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Abstract
For many later lire and retirement are characterized by the freedom to pursue activities that have been postponed from earlier life stages. One such activity especially for middle-class Americans, is leisure-travel. Face to face semi-structured interviews were conducted with six men and five women ranging in age from 65 to 90 years asking them about their leisure-travel patterns and the meanings that such travel held for them. Constant comparison was used throughout the interviews and the analysis (Glaser & Strauss, 1967). A life course perspective was adopted whereby participants were asked to reflect upon travel throughout their lives. In retirement, most of the individuals were busy travelers taking trips to Europe, engaging in Elderhostel programs, and traveling throughout the US to visit friends and family. Most of the participants felt that leisure-travel was an important part of their lives and the educational and spiritual opportunities it provided made it meaningful. Four of the participants did not travel to the same extent citing age, lack of a companion, or no interest as reasons for this. A life course perspective provided insights into the dynamic quality of leisure-travel. For most of these middle-class older adults, leisure-travel was an important part of later life.