Baby Boomers around the world seem to be looking for the same thing, and able to pay for it. This story from the Sunday Mail in Australia rings true for U.S. boomers too.  We are choosing to spend money on cosmetic surgery, fine wines, a Harley, a nice boat etc.  In many cases we are spending our kid’s inheritance.

What appealed to me is the concept of “soft adventures.”

 Cycling tours through France, cooking classes in Tuscany, river cruises up the Yangtze and even trips to Antarctica are popular with Queensland’s greying nomads, according to Baby Boomer Travel managing director Anne Bain, 54.

“They’re looking for something unique, an immersion in cultures, but where they have a driver and go back to a nice hotel at night,” Mrs Bain says.

“South America used to be considered a backpacker paradise, but it’s really starting to take off with baby boomers – they’re going in their droves.

“You can trek to Machu Picchu in Peru or now you can get a bus there and do a slight trek.”

While younger people or more athletic boomers are hiking to the bottom of the Grand Canyon, I’d rather ride the back of a burro.  Others may do an all-day white water trip on the Arkansas River, I’ll do a half-day. Instead of a Carnival cruise, I’d rather take another Windjammer Barefoot Cruise.  That’s soft adventure.

Let the hard bodies do the hard adventure, my soft body will handle the soft adventure.