‘I DON’T HAVE A TRAVEL BUDDY’: MORE OLDER ADULTS ARE FLYING SOLO BY CHOICE

“There was a mix of couples and singles,” said Reimer, 68, who booked her trip through the tour company Road Scholar. “I would have thought it was awkward if I was the only single there. I was most appreciative of the fact that I was not the fifth wheel.”

The Argentina trip will be a solo-travelers-only trip that’s part of an effort by Road Scholar to cater to older, individual travelers. Going on a solos-only trip appeals to Reimer, who recently sold her financial-planning business and works part time as a consultant in Overland Park, Kan.

“I think the Buenos Aires trip will have a different vibe to it. I think there will be more camaraderie, more friendships formed, but still have time to follow your own pleasure and have your own time alone,” Reimer said.

Reimer contrasted her comfort in traveling alone with older generations like her parents, who always traveled together. Her mother, for example, would never have imagined spending a night alone in a hotel without her husband, Reimer said.

“It was not overwhelming to me in the least to travel alone,” she said.

Meanwhile, Laura Gaudet, a retired professor from Monterey, Calif., has traveled to New Mexico, Egypt and Italy as a solo traveler and is going to Greece and Turkey in May, all through Road Scholar. The solo experience has been so positive that she’s already signed up for a solos-only trip to India in 2025.

“There’s a whole bunch of us — women mostly — who don’t have anyone to travel with. I don’t have a travel buddy,” said Gaudet, 73.

Almost half (49%) of women over age 65 don’t have partners, according to the Pew Research Center.

Gaudet tried going solo on a cruise, but it wasn’t her favorite. She prefers traveling solo with a group that allows her to have some time with people of similar interests, get some education and culture, and still have the comfort of her own room.

Gaudet said she’s already faced her worst travel fear, and handled it calmly and with grace.

“The thing I worried about the most — getting lost — happened in China. I thought, ‘I have the name and address of my hotel, I have money in my pocket and I’ll be fine.’ And I was fine,” recalled Gaudet, who added that the experience made her feel bolder.

Road Scholar, which specializes in educational travel for older adults, recently launched a new series of trips designed exclusively for solo travelers over 50 years old, due to growing demand. The solos-only destinations range from Louisiana and Lima to Italy and India. The company welcomes solo travelers on any of its tours, but the new trips cater to individual travelers exclusively.

“We serve tens of thousands of solo travelers every year, so we understand their unique needs,” said Maeve Hartney, chief program officer at Road Scholar. “These new programs have a greater comfort level and more opportunities to make new friends.”

The trips encourage a sense of camaraderie, Hartney said, and participants bond over shared experiences.

About 20% to 30% of Road Scholar’s 80,000 to 100,000 travelers each year go solo, and that percentage is on the rise, the company said. Much of the trend has been driven by older women traveling without their spouses, according to Road Scholar, which said about 85% of its solo travelers are women.

Road Scholar is not the only company that has seen increased demand for solo travel. 

Norwegian Cruise Line reported that between 2019 and 2022, it saw an increase in guests booking accommodations as single occupants in its nonstudio staterooms.

To cater to the solo market — and not just older adults — Norwegian recently expanded its offerings to more than 1,500 solo staterooms across its 19-ship fleet. Although the company first introduced solo staterooms in 2010, it now offers a variety of choices from studios to solo rooms with balconies, the cruise line said. It also offers lounges on some ships that are now accessible to guests staying in the solo-category staterooms, so that they can mix and mingle with like-minded travelers.

“The solo-stateroom expansion, while in part due to the evident rise in solo-travel popularity, is a direct response to NCL’s guests’ feedback that they desire additional solo-accommodation options that are more spacious and allow for better destination and ocean views,” Norwegian Cruise Line said in a statement.

Older adults, in general, are a big market for travel. Travelers aged 50 and older tend to take frequent trips — as many as four per year, according to AARP. Typically family and multigenerational trips are domestic trips, while international travel tends to be bucket list trips done without grandkids in tow, according to AARP.

Older adults will spend an average of $6,659 on vacations this year, which is about the same as their average travel budgets last year, AARP said. 

“People are traveling throughout the retirement years, but more travel is happening in younger years,” said Patty David, AARP’s vice president of consumer insights.

The idea of a “travel bucket list” is common, with 75% of travelers in their 50s having one. That compares to 69% of adults aged 60 to 69 and 60% of Americans aged 70-plus, AARP said. Barriers to taking on those bucket-list trips include health issues (21%), inflation and travel costs (15%), and global unrest (13%), according to AARP.

Top domestic trips for older adults this year include Florida (16%), California (10%) and Las Vegas (5%), per AARP. Arizona, New York, Chicago and Michigan are also popular — though Texas has dropped off the list as a favorite vacation destination for the 50-plus crowd, AARP said.

Europe is the most sought-after international destination (41%) for older travelers, with Italy, Spain, Great Britain and France topping the list, according to AARP. Next, travelers are looking at trips to Latin America and the Caribbean (36%) — with Mexico, the Bahamas and Aruba being top destinations there.

“When older adults make travel plans, they are making them come to fruition. Where there are trips they intend to do, they actually do them and stay true to their plans,” David said.