Solo senior travel: 75-year-old Kiwi shares tips for travelling when older

At 75 years old, Graham Macgregor doesn't let age get in the way of exploring the world. Photo / Supplied

It’s never too late to up sticks and go travelling - just ask Graham Macgregor. Travel writer Sarah Pollok did and she found that age is but a number.

In many ways, Graham Macgregor is your typical solo traveller. He loves arriving in cities without a plan, staying in hostels, experiencing new cultures and chatting with strangers along the way.

There’s just one small detail that sets the Tauranga resident apart in the hostel kitchen or airline queue: his age.

At 75, most people have settled into retirement, a season of midday movies and tea with friends. But for Macgregor, who retired from Tauranga City Council 11 years ago, it’s prime time to travel solo around the world.

Like many Kiwis, Macgregor had always dreamed of travelling but life as a solo parent meant he had little time or money for adventures abroad. So, in 2003, when his son had moved out and he’d paid off the mortgage, the then 55-year-old knew exactly how he’d spend his savings.

“Once the house mortgage was paid off and I started to save money, I thought ‘I’ve wanted to travel but I don’t have much money’,” he said. The solution? Signing up to Camp America, a summer work-experience programme based in the US.

Typically staffed by travellers in their 20s, Macgregor was by far the oldest volunteer but that didn’t stop him from spending nine summers in the US, working at the camp and using downtime and days off to travel around.

Twenty years later, Macgregor continues to take the world by storm, silver-haired and solo. In fact, he recently returned from an eight-week trip around the US.

“The first two weeks were planned, the other six weeks were ‘where do I want to go, where do I stay, how will I get there?’,” he explained.

From New York to New Orleans, Charlotte to Charleston, Macgregor took trains, planes and buses across the US, accumulating a novel’s worth of stories and experiences.

Graham Macgregor said Preservation Hall, in New Orleans, was one of the best jazz showcases in the world and was lucky enough to get a first-row seat. Photo / Supplied

So, how does the world (and, in particular, fellow hostel guests) tend to respond?

“I’ve felt accepted in whatever group I’ve been with,” Macgregor said. “When I’ve asked for advice or needed help, somebody’s been there and hopefully I’ve been the same for them.”

However, like most solo travellers, Macgregor’s outgoing nature certainly helps.

“Mind you, I will get out and talk with anyone, I don’t hide in the corner,” he said, adding that travelling without a partner makes him both more approachable and motivated to socialise.

In a hostel, Macgregor’s accommodation of choice when travelling, there’s no lack of people to meet either.

Traditionally used by cash-strapped youths who need a bed and little else, hostels haven’t often been a favoured choice for older, discerning travellers. Yet, as the cost of travel increases, so does the average demographic. Around the world, older travellers and families are staying in hostels or hostel-style accommodations; something Macgregor has seen first-hand.

Contrary to what you may think, many hostels like the one Graham Macgregor stayed at in New Orleans, are clean, cheap and high quality. Photo / Supplied

“There are older people using hostels,” he said. During a hostel stay in Charleston, South Carolina, he met a group of guests in their 50s and 60s who seemed happy in the communal accommodation.

Socialising aside, hostels are also a great way to keep travel costs down, which is important if you are spending retirement savings and have no one to split the bills with.

“I think the financial side is possibly the main one,” Macgregor said when asked about solo travel’s drawbacks.

“Friends and family say ‘Did you hire a car?’ and quite simply it’s uneconomic for me by myself”.

Instead, he has to find cheaper alternatives, which often requires some out-of-the-box thinking. During a flight to New Orleans, Macgregor snagged cheap airport transport by overhearing two women discussing taking an Uber into the city.

“I said ‘Hey I’m going that way too, let’s share’, so, the three of us shared and that was good,” he said.

Senior deals and discounts go a long way too. In New Orleans, Macgregor bought a 24-hour bus and streetcar pass for 80c, which made for a cheap 20km bus ride to the airport at the end of his stay.

The fiercely independent, tech-savvy septuagenarian also uses his smartphone to make almost all flight and accommodation bookings.

“It’s handy to have some apps on the phone, one of them is Hostelworld.com,” Macgregor said. It’s a platform where you can book hostel beds, in advance. However, he does book international flights through a local travel agent, who can find cheap deals and assist with delays.

So, what would he say to someone who thinks they’re “too old” to travel around the world?

“Go for it,” he said. “So much travel is about young people, flash hotels, big food and all the rest of it, but it doesn’t have to be that way.”

Instead, all he needed was a warm bed, food in his stomach and a city full of sights to see.

“Travel lightly, go with an open mind and have fun.”