Angie Cunningham, Armchair Traveler, Senior Planet Explorer

Angie Cunningham started attending Senior Planet classes about six years ago, after retiring from a career working as a secretary and in real estate. We caught up with Angie years after she first joined our community to see how Senior Planet has helped her change her life and the lives of those around her.  

What led you to taking classes at Senior Planet?  

When I retired, I knew I needed to find other outlets. The first couple of years were kind of lonely and all of a sudden, I had a lot of time on my hands. I started getting Senior Planet’s emails and I saw that you could do something every day of the week, every hour of the day, just about! And it’s always nice to try something new, right?  

You mentioned loving Discover Live – what do you get out of this program?  

It’s really neat because it goes to places that I’ve never been and probably at my age now probably won’t get to. When they went to the Great Wall of China, the guide was up way early in the morning and there were maybe only ten other people there. When my friends have been there, it’s just so crowded. How cool is it to really get to see the site and learn a lot of history?  

The event in Paris at Galleries Lafayette at Christmas was the best because we got to see all the windows and the decorations in the store. And then the guide took us up on the roof and to look out over the whole city of Paris with the lights and everything. I also loved the tours of Brazil and Peru. 

Join the December 4 Discover Travel tour  – and see the holiday market in  Slovenia! Get the details here and sign up!

How did Senior Planet help you pick out a new laptop? 

That was pretty cool. My laptop was giving me trouble and I knew I was going to have to get a new one. And I had always relied on work on my I.T. department to tell me, “Buy this one.” They’d even set it up for me and I’d take it home. 

So, I didn’t know anything about how to select a new one. I took the “How to Choose a New Computer” class and it made much more sense! 

How did the Online Rx Resources class help you? 

I was standing in line at the pharmacy and this older lady was trying to buy a tiny tube of salve or something. It was like $80 with her insurance co-pay. And she said, “I can’t afford that.”    I had just been to the Senior Planet lecture Online RX Drug Resources, and I told the cashier, “You should try Good RX. “And he said, “Oh, I didn’t think of that.” So he typed it in and the salve was $30 as opposed to $80! Now, that’s a big deal. 

Why should other older adults join Senior Planet classes?  

Well, it’s a win-win situation. It’s free, number one, and you have so many different things at your fingertips. You go in-person and talk face-to-face with people, which is also good because as we get older, our world shrinks a little bit or a lot, you know. 

Or you can do join on Zoom then and you’re talking to a guy out in Texas! It’s not just the New York perspective, which is fine with me. I love New York, but it’s nice to talk to people from other places. 

You’ve got nothing to lose! There are so many different classes. For example, in the back of my head, I always thought drumming looked fun. But where would you find a drumming class? Would I have to sign up for ten classes to take one? Suppose I don’t like it? So it was kind of neat to join the Senior Planet Drumming Circle and just try something that I’d never tried before, for free with no long-term commitment!  

Want to try your hand at Drumming? Join us the evening of December 3! Details are here!

What does Aging with Attitude mean to you?  

I guess it’s a sense of confidence, you know? Getting out there, learning all different things and meeting new people. 

 Want to support Senior Planet’s free programming so even more older adults can thrive in the digital world like Angie? Donate for Giving Tuesday, and AARP and UnitedHealthcare will match every donation dollar-for-dollar, up to $250,000! Click here to have your donation doubled! 

Pam Hugi is Senior Planet’s Community and Advocacy Manager. Based in Brooklyn, she is a contributing writer for this site.