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Have a nice trip
Seniors, with more money and leisure time than other age groups, are traveling to experience the world.
By ROBERT N. JENKINS
Published June 27, 2006
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[Grand Circle Travel]
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Travelers ride in a safari vehicle in Kenya.
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On the chance you haven't memorized the statistics on some recent trends, here's a brief review: * At the start of the 1900s, the average life expectancy in the United States was 47. One century later, life expectancy is about 80. * Already, almost 10 percent of our population is at least 65 years old. Every day, almost 5,600 more Americans reach that birthday. By 2030, roughly one of every five of us will be at least 65. * People 50 and older control more than 70 percent of Americans' net worth. * People at least 50 years old travel more than any other age group, averaging at least three leisure trips a year. And being the most highly educated generation in our nation's history, this group also has the inclination to see how the rest of the world lives. Mickey and Phyllis McKinney of Los Angeles fit that word picture, though it would best be painted in neon colors. Mickey, 76, spent 40 years working as a mathematician, heading scientific programming teams for several companies. Phyllis, 77, was a computer database manager. "Before we retired in 1999," Mickey said this month by telephone from their home, "we thought, 'What do we want to do later?' And we decided, 'We want to see the world.' " Which is why they have booked their 24th trip with Elderhostel, national leader in nonprofit travel organizations, and why they will be taking their second and third two-week cruises in Russia this summer. And even why they just returned from camping in their RV at Capitol Reef National Park in Utah. "My preference is to see what other places and people are like," said Mickey, "and to learn about other cultures." I met the McKinneys last year while they were on their 20th Elderhostel trip, in Newfoundland. That they had driven their RV across the United States to make that trip only confirms that they are an extreme example of what is happening: Older Americans are traveling to see the world, whether behind the windshield of an RV, the handlebars of an expensive motorcycle, from a ship's railing or even from the back of a camel. Among the trends: * Older Americans are increasingly trading in the tour-the-castle/back-on-the-bus trip for experiencing other cultures, talking to people other than desk clerks and waiters. * We choose more often to travel to foreign lands on our own, or to go with people not in our age demographic. Play now, pay later Both of these developments have been fostered by America's relative prosperity and the faster pace of our working lives. Surveys dating to the me-first 1990s show that significant numbers of baby boomers, who start reaching 60 this year, and the half-generation just ahead of them, don't embrace delayed gratification. The advent of near-universal credit helped feed this play-now, pay-later trend. Whereas children of the Depression knew you had to have money before you spent it - whether on a refrigerator or a car trip out West - their children and grandchildren are more likely to satisfy that craving to see London now, not when the money for the trip is in the bank. And for them, unlike the generation that fought World War II overseas and on the home front, Europe and Asia did not hold sour memories but rather centuries of history America could not match. It was a young Harvard grad, drafted into the Army in the early 1950s and sent to Germany, who is credited with getting Americans to think outside our borders. Arthur Frommer once explained to me that, with his leave time, he would hop on a train and spend a few days perhaps in France, sleeping wherever he could bargain the price down. Frommer realized what his countrymen were missing and turned what had begun as notes for his barracks mates into Europe on $5 a Day. This sort of easy guidebook, and the arrival of commercial jet travel, opened the Continent to Americans. How do you say . . . ? That ultimately spawned the infamous five-countries-in-seven-days packages. Almost as a backlash, even Americans who speak only English now are opting for smaller-size tour groups, or for independent travel that might center on renting a cottage for a week or bunking with the locals - maybe even lending a hand on their farms. "Passengers used to be cocooned, seeing the village from the windows of their motorcoach," says Mark Frevert, chief marketing officer of Grand Circle Travel. "The tour company would show them the sights but not take them into anyone's home . . . "Yet Americans now want to see the commonalities of other places, meet families, have intellectual experiences." Grand Circle was founded in 1958 by the retired teacher who founded the AARP. The travel company bought the much-smaller Overseas Adventure Travel in the 1990s. The average age of Grand Circle's customers is 72; for Overseas Adventure, 64. This year, Frevert said from the company offices in Boston, the two expect to move 220,000 customers to destinations around the world. Grand Circle is believed to be the largest tour company catering just to older travelers. To maintain the authenticity for participants visiting a location, Frevert said, Grand Circle has 34 offices outside the States and staffs them with local residents, who do most of the planning. Frevert said an example of the "cultural interchange" sought by his companies' passengers would be a meal taken in a local home. "We don't provide an interpreter. There is some discomfort for the first few minutes - some use of hand signs - but when we come back in an hour, we have to drag our clients away, they are having such a good time." Said Frevert, with Grand Circle for 20 years, "People love discovery, doing things, getting involved locally." Gaining an experience Beyond tour operators who package a destination, a growing number of companies are offering experiential and learning vacations such as multiweek language immersion courses in Latin America, painting classes in France and cooking classes in Italy. There are even archaeological digs that welcome amateur volunteers, in the American Southwest and in parts of the Old World. These experiences hold particular appeal for older travelers interested in learning about a topic in depth. Education is foremost to the granddaddy of all the nonprofit travel organizations serving the 50-and-older demographic. Elderhostel - favorite of the McKinneys - has enrolled more than 1-million people in courses that range from one day to multiple weeks. The classes emphasize learning about a topic, often by traveling to a destination to view it firsthand. Courses are held on every continent. Elderhostel first offered brief classes at five New England colleges in the summer of 1975. But executives realized that being older does not mean being sedentary or disinterested in the rest of the world. This year, the organization is offering about 8,000 courses, many of them involving travel, including cruising. About 160,000 are expected to participate. All in the family Elderhostel has even branched into another significant travel trend: intergenerational trips. Participants travel with their grandkids and, said Elderhostel public relations director Adam Hurtubise, "Both generations get to learn together and separately." Multigenerational travel is not a phenomenon limited to Elderhostel. A surprising 81 percent of American Express Travel Service agents surveyed in May reported that they had booked vacations that included grandparents. And 69 percent of the agents have booked trips in which the grandparents are taking the grandchildren, but without mom and dad. One of the reasons for this growth is that the continuing increase in dual-income families has meant parents find it difficult to arrange their vacation schedules in order to travel with their kids. The grandparents could simply pack the kids into the big sedan or sail on a cruise, but the past 20 years they have had a broader choice. Travel agent Helena Koenig founded the company Grandtravel in 1986 in the Washington suburb of Chevy Chase, Md. Koenig had been prompted by the most personal of reasons: She had wanted to do something with her grandchildren but found few organized trips planned for the two generations. Though she began with trips to Washington and neighboring Baltimore, Koenig eventually let demand dictate the supply. Now Grandtravel has competitors, but it is the leader in this niche. It offers trips to Alaska and Africa, to the Galapagos and European capitals. Each trip features an educational component. And, wisely, each trip has time for the two generations to spend apart, so that they don't demand too much of each other. "What has changed for us is that we are seeing more and more grandfathers traveling with us," Koenig said. "Originally, it was a thing grandmothers did with their grandchildren. Now, people are living longer and grandfathers have as good a shot as anybody else." Koenig said she has found that grandparents are dedicated to the "cultural inheritance" of their grandchildren: "Certainly, they want to enjoy the company of their grandchildren and . . . to teach their grandchildren about the world." The oldest grandparent to book with Grandtravel was 87, Koenig said. And another grandparent took nine grandchildren on a Scandinavian trip. For other older travelers, popular options range from garden tours to hiking trips designed for them. Michael Italiaander, co-owner of Expo Garden Tours in Litchfield, Conn., says his average customers are in their 60s, and they are putting post-9/11 trepidation behind them. "People are getting used to the idea that the world is the way it is," he said. "A lot of people have decided they can't let the fear factor get to them." "Seniors are definitely more active," said Hannah Sullivan, owner of Tahoe Trips & Trails. "The people who are (now seniors) have been around when exercise and health have been a bigger priority." Based in Lake Tahoe, Calif., Sullivan's company offers about 20 multiday hiking tours a year to such destinations as Yosemite National Park and Utah and Jackson Hole, Wyo. Sullivan said she had one recent participant, 80 years old, who had never been hiking. "He did the long hike every day, typically eight to 10 miles." Colleges and universities frequently offer travel programs to alumni or allow alumni to participate in overseas study programs. The University of South Florida, for example, has initiated this summer an overseas study program, a Mediterranean cruise. Eckerd College participates in a locally focused travel and education program, the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (nicknamed OLLIE), a California-based program offered around the country. Programs combine regional experts with short trips. "One of the things we find particularly is that it has to be something they can't easily do on their own," said James Frasier, director of continuing education for Eckerd. Typically, OLLIE programs involve 40 to 50 people. Educational tours might go as far as Miami or Tallahassee, but there is also an international program. A 12-day trip to China in May drew 50. "They're looking for something different," Frasier said. "Many of them have traveled extensively before. Now it's different. They're older. "They're looking for unique itineraries, maybe even to some place they've been before, but not with a tour leader." If You Go: Among the programs and tour companies providing opportunities for travelers ages 50 and older are: - Grand Circle Travel: toll-free 1-800-959-0405; www.GCT.com
Tahoe Traps & Trails: toll-free 1-800-581-4453; www.tahoetrips.com
Times correspondent Fred W. Wright Jr. contributed to this report. Robert N. Jenkins can be reached at (727) 893-8496 or jenkins@sptimes.com.
[Last modified June 27, 2006, 07:22:21]
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