One of the greatest pleasures in life is travel. A well planned trip abroad can be especially enjoyable for seniors. Many retired people, or people approaching retirement age, discover that luxury travel for seniors can be an unexpected adventure. Trips to foreign cites and cultural sites can also be highly stimulating on an intellectual level.
Not everybody wants a fast paced or culturally demanding vacation, tours for seniors over 60 can also take you straight to the world’s best golf courses or beach resorts. If you want to escape from a cold North American winter, there are plenty of good senior trip destinations in the Caribbean and Central or South America. The beaches are amazing, the people are friendly and the food and drink is superb.
Jewish Americans are often interested in a senior tour to Israel . Israel is another great destination for sun lovers, but most Jews who travel to Israel want to explore their Jewish heritage. Israel is packed with religious, historical and cultural sites, as well as wonderful kosher restaurants specializing in food from every Jewish community and tradition. A trip to Israel is often the vacation of a lifetime.
Senior Trip Ideas for a Jewish Heritage Tour
There are plenty of options for luxury senior tours in Israel. One of the main advantages for seniors is that Israel is a small country. You can see all the most important sites without a great deal of tiring travel. A reliable and experienced Israel Jewish travel agency will work with you to create a tailored itinerary that matches your preferred pace.
The best time to visit Israel is in the spring or autumn. The weather is sunny, but is pleasant and refreshing rather than hot, and you’ll see the Israeli countryside at its most beautiful. The people of Israel are welcoming and Israel is definitely a ‘senior friendly’ destination. You’ll find some great facilities and modern Western infrastructure.
How to Plan Tours for Seniors Over 60
Senior travel is a lot of fun and can be an enormously rewarding experience. The key to a successful trip is careful planning and preparation. Once you’ve covered all the bases, you can relax and have a good time.
Checklist for Luxury Senior Tours
- Do any members of the group have any dietary requirements e.g. kosher food, vegetarian food, gluten free diets, or diabetic diets etc.
- Does anybody have medical conditions that may require treatment? Does the tour plan include medical insurance?
- Does the tour itinerary allow for correct Shabbat and holiday observance? Will the trip coincide with any religious holidays?
- Are local weather conditions appropriate for all the group members? There are plenty of good senior trip destinations in countries with comfortable climates, but it’s better to check first. Create a suggested packing list that matches expected weather conditions.
- Check out the local cost of living and exchange rates. How far will your US dollars go locally, and what do you need to budget for expenses and shopping trips?
- If you’re organizing a group, it’s a good idea to check that each member has a passport that is valid for at least 6 months from the date of travel, and that any visa requirements are completed ahead of time.
- Once you’ve chosen a destination, go online and research senior trip ideas for that area. It’s better to have too many options than too few. Flexibility is important and your group might want to split up and visit different sites on some days.
- Do some in depth research into how safe each destination is and what the local crime rates are like. If you sign up with a tour company that specializes in luxury travel for seniors, this won’t be an issue. Your guides will take responsibility for your personal security.
“The Three W’s of Luxury Travel for Seniors”
For many people, a difficult part of planning tours for seniors over 60 is to determine the “three w’s:” when, where, and why. To help ease this difficulty, I always try to fly for a reason. And if you fly for a reason, you eliminate the why, which lets the when and where fall into place. To help you figure out the why, I’ve compiled a list of potential trip ideas for active seniors that focus on ways to meet each other.
1. A health trip
If you are an active senior that enjoys spending your time at the gym, why not take your daily routine to another country for a week? Instead of walking those several miles on the treadmill, you could be taking a leisurely stroll along a beach in the Mediterranean Sea, or biking through the small town of Oviedo in Northern Spain.
Another alternative is to make a health goal to reach before an upcoming trip: the trip will motivate you to train and reaching it will allow you to enjoy your trip to the fullest! Whenever my mother and I head on vacation somewhere, she amps up her workout routine so that she feels more in shape to prepare for all of the walking we are about to do. Just beforehand, she always says that she feels like she is in better shape and is prepared for the trip. All in all, she likes to use the trip to motivate her to exercise. But remember: the exercise doesn’t need to be too intense. Always adjust to your own pace!
2. Plan the trip around a personal event
Some of the best luxury senior tours for active seniors are planned around the celebration of life events, like anniversaries, milestone birthdays, or the celebration of a loved-one. Now that you have the time and money, why not celebrate your 50th wedding anniversary in Paris, sipping on wine in a fine restaurant with a view of the Eiffel Tower? Or why not celebrate your retirement from a long and successful career with a cruise in the Caribbean? You could even plan a trip like this with your life long best friend, and his or her spouse!
Another popular trend for active grandparents that you’ll want to participate in is grandparent-grandchild trips! Grandparents are taking their grandchildren on a vacation to celebrate a high school or college graduation, and these trips are excellent bonding experiences between the grandparents and grandchild, with memories that will last a lifetime! Wouldn’t your grandchild love to snorkel in Hawaii with you? Or how about a trip to provide them with Jewish cultural experiences?
3. A group tour
Let’s focus on active seniors meeting other active seniors who share the interest of travel. There are many companies that develop active senior tour packages, designed for couples and solo travelers, alike! Regardless of the tour company, you will surely meet other people who share similar interests and hobbies. This is an extremely popular option for first time travelers looking for a new and exciting destination!
- Church, mosque, or synagogue tour If you are interested in religion or consider yourself to be religious, a group tour with your local church, mosque, or synagogue is another excellent reason to travel! You will surely find a sense of solidarity if you’re traveling with people from your local community. Plus, you may even meet someone in your community that you didn’t know that well before! Throughout the trip, you could explore your religious beliefs, which for some people, is an excellent reason to travel.
5. Service trips
Service trips can be extremely rewarding, eye- and heart-opening experiences. And if you have never traveled before but already have an interest in giving back to others, this could be a great option for your travels. There are many service organizations that plan service trips year-round that make good senior trip ideas, and these organizations are constantly in need of more support!
6. A history tour
Let’s say that you’re a World War II history buff; why not take a tour to the place that you’ve been reading about your whole life? If you have the means, time, and health, history tours are an excellent way to spend your days of retirement! The world is full of historically and culturally rich destinations. There is surely a place of interest out there for you!
7. A leisurely vacation
Why not take that cruise that you’ve been thinking about? Or go lay on the picturesque beaches in Manuel Antonio in Costa Rica and take photographs so beautiful that you’ll hardly believe you were there? Most of life is spent either at school, work, or home. And if you are just starting off retirement, there is no better way to begin your free time than to take the relaxing vacation that you need and deserve!
8. An adventure-filled trip
So, you always wanted to go sailing down the Amazon? Or drive through the African Savannah hoping to spot a pack of gazelles? Believe me when I say the options are there! Now that you and many otheractive seniors have the time, there are trips available that take you on these expeditions. The encounters that you could have on an expedition like this — with nature, adventure, challenge, and triumph — are ones that you may have daydreamt about while you were at work for all those years. Why wait any longer?!
9. Attend a conference
Have you ever thought of attending a conference for your passions or hobbies? One is likely happening this year, and chances are that it’ll take you to destination that you never thought you would visit. Moreover, if you attend a conference that was related to your industry or your line of work, you would still be in the know even while in retirement! Conferences are also great because you will have the opportunity to make connections and expand your network while at the event. If this city is unchartered for many of the conference attendees, you will likely find people willing to explore the city with you!
10. Travel for no reason
“I saw a deal, so I went for it,” is one of the best explanations that you could give to someone as to why you’re traveling. It could be that your favorite airline was having a flash sale, or that you found transatlantic tickets to Barcelona for only $350. Regardless of the destination or reason for the impromptu trip, you will likely spark your friends’ interest, even to the point that they may wish to travel with you!
The takeaway
Though we’ve only listed 10 reasons to travel, there are so many more! Traveling adds such a thrill to life because you never know what may come your way. My challenge to you is that no matter where you go, fly back having made a new friend. My favorite part of traveling is that I am constantly expanding my network; every time I do this, I feel as though the world became just a little bit smaller. So set out on your journey – expand your horizons with one of these good senior trip ideas and return knowing so much more about your world!
