In earlier phases of life, community can feel built in. Workplaces, schools, neighborhoods, and raising children create routines and social circles almost automatically. But later in life, especially after retirement, caregiving, divorce, or the loss of a spouse, connection and purpose often become something that must be intentionally sought out.

For a growing number of older adults, travel has become one way to do that.

Co-living abroad

When it comes to retirement, Tricia Byrnes, 53, always had one goal: to live in a château in France. 

“I’ve always loved France,” Byrnes says. “My goal is to retire there, live there full time, and be buried over there.” When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, it changed her perspective on what she wanted for the next chapter of her life. As she connected with Facebook groups of like-minded women encouraging one another to pursue ambitious second acts, she decided it was finally time to trade in the South Shore of Massachusetts for the French countryside. 

However, when she got there, she didn’t realize just how big, isolating, and expensive a French château is to maintain. So, her entrepreneurial spirit took her down a different path. 

Instead of living in the property alone, Byrnes developed a co-living model in which her team transforms part of the château into what she calls a “Golden Girls”-style shared living space, while converting other sections into private apartments.

“It’s become my new little company, and I love connecting with this emerging population of mostly single women who don’t want to age alone,” she says. 

It was a massive leap for Byrnes, who wouldn’t have thought she’d be able to do something so bold as running a business in a foreign country. She was nervous before starting out on her own, traveling solo, and doing exploration trips.

“The first couple times, it was horrifying,” Byrnes says. “But I’m a dreamer. I’ve always tried to think of the next big thing for myself — and how to monetize it.”

Byrnes currently still lives in Hingham, Mass., with plans to spend the winter in France, hosting occasional trips where she brings potential buyers to scout château properties in the meantime.  

She urges anyone considering a change like hers to get on social media, start a group based on those interests, and just go for it.

“Many younger people don’t expect older people to be utilizing social media, but it’s critical that seniors have access because it really is the gateway to this world now,” Byrnes says. “No matter how crazy your interest seems, go online, make a group, and you’re going to get all these people that will join you as instant friends and real connections.”

Traveling together

Barbara Lindsay, 57, and her husband, Bruce Tedesco, 68, were already accustomed to a life in motion. Lindsay, a former teacher in Westwood, Mass., spent time teaching in Australia and lived for six months in Scotland. Tedesco spent his career in local government, including work at the Rhode Island Department of Health during the turbulent COVID-19 years. Upon their retirements, they felt a calling to a nomadic lifestyle.

“Around 2024 we decided to get rid of everything, pare down to backpacks, and hit the road,” Tedesco says. They sold their house and drove off with their belongings in bins, dropped those off at a friend’s house, and took flight. “We’ve got travel agencies in our pockets with our phones, debit and credit cards in our wallets, and our passports.”

The initial plan was to pick a new country to settle down in every few months. But when they got to Costa Rica, they shifted their approach. Using the proceeds from the sale of their home, they bought a small condo there that now serves as a home base — spending a few months in Costa Rica, traveling elsewhere for an extended stay, then returning. Rinse and repeat.

“My sense of travel has really changed,” Lindsay says. “It used to be going to a destination just for a week or 10 days, so we weren’t really social with anybody and those locations were an opportunity to decompress.”

Now, they’ve embedded themselves into the nomad community both through Facebook groups and meeting other travelers in person.

“Before, we didn’t have a lot of couple friends,” Tedesco says. “Now, we’re much more social. We met a couple in Spain through Facebook, and they ended up becoming great friends of ours. They even lived in our apartment while we were away.”

This new lifestyle has allowed Lindsay and Tedesco to slow down, experience new lands, and reinvent themselves socially. And it’s something they urge anyone with a desire to travel to try.

“There’s nothing to be afraid of,” Lindsay says. “My fear is there’s just too many places to see. But you make these connections along the way that make your life so much richer, and it’s easier than one would think.”

Structured, repeat travel

Even just five years ago, Maureen Griffin, 63, could not have imagined the life she’s living now.  Years of caring for her husband suffering from early-onset Alzheimer’s had taken an emotional toll, shrinking her world in ways she hadn’t fully realized. 

Then, her nephew introduced her to the program Semester at Sea. Though she wasn’t expecting it, the Moultonboro, N.H., native found healing for her mental health abroad.

“I had never really traveled, my world was my little town and community,” Griffin says. Ever since embarking on her four-month study abroad voyage, she has visited every continent, including Antarctica, and gained a newfound perspective and appreciation for other cultures. 

Griffin’s floated in the Dead Sea, journeyed through Europe, and braced the frigid cold in the Antarctic — all with her sister-in-law by her side. And there’s little else she loves more than meeting people abroad.

“I realize I’m definitely a people person, so people will tell me I need to book certain reservations at places,” Griffin says. “I say ‘ Hell no, I’m going to a pub so I can talk with people.’”

But the travel hasn’t just given Griffin new people to meet and stories to tell — it has restored her confidence. Now, she hopes her experience can inspire others who are considering a big change. 

Like Byrnes, Tedesco, and Lindsay, Griffin represents a growing number of older adults proving it’s never too late to build community in new places on new terms. 

“I’ve done a lot of things I never thought I would’ve done,” Griffin says. “You can do much harder things than, many times, you think you might be incapable of.”