Family Travel: Traveling with Older Parents
Most family travel focused editorial stories tend to focus on traveling with kids. However, Baby Boomers and retirees make up a larger portion of the population in the travel space. As they have more free time, grandparents and elders are getting more involved in the trip planning process, and multi-generational travel continues to flourish.
Having just returned from traveling with my 76 year old mom, it’s a reminder that travel is different for varying ages. When planning multi-generational travel, you need to consider types of activities and accommodations based on mobility levels, and some travel styles just make it easier.
As a travel advisor, these are some of the critical questions on my trip intake calls:
How old is everyone traveling on the trip?
What’s their mobility and activity level?
What is the attention span of the children?
What are preferred bedtimes and nap times for all ages?
What are some activities and interests you have at home? Book club, museums, art classes, educational programs, cooking, cycling, bird watching, etc.?
Remember the older generation didn’t grow up with the world wide web, apps, and AI. Some folks aren’t as digitally savvy or want to be constantly connected in a certain way. My mom still calls her bank for her balance and balances an actual checkbook. Good luck trying to steal her information online. She mails all her bills, keeping the USPS alive!
My mom’s travel advice: pack Tylenol for any aches and pains. She’s a physical therapist, so she is always giving free advice. She also reminds me to watch my pace. After living in NYC, I’m used to walking very quickly. She’s barely 5 feet tall, and it takes her longer to reach a destination.
Here are my top tips to help older travelers and multi-generational trips:
Flying: Consider upgrading to a better class if it will make for a better arrival and more comfortable experience. With Economy Class seats shrinking and the services a la carte, it’s worth the investment for business or first. You arrive fresh and able to lay fully flat on many long-hauls for a more restful flight.
Mode of Communication: Prepare to provide documents to print and communicate by phone, and email and guide them on how to use WhatsApp or other forms of communication if necessary. There are cool apps and itinerary builders these days but you need to remember your audience and their access level.
Pace of the Trip: Make sure you don’t overpack the itinerary; make sure there are breaks and only one big activity per day; arrange a private guide and driver.
Airport Transfers: Arriving in a foreign country can be overwhelming. Airport escorts (when available) and private transfers are critical for older travelers. They are less likely to get scammed and deal with a taxi driver, local currency changing hands, and a foreign language for directions to your location.
Activities & Accessibility: Arrange activities to appeal to the older traveler, typically they enjoy more culturally-focused, educational activities. Consider the mode of transportation and accessibility. Mobility is important to consider, stone walkways or uneven surfaces are truly impossible to avoid at ancient ruins and certain sites but it helps if you are prepared.
Insurance & Healthcare: Remember that anything can happen, so having the right insurance if the trip has to cancel before taking it or an injury /incident on the trip itself. Make sure to get your medications ahead of the trip and travel with a little more than the days you’ll be away in case of any delays or flight cancellations. Nothing is worse than running out of the medication you depend on for your health. It’s harder to get in foreign countries and on short notice.
Weather: Plan for the seasons you’re traveling. Extreme heat is more frequent these days, so you need to consider your length of time in the sun and heat; refreshments and places to sit down need to be considered. Arrange for a guide who has a car in case you need breaks in an air conditioning vehicle and water bottles provided.
Group Trips: It’s nice to travel with like-minded travelers from speciality interests to age. There are so many great options like tours, cruises by sea and river that make multiple destinations in one itinerary so much easier. Time is precious so why not make the most of your trip and see a few places. You can hop on a river cruise or ship then only unpack once. Your floating hotel takes you where you need to go!
With that, remember to make time to travel with your parents and grandparents if they’re still with you. Time is fleeting, so don’t put it off.
Our last trip as a family to Ireland & Scotland before my dad passed away, I will cherish forever. It’s where you make the best memories.
