Travel Blog

Baby Boomers have been known to cause change…well they are at it again!

Now that the Baby Boomers have more money and time to travel, the travel industry is looking for ways to capture this market. The Boomers, once again are rejecting what their parents did before them, they don’t want to sit on a bus going from one tourist sight to another with just time for a photo or two and a visit to the gift store. After all they have always done things their way; back packing through Europe stopping when and where they wanted to and taking time to investigate the area and meet the people. Not that they are getting older…but there is something said about a nice bed, clean bathroom and someone taking care of the bags, and I speak as a Boomer!

Two of the tour companies that have come out with tours for people who don’t like tours, to capture this market, are Tauck and Insight Vacations.

Tauck’s new division - Centurions Tours
Where travelers can immerse in the culture, shop in a local market for your cooking class; or hiking, bicycling or kayaking through the area. The groups are smaller, an average of 20 passengers, traveling in small vehicles - not big buses. Most important is Tauck’s 84 years of experience, which makes touring areas not open to the public and other special experiences possible. Think - more active, more culture and small groups.  Destinations: Tuscany & Cinque Terre, South Africa & Namibia, Provence and Costa Rica.

Insight Vacations - Select
The Select journeys give the independent minded traveler choices not available in past group travel. You have flexibility, you can join the tour when you want and you can leave when you want.  While on the tour an orientation sightseeing tour is included in each city, you can then tour on your own or take a Select sightseeing package in each city…do as little or as much as you want.. You can be independent while having the benefits of traveling with a group; travel arrangements, baggage handling and a tour guide to assist and answer questions.  European Destinations available. 

Baby Boomers want adventure, to be active, to participate and to learn.  The day’s of if this is Tuesday it must be Belgium with groups spending one night in each place, is fast becoming a thing of the past.  Thanks to the Boomers travelers are coming home with more then a photo of a monument they passed by on the bus!  Imagine the Possibilities…
 

CONGRATULATIONS

SARA GERAGHTY

Sara is the winner of the Hawaii Draw for 4-nights at a Four Season Hawaiian Resort.  I’m sure she will have a wonderfull trip and love Hawaii as much as I do.  

I would like to thank my blog readers and those that entered the draw.  Keep checking in for ohter offers. 

Happy Holidays!

Linda

The Arizona Memorial, home to 1,177 heros. 

On my first visit to Ha,aii, many years ago, I visited the Arizona Memorial with a cousin who was living there at the time.  I didn’t have any real desire to go to see a memorial, with so much to see in my limited time on the island, there were other things that held more interest. My cousin, being nice, arranged the trip so off I went.  We first walked through a building with newspapers from December 7th, seeing the headlines and photos; this started to be about real people and not just a structure.  I boarded a ferry that took me out to the Memorial, which sits across the submerged ship. As I stood on the Memorial looking down at the ship, I realized how many men were lost and how young they were, there is a list on a marble wall with the names of the 1,177 lost on that Sunday morning. I was given a poem to read and realized I was too emotional to read it. As families left flowers for their lost loved ones, I boarded the ferry and return to shore; it was a quiet and reflective trip. Now, after many years and visits to the Memorial, I was back with a friend who was visiting Hawaii for the first time.  There have been changes through the years, there is now a Visitors Center and courtyard that looks out at the Memorial. When you arrive you are given a ticket with a number, it can take a while to be called, this is the most visited attraction in Oahu. When you are called you enter a theater and are shown a 20 minute film on the bombing of Pearl Harbor, at the end of the film everyone is quiet as they go out to the ferry for the ride over to the Memorial. There are less family members visiting, so many years have passed, maybe that is why I especially noticed the few older visitors, the ones that remember December 7th – or was it that I miss my Dad, who was in the Navy and now is gone.  Once again the Memorial brought me to tears.  The Arizona is still considered an active ship in the U.S. Navy and flies the flag.

When planning your visit, don’t go on a day when a cruise ship is in port, as the lines will be even longer then usual. Go early as tickets are given out on a first come bases and sometime run out.  If you have a long wait you can go over to visit the USS Bowfin, a submarine, and museum and then return to the Arizona.  In this area you will also find the USS Missouri, where the signing of the Terms of Surrender took place.

I’m not a monument person, but I do recommend a visit to the Arizona Memorial, home to 1,177 heroes.