About

At My Itchy Travel Feet, The Baby Boomer’s Guide to Travel, we inspire baby boomer travelers one adventure at a time. Sharing first-person travel experiences through words, photos, and videos, we show you exactly what to expect from your next trip.

Since May 2008, we’ve reported on active travel adventures covering both international and domestic destinations, small ship luxury cruises, national park adventures, and so much more. What started as a boomer travel blog has evolved into an award-winning online travel magazine for baby boomers.

Each week, My Itchy Travel Feet publishes two to three articles to inspire your next trip. Subscribing to the Weekly Broadcast is a great way to read our latest articles, timely trip inspiration, boomer tips and travel deals. Subscribe here.

Meet the My Itchy Travel Feet team

Donna L. Hull

founder/Editor-in-Chief

I like the heady mix of luxury and adventure. I jokingly call myself a travel princess, but it’s really true. I find nature to be inspiring but even more so when there’s a luxurious lodge (or an historic one) with a gourmet dinner and wine waiting for me at the end of an adventuresome day of exploring.

Having said that, I also enjoy just sitting on the balcony of my cabin on a small ship luxury cruise, taking in the world as it sails by. The combination of personal service and access to places that I might not otherwise see is intoxicating—an adventure of another kind.

Although I’m attracted to adventure, I’m deathly afraid of heights and a bit of a scaredy cat. That makes picking the right active travel experiences challenging, but it feels great to conquer that fear. I’m inspired to show boomer travelers how you can do it, too.

Through the years, I’ve written for many print and online outlets. But, these days, I prefer to concentrate on publishing My Itchy Travel Feet, inspiring baby boomers to get up off the couch and go.

Donna specializes in active travel, small ship luxury cruises, road trips, off-the-beaten path destinations, and national park trips. Her most popular articles include how to take a Monument Valley scenic drive, luxury cruise wear for boomer women, and funky things to do on a Florida Keys road trip. Read all of Donna’s articles here.

Debi Lander

FEATURED WRITER

Back in the year 2000, I saw that my 50th birthday was approaching. As a way to celebrate and not despair, this mother of four (now grandmother to eight) traveled from Florida to Athens, Greece, to compete in my first marathon—and finished. I then went on to complete ten more.

Since then, I have driven a tank, tried drag-racing, hang gliding, hiking the rainforest, and descending into a slippery wet cave. Now divorced, I’ve spent a shivery night in the Ice Hotel and even jumped out of an airplane on a tandem skydive.

Recalling the fun of my Greek challenge and the happiness the birthday trip returned, I signed on for volunteer vacation in Tanzania, to celebrate birthday 65. To top that, in 2016, my recently retired girlfriend and I made some long-term dreams come true. I packed up my house, put all in storage, and spent six months slowly exploring cities and small towns in Europe and the UK.

These days, when traveling, I like to focus on historic and cultural sites, elite lodging, national parks, culinary experiences, and adventure activities.

My website, ByLanderSea, brings the best of my global journeys to readers via links to published stories and highlights from my travel journal. I also have a food blog, ByLanderSea-Food that features culinary articles, restaurant reviews and recipes as well as bite size nuggets about what’s happening in my own kitchen. Look for my photos on Instagram.com/bylandersea.

Debi has taken My Itchy Travel Feet readers road tripping through Champagne country, hiking in Plitvice Lakes National Park, castle hopping in Scotland and many other boomer travel adventures. Did you know that Debi and Donna both turned 50 in 2000? Yes, they are the same age, which definitely qualifies them as boomer travelers. Read Debi’s articles here.

ALAN HULL

PHOTOGRAPHER/TRIP PLANNER

Donna here. Alan’s a bit of a shy guy so I’m in charge of telling you about him: he’d choose a 4-wheel-drive trail over driving down the interstate in a luxury car. At home, Alan prefers wearing jeans and driving a truck with a manual transmission. Yet, he enjoys putting on his white dinner jacket for formal night on a luxury cruise. “Seeing the sparkle in Donna’s eyes is worth it,” he says. (Hopeless romantic, anyone?)

Alan enjoys time behind the camera, both at home and on trips. And he’s a travel planner extraordinaire. Our next trip usually begins when Alan walks into my office with a plan. Before I know it, we’re on our way to an Alaska Highway road trip or a cruise to Antarctica.

Yes, Alan occasionally writes for us, too. Touring the Mighty Mo and Boomer Adventure in Ferrari Land are all-time reader favorites. Donna’s just happy for Alan’s helpful hand on a tricky hiking path or his calm encouragement during a treacherous 4-wheel-drive-trail.

Why did you start My Itchy Travel Feet?

Donna here, again! In the late 1990’s, my 70-something, well-traveled and yet-to-be-in-laws, Kathryn and Dean, made the choice to move to a 3-step retirement facility. When Kathryn grew tired of being cooped up in her new digs, she would say to Dean, “My feet are getting itchy. Take me on a trip.”

In 2000, I married Kathryn and Dean’s son Alan and my travel adventures began in earnest, first with a honeymoon in Hawaii, quickly followed by a 3-week tour of the Western National Parks.

Kathryn and Dean actually introduced me to international travel and luxury cruising when they invited us to accompany them on a Baltic Cruise in 2001. The next year, we sailed from Venice to Rome together. Since that small beginning, I have over 400 nights at sea!

In 2006, Alan and I sailed on a 42-day cruise. To make communicating with family and friends a bit easier, I started an online travel journal. When I began getting comments and questions from people that I didn’t know, I looked around on the web to see what other boomer travel blogs were out there. I couldn’t find any that focused on the type of travel that my friends and I were doing—active and inquisitive travels—and that was when My Itchy Travel Feet was born.

What is adventurous to us might not be adventurous to you. Your ideal boomer vacation is subjective and individual—We’re just here to help you uncover all the options.

Get inspired to plan your next trip by checking out some of our favorite boomer travel destinations. And be sure to say hello on Facebook or Twitter. We’d love to hear from you. (Follow us on Pinterest and Instagram, too).

Who are the baby boomers?

“Baby boomer” does describe an age range, technically. The U.S. Census Bureau (and hospitality marketers) defines boomers as those born between 1946 and 1964. But, we are much more than an age range. Boomers are independent; we think of ourselves as special and unique, and have a hard time realizing that we will ever be old. We’re optimistic, positive, hard working and goal oriented. Now that the children are out of the house (or almost), we have more free time and more room in the budget for travel.

Boomers bring energy to their travels. We’re willing to try new activities and embrace new experiences with an open mind. Boomers have a zest for life, both at home and on the road.

Would you like to work with us?

Did you know that baby boomers purchase 80% of luxury vacations and adults aged 55 + account for one-third of all trips in the U.S.? Do you represent a PR company, destination or business interested in reaching an audience of active boomer travelers? We can help. Learn how to Partner with us.

And we’re always happy to talk boomer travel with the media. Start the conversation here.

Whether you’ve clicked on this page to read about the My Itchy Travel Feet style of boomer travel or to find out how to work with us, we wish you…

Safe travels,

Donna