Read the full feature on the CMTA Travel Services blog
If you’re over 50 and you’ve been telling yourself that solo travel is for young people, it’s time to update that belief. The fastest-growing demographic in solo travel is women over 50 — and the reasons are straightforward: the kids are grown, the career is established, you know what you like, and you’ve earned the right to go exactly where you want without compromise. G Adventures has built an entire product line around this reality. Here’s why now is your moment.
1. You Finally Have the Time
For most of your adult life, travel has been scheduled around school calendars, work commitments, and other people’s availability. After 50, that calculus changes. Whether you’re retired, semi-retired, or working flexibly, there’s more freedom to choose the departure date that works for you — including shoulder season when prices are lower and destinations are less crowded.
2. Small Group Travel Solves the Solo Problem
Solo doesn’t have to mean alone. G Adventures’ small group tours — typically 8 to 16 people — bring together like-minded travellers who begin as strangers and frequently end as lifelong friends. The shared experience of navigating a new country, tasting unfamiliar food, and seeing extraordinary things together creates bonds that are difficult to form any other way. Many travellers over 50 cite the people they meet as the highlight of the trip.
3. The World Is More Accessible Than You Think
eSIMs keep you connected on any network worldwide. Google Maps works in virtually every city on earth. Translation apps handle the language barrier. And a Travel Advisor who specializes in small group and adventure travel — like Renée at CMTA Travel Services — ensures that transfers, accommodations, and logistics are handled before you even arrive.
4. Travel After 50 Is Richer
You travel differently at 50+ than you did at 25. You’re more patient. You’re more curious. You’re less interested in checking boxes and more interested in genuine experiences. You stop to actually taste the coffee in Vietnam. You spend an extra hour in the museum rather than rushing to the next sight. You have conversations with locals rather than just photographing them. That depth of engagement makes every trip more rewarding.
5. The Alternatives Are Worse
Waiting for the “right time” is one of the travel industry’s great myths. There is no perfect time — there is only the time you decide to go. G Adventures’ small group tours for travellers 50+ are specifically designed for your pace, your interests, and your comfort level, with single supplement options that make solo booking genuinely practical. The world is extraordinary. Stop waiting to see it.
Ready to plan your solo adventure after 50?
Renée Charbonneau is a Certified Travel Agent and proud member of CMTA Travel Services in Grande Prairie, AB.
Read the full feature on the CMTA Travel Services blog
Some journeys change where you go. The best ones change how you see the world. That’s the philosophy behind G Adventures’ “G for Good” approach — a way of travelling that builds meaningful connections between travellers and the communities they visit, so your trip doesn’t just take you somewhere incredible, it actively supports the people who call it home.
Through a partnership with the non-profit Planeterra, G Adventures supports community-led tourism projects that turn everyday travel moments — meals, cultural exchanges, market visits — into real, lasting benefits: jobs, skills training, education, and environmental solutions. Here’s what that looks like in four destinations that resonate deeply with adventurous Canadian travellers.
Peru — Tradition Served with Purpose
In Peru’s Sacred Valley, surrounded by ancient Incan history and dramatic Andean landscapes, the Parwa Community Restaurant invites travellers to share a meal rooted in tradition. Prepared with local ingredients and recipes passed down through generations, every plate served supports local family incomes while helping preserve cultural heritage. It’s one of those travel moments where you leave feeling like you genuinely contributed something.
Vietnam — Noodles, Culture, and Connection
The Oodles of Noodles project in Vietnam turns a simple bowl of noodles into something much more meaningful. Travellers connect with local community members who share recipes, stories, and skills — creating employment through tourism while building cross-cultural understanding one meal at a time. It’s a simple experience with an outsized ripple effect.
Costa Rica — Coffee with a Cause
Costa Rica’s cloud forests and extraordinary biodiversity provide the backdrop for the Mi Cafecito project, where travellers meet the farmers behind one of the world’s most beloved exports. Supporting sustainable farming and economic opportunity, it ensures that tourism benefits the people who make every cup of Costa Rican coffee possible — not just the exporters.
Tanzania — Clean Energy, Brighter Futures
Beyond the extraordinary safari moments, the Clean Cookstoves Project in Tanzania helps families access more efficient cooking solutions — reducing smoke, improving health, and lowering environmental impact. Supported through community tourism, it’s an example of how travel, done thoughtfully, creates change that lasts long after you’ve gone home.
Small Groups, Real Access — How G Adventures Works
What makes G for Good powerful is how naturally it integrates into the journey. You’re not adding impact to your trip as an afterthought — you’re already part of it. Small group travel means genuine community access, local guides, and experiences that larger tour operators simply can’t provide. For solo travellers, it’s also one of the most welcoming and socially rewarding ways to see the world.
Travel that means something — let’s plan yours
Renée Charbonneau is a Certified Travel Agent and proud member of CMTA Travel Services in Grande Prairie, AB. She’s a passionate advocate for G Adventures and can help you find the small group tour that fits your style and budget.
The assumption that booking online is always cheaper is widespread — and often wrong. Here’s an honest look at where travel agents deliver real financial value, and why the total picture is more in your favour than you might expect.
What You See vs. What You Actually Pay
Online booking platforms are designed to show you a number that looks attractive. But that number often doesn’t include resort fees, airline seat selection, baggage fees, transfer costs, or the cost of booking different elements separately because the platform couldn’t bundle them. A travel agent quotes you a fuller picture of what your trip actually costs — no surprises at checkout or on arrival.
Group and Bulk Pricing
Travel agents have access to contracted rates with airlines, hotel chains, tour operators, and cruise lines that are negotiated in bulk. These rates aren’t always available to the general public on consumer booking sites. In some cases, an agent’s contracted rate will be lower than anything you can find yourself — particularly for packages, tours, and cruises.
The Value of Added Amenities
Even when the base price is comparable, booking through a travel agent often includes perks that add real value: complimentary breakfast, resort credits, room upgrades, early check-in, or priority boarding. These amenities don’t show up in a price comparison, but they represent genuine savings and a better experience.
The Cost of Getting It Wrong
A self-booked trip that goes sideways can be expensive to fix. Non-refundable bookings, trip interruptions with no insurance, missing a connection because of a poorly planned layover — these are the hidden costs of going it alone. A travel agent’s professional guidance reduces the risk of costly mistakes. When you factor that in, the value equation shifts considerably.
Your Time Has Value Too
How many hours do you spend researching, comparing, and second-guessing before booking a major trip? For a complex itinerary, that can easily be ten to twenty hours of your time. A travel agent does that work for you, drawing on expertise that makes it faster and more accurate than your own research would be. That’s time you get back.
What the Fee Actually Covers
Some travel agents charge a planning fee; many are compensated through supplier commissions and charge nothing to the client directly. Either way, what you’re paying for is professional expertise, ongoing service, crisis support, and industry access. For a trip of any real significance, that’s a sound investment.
Let’s talk about what your next trip could look like — and what it could save you.
Read the full feature on the CMTA Travel Services blog
Negril is Jamaica distilled — Seven Mile Beach, cliff sunsets, rum punch, reggae, and a pace of life so resolutely unhurried that two days can feel like a week in the best possible way. If you have 48 hours in this corner of the island’s west coast, here’s how to spend them beautifully.
Day 1: Seven Mile Beach and Rick’s Café
Start at Skylark Negril Beach Resort — right on the beachfront, with a breakfast menu at Miss Lily’s that puts proper Jamaican cooking front and centre: Jamaican rancheros, vegan ackee cook-up, coconut pancakes. Then step directly onto Seven Mile Beach, one of the Caribbean’s most beautiful stretches of white sand, with calm turquoise water ideal for snorkelling, kayaking, and paddleboarding. The afternoon belongs to Rick’s Café — the legendary cliffside bar where the sunset is obligatory, the rum punch is legendary, and watching cliff divers plunge into the water below is genuinely thrilling.
Evening: Unexpected Italy in the Caribbean
Dinner at Kenny’s Italian Café is one of Negril’s most delightful surprises — authentic pasta, brick-oven pizza, fresh herbs and Jamaican spices, all served al fresco. As the evening progresses, DJs take over and the vibe shifts into something lively and unexpected. It’s a perfect example of how Jamaica’s cultural blending creates genuinely unique experiences.
Day 2: Blue Hole, Sailing, and Ital Food
Start the second morning at Blue Hole Mineral Spring — a natural pool 24 feet below the ground in a limestone cavern, with electric blue mineral water believed to have healing properties. Cool off after with artisanal frozen treats from Chill Pops, made from fresh local fruit. The afternoon deserves a Tiki Pon Da Sea cruise — a custom motorized tiki bar that floats along Seven Mile Beach for a boat party unlike anything else in the Caribbean. For an evening of contrast, Just Natural serves pure Ital (Rastafarian plant-based) cuisine — the original Jamaican vegan food, full of flavour and fresh local ingredients.
Getting to Negril from Alberta
Negril is a short flight from Montego Bay (MBJ), which has direct Air Canada and WestJet routes from Edmonton and Calgary. Most trips can be built as a 5–7 night package combining Negril with another Jamaican destination — Montego Bay’s Rose Hall Great House and Dunn’s River Falls in Ocho Rios are both worth the detour.
Ready to plan your Jamaica trip?
Renée Charbonneau is a Certified Travel Agent and proud member of CMTA Travel Services in Grande Prairie, AB.
Read the full feature on the CMTA Travel Services blog
There are very few places left on earth where wildlife has almost no fear of humans. The Galapagos Islands is one of them. Here, sea lions loll on park benches, blue-footed boobies display their remarkable feet without the slightest concern about onlookers, and giant tortoises — some over a century old — move through the landscape with timeless, unhurried dignity. It’s a destination unlike any other on the planet, and G Adventures is one of the best ways to experience it properly.
A Living Laboratory
97% of the Galapagos Islands is protected as a national park, with the surrounding waters designated a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. Visitor numbers are strictly controlled — which means no crowds, and no compromise to the extraordinary natural environment. The islands were formed by volcanic activity over thousands of years and remain one of the most volcanically active areas on earth. Standing here, watching wildlife that evolved in near-total isolation, you understand exactly what inspired Charles Darwin during his five weeks of observation in 1835.
The Wildlife is Extraordinary
The Blue-Footed Booby is the islands’ most iconic resident — but it’s joined by two other booby species, Galapagos penguins (the only penguin species found north of the Equator), marine iguanas, flightless cormorants, and the Galapagos Giant Tortoise with its lifespan of over a century. At night, with zero light pollution right on the Equator, the stars from both hemispheres are laid out above you simultaneously — a sky unlike anything most people have ever seen.
How G Adventures Gets You There
G Adventures’ small group approach means you experience the Galapagos with local expert guides, on carefully designed itineraries that maximize wildlife encounters while respecting the park’s strict protocols. The minimum safe distance of two metres from wildlife is enforced — because the point here is nature on its own terms, not performance for tourists.
Year-Round Destination
One of the Galapagos’ great practical advantages is its year-round temperate climate — the hot season runs December to May, the drier season June to November. With 12 hours of daylight every day and no daylight saving time to adjust for, it’s a destination that works whenever the timing is right for you.
The Galapagos belongs on your bucket list — let’s get you there
Renée Charbonneau is a Certified Travel Agent and proud member of CMTA Travel Services in Grande Prairie, AB. She specializes in G Adventures small group tours including the Galapagos and South America.
