Recently updated on August 1st, 2023 at 03:21 pm
Solo travel is one of the best ways to explore the world. There’s no need to wait a lifetime for the perfect travel companion or squeeze your plans to fit in with your partner, best friend, sister or travel buddies. If you want to visit Italy, just travel by yourself. If you’re ready to explore US National Parks, lock in those dates. Here are some surprising facts about solo travel – especially mature travellers – that will make you rethink your next expedition.
Solo travel on the rise
When is the best time to travel? Whenever YOU are ready. The number of people travelling solo seems to just increase year on year, and we predict that after the pandemic it will only continue to rise with people – especially mature travellers – refusing to put their lives on hold to wait for family or friends to say ‘yes!’. According to Google trend data from 2021, solo travel is up by 761 percent as people are “biting the bullet” and looking for new experiences. Booking.com stats from 2020 showed some 25% of all travellers were thinking of taking a solo trip in 2020. It’s likely those plans were put on ice, but are you making plans for 2022?
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Solo travellers travel more
Love the idea of travelling lots? Travel by yourself and you too could take three or more trips a year. Yes, our solo traveller friends manage to organise and book more trips each year than those travelling in a group, with their partner or family. Of course it’s easiesr to organise a trip when you don’t need to coordinate multiple schedules and find dates to suit everyone.
The mature solo traveller is the new Millennial
Solo travel isn’t just a young person’s game. While those between 24 and 55 make up the larger majority of those travelling alone, the Baby Boomer audience has latched onto the trend. At Trafalgar we’ve seen the average age of solo travellers who book directly with us increase from 55-years-old in 2016 to 62-years-old in 2021.
Retirement travel is the new honeymoon
We celebrate love with travel, so why not celebrate a lifetime of work with a trip too? Retirement travel is becoming more popular as hard working Baby Boomers hang up their boots and treat themselves to an adventure abroad. After all, if you’ve just spent 40- or 50-something years bringing in the dough to pay for your lifestyle, raise kids and put food on the table you surely deserve the chance to tick off your bucket list and make memories overseas. A study by Booking.com found Baby Boomer solo travel was a growing trend, and that 40 percent of those aged between 55 and 64 took a solo trip in 2018.
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Group trips remove the disadvantages of solo travel
While exploring the world enriches us with new experiences, unfortunately travelling by yourself can throw up some disadvantages. If you travel alone – especially as a female – you need to be more aware of your surroundings and make extra considerations if venturing out alone at night. Plus, solo travel can be more expensive when there’s no one to split the bill with. It’s why so many solo female and mature travellers choose to join a group trip or guided tour that gives them the safety and comfort of a shared experience while still allowing them the freedom of a solo trip.
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Women lead solo travel trend
Speaking of women, some 84 percent of all solo travellers are female. In 2019, 72 percent of women in the US took a solo vacation, and 65 percent of American women have taken a holiday without their partner. That’s right, you don’t have to be single to travel by yourself.
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Are you a mature traveller planning a retirement trip or solo travel adventure? Let us know how you feel about solo travel in the comments below…