Featured image: You can do it! A Women’s Expedition is a purposeful and exciting way for women over 50 to travel / Image from Envato 

How older women are embracing adventure with women’s expeditions 

One of the top trends in travel in 2024 is adventure travel. Adventure travel covers a wide array of activities, from biking and hiking to kayaking or even mountaineering and backcountry horseback riding.  According to the U.S.-based Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA), adventure travel can be any tourism activity that includes physical activity, a cultural exchange, and connection with outdoor activities and nature. While the adventure travel industry has traditionally been dominated by men, women are moving it into the mainstream, due to the efforts of adventure travel companies like Intrepid Travel. 

You might think adventure travel is only for the young, but according to Tom Smith, Intrepid’s General Manager, North America, 39% of their guests are women over 50 and half of Intrepid’s guests are women travelling solo.  Intrepid’s trips feature the road less travelled and more remote and undiscovered places, but as our Women Over 80 writer Diana Eden showed us, even an 83-year old can do an adventure travel trip to Morocco.  

Join our Webinar: “Breaking Barriers with Women’s Expeditions” on April 30, 2024

Presented by Intrepid Travel, a JourneyWoman partner, just for women over 50 to learn about adventure travel

On this webinar, we’ll talk about how older women are embracing adventure travel and joining women’s expeditions to help break barriers — both their own self-discovery but also in the local communities. We’l be joined by expert Carmen Bishop, who has decades of experience in women’s expeditions and will share her tips and advice to help you get started. (And for those who attend, we will have a special surprise just for you!)

In 2018, Intrepid introduced its first women-only expeditions to Jordan and Morocco, which were relaunched and expanded in 2022 to include India and Peru.  More recently, Intrepid has introduced all-women trips to Turkey, Pakistan and Nepal. Led by local female guides, these women-only, small group expeditions are about breaking down barriers, fostering discussion and creating immersive local experiences for women that are ordinarily off limits and in destinations that have been deeply affected by the pandemic. In Turkey, for example, women can enjoy a traditional meal in a Cappadocian cave home, cooked by a local woman who is changing the face of tourism, wander through the Soganli Valley on a gentle hiking trip, taking in the arid surrounds and towering vistas, then learn how to make a popular Cappadocian souvenir, a ‘kitre.’ Local women have been making these dolls for many years now to earn a living.

Tuesday, April 30, 2024, 2 pm ET

Expert Speaker: Carmen Bishop, Partnerships Manager – Polar & Marine, Intrepid Travel

Carmen’s wanderlust has led her to explore over 70 countries across all 7 continents. Whether embarking on solo adventures, enjoying group explorations, or connecting with locals, Carmen appreciates the myriad ways in which travel enriches our lives. Driven by her love for exploration and a desire to make a positive impact on the travel industry, Carmen remains steadfast in her mission to create meaningful and sustainable travel experiences for adventurers around the globe

What questions do you have about women’s expeditions?

In partnership with Intrepid Travel from our JourneyWoman Women’s Travel Directory we’ll share perspectives on what makes Intrepid’s women-only expeditions different from other adventure travel experiences and how to choose the right experience. We’ll also talk about who should go on a women’s expedition, including pricing, inclusions, and the overall experience.

We’ll answer all of your questions, such as:

• Why is the biggest myth about women’s expeditions?
• What actually happens on a women’s expedition?
• Can older women participate in a women’s expedition?
• What kind of physical and mental preparation is required? 
• How can we support local women and communities when we travel?
• Why should women ask for female guides?
• How long are the trips?
• What does it cost? What’s included?

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