As women over 50 march past middle age, travel shows them the world in new and exciting ways. For many women, travel offers the opportunity to expand a comfort zone, dispel fears and grow, both emotionally and spiritually. It introduces them to a diversity of interesting people, allows time to make new friends, encourages them to learn a new language, and enables them to explore the many wonders of the world. Ask a group of women about their favorite travel experiences, and adventure travel is sure to be tossed into the mix. Is their enthusiasm justified? Is it possible to consider even the most challenging and exotic travel ventures when their birth certificates indicate that they are approaching their middle years? And, for that matter, what experiences truly qualify as adventure travel? Don’t expect consensus on any of these questions from the supposedly wiser and more mature older generation. Their zest to challenge the winds of time, to tackle Mount Everest, to learn scuba diving, or to hike the red rock country of the southwest United States has never been stronger or more focused. The spirit may be elderly, but the fitness level, the interest in camaraderie, and the long-dormant desire to test their personal limits is your grandmother’s legacy. Your grandmother just might be planning to do something that you never imagined possible!
This article explores adventure travel opportunities that are available to women over 50, that is, for women who happen to be approaching their actuarial travel insurance expiration date. It describes many of the varied kinds of adventurers who share your wanderlust and are already busy getting ready to travel to either the near or far-flung corners of the world. Their diverse vacation aspirations are also reflected in the tour operators, tour directors, guest lecturers, trip venues, and in the special travel deals that cater to women over 50 in their seemingly endless quest to have fun and survive the fun. Many preconceived notions, the result of worn-out stereotypes, of travel to far-off places with strange-sounding names will smoothly melt away as the women in this exploration scrambles out of her comfort zone. She engages, surveying a changing travel landscape where reality dramatically differs from the outdated myths and stereotypes of the past. It is never easy to bash dusty old perceptions into oblivion, but it is an essential step in the behavior modification process that leads one along the path to adventure travel nirvana. Surprises abound in this fascinating, eye-opening adventure, and firmly held convictions about travel for women over 50 when it is time to plan your next vacation no longer discourage you from collectively considering tours that previously appeared to be out of reach.
Health Benefits and Considerations for Women Over 50
Most girls grow up dreaming of faraway places, exotic landscapes, and cultures different from their own, yet few women imagine achieving their travel dreams later in life. The time to live out those adventures is now. Adventure travel benefits women over 50 physically, mentally, and spiritually, and it’s not just for the goddess of sexagenarians. In fact, for women, adventure travel is even better! Statistics show that a significantly higher percentage of women over 65 live alone, but by the late 40s, women outnumber men. It’s the dire curse of the suddenly single: lonely and isolated, with no one to talk to – or do anything with, it seems. Wrong. Adventure travel beats loneliness in a big way, hands down. No longer do you need to wait for someone to “take you” on an adventure. You can actually have fun and even partake in a variety of adventurous activities. Plan your adventure now! Take that budget now and spend it on yourself! It’s your time!
Health Benefits and Considerations for Women Over 50: Filling their lives with close female friends (aka Goddesses), physically challenging adventures, emotional enlightenment, and spiritual endeavors will result in positive physical, emotional, and spiritual change for those entering or currently in the menopausal stage of life. The age range of women varies greatly from 40-85, with the most common participants at 50-60 years of age. In the awareness of adventure tourism, the adventure traveler is generally conceptualized as a physically fit, affluent, 20- or 30-something male interested in bungee jumping, climbing, kayaking, and wild water rafting. More recently these common assumptions have been proven wrong and it has been found that many of the adventure travelers are women, and those that have already met the apex of life in their fifties, sixties and even seventies. In the 1990s, Kilimanjaro was climbed by an 89-year-old Frenchman, a 77-year-old American woman, and a 15-year-old Mexican. These late-life adventure seekers are not content with just climbing risks, such as climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, but other adventure tourism activities, seen in seniors cross-country skiing in the Pyrenees, snowshoeing in the Rockies, and sailing the Caribbean. Ask any of these adventure-seeking seniors what the thrill of their adventure is, and they would probably answer – the challenge. The world might be vast at adventurous escapes, but every age can find a challenge tailor-made for just themselves.
Choosing the Right Adventure Travel Destinations
Not all adventure travel destinations are created equally, and not all the vacation destinations on your “bucket list” are right for this type of experience. Knowing some of the more popular vacation spots that cater to women over 50 is where you will start. In most cases, travelers tend to select destinations within their home country. Women in America might spend time in states like California, Colorado, Oregon, and Alaska. More adventurous women are ready to spend more time outside of their country in places like Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. Some women are even more adventuresome when they select destinations in Costa Rica, Chile, or South Africa.
The three top adventure travel trips for 2018 contain several popular destination pairings, like a Canada trip that combines a visit to Quebec with a trip through the Canadian Rockies to see Banff, Jasper, and Lake Louise. An internationally popular tour includes visits to Costa Rica, as well as Panama and Nicaragua. Those women who want to visit various countries are often limited to a certain number of locations in a single vacation. Since Costa Rica is quite diverse ecologically and contains tropical rainforests, a beach experience, as well as a mountain top hike, women can pick a single destination Costa Rica holiday. Within Turkey, women might be interested in seeing one of seven areas. These particular locations have all been chosen by National Geographic Adventure Magazine’s Top selections for adventure travel destination.
Packing Tips and Essentials for Adventure Travel
While it’s natural for women to want to look good and feel good about what they’re wearing, comfort and safety should always come first. No matter how physically active or adventurous you plan to be, from scaling mountains to riding elephants to an expert in animal tracking, you needn’t look like you just waded out of a store.
Skip the expensive, specialty clothing for the African safari. Instead, bring a khaki-like photo-vest modified with interior and exterior pockets, a backpack with a detachable daypack, cargo pants and cargo shorts. Always consider long sleeves and pants for sun protection when you can. These are lightweight, yet very warm. Lightweight, warm T-shirts and tights for layering are a good idea along with short-sleeve shirts. Don’t forget a brimmed hat, glasses, reading sunglasses, and bandana. A tote is versatile, too, for many uses including evening dinner wear. Choose a blend of fabric so that it won’t wrinkle easily. They also sell Tilly tops for adventure vacations with 17 pockets from ankle to neck. Trail-footwear and gloves should always rock your world.
Connecting with Like-Minded Women Over 50 in the Adventure Travel Community
There are now multiple tour companies offering adventure travel experiences specifically designed for women over 50. Many focus exclusively on that age group, while others offer tours for a younger age range also. Tours are to locations including the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland, the U.K., and more. Tour focuses vary, but many are activity, adventure, culture, exploration, nature, and photography oriented. Trips range from one to two weeks and cost range from budget through luxury.
International Women’s Day – AdventureWomen founder Susan Eckert founded AdventureWomen in 1982 to provide safe, fun, and challenging active travel for women, and particularly, to connect like-minded women. EW was the first adventure travel tour operator for active women over 30. In 2018, it celebrates International Women’s day at the AdventureWomen office (left to right): Mary Guth assistance team; Ginny Scales-Medeiros guest alumnus; Pam Prescott adventure assistant; and Susan Eckert founder.
Founder Susan Eckert says: “My initial objective for the week-long skiing trip [to Jackson Hole, Wyoming] was combining the sport I love with my greatest passion: connecting women through travel. The hope of creating new relationships and fostering a ‘living community’ of like-minded women was incredibly important to me. I knew that we would all be changed by our experiences that week, and indeed, we were. By the time the week was over, I was filled with deep fulfillment and pride for developing a special community of friends and adventurists.” Thirty-five years later, AdventureWomen has fulfilled its mission by providing more than 100 adventure travel itineraries in nearly 60 countries. These trips encourage pure fun and camaraderie, while focusing on women building new connections in nature, culture, and active adventure. The women-only trips are small in size and intimate.