20 Fab Female Travel Instagrammers Over 40

posted on : 11/21/2019 posted by : Cherene Saradar

I’m not sure when the travel industry will start to realize that there is this whole generation of people who LOVE to travel that aren’t millennials and aren’t retirees. Generation X travelers are sick of being ignored and we don’t see our age group well represented. Today I am going to introduce you to some fabulous female travel Instagrammers over 40.

Who is Generation X and Why Should Brands Care?

Generation X are those born 1965-1980 (people roughly aged 39-54). According to Angela Woo, a marketing consultant at Forbes Magazine, “We saw the Berlin Wall fall, the Cold War end, Communism disintegrate and saw the end of Apartheid in South Africa, all to a backdrop of grunge and disillusionment”. Generation X is poised to be the dominant group running businesses and politics. We also have significant influence over other generations since many Gen X-ers financially support both their parents and their children.

According to American Express, Generation X now controls 31 percent of the total income dollars in the U.S. economy. According to Business Insider, Gen Xers make significantly more money each year than their younger counterparts. If you look further at consumer spending in the United States, those over 50 make up for more than half of all spending. What does this mean? It means that older folk have money to spend and should not be ignored by brands and travel marketers! Sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Expenditure Survey 2015; Visa Business and Economic Insights

Ok so essentially Gen X is forgotten, yet powerful. I’m going to introduce you to some kick-ass female travel Instagrammers over 40 to follow.

Eulanda @DipYourToesIn

Part of an award-winning blogging team with her husband Omo, Eulanda exudes joy, is an amazing writer and generally a positive inspiring person.

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Have you ever visited a place solo, and knew you had to return with your special someone?⠀ ⠀ I’ve felt that way about the small coastal town of Gocek since I last visited exactly a year ago.⠀ ⠀ Despite being hailed as the Monaco of Turkey, Gocek is non-pretentious and understated. There’s something about it’s Bohemian vibe and easy going nature.⠀ ⠀ The locals are friendly, helpful, and embody the best of Mediterranean hospitality.⠀ ⠀ We discovered that visitors often overlook Gocek in choice of Fethiye, due to it having a beach. What Gocek has, it uses to it’s advantage, and we’re so here for it!⠀ ⠀ I mean…dinner cost us £34 for a fish entree, mixed meat grill, mezzes, sides, and drinks. Turkey is winning…pockets and all!⠀ ⠀ What destinations have you visited, and wanted to return to with a loved one? #getSCIC19

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Brianna Simmons @CasualTravelist

Brianna is new to the over 40 crew but rocking it!

Julie Beckers @ ANotSoYoungWomanAbroad

Julie is an award-winning solo female travel blogger and has formed a whole community around older women travelers supporting each other.

Glory Ali @MuslimTravelRocks

Glory Ali has a blog encouraging Muslim families to travel. She has reviews of hotels, airlines, and tours with tons of halal travel tips.

Lisa Bundeson @TheMiddleAgeWanderer

Lisa travels with her husband and has prioritized her fitness which enabled her to hike the Inca Trail in her 40’s!

Iliah @NegraBohemian

Iliah is a self-described AfroEspanola, justice seeker, writer, free spirit, traveler and mama. She somehow manages to take her three children on some epic adventures while looking effortlessly fabulous.

Joella Doobrow @RovingJo

Joella is a Venezuelan born American who is obsessed with Scotland and her photos will make you obsessed too!

Angela @WellTravBrit

Angela is a self-described “travel mad naturally restless roamer” and “recovering academic”. She has a doctorate in anthropology and goes to some of the most interesting places in the world.

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I keep exclaiming what a #prettycity Antigua, Guatemala is and here you can see the grandeur of its situation. In contrast I’m trying desperately to look casual but instead it looks like I’ve been caught in the middle of a sit-up! Let’s just say that would be a highly unlikely activity as I’m not a gym goer🤣🏋️‍♀️😵! Does traveling the world sound like a reasonable exercise plan?!! Yes, that’s a giant volcano behind me with the colonial city in front. In fact there are several volcanic peaks surrounding the city and you can hike up them if you’re so inclined. Though one has to wonder if travel insurance would cover you for damage suffered from getting too close to an active volcano. 🤔🧐🤨Oh well, no worries for me I’m too lazy to hike it and I don’t have travel insurance anyway!!! Have you visited a city with a looming volcano – Pompeii is the last one I can think of…. For all the photos from our recent trip see #wtbcentralamerica . #Guatemala #traveldeeper #centralamerica #traveltales @visitguatemala_ #travelguatemala #centralamerica #antiguaguatemala #colonialcity #volcano #vista #globaltravelgram #traveltheworld #passportcollective #passionpassport #welltravbrit #neverstoptravelling #exploremore #wtbguatemala

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Carol Cain @GirlGoneTravel

I love this intelligent sassy Brooklyn born boss lady. Her work history was in public relations and she is a gifted story-teller. She co-founded and directs Brave World Media, a social media management and brand development agency.

Mariellen Ward @BreatheDreamGo

Mariellen lives in India and her blog inspires others to live their dream the way she does so beautifully.

Helen Suk @NotWithoutMyPassport

Helen is a Toronto based photographer and travel writer with a seriously beautiful Instagram account and a fantastic blog.

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Foggy daze at Peggy’s Cove.

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Woni Spotts @WoniSpotts

Woni is a legend in my eyes. The first black woman to travel to every country, all 7 continents and 22 territories. She truly loves travel, always shares super interesting information and has great stories.

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When I travel I try to get a sense of regional history, not one point of view. One method I’ve adopted while traveling is visiting nearby countries. During this Asian adventure, I visited China, Mongolia, and Kazakhstan, the only “Stan” I missed during my 1980’s travels. China built an incredible wall to keep Genghis Khan out. I was eager to hear Mongolia and Kazakhstan’s view of this period in history. Once I was in Mongolia, the historian I consulted with gave the Mongolian point of view. A. Mongols and Turkic tribesman led by Genghis Khan wanted to strengthen Asia by uniting it. B. Other groups were given the opportunity to join and were never killed outright. C. Mongols and Turkic tribesmen married foreign women as a sign of unification with invaded lands. D. Resisters were harshly dealt with. E. Haha, nice wall but we went around it. 💚 Kazakhstan was not as angry towards Mongolia as China was. The historian simply pointed out that Eurasian facial features etc. changed back and forth over the years depending on which groups invaded or migrated. I have to admit I enjoyed looking at the people in the “Stans.” Their faces beautifully reflect the instability in the region and they thought I was fun to look at as well. 💙 Do you like to visit multiple countries on one journey? ❤️ By the way, Africans are the roots of Asia. The SAN/Khoisan have a popular phenotype. 🧡 DNA testing proved in 2005 that the first inhabitants of China were Africans. The study was conducted by a Chinese DNA specialist named Jin Li and a team of Chinese and other scientists. 💜 #china #greatwall #greatwallofchina #blacktravelfeed #essencetravels #travelnoire #travelcommunity #travelisthenewclub #nomadness #ladiesgoneglobal #travelphotography #blackgirlstravelslay #africanhistory #travelgram #blacktravelmovement #face2faceafrica #FirstBlackWoman #firstblackwomantotraveltoeverycountry #thefirstblackwomantotraveltoeverycountry #firstblackwomantovisiteverycountry #thefirstblackwomantovisiteverycountry #blackhistory #blackpast #africandiaspora #wonispotts

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Marielena @Epic7Travel

Marielena isn’t in most of her photos since she is an avid wildlife photographer. Her photographs are INCREDIBLE. I honestly could spend all day looking at them. She has mad photography skills!

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Since this time last year we had just returned from diving with giant manta rays in Socorro, Mexico, I wanted to share this image of one of our most memorable wildlife encounters ever! The island archipelago is 250 miles southwest (a 24 hour boat ride) from Los Cabos, Mexico and referred to by divers as the “Galapagos of Mexico”. The boat ride can be rough 🤢We hit the back end of a tropical storm so our Relief Bands for motion sickness came in handy. Congratulations to Portia @this.wilddream.travels who just won a Relief Band in my giveaway contest. ____ Super friendly mantas and dolphins seek out interactions with divers. Yep, you heard me right! Imagine floating weightlessly while giant oceanic mantas with 20 foot wingspans skim over your head, wiggling and shivering in delight as your exhaled bubbles tickle their bellies. That’s me floating beneath one at about 75 feet (25 meters) deep . So often, with wildlife experiences, it seems that we are the ones deriving enjoyment. So, it was wonderful to bring them joy. It kept doing fly-bys to get a repeat bubble exhalation. The only reason any of us got out of the water was we were running low on air ☺️ ____ Interesting facts: -Giant mantas have a 17-22 foot wingspan, while the more common reef mantas have an 11 foot wingspan -Socorro has the largest concentration of black mantas in the world. They look like stealth bombers and are majestic to watch. We are excited to see black mantas in Raja Ampat, Indonesia in 2019. -Did you know the spots on their bellies are unique to each and serve as a “fingerprint” that scientists can use to identify them -It’s impossible to be stung by a manta ray. They do not have barbed stingers like stingrays do

A post shared by Marielena | Epic7Travel (@epic7travel) on

Nuraini @TejaontheHorizon

Nuraini is a Malaysian environmental science who travels with purpose. She loves nature and it shows.

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The typical Valle de la Luna tour is just half a day, and goes to a few other spots as well. But to be honest, we wouldn’t have minded spending a lot more time here. It’s strange how beautiful a landscape so bare can be. Stranger still that this comes from a person of the equatorial forested archipelagos, where water and life are constant and abundant. 🌋Can you pick out Licancabur volcano in the background? 🌋 [blog guide article in bio – what to expect from the valley of the moon tour!] #valledelaluna #amfitheater #dunamayor #valleyofthemoon #moonvalley #moonwalk #placesonearth #beautifulplacesonearth #atacamadesertchile #cordilleradelasal #roundtheworld #kelilingdunia #asiantraveler #mindblown💥 #onceinalifetime #mytinyatlas #rumoursworld #wordoftravel #chiletourism #halfdaytour #travelblogger #femaletravelblogger #travelersnotebook #travelersjournal #travelersdiary #traveldiary #worldingram #destinationearth #destination_wow #destinationdiscoveries

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Nicky @AboveUsOnlySk1es

Nicky and her husband go on some seriously epic adventures and provide fantastic blogposts for how you can do the same! They prove that you can be “middle-aged” and adventurous as hell.

Erika @LatinAtlas

Erika is a Mexican American with a Masters in Latin American Studies. She loves languages, Latin-American and Iberian cultures and of course, travel.

Jill @ReadingtheBookTravel

Jill goes to some really off the beaten path places, takes interesting photos and is a beautiful writer. I love reading her blog posts.

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Standing high above the desert on the roof of Qasr Al-Kharanah in Jordan’s eastern desert. Less visited by tourists than the sites further west, the desert castles, located off the main road to Saudi Arabia and Iraq, are bleak but beautiful. Qasr Al-Kharanah is a former caravanserai; tourist numbers are so few in Jordan at the moment that I had the place to myself. 🇯🇴 #jordansdesertcastles #visitjordan #qasralkharaneh #beautifulmiddleeast #traveldeeper #travelmore #tlpicks #beautifuldestinations #lovetheworld #lonelyplanet #globelletravels #sheisnotlost #wearetravelgirls #femmetravel #ladiesgoneglobal #meettheworld #dametraveler #traveloffpath #sidewalkerdaily #girlsborntotravel #worldnomads #beforeidie #ichosetowander #liveauthentic #ourplanetdaily #neverstopexploring #mytinyatlas #passionpassport #thisismytravelbook #travelshotsdaily

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Elle Zoe @Elleestzoe

This beautiful lady is a Francophile who loves travel and loves animals.

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Being in this region led me to spending hours reading about the Punic Wars and the early Phonecian civilizations and the original Carthage settlers and there is a lot of online debate around if these early people were black. What is undisputed is that this region is all linked as Phonecians actually came from modern day Lebanon and the entire population of Tunisia are genetic descendants of Berbers. Its amazing how weather impacts things like skin color and hair texture and it pains me that I have not sent away my ancestry kit yet. It also saddens me to know how closely linked this region is to Italy and France thanks to colonization yet the French have racism issues with these very same Arab Muslims. Do you know your roots? #AncientCivilizations #Carthage #Phonecians #Tunisia #Ancestry #PunicWars

A post shared by Elle Zoë (@elleestzoe) on

Cherene Saradar @WanderingRedheadCher

Oh hey, it’s me. I’m a nurse anesthetist who LIVES to travel. I am a proud 45-year-old who often travels solo so don’t let anyone tell you that Gen X people don’t travel much!

Why Generation X Travelers Shouldn’t be Ignored

Regarding marketing, apparently Generation X has a keen eye for bullshit and can spot dishonesty miles away. Nonsense services or overpriced products are our kryptonite. This is another reason we are disillusioned with the current trend of influencer marketing in travel. We see through the crap and know that this is not the reality for most people. I hope the travel industry and related brands will wake up and realize that there’s a huge hole to fill with marketing campaigns. There’s always been a trend for marketers to focus on youthful trends to get that cool factor in their ad campaigns. There’s nothing wrong with this, but the idea that other generations can’t be cool is the root of the problem.

Do you know any female travel Instagrammers over 40 that should be added to this list?

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About The Author

Cherene Saradar

Cherene is a travel expert with 30 years of experience in over 100 countries and 7 continents. She has traveled solo to over 50 countries. She is also a nurse anesthesiologist with over 20 years of healthcare experience. Her passions include wildlife travel and visiting wine regions of the world.

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10 COMMENTS

  1. Jassy | 27th Dec 19

    I’ve really been enjoying your posts, Thanks a lot for sharing such an useful Information

    • csaradar | 9th Jan 20

      Thank you so much!

  2. Anita Sane (@thesanetravel) | 21st Dec 19

    Me 🙂 I am well over 40 and here is my instagram: https://instagram.com/thesanetravel

    • csaradar | 9th Jan 20

      Hey! Love your content. I will add you to this list when I do an update:)

  3. KathrynAnywhere | 10th Dec 19

    Happy to say I follow the majority of these awesome ladies. If you ever want to expand the list to 40 over 40, I can be found here:
    http://Www.instagram.com/KathrynAnywhere

    • csaradar | 9th Jan 20

      I do plan to update the list because since publishing I’ve found so many more of you awesome ladies:)

  4. Karen | 22nd Nov 19

    Great list. I am 51 and have been travelling full-time for nearly four years with Myles and Scoobie the motorhome a photo mad traveller. Our Instagram is hotting up very nicely although I’m rarely the subject matter. I am much happier behind the camera than in front of it. LOL. You can check us out at http://www.instagram.com/motoroaming Kxx

    • csaradar | 23rd Nov 19

      I need to add you to this list woman. I think I will update it every few months! Love your work:)

  5. Julie | 22nd Nov 19

    I’m chuffed to be included with these other amazing women. Thank you 😊

    • csaradar | 23rd Nov 19

      Thanks for trying to bring our community together!

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