For many years, older adventure travelers all seemed to come from the same slice of humanity: they were all from developed nations that had given them the life savings and pensions that can fund an excursion to New Guinea or Cameroon. (Obviously, they weren’t all from Western nations; on multiple treks, we’ve come across lone Japanese hikers striding purposefully up a mountain, usually as part of a much longer journey than we’d planned.)
That’s changing. With incomes rising in what were once under-developed countries, more retirees have enough savings to fund a trip—or multiple trips—to exotic destinations. And because they feel more secure about their children’s future, they don’t feel compelled to hoard what they’ve acquired. So they’re hitting the road.
China Daily has a great profile of an over-60 couple of “gray-haired backpackers” who have traveled through about 40 countries in the past few years. They’ve visited Argentina, done cruises to Antarctica and shared what wife Wang Zhongjin called their most romantic moment on the road, “sitting side-by-side preparing grilled potatoes over a fire one starry night in Australia in August.”
Favorite line from the story: “Wang said the couple was considering Asia or Africa as their next destination, but only after regaining some weight she lost on their last adventure.” We’ve been on that diet. Effective.
Photo from China Daily
