It’s never too late to see the world…

According to this week’s headlines from a major travel site, not travelling enough has been cited as a top regret for the over 50s.  This is in contrast to our blog two weeks ago in which a new survey indicated a rise in over 50s looking for more adventurous holidays.  But perhaps the truth is, not enough people are actually making their travel adventure dreams come true?  Or at least, they are possibly waiting until retirement before they make further plans to visit more exotic destinations?

In fact 64% of over 50s said that they travel abroad less than once a year but 63% said they planned to see more of the world once they had retired.  The real message here is, it’s never too late to see the world and you don’t need to spend hours and hours on long flights to experience new and exciting cultures; there are plenty of destinations within a five-hour flight which have an abundance of beautiful sights and historical artefacts to explore – such as Jordan, Morocco and mainland Greece to name a few.

Interestingly the US, Australia and South Africa were highlighted as the top destinations that over 50s Brits had wished they had gotten around to visiting.  Funny that Brits seem to warm towards countries which speak their own language – could this be a deciding factor when choosing a destination?  Are the more mature generation more comfortable going to a country where they know the lingo – and indeed, does travelling to a country with an unfamiliar language deter people from visiting?  It’s a good question and one that we may never know the answer to.  If the language barrier is a deciding factor for some, it does mean that people are missing out on experiencing the true wonder of the world.

Travelling abroad is far more accessible than it was 30/40 years ago, and sometimes people need to travel a little further out of their comfort zone to see the world in all of its glory.