There are many things older adults do to pass the time when they aren't focused on a career anymore. Some join clubs to stay active in their community. Some take classes to learn a new skill. Some start a new part time job so that they can stay busy, and have a little extra cash to spend- or save. What I am most interested in, though, are the older adults who choose to travel once they have retired. My paternal grandparents did just that, and they have so many souvenirs from all the wonderful places they have traveled. I remember as a child I would always look forward to their visits because they would bring all the grandchildren knick knacks from where their last destination was. They hauled around an RV, and stayed in camp grounds all over the united states. They traveled over seas a few times to places like Japan, and Germany. My grandpa was fortunate enough to have a well paying job, with a good retirement plan so they were able to afford this lifestyle. This was mainly my inspiration for wanting to research traveling after retirement, because I saw how exciting it was for my grandparents, and it's something I feel would be really amazing to experience after being stuck going to work every day for how ever many years you worked until retirement. This paper is going to focus on the question: What is the place and value of tourism in retirement, and how does traveling affect older adults. Throughout I will discuss different studies the articles I have found discuss. The first article discusses the value of tourism in retirement, and the other discusses the affects traveling has on the elderly.

     The first article I found is “RETIREMENT AND TOURISM Themes in Retirees’ Narratives” by Galit Nimrod of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel. This article examines themes in traveling retirees’ perceptions of tourism and travel. It aims to understand the place and value of tourism in retirement. This is the more recent of the two studies I found, and utilized in depth interviews with a sample of 20 male and female retirees involved in a ‘‘Learning in Retirement’’ program in the U.S. Five themes were identified as a result, associating post retirement tourism not only with the new life phase, but also with lifelong interests, leisure activities, retirees’ social networks and perceived constraints.

      A lot of the data on retirement traveling is generally quantitative data, and groups retirees as a whole, instead of looking at them as being in different phases of retirement. Galit states,“The dominance of the quantitative approach was recently criticized by Patterson (2006), who argued that researchers should further develop and apply qualitative methods that will enable ’’to gain a better and more in-depth recollection and understanding of the actual trip experience (Nimrod 860).’’ This article uses interviews to better understand why retirees of different ages partake in traveling after retirement, and their experiences. The study aimed to examine how retirement is perceived in association with tourism by traveling retirees during the first years after retirement. The study aspired to understand how the tourism experiences and behavior of relatively recent retirees are constructed, by engaging with the broad context of retirement from which those experiences emerged (Galit 862). In Theme 1—Retirement as an Opportunity most participants perceived retirement as an opportunity to travel. Having more time, with few obligations, they enjoyed the idea that they could travel whenever they wanted and for as long as they wanted. Not only could they travel more, but they could travel for longer periods of time. Galit states, “With more time available, participants noted that they did not have to rush anymore, and could travel with no pressure. On arrival at the destination, they could spend longer periods and practically live in that place and get to know it better (Galit 865).” In Theme 2 -Negotiating Constraints some interviewees expressed difficulties with traveling because they had constraints such as health limitations, care giving burden, and lack of traveling partners. The 3rd theme- ‘Spillover’’ between Leisure and Tourism discusses how interviewees felt there was a fine line between leisure activity and tourism. But, some found traveling got in the way of some of the leisure activities they had take up after retirement. Theme 4—Tourism may preserve Old Interests discusses how although tourism may be perceived as an opportunity to explore new places, cultures, people, etc., as well as an opportunity to learn new things about oneself, a central theme in participants’ narratives was that tourism is perceived as a tool that preserves old interests and provides a sense of continuity (Galit 868). Many times interests had something to do with participants’ jobs prior to retirement. Lastly, the 5th theme discussed was Tourism is for Quality Time with Loved Ones. It seemed that one of the main motivations to travel was to spend time with loved ones, whether family, friends or both. Joint vacations were popular, with kids and grandkids.

      This article did a good job of answering my question, because it gave me insight as to why older adults choose to travel after retirement, and how it makes them feel. The main reason I feel people choose to travel was answered in the first theme. When you don't have a job holding you back, or finances holding you back then the world is completely open for you to explore. This article did make me realize there are some restraints as to why people may choose not to travel, even if they want to. I went on many vacations with my Grandparents during school breaks, and they are memories I will have forever.

     The next article I found is The Impact of Travel on Older Adults: An Exploratory Investigation by Donald N. Roberson. This article consisted of interviews of a selected sample of eight individuals ranging in age from 56 to 89 years. The interviews were designed to determine whether interviewees' travel had resulted in any transformative learning experiences. The participants were selected for the study because they were frequent travelers. There was clear evidence of change in the meaning schemes of the study participants. Questions were directed at the nature of their most significant travel experiences and how, if at all, they were changed as a result. Robertson states, “In the current research we are seeking to identify travel experiences that may impact travelers rather than simply filling left over time in an older person's life (Roberston 5). Travel experience usually creates some degree of learning and learning can be personally transformative under certain conditions. “Length of stay and patterns of return are also likely to determine their transformative potential of travel. If there is a tendency to "get back home and get busy", reflection may be inadequate for creating changes in perspective. Many trips lie within the suitcases of unpacked pictures, souvenirs, and unfinished and unread diaries. Extended stays, learning the language, interaction with locals, personal reflections, and seeing things for the first times, can promote meaning perspective and eventual transformation,” says Roberston (Roberston 9). Qualitative data was used for this study as well to better understand the impact traveling had. Many of te interviewees felt the most meaningful part of their travels was when they learned new things. When talking about one interviewee Robertson states, “He mentions several times the impact of "surprise learning", "little things like that...it's the surprise learning, I had no interest in learning about a stirrup, and it just came out...learning about the beheadings in England, they would give the executioner a stipend to make a clean cut, and this became known as severance pay. (Robertson 15)." The interviewees learned to put things in perspective when they were traveling over seas, and that learning the language of the locals would be rewarding. One interviewee talks about how traveling makes you educate yourself on the tolerance of other cultures and to appreciate what you have.

     The second article to me was more about the spiritual journey older people go through when they find the time to travel away from their lives and try new things. Many of the people were busy working all their lives, and when they finally had the time to travel they were viewing a whole new world, and learning things they had never thought they would learn.

     My articles helped to answer my question about what the value of tourism does for retirees, and how it affects them. Both articles were really educational and make me want to travel right now if only I had the time like they do. Retirees travel because they finally have the time to do so, and it benefits to do so with your family and friends. Traveling can be a great spiritual awakening for many, and learning new things is a perk most didn't realize they wanted. Some things I didn't consider were the limitations some had with trying to travel, but not being able to due to caring for other family members, or having to wait because of health reasons.

      I interviewed my grandpa and he fell into the same category as the first article- recently retired and traveling. My grandparents don't travel as much anymore, they did most of the traveling when I was much younger and when my grandpa was fresh out of the work force. They liked to venture to Colorado, Nevada, California, and North and South Dakota the most. My grandparents really enjoyed going over seas, but it was something that they only wanted to do a few times because the thought interested them. It was expensive and having to go through everything at the airport was the worst parts, and the found it difficult to get around in another country. They prefer Rving around the US, and camping. After they got a little older they moved to Florida and stayed there more often than traveling, and my grandpa ended up getting a job at Disney World because he needed something to do. A lot of the other older people int heir neighborhood worked for Disney as the people who took tickets. My Grandpa ended up becoming a shuttle bus driver and the hours ranged from all day long to all night long. It wasn't what he imagined himself doing seeing as he was a mechanical engineer. He said it made him feel way too over qualified, and more a waste of his time. He didn't work their long, and now spends most of his time working in his shop making things with wood.

      Nothing really surprised me from the interview, and research. I knew I wanted to learn more about traveling after retirement and it seems really fulfilling to get to a point where you can travel wherever you want for as long as you want. The assignment has made me want to travel even more, and I hope that when the time comes I am well enough to do so.

 

 

 

Nimrod, G. (2008). Retirement and tourism Themes in retirees’ narratives. Annals of Tourism Research,35(4), 859-878. doi:10.1016/j.annals.2008.06.001

 

Roberson, D. N. (1999, December 15). The Impact of Travel on Older Adults: An Exploratory Investigation. 1-38. Retrieved November 15, 2016.