The Grey Nomad Phenomenon: Changing the Script of Aging

Abstract

This article explores a relatively new and little understood phenomenon, that of the Australian Grey Nomads. Every year increasing numbers of older Australians take to the road. This article explores the phenomenon both empirically and theoretically. A grounded approach is used by which the experience is explored from an ethnographic account involving interviews with some 400 travelers, including in-depth taped interviews with 26 traveling groups. The data is analyzed and discussed in terms of "Ulyssean" aging. The Ulyssean lifestyle requires the freedom to pursue personal choice and new, personally risky experience. Issues of health, personal development, and social networks are discussed in relation to the literature on aging. In particular, it is argued that the Grey Nomad phenomenon fundamentally challenges the dominant decline model of aging. It presents a picture instead of these older Australians taking active and very positive control of their lives, regardless of financial and health conditions. In doing so, they are rewriting the dominant social script for aging.

On constructing ageing rural populations: ‘Capturing’ the grey nomad

“…Despite considerable diversity in socio-economic characteristics and the type of travel undertaken, many grey nomads have a strong sense of belonging to a much larger grey nomad community (Onyx and Leonard, 2007). This community is not situated, or headquartered, within a specific town or region, but has been identified as firmly located within the rural.…”

“…Rather, the focus is on exploring how a mixed method approach might provide for more robust and spatially and temporally sensitive constructions of rural ageing (also see Onyx and Leonard's (2007) study on grey nomads and Ulyssean ageing). The following section looks at how mixed method might be used to provide more information about the grey nomad population in rural Australia and, thereby, population ageing in rural Australia.…”

Indirect Consequences of Recreational Fishing in Freshwater Ecosystems: An Exploration from an Australian Perspective

“…Many of these people are seeking 'nature' with extended, unstructured activities [106], which often includes the water-related activity of recreational fishing. Australian governments recognise the employment and commercial potential of encouraging this segment of the tourism industry and consequently seek to attract tourists to natural areas, even in hitherto little-visited wilderness zones [180].…”

Crocodiles and grey nomads: a deadly combination?

“…Such a lifestyle does not conform to social expectations enshrined in the traditional 'rise and fall' model of human ageing by which an individual's physical and cognitive abilities grow through childhood and young adulthood, mature in middle age and subsequently decline thereafter (Leonard & Burns, 2001). This emerging lifestyle choice has been described as an 'Ulyssean' approach to ageing, by which individuals actively pursue personal choice and seek new experiences in later life (Onyx & Leonard, 2007), and has the potential for challenging many aspects of medical and social planning (Higgs & Quirk, 2007;Tate et al, 2006). Not all retirees seek the same experience.…”