Celebrating 16 Awesome Mature Bloggers in 2021 to inspire you

It’s my half birthday today. Normally on my actual birthday in June, I write a post celebrating other mature bloggers, bloggers over 40, bloggers over 50 and beyond. This year it didn’t feel right to do it.

As it happens, in the last six months my whole world has been turned upside down. I will start 2022 as a full-time digital nomad. This year we have sold our house, ratified our belongings and put all the rest in storage, in preparation for leaving the UK.

However, this post is not about me, it is about the women and men who have over the years inspired, encouraged and supported me through my blogging journey.

Introducing my Mature Bloggers for 2021

The following mature bloggers all have a story to tell. Their reasons for starting their blogs vary. Some, like me, are solo bloggers. Others blog with partners or travel with their families.

Each one of them is inspiring in their own way. Battling through adversity, surviving loss, moving countries or turning their passion for travel into a full-time career.

I am proud to be part of the community of older bloggers who, when we can, travel the world to inspire travellers old and young to experience life differently.

Mariellen from Breathedreamgo

In 2004, when I was 44 years old, I knew I had to do something. I was in a rut — a depression, really — brought on by several devastating losses and years of career dissatisfaction. I felt I had to both shake up my life, and start living my dreams. I felt as if I didn’t start to follow my dreams now, I never would.

The first dream I followed was to become a Yoga teacher. The second dream was to travel to India. The third dream was to become a travel writer (and blogger).

So, in December 2005, I boarded a flight from Toronto to Delhi, India. After planning and saving for 11 months, I finally jumped! When I landed in India, I had no idea what would happen. I just knew I had to follow a voice inside of me, a voice that told me to go! 

On that first trip, I travelled for six months across the length and breadth of India. Plus, twice a week, I blogged about my travels on a shared platform called Travelblog.org. 

That trip changed everything. I felt an affinity for India (India felt like home), I came out of my depression, and I started travel writing and blogging. I kept returning, living between Canada and India, and trying to make a living as a professional travel writer. In 2009, I launched my professional travel blog, Breathedreamgo, and slowly started to monetize.

Now, I live in Rishikesh, India. I continue to publish Breathedreamgo, and I founded a custom tour business, India for Beginners, to help others travel safely and well to India. 

At 61, I still feel I am just getting started. My adventurous spirit continues to grow, and my travel wish list gets longer each year. 

Linda from Retired and Travelling

Hello to all!  I am Linda and RetiredAndTravelling with my husband David.  When we semi-retired early, it gave us the opportunity to travel about 6 months of the year in multiple trips.  With a background in technology and a passion for writing and photography, it did not take long before we developed our travel blog.  And began sharing our adventures.

We were worried that the “Retired” label would make people think we were boring old travellers.  But not yet anyways!  Our audience understands we will do almost anything for fun and to put smiles on our faces.

We love to explore towns and nature spots. Adventure experiences get our blood moving. And we have been known to travel for food, wine tasting and to splurge on Afternoon Tea.  As Canadians, we often head to warm destinations when the winter sets in.

Our travel blog posts are in-depth and filled with pictures.  Video is a new medium we are just starting to explore.  We love to share all that we see and always want to offer travel tips to help people plan and enjoy the new experiences.  

Our trips have included both cruising travel and land-based travel spots. Some trips were short long weekend breaks. But we also covered longer trips that included multiple cities and countries for 30 to 60 days.  Recently we did long road trips across Canada for several months at a time. 

With over 100 countries visited, we know our readers will find a new spot to tempt them. 

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Talek from Travels with Talek

I’ve always travelled. I can’t imagine life without that delicious anticipation of what a new place will be like. 

My mother was very pregnant with me when she travelled from Cuba to New York City where I was born, so I’ve been travelling even before I was born. Made in Havana and born in the USA, you’d say. 

As a kid, I overheard someone complain that he had to go to the end of the world to find a particular cooking ingredient. I thought it was a real place and became obsessed with going there. When the adults finally told me there was no such place, I refused to believe them. The world MUST end SOMEWHERE. Just look at a map, I thought. And look at maps I did. I got lost in maps for hours and still do. I knew someday I would visit these exotic-sounding places on those maps: China, Patagonia, Africa…EGYPT! OMG, EGYPT! 

My career in international business allowed me to feed my voracious wanderlust travelling to over 110 countries and living in China, Mexico, Colombia, Spain, and the UK. I’ve worked throughout Asia, Africa, Europe and South America. 

Along the way, I rafted the Zambezi River in Zimbabwe, hiked the Himalayas in Nepal and crossed Central China to Tibet in a caravan. 

After a decades-long career, I had to find a way to keep the travel coming so I became a travel blogger and started TravelswithTalek.com to share my travel experiences and tips with others. 

I’m often asked what is the most interesting and beautiful place I’ve ever seen. I’d have to say Cuba. I’ve travelled there so often over the years that people started asking me if they could come with me, so I started giving cultural tours to Cuba for small groups. Maybe you’ll join me someday. 

Sarah from Life Part2 & Beyond formerly Life Part2  

I have always loved to travel, but way back in January 2002, I decided to take a gap year and travel the world. I had so much fun; I never returned to the UK.

After 18 months of non-stop travel around South East Asia, Australia and New Zealand, I settled in Thailand, where I eventually met my partner, Jonathan, another avid traveller.

We travelled well together – backpacking around Myanmar, hiking in Bhutan, exploring Argentina and many more. We eventually moved across the border from Thailand to Laos, where we lived for two fabulous years. The next move was to Portugal, a great base to explore Europe for another two years, before moving to our final home here in Malta.

In March 2021 – Jonathan passed away. It was very sudden and a complete shock. I still can’t believe it. I don’t think I ever will. We had been planning a great adventure to celebrate his upcoming 60th.

With so many trips still on our bucket list, I plan to continue our blog in his memory. Due to weird bureaucratic nonsense that always seems to follow a death, our blog Life Part 2 is now Life Part 2 and Beyond.

Follow me as I begin the next chapter in my life, travelling solo with a few house sitting adventures along the way.

Michelle from Michelle’s Monologues

Ever since a young age, I have had itchy feet, travelling whenever the opportunity has risen, including working onboard Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines as a ships photographer.

I have been lucky to have travelled to six continents and over 100 countries becoming a member of the Travel Century Club three years ago.

My passion for photography has fuelled the fire, keeping the embers burning bright photographing people, food and landscapes. These are included in my many blogs on travel, lifestyle and food (not forgetting chocolate????).

My work has been exhibited on Manhattan skyscrapers, in Miami and the Louvre, Paris. I have always believed travel is the best education. Discovering first hand about the people and places that call this beautiful planet home.

Recently, becoming an author to inspire the younger generation through informative colouring books. 

Curious? Discover more and be inspired at Michelle’s Monologues. 

Don’t miss the A to Z live series (MDHarding Facebook) starting again in February, where I go live with an insider to a different country each month. There will also be competitions and prizes to be won!

Alma from Roaming Fox

I’m Alma, a sixty-something travel blogger. The older I get the more places I want to go to. Life is hurtling along. Will I ever get there?

I have had my fair share of wonderful opportunities and destinations to travel to. Some of the highlights were an overland road trip to Botswana and sailing around some islands of Madagascar. I’ve also travelled internationally to the United Kingdom where we spent a couple of weeks on a canal boat, to Europe and Australia. 

Roaming Fox Blog was launched in 2017 when I realised I wanted to share some of our escapades.

I love any kind of travel. The first outing that sparked my passion for travel was on a train trip from Cape Town to Durban. I must have been about 4 or 5. Plush green leather seats in our wooden compartment to sit on, with a springbok etched on the glass window – a symbol of South Africa – and photographs of wild animals and places that I’d never seen before. A tune from a xylophone type instrument indicated dinner was to be served in the dining car. Pure luxury!

On the table starched linen, white crockery and solid shiny silver cutlery that I could barely hold in my hand, it was so heavy. After dinner when we went back to our compartment, our seats were converted into narrow bunk beds, with crisp sheets and thick blankets waiting for us to snuggle under. We fell asleep to the clickety clack of the wheels against the tracks. I was fascinated by the quaint metal fold out basin when my eyes weren’t glued to the window watching the scenery flash by. 

It was then I hoped that one day I would travel to many magical places but I never dreamt I would ever write about them.

Sue from Sue Where Why What

Hi, I’m Sue & in my travel blog Sue Where Why What, I aim to provide inspiration for women over 40 who may be travelling alone for the first time. Back in 2014 I tragically lost my husband & my world fell apart. As a way of coping, I turned to something I was passionate about…travel.

I created a Life List of all the things I wanted to do & places I wanted to go. It became my roadmap for the next few years. It gave me direction & distraction which is exactly what I needed. It also enabled me to heal & to grieve. 

Since then, I have learned Spanish in Cuba, taken part in a sailing regatta in the US Virgin Islands, got up close & personal with the wonderful wildlife in the Galápagos, hiked the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu & celebrated turning 50 by climbing Mount Kilimanjaro. I have had some fantastic adventures & met some wonderful people along the way. 

I know I am not the only woman who is over 40 & facing a big shift in her life. That’s why I created Sue Where Why What. To share my experiences & offer advice to any of those amazing women who are dealing with a loss of any kind. Be it divorce or separation, losing a loved one or just having different priorities from them. 

I want to help women to have the confidence to take those first tentative steps into the world alone. Travelling alone does not have to be sad & lonely. In my experience, it can be empowering & deliver a sense of self-belief that is second to none. Ultimately, for me, solo travel has given me freedom & I am keen to share all I have learned on the journey to help others find their Freedom too.

Amy from The Travelling Tulls’

I’m Amy, the TravelingTulls’ blogger and primary photographer. The CFO of our team, AKA my husband Dave, and I are retired and live on the coast of Massachusetts.

I have always been an animal lover. I carried a well-worn copy of Dr. Doolittle (Hugh Lofting) and later, Born Free (Joy Adamson), with me wherever I went. All my birthday parties were celebrated in nature reserves, and most of my gifts were nature-related.

As a child of the 60s, I embraced environmental causes, and got my degree in biology, with a focus on ecology. I spent my working life in public libraries, but continued my passion for the environment in my volunteer work.

After our kids were through school, and we’d overcome some major health battles, Dave and I refocused our life to make travel a priority. We made changes to our lifestyle to offset our travel with a smaller carbon footprint at home.

We sold our big house, moved into an energy efficient condo (where we walk to most everything!), invested in a hybrid vehicle, and ramped up our volunteer work. 

I created our website initially to reassure Mom and Dad that we were OK when we were travelling in Egypt. As my work took on more and more IT responsibilities, I used our little website to try out coding techniques and photo-editing.

Now retired, I continue blogging to share insights into sustainable travel, and inspire appreciation of the natural world. As David Attenborough said, “People are not going to care about animal conservation unless they think that animals are worthwhile.”

Sinead from Map Made Memories

I’m Sinead and I blog about our family travels at Map Made Memories. 

I am addicted to all things travel (especially maps) and have travelled to over 75 countries as a solo traveller, as a couple and as a family.

I cannot drive, I get seasick on a pond and I am terrified of flying (!) but we have been fortunate to visit 36 countries with our three children.

I started my blog as a record for my kids but also because I couldn’t find family travel blogs that matched our budget travel style and which honestly reflected the high and lows of traveling with children. So, as a passionate believer that travel does not (and should not) stop when you have children, I knew I could help other families plan their own adventures.

My budget focused blog offers destination guides as well as money saving, planning and travel tips. We love exploring our own country too so I also promote the fantastic attractions and experiences we have on our doorstep in the UK.

We enjoy the great outdoors, hostels, self-catering and extended road and rail trips; travelling overland by train from Hong Kong to the UK is one of our favourite family trips so far. We travel carry on only including on our family gap year. 

Our dream trip (aka my long-term plan) is to circumnavigate the world without flying – so watch this space!

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Michelle from Moyer Memoirs

I am Michelle Moyer, the blogger behind Moyer Memoirs Empty Nest Travel Adventures.  In my younger years, I created thousands of scrapbook pages documenting my life and vacations.  I carefully pasted beautiful pictures, wrote about our family trips, and polished them off with fancy stickers.  I invested many dollars in the scrapbook revolution and received many compliments on my detailed story-telling by the few people that were able to enter my home to view my treasured scrapbook album collection. 

As time went on and the pile became tall, I started to question those scrapbooks.  How could I share them with the world?  Enter the world of the digital age and the creation of Moyer Memoirs Empty-Nester Travel Blog!  I can now write any story my little brain can think of, decorate it with DIGITAL vacation photographs, and it will be stored indefinitely.  Even more, I can share it with a wider audience than the people that enter my living room and fit onto my couch!  Sharing my stories with people around the world is my dream. 

There are millions of travelers like me that enjoy unique vacations experiences.  In 2018, I was invited to be in my friend’s Hindu wedding in Trinidad.  This was an eye-opening experience for me.  There was so much more to this world that I had yet to learn.  I love new and unique experiences and this trip was definitely something out-of-the-ordinary from my small, secluded world.  I knew that I had to keep enriching my life.

There is so much to see and so much I have not yet experienced.  I am now able to record my vacation stories and share them so that others can experience different cultures and sites too.  I help create stress-free vacations for travelers to enjoy.  I write advice so that those who will follow in my footsteps can enjoy the knowledge of someone who has been there and done that. Never Stop Exploring!

Leyla from Offbeat France and Women on the Road

I never planned to become a blogger – in fact, when I started my first blog I had never even heard the word. It all began with an email newsletter from Africa in the mid-1990s, as I tried to keep friends and family informed of my six-month “escape from reality” which turned into a nearly four-year voyage.

When I returned, I planned on writing a book but there was this Internet thing… So off I went down that rabbit hole and created Women on the Road, for solo female travelers over 50. When I had started my travels, so little existed to guide women through the shoals of solo travel, so I thought, why not? I’ll do it. Not a book – but online. At the time, in 2006, there were about five of us solo female travel bloggers…

I found a job but kept up my “blog” and when retirement time came around, of course I started a new one, Offbeat France. I’m part French, part Turkish and part Canadian but I live in France, so that made sense and when the lockdown came in March 2020, it seemed like the perfect timing for this new idea to take off. It played into my love of history – I mean, seriously, a day in the life of Louis XIV? For me, that’s fascinating!

I’m now 68 and look back on 96 countries and life as a journalist, writer, and unrepentant foodie, willing to travel great distances for a sublime meal. I’m also an advocate, writing for causes I feel deeply about, mostly related to human rights, inequality, and the incessant greed which is eroding our optimism. Travel is a great way to counter that: learn about the world, and you will learn about yourself – and possibly change the way you think.

Lyn from A Hole in My Shoe

Lyn’s travel addiction and blogging journey began later than most. Marrying at 50, Lyn and Steve took their honeymoon and first overseas trip together, a cruise through Southeast Asia. And that’s where the love story begins. 

Lyn and Steve are empty nesters who maximise their annual leave and travel independently, incorporating walking tours and train travel where possible. 

As her love of travel grew, at the ripe age of 54 Lyn created A Hole in my Shoe. Despite them both working full time, after two years of marriage they had travelled to 16 countries. 

For Lyn, Steve is the perfect travel companion, he balances everything. They share the travel planning, Lyn doing the research, creating her wish list and Steve creates the schedule to make it all happen. 

Lyn has taken several cruises through Southeast Asia, New Zealand, her first trip to Europe and most memorable, a Mediterranean cruise, and return to Europe included a Rhine River cruise and exploring the Christmas Markets. Lyn developed a love for Japan, her first glimpse during a 21 night Grand Asian cruise sailing from Singapore to Shanghai. 

Lyn’s travels for the next year were sponsored by Jetstar enabling her to create memories exploring Tokyo, Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Darwin and finally three wonderful weeks discovering Hirosaki through to Hiroshima during Cherry Blossom season and Golden week. 

When Lyn is not travelling or working to pay for their travels, she is relaxing at her home in Perth, exploring local markets, heritage buildings, gardens, cafes, and wineries. Lyn loves taking roadtrips ‘down south’ and her passion for street art sees her spending time photographing it locally and abroad. 

Since her marriage over 10 years ago Lyn visited over 30 countries, until Covid hit. Then just as suddenly as she discovered her love of travel, it all changed, and she was again set on a course she had never planned. 

Borders in Western Australia were locked down end of 2019 just after one of her many return trips to Bali, forcing her scheduled trip to celebrate Christmas in Osaka to be cancelled, and she hasn’t travelled since. Lyn and Steve are now embarking on building their forever home and awaiting the day they can travel once more.

Michaela from Rocky Travel Blog and Magic 50

I’m Michela, a solo travel addict who started travelling alone in the 80s when I was a student.

Later on, I embarked on more solo escapades around the world and fell in love with Australia, where I travelled extensively for over 15 years.

Out of my passion for travel, in 2008, I decided to swap the life of a manager for a less ordinary life, became a travel blogger and created Rocky Travel Blog for women over 50 who love to travel alone and love Italy and Australia.

It has been a fantastic journey, with many highs and downs, excitements and frustration. Solo travel taught me is many things and especially that we are more capable of what we think. We can see our inner powers manifest in their brilliance with no ties when we are on the road alone.

My deep curiosity and passion for learning and growing led me to reinvent my life at the age of 57 while pivoting to life coaching for women over 50 who want to reinvent themselves and embrace a new chapter in life.

Anne from Packing Light Travel

“Where are you going?” asked the seated guy holding court with three others at the entrance to Equity Point Hostel.

It was 1:00 am and I was heading to Jamaâ El Fna Square to catch a taxi to the CTM Bus Station in Marrakech for the 2:30 am departure of the bus to Tangier. The hostel was a few hundred metres from the square, tucked away within a warren of narrow passageways that’s characteristic of a Moroccan medina. I recognized the three others — the night security officer and two hostel staff, one of whom I’d asked earlier if it was safe to walk through the medina at that hour to reach the square, something I’d done countless times during daylight.

I shared where I was going. “It’s not safe for someone old like you to walk by yourself,” was the response. I think my laughter indicated my age had somehow impaired my grasp of reality because the next comment was, “Well look at you. You’re really old, and you shouldn’t walk alone at this time of night.”

Clearly, he was expressing concern for my well-being. After unsuccessful calls to have a ‘petit taxi’ come closer to the hostel, the night security officer was pressed into service as my chauffeur. He borrowed a helmet from someone at the end of the alley and in no time, I was safely delivered to the bus station by moped.

Hello. My name is Anne and I blog at Packing Light Travel, a site dedicated to helping travellers with tips and tricks on how to pack light. At the time of my visit to Marrakech in 2015, I was only 66 years of age (not THAT old) and thankful that packing light meant that hitching a ride on a moped was possible.

Susan from GenXTraveler

Born in 1965, I am on the older end of Generation X, the forgotten generation. I started my site, GenXTraveler.com because it seemed like most travel blogs were written for millennials and Boomers. I wanted to be the voice of our generation in the travel space. 

My site focuses on active adventurous travel for the over 40 crowd. At this point in my life, I enjoy some creature comforts so no camping for this girl. I’ll hike, bike, and get dirty all day, but I want a hot shower, a comfy bed, and some amazing food at the end of the day.

I haven’t been travelling since birth. In fact, I was 20 before taking my first commercial flight and 22 before travelling outside the US. I didn’t get a passport until I was 44 because my earlier travels within the US and Canada, and Caribbean cruises didn’t require one. 

My first passport stamp was Egypt. From childhood, Egypt and the pyramids fascinated me. And I couldn’t have picked a better or crazier time to visit. 

My flight to Cairo was booked for January 30^th, 2011, but five days earlier the people of Egypt began a massive political uprising. My trip was delayed but not for long. 

By March, the situation had quieted but certainly had not resolved. I rebooked my travel. I had the unique experience of visiting a place typically mobbed by tourists when almost no one was travelling there. 

This trip took me far outside my comfort zone. While I was meeting up with a friend in Cairo, I left the US alone and did at least 50% of my touring independently. 

Since 2011 I have travelled to 22 countries, often solo. I always try to find a bit of adventure and sometimes it just finds me. And I’ve found that even the most unremarkable places surprise me in the best possible ways. 

Sue and Regina from Travel for Life Now

I am Sue Davies. Regina Ang, my partner in life and travel, and I created the Travel For Life Now blog. We focus on street art, LGBTQ+ travel, and off-the-beaten-track experiences in New York City and Singapore. I am a native New Yorker and Regina is from Singapore. We blend our different perspectives and histories in our writing. 

We started blogging to share our travels with friends. We knew nothing about blogging at first and amusingly created a new blog for every trip. That was about 20 years ago. 

After much discussion and planning, we decided to retire early in 2017 (in our early and mid-50s). Our plan was to spend winters in Singapore and travel more. I took my dream trip to Antarctica that year. After that, we began blogging more seriously. 

We were in Singapore when COVID began in 2020 and returned to the US in February 2020. Over the past two years, we spent much time exploring New York and New Jersey and helping take care of my mother – the original traveler in the family – until she passed away. 

The COVID pandemic has had a big impact on our thinking about blogging and travel. For us, travel as a way of seeing and experiencing different cultures and histories. We tried to bring our readers along on our journeys with us. Now, we’ve experienced COVID travelling around the world with all of us. Huge healthcare and economic disparities. How we travel and write about travel must be informed by this worldwide experience. We haven’t figured this out yet and are looking forward to exploring this through our blog.

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