guided tours

Stride Travel: An Essential Travel Resource

Published March 9, 2016 | By Clark Norton

This is one of the beautiful images you’ll find on StrideTravel.com. Photo by Dennis Cox.

“The Savvy Path to Breathtaking Travel, Without the Hassle”

“Less Planning, More Experiencing”

“A Journey of a Thousand Smiles Begins With a Single Click”

These are some of the taglines that express the essence of the new travel website, StrideTravel.com, where I worked for more than a year as Content Director. (My job is now in the capable hands of Content Coordinator Samantha Scott, who, together with co-founders Gavin Delany and Jared Alster, comprise a formidable team.)

In practical terms, Stride aspires to be — and in many ways already is — the best place on the Web to survey the wealth of multi-day, pre-planned trips that are now available from hundreds of travel suppliers around the world.

“Pre-planned trips” may encompass guided group or private tours as well as independent journeys… Continue reading →

Posted in Adventure travel, Africa, Alaska, Asia, Baby boomer travel, Boat travel, Budget travel, Caribbean, Cities, Countries, Cruises, cultural travel, cycling, Eco-tourism, Europe, Family travel, Festivals, food, Hiking, History, Holidays, Luxury travel, National Parks, Packing, river cruises, singles travel, South America, Tours, Wildlife, Women travelers | Tagged African safaris, Antarctica, baby boomers, Danube, guided tours, pre-planned trips, river cruises, small-ship cruises, Stride, StrideTravel.com, tours, travel | 4 Comments

How to Avoid Stressed-Out Vacations

Published March 21, 2014 | By Clark Norton

A Galapagos iguana, best seen on a stress-free guided trip. Photo by Clark Norton

Do you come back from vacation more stressed out than when you left?

Based on a survey of world travelers by author Shawn Achor and “happiness researcher” Michelle Gieland from the Institute of Applied Positive Research, “poorly planned and stressful vacations eliminate the positive benefit of time away,” as Achor recently wrote in the Harvard Business Review.

(See my previous post on travel and happiness for more detail on these findings.)

Achor contends there are four main ingredients that you should add to your vacation mix to result in a happy travel experience:

* “Focus on the details”: Nearly three quarters of travelers found the most stressful part of travel to be “figuring out the details,” according to Achor. “Travel uncertainty, transportation, wasting time figuring things out on the trip, and being unfamiliar with the location”… Continue reading →

Posted in Adventure travel, Baby boomer travel, Tours | Tagged baby boomer travel, baby boomers, baby boomers and tourism, guided tours, marketing baby boomer travel, travel marketing, travel stress, travel tips, vacation stress | 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.