Throughout my life I have prioritised health and fitness. During my ‘public speaking phase’, I was passionate about presenting a topic called “How to defy the ageing process”.

Dan Buettner’s work on identifying places in the world with the healthiest, longest-living populations really resonated with me. Dan is a National Geographic Explorer and journalist. He first coined the term “blue zones” during an exploratory project he led in 2004. After an expedition to Okinawa, Japan in 2000 to investigate the longevity there, he set out to explore other regions of the world with reportedly high longevity.

The five places were:

He writes that most of the answers to living a long life are because of lifestyle and environment. Interestingly, the Danish Twin Study established that only about 20% of how long the average person lives is determined by genes.

A record number of Italians turned 100 this year with some inspiring stories. The number has more than doubled since 2009 when Italy had 10,158 centenarians.

The world’s longest-lived people don’t pump iron, run marathons or join the gym. Their fitness and strength comes from movement in everyday life that doesn’t require conscious thought.

Every day in Italy I see the elderly walking up steep streets; carrying shopping up flights of stairs to small apartments; pushing prams with grandchildren up hills. In their seventies, eighties and beyond they do it with little effort because they’ve been walking hills and steps their whole life.

A plant based diet with a focus on beans, vegetables and whole foods. Beans, including fava, black, soy and lentils are the cornerstone of most centenarian diets. Italian food is one of the healthiest in the world due to its foundation based on the principles of the Mediterranean diet, which emphasizes fresh vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes and olive oil.

The Okinawans call it “Ikigai”, which translates to “why I wake up in the morning”. It is believed that having a sense of purpose every day is worth up to seven years of extra life.

Have a strong sense of family, community and faith. Successful centenarians put family first which is the most important thing for Italian people. This means keeping ageing parents or grandparents nearby or in the home. Every day I see male and female Italians caring for their ageing parents or grandparents, whether it be walking, shopping or simply sitting in a piazza having coffee.

Sundays are scared for the family lunch, not out of duty but because they want to.

People in all blue zones drink alcohol, moderately and regularly. Moderate drinkers outlive non-drinkers. The key is to drink 1-2 glasses per day with friends and/or food. That doesn’t mean saving up all week to go crazy Saturday night.

And what’s a big part of Italian culture? Aperitivo. A daily ritual at the end of the day to wind down with an aperol spritz, glass of wine or a beer before dinner. Gotta love that.

None of this is rocket science, but everything that we already know. Introducing a new daily habit such as walking up stairs or a hill can result in huge gains for longevity, no matter what age we start. It takes around thirty days for a new habit to stick, so step out of your comfort zone and think of some daily incremental changes that can benefit your fitness and health. It can be as simple as a fifteen minute hill climb before breakfast or climbing 100 steps a day.

AND . . . if travel is on your agenda for 2026, the fitter and stronger you are, the more authentic experiences you will have as we walk goat trodden paths above Lake Como; the stunning Path of the Gods looking down on the Amalfi Coast or a day exploring secret Rome.

Ci vediamo la prossima settimana.

Deb