Seasoned Travellers Are Rewriting the Rules
More time, more experience and zero interest in rushing. Why some of the smartest travel happening today is by people over sixty.
The travel industry has spent years aiming its marketing at twenty somethings with backpacks. Meanwhile, a huge share of the people actually out there exploring the world are well past their first passport. They have the time, they have the curiosity and, frankly, they tend to travel better.
Experience is the big advantage. Seasoned travellers know what they enjoy and what they do not. They are less likely to cram six cities into ten days and more likely to rent an apartment in one place for a month and get to know the baker. They book the shoulder season because they are not tied to school holidays. They ask good questions. They tip properly.
The trips themselves are changing too. Small group tours with a dozen people instead of fifty. River cruises that unpack once and let the scenery do the moving. Walking holidays where the luggage is driven to the next inn. And a growing trend of grandparents travelling with grandchildren, often with the parents staying home. Ask anyone who has done it. It is a different kind of trip, and a very good one.
A few things are worth getting right. Travel insurance matters more, and it pays to be completely honest about any existing health conditions when you buy it. Ask hotels about lifts, stairs and walk-in showers rather than assuming. Build in rest days. Bring copies of prescriptions and keep medication in your carry on.
None of that is about slowing down because you have to. It is about slowing down because you have worked out that it is better. The rest of us could learn something.
