89-year-old grandmother from Krasnoyarsk proves that it's never too late to start exploring the world

Meet this woman Lena from Krasnoyarsk. She is 89 years old, but even young people can envy such a thirst for life! Elena Mikhailovna went through the war working in the rear, and now she is retired and lives alone in Krasnoyarsk. At the age of 83, she decided to start traveling and since then has been saving up a pension to visit different countries once or twice a year.

(17 photos in total)

Source: Facebook

Ekaterina Papina wrote about Baba Lena on Facebook: "I recently vacationed in Vietnam. And literally on the second day I heard a speech in Russian at breakfast. A very old grandmother was sitting at the next table and trying to explain to the waiter that she did not need spicy food. Grandma was sitting with a woman younger than herself, and I thought that it was mom and daughter who had flown on vacation. Great! You don't often meet our old people on vacation, unfortunately… I decided to get to know her and help her translate into English so that she would not be cooked spicy food. And you know what? It turned out to be not a family, but just people who met on vacation. BUT! Baba Lena (as she introduced herself to me :)) arrived alone!"

Ekaterina decided to get to know the woman better, and she told her that she was born in 1927, during the war she worked in the rear, in Orenburg, plowed fields on oxen for sowing, then sowed, cleaned. She married a military man, and at first everything was fine, but then her husband began to drink and beat her and her daughter. Now Grandma lives alone. She has a daughter and two grandchildren.

Every year Baba Lena goes to Karlovy Vary for three weeks to get treated. One day she met a woman from Germany there, and she invited her to visit. The next year, Baba Lena went to her, and from there they went together to the Czech Republic.

Apart from poor eyesight, health allows Baba Lena to travel. Although she walks with a cane, it does not discourage her from going to different places and seeing the world. The pensioner has already had an eye operation, but it was unsuccessful, and now she plans to do it again.

Baba Lena travels with a backpack. Although it's hard for her to wear it, there are always people who are ready to help. "She is generally such a person, open to everything new. For example, they asked if she wanted to try riding a bike with a driver — she agreed with great enthusiasm! I rode behind her on the seat and asked if she was scared. To which baba Lena said, "Super!" The Vietnamese driver hugged her for so long, he didn't want to leave right away," says Ekaterina.

Well, it remains to wish baba Lena long years and health in order to have time to see many wonderful places, and other pensioners (and not only) — the same thirst for life and energy, so as not to sit still and realize their dreams. It's never too late to do this.

Krasnoyarsk television even made a story about Elena Mikhailovna: