Before they retire, there are a number of people who look forward to traveling a lot but according to a survey of typical retirees life is hardly one trip after another in retirement. There was a female doctor from the University of California at Berkeley who interviewed 700 retired people who represented the retired population of San Antonio, Texas. About a half of the group took a trip as often as once a year, 40 percent had not been out of town for more than three years, and some never traveled.
Journeying outside the country every month is less than six percent of the retirees. When it comes to this, 20 percent of their trips involved visiting other relatives and 10 percent of the out of town travel by retirees was to visit their children.
The lack of money is what prevented many retirees from traveling. The frequent travelers in this case are the 10 percent of the San Antonio retirees with annual incomes of above $5,000. The Black or Mexican American retirees tend to travel less than those from the same income level. Traveling more are the younger retirees and those who considered themselves to be in good health. There is a third of those who traveled as often as once a year that travel by car, either as drivers or passengers. In this case, 20 percent flew and 15 percent went by train while another third rode the bus.
In this case, those who were not delighted with the transportation were those who traveled by bus. In terms of this kind of transport, specific disadvantages were aired out like the difficulties of getting a bus to the place one wanted to go as well as the inconvenient time at which the bus left or arrived. In this case, she spoke with two thirds of the retirees who have never flown and half who have never been able to ride a train. Those who flew used the airlines mainly to visit relatives but they liked the experienced. What was possible with land transportation was sightseeing and this is why the retirees liked it. Only a fifth of the plane trips were to go on a vacation or take a trip.
According to half of these people, they will consider traveling more by train if the passenger services, schedules, and equipment were somewhat improved. Considering that they are relaxing, carefree, enjoyable, comfortable, leisurely, convenient, safe, and sociable, trains have their fair share of advantages when it comes to retirement travel and they were also an excellent way to go traveling, see the sights, and meet interesting people when there was no pressure on time and the purpose of the trip was enjoyment. Yes, all the San Antonio retirees who were interviewed wished to travel more but for them public transport has become exhausting. They very much disliked being rushed or crowded and jostled and sitting for long periods of time in one position, as is necessary to some extent on both the plane and the bus as well. The train can provide them with the freedom to get up and move about while on a trip.
Considered by many to be relaxing and carefree is train travel and people could enjoy the companionship of other people while seeing the sights. Considering half of those she interviewed, they said that they would probably go places by train if the service was improved, but the California researcher doubts that this will happen.
In this case, considered by many to be the only options for retirement travel are the bus and airplane. There is a warning that she has for the transportation industry. Retirees will not necessarily flock to the ticket counters. They might do so if there is special attention to their needs, both as older persons and as leisure oriented travelers, according to her but when they decide that the disadvantages of the trip outweigh the pleasures of traveling they might simply stay home.