Travel is more than a vacation, it’s good for our brains

by Carolyn Ray

For her milestone 90th birthday in 2025, Joy Fox didn’t stay at home relaxing in a comfortable chair. She jumped on a plane and flew to Iceland, and was toasted among the icebergs on a small group tour. “There’s no way I was spending this birthday alone, reflecting on my life,” says Fox. “I wanted to be out in the world, doing what I’ve always done — living life to the fullest and making new memories and friendships.”

Fox isn’t alone, and data on healthy aging shows that travel is a powerful enabler of longevity. According to research from the Global Coalition on Healthy Aging (GCOA) and TransAmerica, regular travel boosts physical health, cognitive resilience and social connections.

Travel also addresses one of the most pressing challenges of aging: loneliness and social isolation. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) Commission on Social Connection, 1 in 6 people worldwide is affected by loneliness. “In this age when the possibilities to connect are endless, more and more people are finding themselves isolated and lonely,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. Canada’s National Institute on Aging says that “43% of Canadians aged 50 years and older are at risk of social isolation, and up to 59% have experienced loneliness.” (The National Institute on Ageing (NIA) 2024 Survey).

Is longevity genetic, or must we accept the lives we’re given?

According to Melissa Gong Mitchell, Executive Director of the Global Coalition on Aging, about 20 per cent of our longevity has historically been attributed to genetics. However, she also says a new study shows that the genetic contribution to our longevity might be as high as 55 per cent.

“Either way, there’s a lot of wiggle room for our behaviours, lifestyles, and overall knowledge of our health to contribute to not only longer lives, but also healthier lives,” she says.” Who wants to live to 100 if the last 30 years are in poor health? Healthy longevity must be our aspiration – personally, through policy, and as workplace strategy.”

Mitchell says that a growing body of research shows that travel directly supports longevity and points to the unique power of multigenerational travel, as older adults increasingly prioritize shared experiences and legacy-building while travellers of all generations are making purpose the centrepiece of their trips.

“By strengthening social bonds, reinforcing cultural continuity, and supporting brain health, travel illustrates a critical truth: longevity is not just something we inherit—it is something we can meaningfully design,” she says.

Chip Conley, Founder of Modern Elder Academy (MEA), says one of the keys to healthy aging is to shift from a negative to a positive mindset. MEA offers immersive workshops and sabbaticals designed in collaboration with academics from Stanford, Harvard, UC Berkeley, and Yale, that blend science-backed curriculum with soulful practices such as mindful movement and community connection.

“Researcher Becca Levy at Yale University has shown that shifting your mindset on aging from a negative to a positive in midlife grants you 7.5 years of additional longevity,” says Conley. “Additionally, the #1 common variable amongst those who live a happy, longer life is how invested they were in social relationships in midlife and beyond.”

It’s time to reframe how we think of aging

Mitchell says that while the connection between travel and healthy aging is well documented, the benefits have not been fully recognized or prioritized by policymakers, health care leaders and the travel industry itself. Perhaps it’s time to redefine what “aging” looks like, from a state of disability and dependence, to a time of activity, health, and social and economic engagement.

So what needs to change?

1. Shift from an anti-aging to a pro-aging perspective

“As a society, we’ve been brainwashed by the Hallmark birthday cards that start taunting us about our gray hair, wrinkles, and failing memory starting around age 40,” Conley says. “I wrote a book called “Learning to Love Midlife: 12 Reasons Why Life Gets Better With Age” partially because I wanted to highlight the evidence of what improves with growing older, from EQ to wisdom to less people-pleasing, to knowing what’s truly important.”

At MEA, Conley has been creating a movement of nearly 10,000 alumni in 56 regional chapters, focused on role-modelling a new way of growing older based upon age-fluidity, not being defined by your chronological age. MEA’s curriculum includes workshops that focus on ‘Cultivating Purpose”, such as “ROAR into Midlife: Build Your Bold Second Act” with Michael Clinton and Chip Conley, and “Beyond Anxiety: Curiosity, Creativity, and Finding Your Life’s Purpose” with Martha Beck and Chip Conley. There are also workshops that focus on women’s health, like “Women’s Health: Reclaim Your Agency, Power and Freedom”, which helps women build vitality and mental clarity for years to come.

2. Pursue ‘longlife’ learning

Conley believes that both higher education and retirement communities have failed to innovate and keep pace with the evolving needs of an aging society.

“When it comes to higher education, most colleges and universities are not prepared for the demographic cliff that’s coming with a smaller population of college-aged kids,” he says. “They haven’t looked at the difference between lifelong learning (teaching us something new) and long-life learning (reminding us who we are, which is based upon understanding life cycles).”

To disrupt that, he’s creating “regenerative communities” that embrace co-living, a kind of ‘Golden Girls’ community-rooted housing at MEA’s Santa Fe, New Mexico campus. MEA’s first two Golden Girls Homes will be just a short drive away from its Santa Fe Rising Circle Ranch campus in Lamy and Eldorado and offer residents use of the gym, hiking trails, lectures and potlucks with guest faculty, and free and discounted attendance at MEA workshops.

“When it comes to senior living, the average age when someone moved into a retirement community 60 years ago was 65,” he says. “Today it’s 83, which means there’s a period of life 60-85 that isn’t explored when it comes to housing and community.”

According to Conley, 55 per cent of Americans 65+ are women, which means 67 per cent of the people 65+ living alone are women. This is consistent with JourneyWoman’s “Invisible No More” research, which shows that approximately 76 per cent of women travellers over 50 are unmarried, divorced, widowed or separated, pointing to an enormous opportunity for the travel market to embrace solo travellers.

3. Recognize and actively pursue the ‘silver economy’

Mitchell says that the travel industry must recognize and actively pursue the spending power of the silver economy.

“Roughly $2 trillion in potential spending from older travellers remains untapped, in part because offerings have not consistently reflected the diversity of needs, cultures, and preferences across markets,” she says.

“Outdated perceptions of older people too often translate into out-of-touch perceptions of older travellers. When travellers of all ages and backgrounds feel seen and supported throughout the travel journey, they are more likely to engage over the long term, improving individual wellbeing while driving sustained economic health for the industry. As travel industry leaders better understand and tackle misconceptions and see the diversity of this market, they can more fully realize its potential as both a driver of growth and a contributor to long-term health.”

4. Broaden our definition of what travel is

For consumers, Mitchell says one of the biggest barriers is preconceived notions about what travel is supposed to look like.

“When travel is narrowly defined as a long, expensive, or physically demanding trip, it can feel out of reach for many people,” she says. “In reality, travel can take many forms: a multigenerational family vacation to a new place, a solo getaway to the next town over, or even a day hiking trip with friends. Expanding our definition of travel makes it more accessible and more powerful.”

The demand is already there, she says, as 55 per cent of families report taking multigenerational trips, and adults 50+ control roughly half of U.S. consumer spending.

JourneyWoman’s research “Invisible No More” shows that women between the ages of 64-75 are travel’s biggest spenders, representing a market segment that is expected to more than double to US$519 billion by 2035.

“By reframing travel as adaptable to different needs, abilities, and stages of life, the industry can unlock broader participation and deeper impact,” Mitchell says. “Policy will evolve as soon as the industry itself starts to fully grasp how big a game changer the healthy, active and engaged older traveller will be.”

5. Improve travel marketing to better reflect the breadth and diversity of the silver market

Debbie Marshall, Managing Director of the Silver Marketing Association, an organization that helps marketers connect with the silver generation authentically, says that travel offerings have not consistently reflected the diversity of needs, cultures, and preferences across markets.

“Outdated perceptions of older people too often translate into out-of-touch perceptions of older travellers, resulting in marketing campaigns to older travellers which are stereotyped and outdated,” she says.

One simple example is stock imagery, which often depicts impossibly toned and tanned “silver” couples in romantic locations, or perfect multi-generational families.

Marshall points to the cruise industry as starting to use more authentic and relatable imagery, including mixed-race, same sex and solo travellers, to more accurately reflect the diversity of the silver sector. Some of her favourites include the “alchemist” in the Fred Olsen Cruise Lines TV Advert, and Silver Marketing Association patron Anthea Turner, promoting Sandals on Instagram as the epitome of a modern mid-life traveller.

What does the future hold for older travellers?

Despite the societal change needed, GCOA’s Mitchell says that momentum is building at the global policy level to position tourism as a driver of sustainable and inclusive growth.

“At the United Nations, there’s increased focus on sustainability and regional development, alongside greater recognition of ‘silver tourism, ‘ which is projected to reach $2.6 trillion by 2030,” she says. “In recognition of older adults as the fastest-growing travel market, the UN is also promoting practices for accessible tourism. As older travellers become a larger part of the global market, multigenerational perspectives are also starting to enter policy conversations. Research shows that 61% of grandparents report more activity than expected while travelling, showing support for older adults in staying active—working, volunteering, and engaging socially—which strengthens both healthy aging outcomes and long-term economic growth.”

For Fox, who received JourneyWoman’s inaugural Solo Travel Award at age 89, travel is the path to staying active. She has plans to travel to Scotland for her 91st birthday in 2026 and has booked a cruise from Bali to Singapore for her 92nd in 2027.

“Even though we are not thought of as trailblazers, forging our own path, we are a bloody brave bunch of women, who are not prepared to stop living just because we are a certain age,” she says. “Our hearts are still young, even though we have a few wrinkles or life lines. We are a force to be reckoned with.”

She also believes it’s high time the industry took more notice of the mature female solo traveller.

“I have been shown respect because of my years when travelling, but it is usually other travellers who find it brave and inspiring that someone my age will travel alone,” she says. “That respect has not often been shown by the travel industry.”

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