What are boomers doing? That was one of the questions I posed in my previous article titled “Boomers.”

When I was still in the workforce and edging closer to my mid-fifties, the conversation about retirement invariable surfaced at work. And without fail, colleagues would say that they planned to travel or travel more when they retired.

Well, the boomers are certainly fulfilling that desire. Research shows that they are the most travelled demographic. They are willing to travel to higher quality places and for lengthier periods. Recently, I read an article with a list that enumerated twenty-five things to do when you retire. Number eight was “travel the world.” According to Condor Ferries, boomers spend $157 Billion per year on travel. AARP’s research states that boomers spent an average of $7800 on vacation in 2020.

Why do boomers travel? Most of the time, they travel to accomplish an item on their bucket list, other times, it is multi-generational travel, and other times it’s solo travel.

Where are the most popular destinations for boomers? US News posted an article in April 2022 that listed France, Italy, Ireland, Germany, Mexico, and Aruba at the top of the list. Of course, some boomers prefer to stay on the continent and not travel overseas. For Americans, Florida; Las Vegas; New York; Boston; and Los Angeles are the most popular destinations, while for Canadians, it is St Thomas, Ontario; White Rock, BC; Cavendish Beach PEI; and Edmonton, Alberta.

If you think limited mobility has deterred some boomers from travelling, think again. A few years ago, I was on a Mediterranean cruise with several seniors in wheelchairs. At one port of call, a rather large man in a wheelchair insisted that he wanted to go ashore. The port was shallow for the ship to dock, so we had to use tenders to go ashore. With the tender sloshing about because of strong waves at the port, it took four strapping crew members to hoist him from the ship into the tender, but he hung on to his wheelchair and made it to the shore. In the 1970s, a popular song by McFadden & Whitehead was “Ain’t No Stopping Us Now.” That sentiment aptly applies to boomers. We can’t stop them; they are on the move.

A quote from my upcoming memoir, College Life of a Retired Senior: “As a traveller, I had established a goal to set foot on six of the seven continents (Being a hot-blooded woman, Antarctica didn’t interest me).”