Observations about how travel is changing and what thoughtful travelers should know

Why adults over fifty are reshaping travel—and still being underestimated.

I didn’t set out to start a travel publication. I set out to find better travel writing and kept coming up empty.

Not empty of options. There’s no shortage of travel writing. What I couldn’t find was content built for someone like me: experienced enough to know what I want, and long past the point of going somewhere just to say I’d been. After decades of travel, I’ve gotten more deliberate, not less. I don’t want to check cities off a list anymore. I want to stay long enough to understand how a place works.

The industry hasn’t kept up.

Adults over fifty are the travel industry’s biggest spenders. We spend more per trip than any other age group, account for more than a third of all travelers, and now average nearly four trips a year, according to AARP. This isn’t a niche audience. It’s the people actually funding modern travel.

And yet most estimates suggest only five to ten percent of marketing budgets target us. If you’ve felt that the travel industry isn’t built for you, the numbers suggest you’re right.

But the real problem isn’t the marketing. It’s what’s missing beneath it.

Most travel content offers thirty-six hours somewhere, ten places you have to see, the hottest destination of the moment. It’s built for skimming, for someone picking from a list. Not for the traveler who already knows what she likes and wants more from a place.

If what you want is a week in one city rather than four cities in ten days, you’re largely on your own.

Then there are the practical questions nobody addresses well. How do you manage a medication schedule across six time zones? What does travel insurance actually cover if you have a pre-existing condition? If you need to pace yourself on long walking days, how do you know whether that hilltop village in Umbria requires a half-mile climb from the nearest parking area?

These aren’t complaints. They’re the logistics of traveling with experience. Mainstream travel content either ignores them or buries them under a heading called “senior travel tips,” somewhere between advice on fanny packs and warnings about eating street food.

Solo travel is another blind spot. Women make roughly eighty percent of household travel decisions, and women over fifty are one of the fastest-growing segments of solo travelers, an estimated twenty-one million American women over fifty-five now traveling alone.

Yet nearly every resource aimed at them begins with safety warnings. Caution first. Possibility second. As though choosing to see the world on your own terms is inherently reckless.

A woman who has run a career, raised a family, and made decades of hard decisions does not need to be told to photocopy her passport. She needs to know which neighborhoods in Lisbon are worth staying in alone, which small-group tours attract interesting people, and how to structure a two-week itinerary that balances solitude with connection.

There’s a phrase I keep coming back to: intentional travel. It isn’t travel as escape, or travel as a list to work through. And it isn’t something you rush to do before you can’t anymore. It’s a considered choice, where you go, how long you stay, and what you’re actually looking for when you get there.

That’s how most people I know over fifty approach it. They’ve done the rushed trips. They know the difference between a place they visited and a place they understood. They’re choosier now, not because their options have narrowed, but because they know what’s worth their time.

The industry doesn’t have a framework for this. It’s built around volume and novelty, and intentional travelers aren’t interested in either.

None of this is complicated. The audience is enormous and growing. The needs aren’t mysterious. The willingness to pay for quality is already there. This isn’t a market that needs to be invented. It needs to be taken seriously.

That means health and logistics guidance treated with the same intelligence as a restaurant recommendation. Editorial judgment that comes from actually being there. And above all, travel presented as something you’re still shaping, deliberately and on your own terms.

That’s what Nomadic Spirit is for. I hope you find something here that feels like it was written for you. It was.

Paul M. Rand, Founder, Nomadic Spirit

Remarkable destinations worth traveling for — and understanding once you arrive

Why visitors still leave pencils on a Concord Hillside

The path through Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Concord, Massachusetts, climbs steeply, winding past newer graves and older monuments before reaching the hilltop where some of American literature’s most influential voices are buried: Author’s Ridge

Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Louisa May Alcott, and Nathaniel Hawthorne rest within a few yards of one another. Oak and pine trees surround the graves. The Concord River valley stretches out below.

Most visitors arrive slightly out of breath. Then they do what visitors have done for decades. They leave something behind.

Thoreau’s Grave

At Thoreau’s grave, visitors leave pencils mostly, but also pens, coins, and small stones. People leave them for what Thoreau’s writing gave them—permission to step away, to refuse the expected path, to look closely at the world.

At Emerson’s headstone, flowers appear regularly, and handwritten notes too. One read simply: “Thank you. You have changed my life.”

They come back, sometimes across decades, to spend time with voices that shaped how they see the world.

Patricia Hopkins is the cemetery supervisor. She’s worked at Sleepy Hollow for thirty-eight years, and when I spoke with her, she described clearing what she calls “a whole host” of pens, pencils, trinkets, and handwritten notes during warm months—most expressing deep appreciation for the impact these writers had on visitors’ lives.

It’s a Pilgrimage

She considers it an honor to be part of a place so meaningful to so many people. “For many,” she told me, “It’s a pilgrimage.”

Visitors use similar language. “I’ve made this pilgrimage before,” one wrote. “As always, I’m moved to tears to stand on the path of giants.”

The word “pilgrimage” shows up in the guest book over and over. People come back. Some every few years, marking changes in their own lives at this unchanging spot. Others bring their kids to see the graves their own parents showed them.

The pile of pencils and stones grows. It becomes part of what people see when they arrive.

The walk down is easier, though people tend to stay longer than they planned. Something about the hilltop makes it hard to rush.

By next week, someone else will add a pencil to the pile at Thoreau’s grave. Someone will stand at Emerson’s headstone and feel close to a voice that changed them. The pattern continues—the climb, the pause, the small thing left behind.

Stories from travelers who have learned that the journey matters as much as the destination. If you have one worth sharing, write to [email protected] for submission guidelines.

You can’t tell your friends, “I can’t talk now, I’m late for my polo lesson,” without sounding like someone people want to punch in the face. And I knew not to add that I was at the Rosewood Mandarina in the Riviera Nayarit riding the same polo pony Kendall Jenner was recently seen on in Vogue. Some details are best kept to yourself. 

Still, there I was.  

This was after a two-hour morning ocean fishing trip with my three kids, where we caught enough fish that one of the resort’s restaurants turned into tacos and ceviche by lunch. There is something perfect about catching your own lunch and then sitting down to eat it together a few hours later, the ocean still in view.

Traveling with adult children is a joy in this stage of life. Gone are the days of planning trips around nap schedules, strollers, and lines for water slides. Now our travels include massages on the beach, rounds of golf and tennis, tequila tastings, and long meals that stretch into unrushed conversations.

On this trip, my wife took our two new daughters-in-law on a meditation hike up one of the surrounding mountains. They came back tired, happy, and glowing, calling it “totally exhausting and completely worth it.” I skipped out on that one. I enjoy hiking, but I’ve learned to be honest about what nourishes me and what doesn’t. Growth sometimes looks like opting out, especially when it includes breathwork and gongs under a tree. 

Traveling with your partner brings its own kind of closeness. My wife and I are about to spend several weeks hiking together in New Zealand. But traveling with adult children, who don’t need caretaking, who say thank you, and who seem to even want to be with you, is a gift you don’t fully appreciate until it arrives. Just don’t look at the final bill when you sign it.

Staying at a place like the Rosewood Mandarina certainly elevates the experience. But the real luxury isn’t the setting. It’s the season of life. It’s having the time, the health, and the people you love beside you. For a few days in Mexico, everything felt unhurried, connected, and exactly right. 

Mark Rothschild is an author at Accidental Wisdom, where he writes about work, family, faith, and the mess in between.

Ideas, research, and stories shaping the future of intentional travel.

1. What 91% of Travelers Are Really Craving in 2026

91% of travelers say they're interested in slower, simpler trips built around rest, reading, nature, and meaningful experiences, according to Vrbo. This isn't about saving money—it's about control, deeper engagement, and choosing quality over quantity.

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2. The Shift: Why We're Planning Trips Around Milestones, Not Destinations

Travel is less about the "where" and more about the "who" and "why." A new AAA study confirms this: 76% of travelers now plan trips around landmark life events. "Travel has become an essential way to stay connected," says Stacey Barber, VP of AAA Travel.

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3. "Rio's Essence Comes From the Favelas"—Why Travelers Are Going Beyond the Beach

True exploration requires looking past the "tidied up" version of a city. This AP dispatch explores how Rio residents are reclaiming their narrative through tours focused on history and urban art. Local guide Vitor Oliveira: "Rio's essence comes from the favelas."

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4. "Hushpitality": The Quiet Revolution in Travel

56% of global travelers say their number one leisure motivation in 2026 is "to rest and recharge" Travel Tomorrow, according to Hilton's Trends Report. The term "hushpitality" captures the shift: quiet vacations for nature, mental health, and precious "me time." Even reading retreats are surging.

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5. Women Over 50 Are Redefining Solo Travel—And Leading the Pack

Entering your 50th decade isn't just about reaching a milestone birthday—it's about embracing a transformative period where freedom, wisdom, and financial stability converge, according to Women Travel Abroad. Women over 50 are the fastest-growing demographic in solo travel. This isn't about "finding yourself"—it's about finally traveling on your own terms.

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