone and everything. I hated the way I looked and felt.
I began making excuses rather than go out with friend and instead stay in bed, eat rubbish and sleep for hours. It was so far away from my usual way of living but I could not get myself together. But when I had to, I could paint my face on a pretend but then collapse into a heap when I had used up all my energy pretending to make others happy.
I got sick of pretending and just felt a numbness and a feeling I was on the outside looking in on life. (Click image to read full article)
'Siobhan is on a mission to prove that women their 60s still have a voice. and what better way to do it than by travelling the UK in a deluxe motorhome' (Read full article below)
