We test-launched our new Baby Boomers Traveling website this week after months of work by an amazing team of people from around the world. A graphic artist, technicians, a writer, editor, and project manager were joined—electronically—to create a product that only a few years ago couldn’t have been completed so easily across such huge distances. Truly a global work experience that reflects the spirit of Baby Boomers Traveling.

Helen Ditchfield Riley, a graphic artist from Manchester England, created the look of the website based on our desires and needs. We wanted a clean and simple look so that the emphasis remained on the information it contained with the only visual highlight our photographs from around the world. The muted colors used reflect those most popular with travelers and hikers and were selected because they don’t overpower the photos.

A team of techies lead by Roman Shymko of Nix Solutions in the Ukraine worked with Jacob to translate our ideas into workable reality.

I wrote the information on the site while in China and Mexico and sent everything to my editor Marla Markman in California. Knowing Marla would be reviewing all of my copy meant I could write faster and not worry as much about grammatical errors and so we got much of it written within a few weeks.

Jacob Frank (project manager/company V.P./fellow traveler/husband) was still working full-time at teaching English as a foreign language in China while managing the many aspects of the project during what free time he had.

During the last two crucial months of much of the work, Jacob was working on Chinese time, coordinating the technicians in the Ukraine, his writer/wife in Mexico, and still needing graphics from England. With all of the time differences, it’s likely that there was someone working on the website 24 hours a day.

A big thank you to everyone involved in getting the Baby Boomers Traveling website up and running!

We’re still adding content and working out the bugs on a few pages but felt it was time we got the pages up so that readers could finally see what we’ve been up to these last few months. We’ve got lots of great stuff coming which we’ll announce as we unroll the new features of the website.

In the meantime, happy trails…..

The Boomers’ Guide to Going Abroad to Travel|Live|Give|Learn is now available through BookLocker, Amazon.com, and BarnesandNoble.com. If you’d like to read a free excerpt, just click here BookLocker excerpt and you can read the introduction and the first chapter. BookLocker also has a pdf version available to download instantly on your computer for $9.99. An e-book version will be made available soon.

Join us on Facebook at BabyBoomersTraveling. You may also follow on Twitter by clicking here: BoomerTraveling. If you would like to subscribe to this blog, click on the envelope next to the word ‘subscribe’ at the top of the left-hand menu. You will receive notification by e-mail every time this blog is updated. I solemnly swear to never sell, trade or give away your information to anyone!!

Spring Break is almost upon us and the thought may bring sweet reminiscences of movies like Beach Blanket Bingo and Gidget, slightly embarrassing memory lapses of that time of year from your misspent youth, or horrible visions of today’s college kids crowding resort towns at this time of the year.

Whichever image pops to mind, you should seriously consider taking a break away from one of the worse snow years on record. The additional work and stress brought about by the multitude of storms—let alone the feeling that this winter will never end—is good enough reason to consider a few weeks in a warmer climate.

I generally advise people to avoid traveling during spring break because increased demand for airline seats and hotel beds results in raised prices across the board. But shopping around and starting early, as well as a few other strategies might help you find something affordable as well as pleasurable.

1. Go where “they” won’t go: Where do students go? The beach, ski hills and home. That doesn’t mean all warm locations are off the list just those on the coast. Instead of Cancun, consider going inland to Mexico City or Guanajuato. If you don’t mind the cold and snow, avoid the big ski hills and find a country bed and breakfast for a cozy weekend away without all the hassles of a long trip. This also means avoiding inexpensive hotels and hostels as they’ll be filled with students.
2. Start shopping early: Students are busy with school, want to see where everyone else is going, and often wait until the last minute to book hoping to find deals. If you book in advance, you’re more likely to find lower prices for airfares if you insist on going to spring break destinations. If you really want to go to the coast, take the money you saved on airline fares and book into a higher-end hotel that doesn’t allow college students during spring break (find one with a pool and maybe a private beach). But, I warn you, the town and surrounding hotels will still be noisy with music and partying.
3. Consider a volunteer vacation: While some students may do the same, they’re generally not of the partying variety and won’t be there in large groups. You can find organizations in any number of warm countries that will welcome your visit for a few weeks to help them to care for children or animals, clear hiking trails, build houses, and use your many skills in a rewarding manner while enjoying time away from your regular life.
4. Take a class in another country: What’s the last thing students want to do while on spring break? You got it: study. Language, art, cooking, weaving, photography, writing—there are so many choices you’ll find it hard to decide what to take. Check your local museum and learning institutions to see whether they’re offerings classes in town or trips abroad that you might be interested in taking.
5. Just Google it: Not sure what locations you should avoid? Type in “spring break location” in your search engine and see what comes up. Take note of the most popular locations and, ta da!, your list of places to avoid.

Spring break isn’t just for students and partyers. With a bit of careful planning you can avoid the worse locations and the high prices and still get away for a few weeks of relaxation—or at least a change from shoveling all that snow.

The Boomers’ Guide to Going Abroad to Travel|Live|Give|Learn is now available through BookLocker, Amazon.com, and BarnesandNoble.com. If you’d like to read a free excerpt, just click here BookLocker excerpt and you can read the introduction and the first chapter. BookLocker also has a pdf version available to download instantly on your computer for $9.99. An e-book version will be made available soon.

Join us on Facebook at BabyBoomersTraveling. You may also follow on Twitter by clicking here: BoomerTraveling. If you would like to subscribe to this blog, click on the envelope next to the word ‘subscribe’ at the top of the left-hand menu. You will receive notification by e-mail every time this blog is updated. I solemnly swear to never sell, trade or give away your information to anyone!!

Things are busier than ever in Baby Boomer Travelandia as we continue to spread the word about all the wonderful opportunities open to people born between 1946 and 1964. Okay, they’re open to everyone: but I only have time to help 100 million or so boomers (78 USA + 10 Can. + 7.6 U.K. + 4 Aust./N.Z.). And I want to focus on those who think that it’s too late to travel like they used to or don’t know where to start.

more…

One sure indication that the recession is “officially over” is the increase in prices of anything related to travel. As soon as consumer demand starts to go up for airfares, hotel rooms, dinners out, and tours the cost of these starts creeping up as well.

The travel and tourism industry was hard hit during the past five years as it continued to chase consumer dollars that were really squeezed: those of older travelers and business road warriors. It has yet to turn its attention to the greatest travel boom ever: Baby boomers—many of whom didn’t stop traveling during the Great Recession. more…

After five continuous years of traveling and living around the world, I’m returning to America to travel and live. Not a normal working nine-to-five job, living-in-a-suburb life, mind you.  But you wouldn’t expect that of me, now would you? And my travels won’t be exactly of the regular sort either I expect.

Travel buddy, business partner, and husband Jacob (after 27 years of marriage I could add a few more titles, but I won’t) and I have visited over 50 countries and all seven continents in the past five years. Several countries such as Mexico, Costa Rica, China, Thailand, the United States, and Canada we visited several times. We also returned to live in Mexico, Costa Rica, and China. more…