If you want to direct - then get out there are start directing your own work. Make sure you can keep paying your bills and afford to do your projects.
You do not need to own a camera, find someone in a similar boat who wants to DoP and with whom you can work. This might take a bit. Good chance they will know other crew people as well.
Can you write? Not that you have to be able to, but it is going to make your life easier starting out if you can write short scripts and then execute them. Anything. Spec commercials are a great way to build your narrative skills. Telling a compelling story in 30-45 seconds is a LOT harder than it sounds. Also, this gives you a reel of the type of work that will net you the largest margin in the future: Advertising. Music videos are another good one to cut your teeth on; largely because it means that you have an automatic audience for your work - the band and their friends and family and (hopefully) fans.
Build a semi-consistent crew. Remember them, if one of them hooks you up, then hook them up whenever the chance comes along. And so-on. The dead-beats won't be able to keep up the pace and will get filtered out. The rest of you will all come up together.
Finally, forget about your age. Realism is important - but in this case age isn't as much of a relevant factor as you think. I work with a gaffer who started this industry at 30. I didn't finish college until I was almost 30, and didn't start freelancing in production until I was 35.
Also, I am of the opinion that the Key creative positions are best filled by people with as much life experience OUTSIDE of film production as possible. This being your (at least) 2nd career gives you that much more background from which to draw inspiration.
