The Milestones of Travel

Congratulations!  Each decade of your life is an accomplishment. Goals are realized, professions evolve, priorities shift, families grow and experience is gained.  This is also reflected in how we choose to travel, and where we choose to go.   Celebrating these important milestones, I've gathered inspiring destinations to suit this passage of time.  Of course, every journey is unique. You can turn these decades upside down, or mix them up entirely. A bucket list is as special and individual as the person who crafts it, and each life journey is one’s own.   As for the passing of the years themselves, I defer to the wisdom of Mark Twain:  “Age is an issue of mind over matter.  If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter!” ​

Meeting Boris Becker as an 18 year old at Madame Taussad's in London.

20’s   - LET'S PARTY

In our twenties, we travel to relish in the excess.  All night parties, camping on beaches, intense relationships – all with a no-holds-barred commitment to the carefree abandon of youth.  It's a time to make the kind of mistakes you'll learn from, and sacrifices you'd only make when you're young.  Legends of Full Moon parties and all-night desert parties sound particularly appealing, and you don't mind sleeping on floors or eating instant noodles for a month if it means you can get to them.  Backpacking across Western Europe is a rite of passage, although it's also very expensive,  Stretching your travel dollar, you'll be drawn to budget-travel meccas like Thailand, Central America, India and Laos. You might be drawn to a Kibbutz in Israel or volunteering with animals in Bolivia.  Everything and everyone will be particularly vivid and intense, an opportunity to learn and grow and let your hair down.  You'll only realize just how big that opportunity was when you're further along your life journey. ​

Sharing a special sunset in Mauritius

30’s    - ROMANCE AND FAMILY

As we grow into our third decade, life might have rearranged itself so that we'd want to visit special places with a special partner who one day will grow a family with us.   As we circle the possibility of a major life milestone, a romantic adventure is definitely in order.   Bus around Thailand, from the white, sandy beaches in the south to the rich culture of the north.  Brave the bungie jumps and wild adventures of New Zealand.  Take a tour through Eastern Europe, exploring cobblestone alleys and medieval town squares. Perhaps towards the end of the decade or the start of the next, your partnership has grown. Parents of young kids know that happy kids will always make a happy vacation.  Choose a sunny beach resort with lots of activities in Hawaii, Mexico, Barbados, or Jamaica.  Introduce your kids to new cultures and cuisines.  Slow down and bond with your nearest and dearest, as together you build the memorable traditions of meaningful family vacations.

Here's an idea: let's hire an RV for an epic road trip in the Rockies! So we did!

40’s    - IN MOTION

At last, the kids are at summer camp, or old enough to join us on an adventure that's physical, but not too strenuous.   As careers stabilize and hobbies strengthen, perhaps it’s time to hike the Inca Trail, trek in Nepal, or spend our well-earned holidays on a multi-day bike ride through the valleys of Italy or France.  A fly-in fishing trip in Canada, a multi-day rafting excursion between the Grand Canyon,  or maybe just an epic road trip to explore the Oregon coast, Route 66, Yellowstone or Banff National Parks.   Consider a few weeks camping across Iceland, or taking a tour to pack in the highlights of Western Europe. Volunteering in a foreign country delivers a rich, rewarding experience.   Teaching kids, building wells, looking after rescued animals – making a difference in the lives of others makes a difference for us too. Old enough to know better and yet young enough to go with the flow, the forties is a milestone decade to follow our feet, and safely veer off the beaten track. ​

Smoked burnt ends and dinosaur bones. This is going to be so bad for me, and so, so very good.

50’s -     FOOD AND FESTS

Do you remember when 50 used to be old?   Not anymore.  Today it’s a time to celebrate our decades of hard work, and the settled income that it has brought us.  Now we can appreciate the more expensive bottle of wine, the fine dining restaurant, the outstanding stage play.   Forget nightclubs, it’s time to appreciate the spectacle shows and world-class performances on offer in Las Vegas.  For something more exotic, we’ll turn to major cultural spectacles like Mardi Gras in New Orleans, or Rio’s famous Carnaval. Perhaps a major sporting event is in order, such as Wimbledon, an Olympics or the Superbowl.   The very idea of exploring one of the world’s great wine routes – Napa in California, Mendoza in Argentina, Margaret River in Western Australia – is intoxicating.   We’ve finally booked to see the world’s largest jazz and comedy festivals in Montreal, the best acts at the Edinburgh Arts Festival, or the latest hits on Broadway.   Enjoy the festivals, performances, wine tastings and feasts.  You’ve earned it!

You can take my youth, but you can never take my freedom!

60’s  -    TIME FOR HISTORY

As we usher in the next decade, the allure of history is more fascinating than ever.  We begin to see our lives in a greater context, and appreciate the passing of time.   Once we might have ticked off the Louvre in a couple hours before racing off to the next Parisian attraction.  Now we take our time in the world’s great museums – the Louvre and Hermitage, the Guggenheim, the ROM and the Museum of Natural History.   Waterways and rail transports us in comfort to treasures of antiquity:  cruise down the Yangtze or Nile Rivers, or along the Mediterranean and Black Sea.  Sit back in a viewing carriage to marvel at the Canadian Rockies, the Australian Outback, or the highlands of Scotland.  We’ll take our time exploring the ancient temples of Cambodia’s Angkor, the biblical alleys of Jerusalem, the Mayan ruins of Mexico, or the narrow canals of Venice.   There is so much to see, and still plenty of time.

Making friends with young Masai warriors in Kenya,

70’s + -  BUCKET LIST

We’ve always wanted to go there.  We’ve always wanted to do that.  As we enter the seventh decade of life, we realize our bucket list destinations are not going anywhere, but we most certainly are. Fortunately, in an age of affordable airfare and such a diverse variety of packages, our dreams are more accessible than ever.   Cruise among the islands and abundant wildlife of the Galapagos.  On the plains of the Serengeti and the legendary Masai Mara, witness the migration of the wildebeest from the comforts of a luxury, or self-catered bush camp, and make friends with Masai tribesmen.  It’s not always easy, but we’ll put up with a sweaty trek for a face-to-face encounter with endangered mountain gorillas in the jungles of Central Africa.  Iconic landmarks like the Great Wall of China and the Coliseum, the Eiffel Tower and the Taj Mahal draw us like magnets.   Perhaps it’s also time to finally tick off that Alaska or Caribbean cruise, or visit long-lost relatives in the nations of our ancestors.   Let’s celebrate how far we’ve come, and appreciate the value of all that is to follow. ​