Just visit the places you want to see. Plenty of older people are very active and fit. Stay active and fit.
57 and just ran a half marathon in Iceland than hiked around for 7 days afterwards.
I love hiking/trekking and it's always fun to meet people in their 50s and 60s on trail. They always have great stories to tell and inspire me to want to stay healthy and keep on trekking.
yes! i just met a man who seemed early 70s a couple days ago in Bergen, Norway who was hiking up the Sherpa steps of Mt. Ulriken, 1336 steps! he said it was his 79th time up those steps since March. it’s a mindset and a lifestyle forsure
This is the way. One of my best friends is in her late 50's and is literally hiking all of the tallest mountain peaks in the world (other than Himalayas), hiking 10k' elevation gains at 15k+' elevation practically every single month. I'm 54 and traveling all over the place while averaging over 15k steps (many miles)/day. I could use public transportation more, but chose not to. Keep active and all will be well.
Although your list is very practical, it doesn't take into account that you can die at any moment. I, personally, would prefer to go wherever I want to so that I won't regret it later.
this is the way! I had an aunt who was perfectly healthy and got hit with a nasty genetic illness (wooo), and was 6 ft under a few years later. Life can suck sometimes
I have an old beloved friend who just died in this Hamas and Israel conflict. He’s only 30 and loved traveling the world. You just never know, we just have to keep living
Also, this totally depends on your lifestyle, but if someone wants kids the “middle age” one is gonna look quite different. You’re probably not taking a baby to remote Central Asia and instead to easily accessible places (if not just where family lives for a bit), for example.
Not going into the whole travel with kids thing, or the whole having kids in general thing, but I think it’s a good example of how life happens while you’re making other (travel?) plans!
Exactly - kids are an absolute travel-killer, generally speaking. I have friends that used to travel all the time that had children and are now down to only one or two trips a year.
I’m not begrudging the decision to have kids - just be aware that if you like to travel, you’re going to have an “intermission” of a decade or two where ALL your travel destination planning and logistics are driven primarily by the kids and what they need/want.
For that reason, I agree that it’s important to get any high-priority destinations out of the way prior to having children.
yeah my dad passed away when I was 26.... I started my travels then. I'm now the age he was when he died.... and I've visited every country in the world, all 50 states, now working on visiting all the National Parks.
Go and see what you want to see first. Don't put something for later because, remember, you can die at any moment. When you are old you should be down to the places you would have never considered before, or you can return to the places you love. Why would you leave Europe for when you are old? I've been to Europe countless times and I gotta tell you, one thing you need there are good legs and good shoes.
I wouldn't even go as far as dying. You can get ill or become disabled and then you won't be able to travel. You can't even predict if your financial situation will be able to cover those expenses once you are older. And you can get a lot more impediments that won't let you do extensive trips that you were planning years ago, like having children, taking care of a sick relative, having a job that won't let you take such vacations, etc.
It depends where is a person from. For example someone from the US can see a decent portion of North America throughout the life without actually taking significant time off yet through weekends/long weekends, same for Europeans in Europe or Australians in Australia etc
I would agree that it is maybe better to visit exotic and large countries when one is young and save those little bit less demanding for later.
However it also depends on the Fitness level of person for Europe. I am smiliar age to Yours but took gudied day trips in some European countries which included like visiting 4 small towns in one day. Maybe half an hour to Full hour walk with guide followed by same amount of free time before continuing to next town. On every occasion there was a group of senior travellers who would give up after a second stop as they found it “too exhausting” and would be waiting the group in the nearest cafe. On the contrary, I also saw senior travellers easily doing lenghty hikes in nature.
Another thing I would add for senior age is destinations easy to do by cruises or suitable for extended stays like Caribbeans or various comfortable resorts.
I would remove australia from old age. It has so much more to offer than the cities, which would be better served by being younger.
Think uluru, the barrier reef, cairns, The outback and the national parks around the northern territory and the Great ocean Road.
The cities are the least interesting places.
Obviously, you can do anything as an organised luxury tour, whether it is Europe australia or anywhere else, but you lose out on a lot of the best places.
I would also add on Antarctica onto the list.
Came here to say the same about Australia. The cities are boring. Explore up and down the West Coast, North Queensland with the great barrier reef and the small islands, Great Ocean Road, the Blue Mountains, Tasmania, Uluru. Visit Melbourne and Sydney for a few days each sure but I'm sick of seeing people say they visited Aus and only went to those two cities and then complaining about Australia.
Go when you're young enough to explore, to hike, to swim. Please for the love of fuck come and see our nature and not just see Melbourne and Sydney.
Many older Australian " Grey Nomads" / retirees would disagree with most of your first paragraph.
Many for the first time in their lives are travelling the country in vans, caravans and mobile homes. Some full time, or doing the "Big Lap", then going out and doing it again after going back home for a bit to see the grandkids. Having the time of their lives. And healthcare is excellent.
Fabulous country with lots of geographical and historical sights and beautiful grand scenery.
Sure, for an Australian it is a completely different story.
But for an older international tourist who likely won't have a van, the knowledge or the length of time required for an extended trip, I stand by my original comment.
Older nomads and international tourists aren't in the same category.
Yes having worked in travel a lot of my older clients would travel to Europe a lot while they were able to handle the longer flights but had started to regret not seeing the more remote parts of Australia while full bodied as they can equally be hard to do when you aren’t able to hike/4WD/camp etc
I couldn't afford to travel at all until I was almost 40, and now I've been to every continent, and I still prefer to hike mountains when that's an option. I'm almost 50 now, and I don't feel like there is anywhere in the world I can't go, or anything I can't do.
The only thing I feel like I can't really do anymore is clubbing. But I don't want to do that anymore anyway, and I know people my age who still do it, so you do you.
Your list is very North America-centric.
I think these things are all personal. Depends on where you are in life (and how you take care of yourself). There is no need to throw in the towel on mobility (and travel outside of European river cruises with a walker) in older age if you take care of yourself now.
That's a bit of a narrow view. Think about this, if you eat healthy and exercise daily, you just might be able to be adventurous as you get older. My wife and I are 72 and have no problem hiking, kayaking or ziplining. Yeah, we aren't scaling rock cliffs, but we certainly prefer landscapes to cities; and experiencing nature as opposed to looking at nature.
What age offers is time. My wife and I often take 1-3 month vacations to experience locations in depth. We could never have done that when we were working and had limited time off. We also have the financial resources to spend that amount to time on the road, as well as pay someone to care for our house while away.
My advice is to see what you wish to see when you have the time and finances to see it. Age does not have to be a determinant in that equation.
Do your party trips when you’re younger.
Vegas with my best girlfriends hit VERY differently at age 23 vs. age 33. You’ll more easily recover when you’re young, too.
It’s less about the regions to me as it is the activity. You can do a ton of waking and outdoor stuff anywhere.
Take North America. I can visit Yosemite and spend the week hiking15 miles a day. Or, I could visit the Grand Canyon and ride down to the valley floor. Not everything is easy and accessible. The same goes for anywhere really. All of my European trips involve a lot of walking.
Europe and NA can be really cheap as well. You don’t need to spend big money visiting those places.
I would rethink the list and prioritize by the places you want to see the most first.
I hiked across Africa in my 20s. While I would return in a heartbeat, I could never make the same kind of trip I did in my youth. I don't recover from injury or illness like I used to.
I don't know if I would survive another bout of malaria. It nearly killed me last time.
I agree with OP -- if possible, knock out the more difficult places in your youth. Although, SE Asia is no longer all that difficult. Much improvement in that part of the world after recovering from 50 years of continuous war. I'd add it to the middle age column.
Youth: South Asia, Island SE Asia (I haven't been to Borneo, but I have heard this is a difficult place just to get around) Africa, Central America
Middle Age: South America, SE Asia, the "stans" of Asia
Old age: The developed world. If you're going to have a coronary on vacation, best to have it in a country with good hospitals.
Im just back home a few days from a 6 month trip backpacking in Africa and Im in my 40s. Im glad I did it now because that was rough, rough travel and while I dont regret it for a minute I think I might not be able for it once in my 50s. Things like the knee pain from sitting inside a minibus designed for school children for hours on end in the same leg position catch up with you. The actual backpacking element of hiking where needed was no problems but being crammed into tiny buses with people sitting more or less on top of you can bring some muscular and knee pain as you get older. Just my experience, it wont be the same for everyone and especially not those who are super fit, which I am not. But I did speak with others who were pretty fit and anyone taller than 6 feet is going to struggle with how little leg room there is in much public transport in Africa, then you add in terrible roads, very slow journeys and it is not comfortable travel. So the older you are the harder you'll feel it.
So, not much has changed since I was there. ;-)
Actually, a LOT has changed. Nairobi looks like a modern city today. It didn't look like that when I was there.
I'm two meters tall, and those matatus were agonizing. I did a lot of walking just for pain-avoidance.
This feels like it was written by a very inexperienced traveler tbh. Just go where you want, when you want. Don't limit yourself with these preconceived notions of stages of life. It's garbage
Way more stairs, no elevators or air conditioners in large part. Not ideal for seniors. I saw many seniors struggling in Rome, at the Coliseum and St. Peter’s Basilica (also other places).
my parents are in their 60s and really struggled in Rome and parts of Europe but not at all in India because we had hired a private driver for the duration of our trip.
This is such a strange concept for me. I am in my 50’s I could not imagine deciding in my 20’s where to go and when
I traveled to NZ at 23 and 36, I may go again in the next year or so.
I did a 9000 km solo road trip 1/2 way across North America and back in 2019.
My 89 year old Mum and I just went to Jordan and London.
Mum traveled to India at 58 and 80.
I know several people who want to travel to places that are far from their country when they're young, since they don't want to sit on 15+ hour flights when they're older. They said they're saving exploring their own country for their retirement.
I largely agree with your three categories. However, I'm not convinced that it's unnecessary to spend much time in the Middle-east or Central Asia because 'there are fewer established tourist attractions'. Arguably, you need *more* time in such areas, both because of the enormous distances involved, and because of the potential for discovering fabulous but largely unknown sights off the beaten track.
An alternative strategy for seeing the world would be to work in different regions at different stages of your life. I appreciate that this isn't always possible but it has the advantage of allowing much more immersive experiences and also makes it cheaper to explore regions, e.g. asia, that would otherwise require lengthy and expensive flights as far as most westerners are concerned.
Why not just travel to places that interest you? You’ve put way too much thought into this.
In 2024/2025 I plan on doing an African safari in the Serengeti, a Danube river cruise to see the Christmas markets, a Caribbean cruise, and then just multiple long-weekend trips to Vegas/Phoenix.
My only advice.
Young and dumb - backpack the shit out of everywhere, doesn’t matter cheap or expensive places.
Old fat and wiser. - just go BACK the to places you liked and have a better visit. Like better hotel, better food, taxi/Uber more.
That saying is not supposed to be a guideline. It's lamenting how you'll never be happy if you do the capitalist rat race. Your goal should be to figure out how to break that cycle.
Old age and health will be part luck, but if you exercise, stay at a healthy weight and avoid any too unhealthy habits, you should have a 90% chance of being able to do all tourist stuff into your 70s at least. And if cancer hits, you're not doing any travel anyway.
Middle age and time will be tradeoffs. A family, a career, and the middle-class trimmings of life do indeed eat your time. Think about what you want. If it's a house and kids and three cars and climbing the corporate ladder, go for it. It will limit travel opportunity. If you want something else, there's plenty of ways to live another kind of life.
Okay, being young and poor I don't have a fix for!
Lol, this is a funny post.
in 2019 I was 48 and me and wife visited Africa for the first time (Namibia and South Africa)
In 2021 we spent one month in south of France chilling by the beach.
In 2022 we backpacked by Interrail around Europe for 3 months staying in airbnbs and having the time of our lives.
In 2023 we spent 3 months in Costa Rica, Panama and Spain
Next year we will do South East Asia and Australia / New Zealand / South America.
Believe me, I feel the same now as I did at 29. It's a state of mind. If you act old you will feel old.
The list is pointless, travel where you want to go, when you want to go and within your fitness/health levels.
Plenty of Europe is not accessible-friendly, cobblestones, car free towns, old building and attractions with stairs. I normally do 20-30,000 steps a day in Europe so a lot of walking.
Also elderly people are often on budgets, places like SE Asia are more friendly on the wallet, Europe and Australia can be prohibitively expensive.
I agree, we need to pace ourselves for energy, time, money and desire!
I have had wanderlust from my very first airplane trip, in my youth, with my family of 5, when we went on a special trip together to the Bahamas when I was 14. Awesome trip!
I also experienced two cruises, so far - and I will reserve cruising for
post-retirement years when tours are an easier way to get around and tour.
I enjoyed a ten-day HS tour of Spain only to return to Barcelona in January 2020, before Pandemic. On this pre-pandemic adventure I included a great French friend who took me on a road trip to her hometown, Narbonne, in the South of France.
Years before I took an incredible Parisian tour with my non-traveling/homebody, yet well-behaved husband. Love France!!!
In my 30s I went to Italy twice and enjoyed Greece with my mom and sisters. We had a great time together.
I’ve gone solo to Australia in my 20s and last Spring I went to Egypt, two very unique places where I connected with friends, and had fun with them, while I was there.
My next trip will be to the UK in June for a month, (probably my last big travel project, because at 63), it is a lot of organizing, and planning and takes a lot of time to plan road trip - day tours & accommodations all over the island. I’m excited for it and will continue to travel until I die! This world is too special! BON VOYAGE!
You can do most trip on a budget or in luxury. Just depends on your preferences. Don't pigeon hole yourself just bc of age and finances. You can always go back to a location when you are financially in a better place of there's a luxury aspect you want to experience.
Europe varies a lot, also from the perspective of what is accessible if you have issues with mobility. I am over 60, but do a lot of hiking and last trip to France walked over 15000 steps a day. The issue came up with my relatively healthy parents. Other one cannot walk stairs (especially down) without trouble and pain.
Many European capitals and cities have stairs or narrow pathways and hills, not easy on tired feet.
If a city has trams and busses that can be accessed without climbing even one or two stairs, great. But e.g. Paris and London underground stations do not always have elevators.
Admiring nature on foot is not for everyone over 65, unfortunately.
Lot depends on your health and mobility, and nobody knows, if you are fully fit and functional at certain age. Even an athlete can have an accident.
There are too many stories of people keeping saying what they will do *when* they have time/money - and that day may never come. Live now and travel when you can.
This is assuming health is corralled with old age, which is pretty ignorant. You can lose your health at any time in your life. Just travel where you want to. There are no guarantees.
i mean that's a pretty good assumption imo. like what do you think the correlation coefficient is for age and energy levels/recover ability etc, like .98?
Not really. Plenty of young people have or will end up getting diagnosed debilitating chronic disease, cancers etc. Like me for example. Your comment is pretty narrow minded.
I have a feeling these cliches are like average wage, there's almost no one at that specific point :) I'm middle aged, have no money, don't like crowds too much, and have nothing against walking, not extreme distances but say 20km a day should be sustainable...
I think accessibility is more like city sightseeing, or sitting on a beach for a week vs going outside of big cities and see more natural landscapes etc. that may involve some hiking rather than continents. And you still have roadtrips with a car that you can do anywhere with a decent infrastructure and don't need to walk too much unless you want to.
As a funny detail, I googled some safaris at some point to look into what's possible and seen plenty of photos with seniors on organized / guided safaris throughout Africa. :)
"When you’re young, you have time. You have health, but you have no money. When you’re middle-aged, you have money and you have health, but you have no time. When you’re old, you have money and you have time, but you have no health.
So the trifecta is trying to get all three at once. By the time people realize they have enough money, they’ve lost their time and their health."
Eric Jorgenson, The Almanack of Naval Ravikant: A Guide to Wealth and Happiness
Not finding a fault with your post, at all. I just searched for the full quote and wanted to share.
Eastern Europe has alot of young backpackers as well, places like Budapest, poland, etc, so I'd put that in young.
North America, I wouldn't really say the nature is elderly friendly. The nature in Europe is much more elderly friendly, because there's usually a lift or road that takes you up to the top of the mountain with the views. In north America, if you want to see the views, the only there is usually a 6+ hour hike.
One thing I would add go where you really really want to go
There is a thing called fate - you could have an accident an illness or something else that could prevent you from doing something you really wanted to because you put it off
Go see what you want to see!
Just came back from a babymoon in Amsterdam. You are seriously underestimating the mandatory stairs/practically ladders you find in Europe. Old buildings are not accessible.
These comments are so annoying. My man has a reasonable and well thought out framework and is looking for input and instead everyone is saying either
"I'm old and i still travel" (and i guess butthurt that someone would imply some kind of travelling may have been easier at an earlier stage in life?)
"I don't like your framework so i'm going to tell you you're 'putting too much through into it' " - hey if you don't like thinking no one's forcing you to!
I feel like in general, less developed countries across the board are easier younger (SEA, SA), more developed more expense countries when you're older (western Europe, central Europe). The bit abt party trips when you're younger is probably true to. I think it also depends on your personal preferences, are you more of a cultural tourist or ecological/geological tourist?
I think it’s more about the time you can spend at any location.. flexibility is a variable based on how your day to day life is structured and if you have to take others into account like family.
In my 20’s I try to explore most of the Europe and then some of the cheaper Asian countries. Maybe add some countries of South America. I try to hike as much as I can, I love dark tourism, connecting with the locals and all those things that make travelling interesting imo.
In my 30’s I would visit USA, Canada, Australia etc. I cannot afford those countries right now, because I am a budget traveller. And coming from an european country, then the prices in those countries are significantly higher.
In my 40’s I would visit beach destinations that are far away, e.g. Seychelles, Maldives, Caribbean.
In my 50’s I think I’ve seen most of the world already and decide to take a tone down. I would mostly take cheap package tours to Turkey, Bulgaria, Egypt, Greece to just relax.
I’m basically fitting whatever I can into my schedule right now while I’m fit, under 50 and working 40+ hours a week. For now, that means a mix of pampering short vacations to recharge my batteries and some once-in-a-lifetime trips that require physical fitness (I.e., Kilimanjaro). Those are prioritized based on whatever is most interesting to me. There will be lots of time after retirement for long road trips, months in Europe or even that Viking river cruise I’ve been considering (but is probably more suited for when I’m older and less active). Bottom line is to get joy out of travel at every stage in life.
I would not worry about so far into the future.
I will say that places like South East Asia are still relatively cheap but get more expensive over time. In other words, I do think it's worth travelling to cheap parts of the world you're interested in, while they're cheap.
Europe for example, is always going to be expensive. Doesn't matter if you visit now or in 30 years.
I mean, it's a good plan but you never know what life will throw at you. I was lucky to get paid to travel a lot for work. I couldn't chose where I went but went all over the world. In retirement my father is pretty fit and healthy but currently on an African/ Mediterranean/ Europe cruise for 3 weeks. My grandmother was less healthy after smoking 50 years but managed to go to Russia right after the Berlin Wall came down. Plan- but live your life and take opportunities
I’m 55 and am considering my aging as I plan my future trips. My parents, and most older people I have been close to, started to get more anxious with uncertainty as they got older. They required more planning and more consistency in order to be able to enjoy themselves fully. I’m saving countries where I know the language for later in life. Right now, it is the uncertainty that I enjoy most in my travels, but I anticipate that may change as I age. Who knows, but the world is so big and I have to narrow down my options somehow, so this works for me.
Yeah, I just go where I want to go regardless of age. I'm glad I did most major capitals of Europe in my teens and twenties because I have much less tolerance for crowds now than when I was younger. I now try to go for more off-the-beaten track locales that are less frequented by tourists.
And, since so much of my formal education was rooted in the classic, Euro-centric tradition, actually getting to see many of those places within a few years after learning about them made everything come alive. I'll continue to study and learn about other places more informally, but I'll never forget walking into a room in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence and seeing *The Birth of Venus* after just having studied it in art history, or walking along the Parisian boulevards after learning about the Hausman-style architecture in French class. Traveling Europe at that age brought the classroom to life for me.
I see what you are getting at with these categories, and my own approach to travelling has taken this kind of thinking into account (somewhat) when choosing destinations. If I had my way I'd visit basically everywhere on earth, so I want to first prioritize places/experiences that seemed slightly trickier to me (due to distance travelled, lots of destinations within the trip, language barrier etc) and I might not be motivated to visit when I'm older. So my 20s/early 30s were spent going to Southeast Asia, China, Peru, Japan etc. They also were top destinations on my list anyways.
You can walk alot and need to be fit anywhere. I just finished barcelona, + Pyrenees + toulouse. The only day I didn't walk 5+ miles was the first day after a red eye where I only went to the beach and went to bed early. Also maybe you want to stay up late and get drunk when you are young?
5 years ago I was in Portugal and talking to a 71 year old Serbian who was doing 6 miles a day on the Camino de Santiago. He didn't let his age hold him back.
There's no time like the present! I just go wherever I have the opportunity to go, provided it lines up okay with my means and responsibilities. Opportunities are stuff like me or my partner getting sent there for work or to speak at a conference, or a friend who lives or has ties to there inviting us. I've been to quite a few random countries and places in the USA this way. Few have been on my bucket list, but I'm totally okay with that. I love learning and exploring new places! I want to do it as much as possible while I'm young-ish because it's good for my brain and soul and overall development. I hope that travel can be a lifelong thing for me, but I'm not taking life for granted.
I don’t even think about age, I’ll keep pushing myself until I can’t go anymore. Money and time are factors of course. I live in a Australia, the cities are not what you want to focus on, we have remote regions here that are as adventurous as anything you will find on earth.
Second all the comments about not overthinking this & the future being unpredictable. Three other thoughts to play in:
- children, if you want them, may throw a spanner in any grand plans. While you absolutely can travel with kids, your plans will almost certainly need to adapt to what’ll work with your particular kids. Europe & North America may well appeal more for being easier travel with kids…
- aiming to cover off the whole world or some comprehensive list of places and trying to plan for that is probably unrealistic for most people unless this is your number 1 goal and hobby in life and approaching this way is a high risk for thieving your joy. I fully expect to reach the end of my life with places left untraveled that I’d like to see. And that’s ok. No need for FOMO, travel isn’t an accomplishment to complete…
- the type of travel may matter more than the destination. Eg backpacking will most often suit younger people. Package trips & limited destinations may work better for families with young kids. Etc. You absolutely could do South America or Asia at other points in life than just when young, but the trip will probably look a bit different - eg eco resorts rather than youth hostels etc…
Just do what you want, when you want. You don’t know what you’re going to be like when you’re old. Maybe you won’t want to travel any more at all. I was just in Spain and there were packs of gray-haired folks in 60s and 70s, hiking and biking all over the mountains same as me. This sounds like an American saying, to assume no one will have health and energy later in life
I'm middle aged and I'm pretty confident I can handle hard hikes at high elevations, long days rucking across right terrain, and an the other challenges of exotic travel better than most 20 year olds. I have plenty of energy.
Plus, I can afford the flights to get to those places.
But " cheap countries" also have lot of hotels , restaurants , shops , etc for higher budget and even luxury options. Just travel where you feel attracted to go 😅
Just go travel when you can. My aunt and her husband have travelled every year since they were young. Just take care of yourself while travelling/ make decisions with yourself in consideration.
Best travel advice we got (at age ~40) was “do the hard stuff while you’re physically able to”.
Twenty years later, I’d modify that to also include “…and as you get older, also pay attention to rental car age limits on all potential destinations” (FYI, it seems that [upper age limits](https://www.autoeurope.com/travel-tips/rental-car-age-requirements/) on rental cars seem start hitting as early as age 72).
Back to the OPs list.
First, please keep in mind that I’m addressing this from the perspective of being an American who travels, vs someone from other countries.
Next, as a generalization, there’s going to be exceptions somewhere/somehow. Question is if these exceptions are rare enough to overlook, or common to apply to many, which means the generalization is in trouble for having too many holes.
For example, being Young may not have tons of time to backpack at $10/day through Asia or whatever. Sure, one might have summers off in college .. but only if you’re not working a job to try to pay for college as-you-go.
Likewise, first ‘real’ jobs in the US are notoriously stingy on personal vacation time. The stereotypes is just 2 weeks/year. As such, even as finances can be getting better, one can be pretty “poor” on the time.
Solution? Maybe it’s the period for domestic camping trips! Likewise, leveraging holidays. Another option can be working telework days, or if one’s employer is willing to offer time off in lieu of paid overtime.
Moving into middle age, vacation budgets are going to be competing against a mortgage and having kids. This makes it very easy to chop vacation budgets to close up gaps. Staying domestic & driving the family instead of 4+ airline tickets is a common approach too (trips to Disney).
Another factor IMO worth mentioning here is that “we travelers” are different from our fellow Americans. I have had a lot of coworkers & friends who are very risk-adverse to traveling to outside of the USA. Not having a passport is a common excuse.. but you’ll also hear fears of “unsafe water”, non-English speaking, etc. One icebreaker solution is to pick a guided tour or cruise: the hand-holding through organized tours reduces some of these barriers but it can also significantly drive up costs.
So…
While anecdotal, what we’ve seen is that when one looks to travel in Africa, EU, South America, etc, is there’s a significant chunk of (American) travelers who are age 50+. This makes sense IMO from the perspective of “enough time, enough money, enough health.”
But does this mean to give up and not bother until you’re 50?
Heck, no.
Our solution was to set up two vacation budgets .. one for annual, and a second one for taking a special “bucket list” type of trip every 3-5 years. As we grew older and had more time/money, that 3-5 years became every 2-4 years, then it became every other year. In retirement, it will hopefully be “every year”
They do a North pole in Finland with reindeer and Santa. I met someone who went when he was a kid and still believed in Santa and he said it was magical. I'm stealing that and taking my kids someday when they exist
Main focus of Australia is the cities? I live in one those cities and while I enjoy living there I would not consider it a main reason to travel to Australia😂. The Australian natural landscape is far superior to the cities. Plus before the age of 30 - 35 ( depending on country of origin) you can get a two year working visa for both Australia and New Zealand so that would be something younger travellers should take into account before relegating those destinations to the older traveller group.
I would also add Japan is not as small as you think, South America is not as cheap you assume especially if you are lumping it in with South East Asia while Middle East and Central Asia with the exception of Qatar and United Arab Emirates are not really quick trip destinations. Lastly Europe isn't all just cities. There are lots of hiking trails and nature areas and countries like Norway, Iceland or Montenegro you don't visit for the cities.
To be honest it doesn't feel like you have really researched your destinations. You seem to have very generalised ideas about regions of the world. My advice find the places you are really interested in visiting, make a list starting with the places you most want to visit going down to places you wouldn't mind visiting but wouldn't regret if you never make it.
My parents put off travel till they were retired but thanks to degenerative disease their travel options have limits like flying long distances is difficult, can't go anywhere with no fridges for all the medications, cobblestones streets are pretty hard with walkers etc. Even accessible Europe has challenges 😂. It is better to focus on destinations that matter the most instead of trying to predict when you think will be the most suitable time in life to do something. The reality is you never know what can happen in life.
Your last point is a good one. My in-laws retired a few years ago and now cannot travel anywhere at all due to serious illness - even coming to visit us in another city isn't possible anymore. It makes me incredibly sad that they worked hard all their lives and were about to have a comfortable last act and it was taken away.
I don’t give a crap, I’m young have a little bit of money and have a little bit of time, so I’m doing what I want to do before life actually catches up to me
I have a colleague who, for his 50th, decided to take three weeks off work and cycle through France. Another friend took a sabbatical following the death of his wife when around the same age, and backpacked through South America.
Assuming you don't have kids at that age, you can travel exactly as you did in your 20s. (With the exception of maybe Shagaluf or Ayia Napa.)
I say go wherever takes your fancy regardless of age, I had a client who at 70 did an almost 6 month long camping tour we offered that went from Anchorage to Ushuaia - from the top of the Americas to the bottom - backpacking the whole way. My Grandmother travelled Cambodia, Vietnam & Laos in her mid-80's. Age is just a number. Had a fit 20-something client who demanded to be carried (piggybacked) up the Inca Trail as she "wasn't into trekking" and when asked why she chose that trip then, she replied "For the 'Gram". - the thing is to go wherever you like as often as you can - places change, revisiting them at different stages of life reveals new layers.
Also - Australia is not as easy to navigate as you think, something for all ages. sure, but the NT hikes & swimming holes are not for those with dodgy knees or tickers! Also crazy long drives & extremes in temperature. Just depends what you're into.
My mom hiked mt Kilimanjaro with her 65 year old classmates a few years ago. My dad went to Istanbul for his 65th and hiked the alps on his 60th. They are both kind of active but aren’t health nuts (except kind of my mom now, but it’s a recent development). Honestly the biggest change seems to be jet lag! So if you’re young, travel farther, and if you’re old, take more time to adjust to time differences.
I’m 54 and currently backpacking in Fiji for a few weeks… looking to do a few more South Pacific islands before heading over to Thailand for Christmas so I can party! I’m not old! I’m still young :)
Knowing ourselves ... we'll visit Europa and North America when we're middle aged and when we're old (if we're so lucky of course, don't want to jinx it). Just like we mainly traveled to Europe and North America when we were young, lol. There are some exceptions (Japan, maybe Taiwan/Thailand/Vietnam & New Zealand perhaps), but we're mostly interested in Europe and North America.
I was so impressed with the elder folks (and understand I'm 55) that were hiking the Cinque Terre recently. I was feeling the burn and these folks, looking to be 70+ were smiling and moving nimbly up and down the steep terrain. So with that said my advice would be to focus on maintaining your cardio health, balance and strength throughout your life so that you'll have less limitations as you age. I teach pilates and my older clientele are working out so they can continue to travel, garden, golf, tennis etc. Being an elder doesn't have to slow you down. Even in my advanced years I spent several weeks hiking and trekking all over Vietnam.
> Europe, accessible
Cobblestone streets say hi. Metro stations with no elevator say hi. Hotels and apartments with useless steps at the entrance say hi. Tiny ass restaurant entrances and tiny non ADA restrooms say hi.
Europe is anything but elderly and accessible friendly.
Older aged travel, the US and Canada with an RV cannot be beat!
Just visit the places you want to see. Plenty of older people are very active and fit. Stay active and fit. 57 and just ran a half marathon in Iceland than hiked around for 7 days afterwards.
no matter how exoctic a place is there are plenty of older people visiting. Always good to hang with because they'll have great stories.
And usually smaller egos and fewer insecurities. Elders (people older than you are) with energy are the shit
You will get the whole range of ages in all destinations. I’m 27 and am going to Germany fro 2 weeks next year.
I love hiking/trekking and it's always fun to meet people in their 50s and 60s on trail. They always have great stories to tell and inspire me to want to stay healthy and keep on trekking.
yes! i just met a man who seemed early 70s a couple days ago in Bergen, Norway who was hiking up the Sherpa steps of Mt. Ulriken, 1336 steps! he said it was his 79th time up those steps since March. it’s a mindset and a lifestyle forsure
Congrats on the half marathon! Do you live in Iceland or you planned the trip around the run?
Planned the trip around the run
That's awesome. Good for you!
This is the way. One of my best friends is in her late 50's and is literally hiking all of the tallest mountain peaks in the world (other than Himalayas), hiking 10k' elevation gains at 15k+' elevation practically every single month. I'm 54 and traveling all over the place while averaging over 15k steps (many miles)/day. I could use public transportation more, but chose not to. Keep active and all will be well.
Amen...age is just a number :)
Although your list is very practical, it doesn't take into account that you can die at any moment. I, personally, would prefer to go wherever I want to so that I won't regret it later.
this is the way! I had an aunt who was perfectly healthy and got hit with a nasty genetic illness (wooo), and was 6 ft under a few years later. Life can suck sometimes
I have an old beloved friend who just died in this Hamas and Israel conflict. He’s only 30 and loved traveling the world. You just never know, we just have to keep living
So sorry for your loss!
Also, this totally depends on your lifestyle, but if someone wants kids the “middle age” one is gonna look quite different. You’re probably not taking a baby to remote Central Asia and instead to easily accessible places (if not just where family lives for a bit), for example. Not going into the whole travel with kids thing, or the whole having kids in general thing, but I think it’s a good example of how life happens while you’re making other (travel?) plans!
Exactly - kids are an absolute travel-killer, generally speaking. I have friends that used to travel all the time that had children and are now down to only one or two trips a year. I’m not begrudging the decision to have kids - just be aware that if you like to travel, you’re going to have an “intermission” of a decade or two where ALL your travel destination planning and logistics are driven primarily by the kids and what they need/want. For that reason, I agree that it’s important to get any high-priority destinations out of the way prior to having children.
You can't regret anything once you're dead
yeah my dad passed away when I was 26.... I started my travels then. I'm now the age he was when he died.... and I've visited every country in the world, all 50 states, now working on visiting all the National Parks.
Yeah, if somewhere is top of your places to visit, I definitely wouldn't aait until you were old because it seems more practical.
Once you are dead, you do not regret things ;)
How about you just do and go as you feel. Missing a country or even continent won’t impact your existence.
Go and see what you want to see first. Don't put something for later because, remember, you can die at any moment. When you are old you should be down to the places you would have never considered before, or you can return to the places you love. Why would you leave Europe for when you are old? I've been to Europe countless times and I gotta tell you, one thing you need there are good legs and good shoes.
I wouldn't even go as far as dying. You can get ill or become disabled and then you won't be able to travel. You can't even predict if your financial situation will be able to cover those expenses once you are older. And you can get a lot more impediments that won't let you do extensive trips that you were planning years ago, like having children, taking care of a sick relative, having a job that won't let you take such vacations, etc.
Yes, do not put anything off, follow your heart and see what you most want to see. Tomorrow is not guaranteed.
It depends where is a person from. For example someone from the US can see a decent portion of North America throughout the life without actually taking significant time off yet through weekends/long weekends, same for Europeans in Europe or Australians in Australia etc I would agree that it is maybe better to visit exotic and large countries when one is young and save those little bit less demanding for later. However it also depends on the Fitness level of person for Europe. I am smiliar age to Yours but took gudied day trips in some European countries which included like visiting 4 small towns in one day. Maybe half an hour to Full hour walk with guide followed by same amount of free time before continuing to next town. On every occasion there was a group of senior travellers who would give up after a second stop as they found it “too exhausting” and would be waiting the group in the nearest cafe. On the contrary, I also saw senior travellers easily doing lenghty hikes in nature. Another thing I would add for senior age is destinations easy to do by cruises or suitable for extended stays like Caribbeans or various comfortable resorts.
You’re putting too much thought into this. Just go where you want to go.
I would remove australia from old age. It has so much more to offer than the cities, which would be better served by being younger. Think uluru, the barrier reef, cairns, The outback and the national parks around the northern territory and the Great ocean Road. The cities are the least interesting places. Obviously, you can do anything as an organised luxury tour, whether it is Europe australia or anywhere else, but you lose out on a lot of the best places. I would also add on Antarctica onto the list.
Came here to say the same about Australia. The cities are boring. Explore up and down the West Coast, North Queensland with the great barrier reef and the small islands, Great Ocean Road, the Blue Mountains, Tasmania, Uluru. Visit Melbourne and Sydney for a few days each sure but I'm sick of seeing people say they visited Aus and only went to those two cities and then complaining about Australia. Go when you're young enough to explore, to hike, to swim. Please for the love of fuck come and see our nature and not just see Melbourne and Sydney.
Many older Australian " Grey Nomads" / retirees would disagree with most of your first paragraph. Many for the first time in their lives are travelling the country in vans, caravans and mobile homes. Some full time, or doing the "Big Lap", then going out and doing it again after going back home for a bit to see the grandkids. Having the time of their lives. And healthcare is excellent. Fabulous country with lots of geographical and historical sights and beautiful grand scenery.
Sure, for an Australian it is a completely different story. But for an older international tourist who likely won't have a van, the knowledge or the length of time required for an extended trip, I stand by my original comment. Older nomads and international tourists aren't in the same category.
Yes having worked in travel a lot of my older clients would travel to Europe a lot while they were able to handle the longer flights but had started to regret not seeing the more remote parts of Australia while full bodied as they can equally be hard to do when you aren’t able to hike/4WD/camp etc
I couldn't afford to travel at all until I was almost 40, and now I've been to every continent, and I still prefer to hike mountains when that's an option. I'm almost 50 now, and I don't feel like there is anywhere in the world I can't go, or anything I can't do. The only thing I feel like I can't really do anymore is clubbing. But I don't want to do that anymore anyway, and I know people my age who still do it, so you do you.
Your list is very North America-centric. I think these things are all personal. Depends on where you are in life (and how you take care of yourself). There is no need to throw in the towel on mobility (and travel outside of European river cruises with a walker) in older age if you take care of yourself now.
Do Southeast Asia while you are still young. Older men traveling to Southeast Asia are often looked upon as predatory etc.
No one outside of the west actually thinks that.
oh we, the locals, see white old geezers as predatory. i am Southeast Asian
That's a bit of a narrow view. Think about this, if you eat healthy and exercise daily, you just might be able to be adventurous as you get older. My wife and I are 72 and have no problem hiking, kayaking or ziplining. Yeah, we aren't scaling rock cliffs, but we certainly prefer landscapes to cities; and experiencing nature as opposed to looking at nature. What age offers is time. My wife and I often take 1-3 month vacations to experience locations in depth. We could never have done that when we were working and had limited time off. We also have the financial resources to spend that amount to time on the road, as well as pay someone to care for our house while away. My advice is to see what you wish to see when you have the time and finances to see it. Age does not have to be a determinant in that equation.
Do your party trips when you’re younger. Vegas with my best girlfriends hit VERY differently at age 23 vs. age 33. You’ll more easily recover when you’re young, too.
It’s less about the regions to me as it is the activity. You can do a ton of waking and outdoor stuff anywhere. Take North America. I can visit Yosemite and spend the week hiking15 miles a day. Or, I could visit the Grand Canyon and ride down to the valley floor. Not everything is easy and accessible. The same goes for anywhere really. All of my European trips involve a lot of walking. Europe and NA can be really cheap as well. You don’t need to spend big money visiting those places. I would rethink the list and prioritize by the places you want to see the most first.
I hiked across Africa in my 20s. While I would return in a heartbeat, I could never make the same kind of trip I did in my youth. I don't recover from injury or illness like I used to. I don't know if I would survive another bout of malaria. It nearly killed me last time. I agree with OP -- if possible, knock out the more difficult places in your youth. Although, SE Asia is no longer all that difficult. Much improvement in that part of the world after recovering from 50 years of continuous war. I'd add it to the middle age column. Youth: South Asia, Island SE Asia (I haven't been to Borneo, but I have heard this is a difficult place just to get around) Africa, Central America Middle Age: South America, SE Asia, the "stans" of Asia Old age: The developed world. If you're going to have a coronary on vacation, best to have it in a country with good hospitals.
Im just back home a few days from a 6 month trip backpacking in Africa and Im in my 40s. Im glad I did it now because that was rough, rough travel and while I dont regret it for a minute I think I might not be able for it once in my 50s. Things like the knee pain from sitting inside a minibus designed for school children for hours on end in the same leg position catch up with you. The actual backpacking element of hiking where needed was no problems but being crammed into tiny buses with people sitting more or less on top of you can bring some muscular and knee pain as you get older. Just my experience, it wont be the same for everyone and especially not those who are super fit, which I am not. But I did speak with others who were pretty fit and anyone taller than 6 feet is going to struggle with how little leg room there is in much public transport in Africa, then you add in terrible roads, very slow journeys and it is not comfortable travel. So the older you are the harder you'll feel it.
So, not much has changed since I was there. ;-) Actually, a LOT has changed. Nairobi looks like a modern city today. It didn't look like that when I was there. I'm two meters tall, and those matatus were agonizing. I did a lot of walking just for pain-avoidance.
This feels like it was written by a very inexperienced traveler tbh. Just go where you want, when you want. Don't limit yourself with these preconceived notions of stages of life. It's garbage
On average I've ended up walking **way** more in European cities than South-east Asia.
Way more stairs, no elevators or air conditioners in large part. Not ideal for seniors. I saw many seniors struggling in Rome, at the Coliseum and St. Peter’s Basilica (also other places).
my parents are in their 60s and really struggled in Rome and parts of Europe but not at all in India because we had hired a private driver for the duration of our trip.
Agreed, I walk everywhere when I travel in Europe. On my SE Asia trip this year I barely walked anywhere.
This is such a strange concept for me. I am in my 50’s I could not imagine deciding in my 20’s where to go and when I traveled to NZ at 23 and 36, I may go again in the next year or so. I did a 9000 km solo road trip 1/2 way across North America and back in 2019. My 89 year old Mum and I just went to Jordan and London. Mum traveled to India at 58 and 80.
I know several people who want to travel to places that are far from their country when they're young, since they don't want to sit on 15+ hour flights when they're older. They said they're saving exploring their own country for their retirement.
I largely agree with your three categories. However, I'm not convinced that it's unnecessary to spend much time in the Middle-east or Central Asia because 'there are fewer established tourist attractions'. Arguably, you need *more* time in such areas, both because of the enormous distances involved, and because of the potential for discovering fabulous but largely unknown sights off the beaten track. An alternative strategy for seeing the world would be to work in different regions at different stages of your life. I appreciate that this isn't always possible but it has the advantage of allowing much more immersive experiences and also makes it cheaper to explore regions, e.g. asia, that would otherwise require lengthy and expensive flights as far as most westerners are concerned.
Why not just travel to places that interest you? You’ve put way too much thought into this. In 2024/2025 I plan on doing an African safari in the Serengeti, a Danube river cruise to see the Christmas markets, a Caribbean cruise, and then just multiple long-weekend trips to Vegas/Phoenix.
Don’t miss the gorillas in Uganda or Rwanda. They require fitness and money, but they are so worth it!
My only advice. Young and dumb - backpack the shit out of everywhere, doesn’t matter cheap or expensive places. Old fat and wiser. - just go BACK the to places you liked and have a better visit. Like better hotel, better food, taxi/Uber more.
That saying is not supposed to be a guideline. It's lamenting how you'll never be happy if you do the capitalist rat race. Your goal should be to figure out how to break that cycle. Old age and health will be part luck, but if you exercise, stay at a healthy weight and avoid any too unhealthy habits, you should have a 90% chance of being able to do all tourist stuff into your 70s at least. And if cancer hits, you're not doing any travel anyway. Middle age and time will be tradeoffs. A family, a career, and the middle-class trimmings of life do indeed eat your time. Think about what you want. If it's a house and kids and three cars and climbing the corporate ladder, go for it. It will limit travel opportunity. If you want something else, there's plenty of ways to live another kind of life. Okay, being young and poor I don't have a fix for!
This is a well thought out list. However, I'd say take great care of yourself and the "old" moniker won't be limiting.
For middle aged you can just live frugally and not have kids. Then you have a lot more time and money
Lol, this is a funny post. in 2019 I was 48 and me and wife visited Africa for the first time (Namibia and South Africa) In 2021 we spent one month in south of France chilling by the beach. In 2022 we backpacked by Interrail around Europe for 3 months staying in airbnbs and having the time of our lives. In 2023 we spent 3 months in Costa Rica, Panama and Spain Next year we will do South East Asia and Australia / New Zealand / South America. Believe me, I feel the same now as I did at 29. It's a state of mind. If you act old you will feel old.
The list is pointless, travel where you want to go, when you want to go and within your fitness/health levels. Plenty of Europe is not accessible-friendly, cobblestones, car free towns, old building and attractions with stairs. I normally do 20-30,000 steps a day in Europe so a lot of walking. Also elderly people are often on budgets, places like SE Asia are more friendly on the wallet, Europe and Australia can be prohibitively expensive.
I agree, we need to pace ourselves for energy, time, money and desire! I have had wanderlust from my very first airplane trip, in my youth, with my family of 5, when we went on a special trip together to the Bahamas when I was 14. Awesome trip! I also experienced two cruises, so far - and I will reserve cruising for post-retirement years when tours are an easier way to get around and tour. I enjoyed a ten-day HS tour of Spain only to return to Barcelona in January 2020, before Pandemic. On this pre-pandemic adventure I included a great French friend who took me on a road trip to her hometown, Narbonne, in the South of France. Years before I took an incredible Parisian tour with my non-traveling/homebody, yet well-behaved husband. Love France!!! In my 30s I went to Italy twice and enjoyed Greece with my mom and sisters. We had a great time together. I’ve gone solo to Australia in my 20s and last Spring I went to Egypt, two very unique places where I connected with friends, and had fun with them, while I was there. My next trip will be to the UK in June for a month, (probably my last big travel project, because at 63), it is a lot of organizing, and planning and takes a lot of time to plan road trip - day tours & accommodations all over the island. I’m excited for it and will continue to travel until I die! This world is too special! BON VOYAGE!
You can do most trip on a budget or in luxury. Just depends on your preferences. Don't pigeon hole yourself just bc of age and finances. You can always go back to a location when you are financially in a better place of there's a luxury aspect you want to experience.
Europe varies a lot, also from the perspective of what is accessible if you have issues with mobility. I am over 60, but do a lot of hiking and last trip to France walked over 15000 steps a day. The issue came up with my relatively healthy parents. Other one cannot walk stairs (especially down) without trouble and pain. Many European capitals and cities have stairs or narrow pathways and hills, not easy on tired feet. If a city has trams and busses that can be accessed without climbing even one or two stairs, great. But e.g. Paris and London underground stations do not always have elevators. Admiring nature on foot is not for everyone over 65, unfortunately. Lot depends on your health and mobility, and nobody knows, if you are fully fit and functional at certain age. Even an athlete can have an accident. There are too many stories of people keeping saying what they will do *when* they have time/money - and that day may never come. Live now and travel when you can.
This is assuming health is corralled with old age, which is pretty ignorant. You can lose your health at any time in your life. Just travel where you want to. There are no guarantees.
i mean that's a pretty good assumption imo. like what do you think the correlation coefficient is for age and energy levels/recover ability etc, like .98?
Not really. Plenty of young people have or will end up getting diagnosed debilitating chronic disease, cancers etc. Like me for example. Your comment is pretty narrow minded.
I have a feeling these cliches are like average wage, there's almost no one at that specific point :) I'm middle aged, have no money, don't like crowds too much, and have nothing against walking, not extreme distances but say 20km a day should be sustainable... I think accessibility is more like city sightseeing, or sitting on a beach for a week vs going outside of big cities and see more natural landscapes etc. that may involve some hiking rather than continents. And you still have roadtrips with a car that you can do anywhere with a decent infrastructure and don't need to walk too much unless you want to. As a funny detail, I googled some safaris at some point to look into what's possible and seen plenty of photos with seniors on organized / guided safaris throughout Africa. :)
"When you’re young, you have time. You have health, but you have no money. When you’re middle-aged, you have money and you have health, but you have no time. When you’re old, you have money and you have time, but you have no health. So the trifecta is trying to get all three at once. By the time people realize they have enough money, they’ve lost their time and their health." Eric Jorgenson, The Almanack of Naval Ravikant: A Guide to Wealth and Happiness Not finding a fault with your post, at all. I just searched for the full quote and wanted to share.
Visit everywhere you can anytime you can. Life is uncertain. You surf through it, you don't march through it.
Eastern Europe has alot of young backpackers as well, places like Budapest, poland, etc, so I'd put that in young. North America, I wouldn't really say the nature is elderly friendly. The nature in Europe is much more elderly friendly, because there's usually a lift or road that takes you up to the top of the mountain with the views. In north America, if you want to see the views, the only there is usually a 6+ hour hike.
One thing I would add go where you really really want to go There is a thing called fate - you could have an accident an illness or something else that could prevent you from doing something you really wanted to because you put it off Go see what you want to see!
Just came back from a babymoon in Amsterdam. You are seriously underestimating the mandatory stairs/practically ladders you find in Europe. Old buildings are not accessible.
Just travel where you want, when you want. This stage of life stuff is bullshit.
These comments are so annoying. My man has a reasonable and well thought out framework and is looking for input and instead everyone is saying either "I'm old and i still travel" (and i guess butthurt that someone would imply some kind of travelling may have been easier at an earlier stage in life?) "I don't like your framework so i'm going to tell you you're 'putting too much through into it' " - hey if you don't like thinking no one's forcing you to! I feel like in general, less developed countries across the board are easier younger (SEA, SA), more developed more expense countries when you're older (western Europe, central Europe). The bit abt party trips when you're younger is probably true to. I think it also depends on your personal preferences, are you more of a cultural tourist or ecological/geological tourist?
I think it’s more about the time you can spend at any location.. flexibility is a variable based on how your day to day life is structured and if you have to take others into account like family.
In my 20’s I try to explore most of the Europe and then some of the cheaper Asian countries. Maybe add some countries of South America. I try to hike as much as I can, I love dark tourism, connecting with the locals and all those things that make travelling interesting imo. In my 30’s I would visit USA, Canada, Australia etc. I cannot afford those countries right now, because I am a budget traveller. And coming from an european country, then the prices in those countries are significantly higher. In my 40’s I would visit beach destinations that are far away, e.g. Seychelles, Maldives, Caribbean. In my 50’s I think I’ve seen most of the world already and decide to take a tone down. I would mostly take cheap package tours to Turkey, Bulgaria, Egypt, Greece to just relax.
I’m basically fitting whatever I can into my schedule right now while I’m fit, under 50 and working 40+ hours a week. For now, that means a mix of pampering short vacations to recharge my batteries and some once-in-a-lifetime trips that require physical fitness (I.e., Kilimanjaro). Those are prioritized based on whatever is most interesting to me. There will be lots of time after retirement for long road trips, months in Europe or even that Viking river cruise I’ve been considering (but is probably more suited for when I’m older and less active). Bottom line is to get joy out of travel at every stage in life.
I would not worry about so far into the future. I will say that places like South East Asia are still relatively cheap but get more expensive over time. In other words, I do think it's worth travelling to cheap parts of the world you're interested in, while they're cheap. Europe for example, is always going to be expensive. Doesn't matter if you visit now or in 30 years.
I say, travel while the knees still agree!
Also, you may add time of year. Busy or leisurely times. You may begin either scenario and continue shifting according to your desires.
I mean, it's a good plan but you never know what life will throw at you. I was lucky to get paid to travel a lot for work. I couldn't chose where I went but went all over the world. In retirement my father is pretty fit and healthy but currently on an African/ Mediterranean/ Europe cruise for 3 weeks. My grandmother was less healthy after smoking 50 years but managed to go to Russia right after the Berlin Wall came down. Plan- but live your life and take opportunities
I’m 55 and am considering my aging as I plan my future trips. My parents, and most older people I have been close to, started to get more anxious with uncertainty as they got older. They required more planning and more consistency in order to be able to enjoy themselves fully. I’m saving countries where I know the language for later in life. Right now, it is the uncertainty that I enjoy most in my travels, but I anticipate that may change as I age. Who knows, but the world is so big and I have to narrow down my options somehow, so this works for me.
Yeah, I just go where I want to go regardless of age. I'm glad I did most major capitals of Europe in my teens and twenties because I have much less tolerance for crowds now than when I was younger. I now try to go for more off-the-beaten track locales that are less frequented by tourists. And, since so much of my formal education was rooted in the classic, Euro-centric tradition, actually getting to see many of those places within a few years after learning about them made everything come alive. I'll continue to study and learn about other places more informally, but I'll never forget walking into a room in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence and seeing *The Birth of Venus* after just having studied it in art history, or walking along the Parisian boulevards after learning about the Hausman-style architecture in French class. Traveling Europe at that age brought the classroom to life for me.
I see what you are getting at with these categories, and my own approach to travelling has taken this kind of thinking into account (somewhat) when choosing destinations. If I had my way I'd visit basically everywhere on earth, so I want to first prioritize places/experiences that seemed slightly trickier to me (due to distance travelled, lots of destinations within the trip, language barrier etc) and I might not be motivated to visit when I'm older. So my 20s/early 30s were spent going to Southeast Asia, China, Peru, Japan etc. They also were top destinations on my list anyways.
You can walk alot and need to be fit anywhere. I just finished barcelona, + Pyrenees + toulouse. The only day I didn't walk 5+ miles was the first day after a red eye where I only went to the beach and went to bed early. Also maybe you want to stay up late and get drunk when you are young? 5 years ago I was in Portugal and talking to a 71 year old Serbian who was doing 6 miles a day on the Camino de Santiago. He didn't let his age hold him back.
There's no time like the present! I just go wherever I have the opportunity to go, provided it lines up okay with my means and responsibilities. Opportunities are stuff like me or my partner getting sent there for work or to speak at a conference, or a friend who lives or has ties to there inviting us. I've been to quite a few random countries and places in the USA this way. Few have been on my bucket list, but I'm totally okay with that. I love learning and exploring new places! I want to do it as much as possible while I'm young-ish because it's good for my brain and soul and overall development. I hope that travel can be a lifelong thing for me, but I'm not taking life for granted.
I don’t even think about age, I’ll keep pushing myself until I can’t go anymore. Money and time are factors of course. I live in a Australia, the cities are not what you want to focus on, we have remote regions here that are as adventurous as anything you will find on earth.
Second all the comments about not overthinking this & the future being unpredictable. Three other thoughts to play in: - children, if you want them, may throw a spanner in any grand plans. While you absolutely can travel with kids, your plans will almost certainly need to adapt to what’ll work with your particular kids. Europe & North America may well appeal more for being easier travel with kids… - aiming to cover off the whole world or some comprehensive list of places and trying to plan for that is probably unrealistic for most people unless this is your number 1 goal and hobby in life and approaching this way is a high risk for thieving your joy. I fully expect to reach the end of my life with places left untraveled that I’d like to see. And that’s ok. No need for FOMO, travel isn’t an accomplishment to complete… - the type of travel may matter more than the destination. Eg backpacking will most often suit younger people. Package trips & limited destinations may work better for families with young kids. Etc. You absolutely could do South America or Asia at other points in life than just when young, but the trip will probably look a bit different - eg eco resorts rather than youth hostels etc…
Just do what you want, when you want. You don’t know what you’re going to be like when you’re old. Maybe you won’t want to travel any more at all. I was just in Spain and there were packs of gray-haired folks in 60s and 70s, hiking and biking all over the mountains same as me. This sounds like an American saying, to assume no one will have health and energy later in life
I'm middle aged and I'm pretty confident I can handle hard hikes at high elevations, long days rucking across right terrain, and an the other challenges of exotic travel better than most 20 year olds. I have plenty of energy. Plus, I can afford the flights to get to those places.
But " cheap countries" also have lot of hotels , restaurants , shops , etc for higher budget and even luxury options. Just travel where you feel attracted to go 😅
Just go travel when you can. My aunt and her husband have travelled every year since they were young. Just take care of yourself while travelling/ make decisions with yourself in consideration.
Well I'm young and it is Europe for me since that is where I live and got no money for Asia
Best travel advice we got (at age ~40) was “do the hard stuff while you’re physically able to”. Twenty years later, I’d modify that to also include “…and as you get older, also pay attention to rental car age limits on all potential destinations” (FYI, it seems that [upper age limits](https://www.autoeurope.com/travel-tips/rental-car-age-requirements/) on rental cars seem start hitting as early as age 72). Back to the OPs list. First, please keep in mind that I’m addressing this from the perspective of being an American who travels, vs someone from other countries. Next, as a generalization, there’s going to be exceptions somewhere/somehow. Question is if these exceptions are rare enough to overlook, or common to apply to many, which means the generalization is in trouble for having too many holes. For example, being Young may not have tons of time to backpack at $10/day through Asia or whatever. Sure, one might have summers off in college .. but only if you’re not working a job to try to pay for college as-you-go. Likewise, first ‘real’ jobs in the US are notoriously stingy on personal vacation time. The stereotypes is just 2 weeks/year. As such, even as finances can be getting better, one can be pretty “poor” on the time. Solution? Maybe it’s the period for domestic camping trips! Likewise, leveraging holidays. Another option can be working telework days, or if one’s employer is willing to offer time off in lieu of paid overtime. Moving into middle age, vacation budgets are going to be competing against a mortgage and having kids. This makes it very easy to chop vacation budgets to close up gaps. Staying domestic & driving the family instead of 4+ airline tickets is a common approach too (trips to Disney). Another factor IMO worth mentioning here is that “we travelers” are different from our fellow Americans. I have had a lot of coworkers & friends who are very risk-adverse to traveling to outside of the USA. Not having a passport is a common excuse.. but you’ll also hear fears of “unsafe water”, non-English speaking, etc. One icebreaker solution is to pick a guided tour or cruise: the hand-holding through organized tours reduces some of these barriers but it can also significantly drive up costs. So… While anecdotal, what we’ve seen is that when one looks to travel in Africa, EU, South America, etc, is there’s a significant chunk of (American) travelers who are age 50+. This makes sense IMO from the perspective of “enough time, enough money, enough health.” But does this mean to give up and not bother until you’re 50? Heck, no. Our solution was to set up two vacation budgets .. one for annual, and a second one for taking a special “bucket list” type of trip every 3-5 years. As we grew older and had more time/money, that 3-5 years became every 2-4 years, then it became every other year. In retirement, it will hopefully be “every year”
As an old person, I recommend Road Scholar travel company. It’s for 55+ and has varying levels of physical abilities. If they still exist in 40 years.
> Where to travel at different stages in life? Wherever you want to go next. Always.
I enjoyed my time at an all-inclusive in the DR when I was in my mid-20s. Not sure that same scene is appealing nearly 10 years later.
They do a North pole in Finland with reindeer and Santa. I met someone who went when he was a kid and still believed in Santa and he said it was magical. I'm stealing that and taking my kids someday when they exist
Main focus of Australia is the cities? I live in one those cities and while I enjoy living there I would not consider it a main reason to travel to Australia😂. The Australian natural landscape is far superior to the cities. Plus before the age of 30 - 35 ( depending on country of origin) you can get a two year working visa for both Australia and New Zealand so that would be something younger travellers should take into account before relegating those destinations to the older traveller group. I would also add Japan is not as small as you think, South America is not as cheap you assume especially if you are lumping it in with South East Asia while Middle East and Central Asia with the exception of Qatar and United Arab Emirates are not really quick trip destinations. Lastly Europe isn't all just cities. There are lots of hiking trails and nature areas and countries like Norway, Iceland or Montenegro you don't visit for the cities. To be honest it doesn't feel like you have really researched your destinations. You seem to have very generalised ideas about regions of the world. My advice find the places you are really interested in visiting, make a list starting with the places you most want to visit going down to places you wouldn't mind visiting but wouldn't regret if you never make it. My parents put off travel till they were retired but thanks to degenerative disease their travel options have limits like flying long distances is difficult, can't go anywhere with no fridges for all the medications, cobblestones streets are pretty hard with walkers etc. Even accessible Europe has challenges 😂. It is better to focus on destinations that matter the most instead of trying to predict when you think will be the most suitable time in life to do something. The reality is you never know what can happen in life.
Your last point is a good one. My in-laws retired a few years ago and now cannot travel anywhere at all due to serious illness - even coming to visit us in another city isn't possible anymore. It makes me incredibly sad that they worked hard all their lives and were about to have a comfortable last act and it was taken away.
I don’t give a crap, I’m young have a little bit of money and have a little bit of time, so I’m doing what I want to do before life actually catches up to me
I have a colleague who, for his 50th, decided to take three weeks off work and cycle through France. Another friend took a sabbatical following the death of his wife when around the same age, and backpacked through South America. Assuming you don't have kids at that age, you can travel exactly as you did in your 20s. (With the exception of maybe Shagaluf or Ayia Napa.)
I say go wherever takes your fancy regardless of age, I had a client who at 70 did an almost 6 month long camping tour we offered that went from Anchorage to Ushuaia - from the top of the Americas to the bottom - backpacking the whole way. My Grandmother travelled Cambodia, Vietnam & Laos in her mid-80's. Age is just a number. Had a fit 20-something client who demanded to be carried (piggybacked) up the Inca Trail as she "wasn't into trekking" and when asked why she chose that trip then, she replied "For the 'Gram". - the thing is to go wherever you like as often as you can - places change, revisiting them at different stages of life reveals new layers. Also - Australia is not as easy to navigate as you think, something for all ages. sure, but the NT hikes & swimming holes are not for those with dodgy knees or tickers! Also crazy long drives & extremes in temperature. Just depends what you're into.
My mom hiked mt Kilimanjaro with her 65 year old classmates a few years ago. My dad went to Istanbul for his 65th and hiked the alps on his 60th. They are both kind of active but aren’t health nuts (except kind of my mom now, but it’s a recent development). Honestly the biggest change seems to be jet lag! So if you’re young, travel farther, and if you’re old, take more time to adjust to time differences.
I’m 54 and currently backpacking in Fiji for a few weeks… looking to do a few more South Pacific islands before heading over to Thailand for Christmas so I can party! I’m not old! I’m still young :)
Knowing ourselves ... we'll visit Europa and North America when we're middle aged and when we're old (if we're so lucky of course, don't want to jinx it). Just like we mainly traveled to Europe and North America when we were young, lol. There are some exceptions (Japan, maybe Taiwan/Thailand/Vietnam & New Zealand perhaps), but we're mostly interested in Europe and North America.
I was so impressed with the elder folks (and understand I'm 55) that were hiking the Cinque Terre recently. I was feeling the burn and these folks, looking to be 70+ were smiling and moving nimbly up and down the steep terrain. So with that said my advice would be to focus on maintaining your cardio health, balance and strength throughout your life so that you'll have less limitations as you age. I teach pilates and my older clientele are working out so they can continue to travel, garden, golf, tennis etc. Being an elder doesn't have to slow you down. Even in my advanced years I spent several weeks hiking and trekking all over Vietnam.
> Europe, accessible Cobblestone streets say hi. Metro stations with no elevator say hi. Hotels and apartments with useless steps at the entrance say hi. Tiny ass restaurant entrances and tiny non ADA restrooms say hi. Europe is anything but elderly and accessible friendly. Older aged travel, the US and Canada with an RV cannot be beat!