Age is no barrier to adventure travel, as more grandparents and grandchildren bond over activities like hiking, kayaking, and even bungee jumping. Photo / Robert Ormerod, The New York Times
Age is no barrier to adventure travel, as more grandparents and grandchildren bond over activities like hiking, kayaking, and even bungee jumping. Photo / Robert Ormerod, The New York Times
Travelling the globe as grandchild and grandparent is on the rise, writes Julie Weed
Rick Rhoads, 80, was “training like crazy” last spring, walking 9.6km a day - “all hills” - to get ready for his summer vacation. Rhoads, of Orcas Island, Washington, and Lucy Erent, his 15-year-old granddaughter, who lives in Prague, were planning to trek 136km in eight days along Scotland’s West Highland Way.
The route, which passes through farmland and forest and runs along Loch Lomond into the Scottish Highlands, traverses a range of terrains, including steep inclines and rocky trails. A trip organiser was set to manage lodging and transport the luggage each day.
Rhoads wasn’t daunted by the distance, or by the age difference. He said he was looking forward to continuing discussions the pair has had on video calls, on topics as varied as stage drama, cosplay, pandemics and family dynamics. “I’ll get her to do the talking when we’re going up hills,” he joked.
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Rick Rhoads, 80, trekked 136km in Scotland with his 15-year-old granddaughter. Photo / Robert Ormerod, The New York Times
When they finally did the trek, in early July, there were a few wrinkles: The hiking was tougher than expected, and one of Rhoads’ boots began to fall apart near the end - nothing some duct tape couldn’t fix. Overall, Rhoads said, the adventure was challenging, but he was eager to do another, perhaps a route “that passed by cafes”.
Sixty may or may not be the new 40, but it’s clear that many older adults are enjoying longer “healthspans” — the time they are active, fit and healthy. This shift is adding a new dimension to traditional grandparent-grandchild vacations: adventure. Think bike trips instead of cruise ships, wilderness treks instead of bus tours.
According to the World Health Organization, healthy life expectancy, defined as “the average number of years a person can expect to live in full health” without disabling illnesses or injuries, rose globally to 63.7 in 2019 from 58.3 in 2000. In the United States, 40% of people 65 and older interviewed last year in an Outdoor Foundation study said they engaged in outdoor activities like hiking or biking. Older adults are also now more likely to be able to afford vacations: Americans 55 and older control nearly 70% of US household wealth, compared with about 50% in 1989.
Travel companies are taking notice. Craft Travel, a luxury trip planner that handles about 150 itineraries per year, has seen a big increase in grandparent-grandchild travel over the past five years, said Julia Carter, its founder, adding that “the trend has definitely been toward more adventurous, or bucket-list-type, experiences” - African safaris, hikes in Patagonia and trips to Antarctica.
Tour companies and activity providers, which generally don’t impose age caps on their offerings (though some do have minimum age requirements), are making accommodations for the new demographic. Some examples:
— The Jean-Michel Cousteau Resort in Savusavu, Fiji, which offers snorkel and scuba outings, has had grandchildren with grandparents as old as 84 learn to scuba dive together. For guests older than 70, along with the standard safety training, the resort provides a doctor to certify the diver’s health.
— Road Scholar, a travel company that was founded to serve older adults and now has an online catalogue dedicated to grandparent-grandchild travel, details the physical expectations of its trips so participants can decide if they can handle them. The description of its white-water rafting trip on the Lower Salmon River in Idaho, for example, tells travellers they’ll be “carrying bags in camp across uneven terrain. Temperatures often in the 90+ degree range”.
— Backroads, which offers multigenerational biking, hiking, snorkelling and kayaking trips, sends training advice in advance of departure. Like many other bicycle trip organizers, Backroads makes e-bikes available, with a typical minimum age set in the midteens. Some grandparents use the e-bikes to keep up with their grandchildren, but depending on everyone’s fitness level, it may be the younger generation using them, said Liz Einbinder, a Backroads spokesperson.
Some older adults are embarking on more extreme adventures. Nick Steers, the executive director of Great Canadian Bungee, which hosts more than 10,000 guests per year in Chelsea, Quebec, for bungee jumping, zip lining and rafting, said nearly 5% of its participants were 60 or older, including some grandparents there with their families. Ron Jones, the founder of Bungee America, outside Los Angeles, said that in July, a 15-year-old had jumped with his grandparents.
From trekking in Scotland to scuba diving in Fiji, active grandparents are leading the charge in adventure travel with their grandchildren. Photo / Robert Ormerod, The New York Times
Active grandparents have some tips for others considering an adventure vacation with their grandchildren.
“Preparation for any trip is key,” said Joe Bassett, 60, who runs the guided wilderness adventure company Valiant Outfitters. He takes his grandchildren, the oldest of whom is 7, on hikes and overnight stays. For a campout, he said, grandparents might walk the trail in advance to make sure they know its contours. “An ideal route would be a loop that is never more than a couple miles from the parking lot,” he said. Bassett advises no-cook meals. “Keep it simple with familiar foods,” he said.
Harriet Vogel, 84, of Palm City, Florida, also has some advice: Choose activities you both enjoy and then “have hopes rather than expectations, and just let the trip happen,” she said. When she was 79, Vogel celebrated her grandson Matthew’s college graduation by snorkelling, paddle boarding and biking with him in the Caribbean nation of St. Kitts and Nevis, all mutual interests. Last year it was her granddaughter Jessie’s turn, and the two went on a walking and hiking trip in Switzerland, organized by Backroads. Vogel is planning a fall trip with another grandchild. The time together “increases our closeness,” she said.
While many grandparents may be ready to go on adventures with their grandchildren, not all of them are eager to deal with technology to do so.
When Fin Expeditions, in Cocoa Beach, Florida, noticed an increase in multigenerational groups going out on its kayaking tours, management made sure to offer reservations over the phone for those who don’t like dealing with websites.
But that kind of help wasn’t necessary for Fran Doran, 79, of Butte, Montana, who took her granddaughter scuba diving in Thailand this summer as a graduation gift. “I organised it and made all the reservations online,” Doran said. The pair also rode in a bamboo boat and waded with elephants in a river. “It’s fun to research,” she said.
