Adventure at 60
The challenges we face as we grow older, and the pleasures and rewards of embarking on new projects
A talk by Danish entrepreneur and writer Tina Theilgaard
WHEN and WHERE
📅 Friday 12. 12. 2025
🕒 17:00 – around 19:00
📍 El Bote de Luz. Calle Convento, 21; Canillas de Aceituno (Málaga). How to get there
🪑 5 €
🗣The talk will be in English
RESERVE YOUR SPOT
1. 📲 Bizum. Send us a WhatsApp message with the names of the attendees and, when we confirm the places, make a Bizum payment to the number +34645993636.
2. 🏠 In person. Send us a WhatsApp message with the names and, after confirming availability, pay on the day of the talk.
Some people in their 60s seem to have everything—health, stability, loving children and grandchildren—yet many others quietly slip into sadness as they face bodies that begin to falter, disappearing job prospects, aging parents, and a sense of decline no one talks about.
When she reached this stage of life, Danish entrepreneur Tina Theilgaard found herself much closer to the second group than the first. She decided to confront this reality and bring it into the light by encouraging society to rethink what it means to age. And what better way to do so than by writing about her own experiences and those of friends her age?
This is how, in 2021, her book Tresårig Tristesse—a Danish expression that could be translated as The sadness that comes with being in one’s sixties—came to life.
Through humorous conversations with her friend Elisabeth, Tina explores topics like health and memory, finances and pensions, social status, and how seniors navigate social media. These everyday reflections reveal the often-hidden emotional world of older people.
Tina aims to give a voice to those who feel overlooked or less valued as they age. And although her book focuses on Danish women, the issue is universal.
She is both humorous and thought-provoking, and ultimately seeks to spark a public debate about the realities faced by people—women and men alike—in their 60s, those caught between nearing retirement and the continuing expectation to perform socially, physically, and professionally as if they were still 40.
This often-unspoken reality is the focus of this talk at el Bote de Luz set as an interactive discussion with the audience.
Tina will explain the situation of aging people in her native Denmark and how she herself—now closer to 70 than to 60—has chosen to face it, to the point of embarking on a pleasurable and rewarding triple adventure: a new life path, an emotional journey, and “by chance,” as she likes to say, the creation of a language school in southern Spain.
During the talk, she will raise key questions such as “We are human beings, not human doings,” “When you stop working, you gain more freedom — but how do you use that freedom?,” and even “Where should we live and what should we do?”.
Her experience reflects a growing trend toward softening the sharp transition from active working life to retirement, traditionally seen as passive. This shift is driven by longer life expectancy—we live both longer and better—and by the increasing value we place on personal development and creativity beyond work done solely for economic reasons.
In other words, it reflects a raising human desire to live—especially at this stage of life—in ways that fulfill us not only materially, but also emotionally and intellectually. Ultimately, it’s about breaking the old boundary of retirement and rethinking the way we live.
Adventure at 60 is the first in a series of talks that el Bote de Luz will be hosting from now on, touching a variety of themes—from artistic and cultural topics to social issues and challenges of our time. Its aim is also to serve as a forum for sharing knowledge and perspectives among participants.
These talks join other cultural activities already taking place at el Bote de Luz, such as tea ceremonies, wine tastings, and workshops like the artificial intelligence one held in November.