Mooresville couple creates travel blog in retirement

New Zealand Countryside

Where the Road Takes You

Mooresville couple creates travel blog in retirement

Nightime in Budapest

Athabasca Glacier Canada

Bryce Canyon National Park

Sailing!

Bryce Canyon

Martin and Libby Rose have always worked hard and played hard. After owning and operating a Charlottebased marketing firm for more than 35 years, they started thinking about retirement. Libby was definitely ready, but she admits she was worried about how her workaholic husband would handle it. When they came up with the idea to start up a travel blog sharing their perspectives on active traveling with fellow baby boomers and seniors, Libby relaxed a little. Having always been avid travelers, she knew chronicling their stories and creating photography and content for the blog would be just the thing to keep Martin engaged between their own travels.

Martin and Libby have owned property in the Lake Norman area since 1985, sharing a weekend place with Martin’s parents for many years. In March 2018 they took up residence in the area permanently.

Having been together since they were teenagers, the couple definitely have some interesting stories. Early on in their marriage they spent a lot of time camping in the North Carolina mountains and South Carolina beaches, but their first vacation with any budget attached was a cruise to the Caribbean.

“When we started a family, we knew we wanted to travel a lot,” says Libby. “We put money in our budget so we’d always have money to travel. Our kids are both travelers to this day.”

When things go sideways

One of their most memorable stories involves a week-long camping trip in the state of Virgina with their kids, who were then 3 and 6 years old. Libby hadn’t been feeling well and they finally ended up taking her to a local hospital emergency room, where they discovered she had Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. There had been rain during that trip, but on one particular night it began lightning as they were setting up camp for the night. They ended up breaking camp and driving an hour and a half to a hotel in Charlottesville, dragging their exhausted bodies and wet, dripping clothes and tent through the lobby of an upscale hotel.

They also admit on one trip they may have ended up driving on a pedestrian plaza in Switzerland, Chevy Chase “European Vacation” movie style.

Martin says they are always prepared to experience things going “sideways” during their travels. “You may need to let it go and not let it ruin a trip, but instead create a new adventure.” Wandering Rose Travels is born

Martin estimates he spends about 15-20 hours a week creating content for the blog, and if they are working on a specific initiative, maybe more. Their daughter Elizabeth lives in Huntersville and also has a passion for travel and marketing, so she manages all the blog’s social media channels. A business acquaintance from their marketing firm days also contributes content and photography for the blog. The Roses say they want to be of service to the readers, but they also want to enjoy it. They’ve chosen to donate any money they make off ad placements or affiliate commissions to local and regional causes they believe in, such as Habitat for Humanity, Friends of the Smokies and People for Bikes.

The blog includes various travel articles for destinations all across

Biking on Bridges

the world, a section on trip activities, tips for travel photography and preparations, and even gear reviews. Libby developed asthma later in life and has written about the precautions she now takes traveling because she refuses to be sidelined. She also shares her experiences with ebiking (a type of electric bicycle that’s very popular in Europe, Asia and India) and hopes it will encourage cyclists to keep pedaling even if they have physical limitations.

The Roses keep creating, and the

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readers keep coming. With only one year under their belt, Wandering Rose Travels’ article “Where the locals eat in Key West,” has been shared almost 1,500 times on social media. They’ve had more than 9,411 views of photos they took of Maine on Facebook. They’ve been named in the “Top

Swiss Alps

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Learn more: wanderingrosetravels.com Wandering Rose Travels Gets Social Facebook: Wandering Rose Travels Instagram: @wanderingrosetravels Pinterest: Wandering Rose Travels Twitter: @WanderingRoseT1 30 Baby Boomer Travel Blogs and Websites to Follow in 2018,” and the “Top 75 Boomer Blogs and Websites for Baby Boomers.” They’ve also garnered attention from places such as Visit North Carolina and Discover Jackson County NC, and Backroads and Burlington Free Press. Off the beaten path

When Martin and Libby travel, they enjoy hitting what they call “the tourist highlights,” but they also like to leave time in a trip for “serendipity” to happen. “We ask where people like to eat, socialize, and then we try to become part of the fabric of where we are” says Martin. “Your appreciation of a place becomes so much greater.”

Their son-in-law is also a traveler, and he once shared with them this quote: “A tourist takes the trip of a lifetime, a traveler takes a lifetime of trips.” The Roses say that’s something they’ve always aspired to. Hiking in the Rockies

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