user scenario

i had to try and get into the mind set of a retired person who was interested in back packing. this lead me to write a somewhat long winded user scenario...

Peter is a retired schoolteacher, who is 68 years old. He is married to his wife of 35 years, Mary. He lives on a modest pension and owns his home, having made the final mortgage payments before his retirement. They live in a working class city suburb. Mary still works part time as a receptionist in a dental clinic to help make ends meet. In addition to Peter’s pension they have been able to save over 10,000 dollars over the past 5 years. The couple had 3 children, who are now grown up with the eldest already married with 2 young children. Peter and Mary funded all their children through good schools and universities to give them the greatest chance of success. Their children all live out of home now and have steady jobs and stable lives.
In his youth Peter enjoyed playing tennis, surfing and bushwalking. When he was 18 he used the money he made working part-time jobs to take a trip to Europe for 6 months with the intention to live on no more than one US dollar a day. This was a popular thing to do at the time. At the time flying was only an option for the very rich, so he was forced to take a weeks long trip over the high seas before his ship arrived in England. From there he made his way across Europe. On this trip he meet his future wife who was traveling in a group of other backpackers. They returned to Australia together and married after Peter graduated from university.
Peter was a teacher, which afforded him the flexibility to take long holidays with his children during their upbringing. As they were never very rich they opted to take camping holidays out in the bush or in caravan parks. On holidays they enjoyed going to the beach, fishing and hiking.
Peter recently had to have his knee replaced due to the years of hard wear and time off his feet gave him a chance to reflect. He decided he wanted to use the money he and his wife had saved up to go on a backpacking tour. He even found Internet resources for mature backpackers. While recovering from the surgery he was able to plan the trip. He also had to get back into shape and prepare for the trip.
Peter and his wife took the trip they had wanted to do for years. They stayed in hostels and took public transport wherever possible. They were able to meet many people on the trip that shared their passion of being travelers, not tourists and returned home after 2 months with plenty of money to spare. They are now planning to do more back packing trips with others they meet on their journey and online.