Bolivia

San Marino? Bhutan? My Quirky Bucket List

Published October 19, 2016 | By Clark Norton

Punakha monastery, Bhutan Photo by Dennis Cox/WorldViews

In our last two posts, we took a look at some of the most popular travel-related bucket list destinations and activities based on a survey of 1,000 travelers by the website TotallyMoney.com. You can view those results, and my comments, by clicking here and here.

While my own experiences with a few of the items — such as gambling in Las Vegas — were on the margins (in the case of Vegas, dropping a few quarters into slot machines), I had pretty much done all those on the list.

My own bucket list tends to be a little quirkier than most. Places that end up on my list are pretty far-flung, represent something I’ve missed in past trips, or are just items that fulfill my admittedly peculiar travel obsessions. (I suspect that a lot of baby boomer frequent travelers’ lists are… Continue reading →

Posted in Asia, Baby boomer travel, Boat travel, Bucket Lists, Countries, Cruises, cultural travel, History, river cruises, South America | Tagged Angkor wat, baby boomer travelers, Bhutan, Bolivia, Burma, Cambodia, Italy, Jungfraujoch, Lake Titicaca, Laos, Myanmar, San Marino, Switzerland | 3 Comments

South America’s Top 7 Natural Wonders

Published September 7, 2015 | By Clark Norton

One of the Galapagos’ most handsome gentlemen. Photo by Catharine Norton

Everyone has heard of the Amazon, but how many are familiar with another great Brazilian natural wonder, the Pantanal wetlands? Or the spectacular Bolivian salt flats known as Salar de Uyuni or Chile’s Atacama desert? South America is filled with natural wonders that don’t always get the press they deserve. Here are seven of our favorites, including both the famous and not-so-famous — but all remarkable.

The Galapagos

Lying more than 600 miles in the Pacific off mainland Ecuador, the remote Galapagos Islands possess perhaps the best preserved ecosystem in the world. This is where Charles Darwin got his inspiration for his Theory of Evolution, after observing the unique birdlife here during his 19th-century voyage aboard the Beagle. The islands are a true natural laboratory, each with distinct species of birds, reptiles and other creatures.… Continue reading →

Posted in Adventure travel, Baby boomer travel, Boat travel, Cruises, cultural travel, South America | Tagged Amazon, Argentina, Atacama Desert, Bolivia, Bolivia Salt Flats, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Galapagos, Iguazu Falls, Pantanal, Patagonia, Peru | Leave a comment

According to government and private surveys:

Leading-edge baby boomers (born between 1946 and 1955) and seniors account for four out of every five dollars spent on luxury travel today.
Roughly half the consumer spending money in the U.S.--more than $2 trillion--is in the hands of leading-edge baby boomers and seniors.
Baby boomers (born 1946-1964) travel more than any other age group.
When asked what they would most like to spend their money on, baby boomers answered “travel” more than any other category, including improving their health or finances.