Is It Time to Get Packing?

Backpacking through Europe as a young man expanded­ — well, let’s be honest, exploded — the worldview of a middle-class kid from the New York suburbs. During two trips in the early 1970s, my friend Todd and I hitchhiked through Germany on the autobahn, walked along the canals of Amsterdam and stayed in Mussolini’s mistress’s villa in Florence — don’t get the wrong idea; it had long before been converted into a youth hostel. I fell into a different kind of romance on those trips, the reverie of an innocent abroad: walking ancient streets in my Frye boots, inhaling history that is measured not in decades but in centuries. I also discovered — because I joined hordes of young Americans likewise throwing down their sleeping bags in train stations and hostels — that I was possessed of a noticeable New Yawk accent, which meant everybody I met knew where I was from. But more than knowledge of myself (and my accent), those early trips gave me a thirst to do it again — as soon as possible.

Decades after those early wanderings, and having endured the enforced time-out of the pandemic, many of us have found a renewed desire to roam the world again. I am once more joined by hordes of Americans here and abroad, and though we can no longer claim the mantle of youth, we have ways of easing that. In a recent AARP Travel Trends survey, older adults told us they planned to spend an average of about $6,700 on travel this year, and about 40 percent of those traveling were planning an international trip. Where to? Europe is the most sought-after destination, with Italy, Spain, Great Britain and France topping the list. Indeed, I visited Paris in May, this time staying in a beautiful boutique hotel, and had only to look across the room to my lovely wife for romance.

“We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us.” —Anonymous

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So hail, fellow travelers. Let’s go! Recognizing the importance of travel, we present this special digital issue of AARP The Magazine. While we regularly cover travel in the magazine, in this special issue we delve deeper into destinations and attractions, as well as the act of travel itself, helping you easily get from one place to another.

Me and my traveling companion, Todd Ryan, as sketched by Todd in the early 1970s.

Sketch by Todd Ryan

Within these articles, you will find destination ideas for special occasions, thoughtful advice on managing your travel dollars (is that splurge really worth it?), secrets to great experiences that only people who work in hotels and on cruise ships know, an emergency guide to avoid travel disasters, and more. Each story has you, the older traveler, in mind.

So get packing (we have tips for that too). Your life awaits.