Baby Boomers Traveling

By Kirk Sinclair

Everyone wishes for those golden years when we can gain the independence to pursue our dreams. For my wife Cindy and me, we wished for a return to the long distance backpacking we did when we were young. After a dubious career move on my part to become a (struggling) writer and musician we began to wonder if those wishes would ever come true. Adding to our struggles were the health issues from stress affecting Cindy’s career as a nurse.

We decided to follow the advice that you need to tap into your passion in the pursuit of anything worthwhile. Now in our fifties, we rebooted our lives by hiking 5,000 miles across the country along the American Discovery Trail, taking exactly one year to do so.

The American Discovery Trail (ADT) sets out, as advertised, to lead the traveler to discover America. The ADT hiker witnesses the natural wonders of our country’s canyons, mountains and prairies. We walked in the historic tracks of the Pony Express and Santa Fe Trails. We observed Native American cultures and the Amish. We crossed the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco and the Gateway Arch in St. Louis. Read the rest of this entry »

By Doris Gallan
It’s not often that we run into other Boomers who’ve chucked it all to travel the world and then wrote a book about it—just like we did—and so I have to introduce you to author Wayne Dunlap and wife and travel buddy Pat Allen.

My first impression of Wayne’s book, Plan Your Escape, was how similar his story was to mine and how his content mirrored that of my own book (The Boomers’ Guide To Going Abroad To Travel*Live*Give*Learn). The subtitle also attracted me as it’s something I’d been communicating through my talks and readings: “Secrets of Traveling the World for Less Than the Cost of Living at Home.” Read the rest of this entry »

By Dirk Terpstra
Boomer: Are we talking about the adult male kangaroo in Australia nicknamed “Boomer”? Or about someone who was born during the period of increased birth rates when economic prosperity rose in many countries following World War II? Both species love their freedom.

As a guy born in The Netherlands in the early sixties, who later studied travel marketing, I have often asked myself the question: “Why is this group of consumers so interesting to us?” As a child of a Baby Boomer couple, I have to tell you that I do realize how different my youth must have been from yours and I do realize that we all make choices based on very different experiences (and sometimes values) including our travel decisions.

I recently started my own travel company for individual travel to Europe, together with two other professionals. It’s not my first company as I already own a travel wholesaler but this time I’m focusing strictly on the Baby Boomer generation.
My biggest passion is travel: to meet new people, discover other places and be amazed by the variety of cultures and habits that are often so different from ours. Do you recognize that feeling in yourself? Read the rest of this entry »

By Robin Mountain

If a wildlife safari or a tour of Africa is high up on your list of things to do, Ntaba Tours, can take you there. My wife, Stella, and I have been customizing safaris for independent travelers and private groups since 2005. We operate safaris in Botswana, Kenya, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania and Zimbabwe. We’ll arrange land and air travel for you and do more than just send you to Africa – we take you there!

We run a successful tour company because we know and love what we do. While our our business is located in Frankfort, Kentucky, we’re both South Africans. We’ve  personally experienced our country and now deal directly with African-based suppliers, which allow us to offer competitive prices.

The majority of people go on a safari to Southern Africato see the wildlife. There are a great number of parks spread all over the region, one of them being the world-renowned Kruger National Park. It’s famous for its many eco-systems and the safari Big Five: lions, leopards, elephants, rhinos, and buffalos. Other equally important parks are Chobe National Park and the Okavango Delta in Botswana, and several  parks in Namibia.

Ntaba Tours can help you decide where to visit depending on your interests, the length of your vacation and your budget.  Read the rest of this entry »

By Akaisha Kaderli

My husband, Billy, and I left the work-for-paycheck world over two decades ago at the age of 38 and set out to travel the world. Coming from the restaurant and brokerage businesses, our lives had been filled with stress and we did not have much free time. To leave our jobs and our beautiful home on California’s Central Coast was a very uncommon choice to make in 1991. But we wanted to follow our dream and wouldn’t be stopped by fear.

Since then we have lived in dozens of countries, written six books and run a very popular website dedicated to financial independence and world travel. In our twenty-one years of life-sans-paycheck, we have learned a great deal—about travel, self-sufficiency and surviving bear markets and crashes. This is what we want to share with others.

Our website, RetireEarlyLifestyle.com is packed with information so that people can plan and manage their retirements, find the towns and cities to relocate to—both within and outside the USA—and to inspire them to travel this good earth of ours. Read the rest of this entry »

By Terre Short
Being in a strange place, far from home was initially a bizarre idea to our kids, and the grandmas. But, two things won out: we are not a very “traditional” family, and we knew it would be warm and sunny there – we live in Missoula, Montana.

The hardest part of the trip was where to stay. First, one has to come to peace with the idea that even with two weeks, you cannot do and see everything in what seems to be a very small country. We decided to focus on the West Coast, and chose the central location of Jaco. Since my husband and I have managed hotels and resorts most of our lives, finding a convenient condo or home was more appealing.

I would be lying if I told you the search for such a place was easy. Many hours went into combing through rental pictures, maps, and rental details. In the end, VRBO (Vacation Rental By Owner) had the most to offer and we felt lucky to have met up with a American mid-westerner with a unit in our perfect location. I still held my breath for much of the travel day until we opened the door and found a very clean, well-appointed unit overlooking a spotless pool, just steps from the beach. Read the rest of this entry »

By Marci Jensen-Middlebrook

Why not celebrate Christmas in Bavaria without leaving the country? Christmas in old world Bavarian Leavenworth, Washington is jammed with family fun during the annual Christmas Lighting and Village of Lights festival.

You may remember that parts of David Lynch’s campy, cult TV series Twin Peaks was filmed here, which helped to kick-start the economy of this dying timber and railroad town. Now morphed into a destination alpine village, more than a million tourists come to Leavenworth each year.

Locals take a campy approach to marketing their town: their ambassador is “Woody Goomsba” a free-wheeling Bavarian nutcracker playboy. We’re told some of Woody’s favorites include nuts, The Beatles’ “Norwegian Wood” and Thoreau’s “A Life in the Woods.” He’s made out of wood, after all, so you get the idea. This is a place for play! Read the rest of this entry »