Looking back to look forward – Life events and everyday travel over the life course

Everyday travel is often habitual and stable, yet life events can disrupt routines and create “windows of opportunity” for change. Mobility biographies and life course perspectives show how transitions such as relocation, parenthood, or retirement intersect with social roles, values, and structural conditions to shape long-term mobility. This qualitative study explored how life events shape everyday travel among older adults. Fourteen participants (8 women, 6 men; aged 56–85) were recruited via social media and snowball sampling. Semi-structured interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. The analysis resulted in four themes: (1) Conscious choices and unconscious patterns – participants navigated between deliberate, strategic decisions and behaviors shaped by, for instance, habit or gradual adaptation; (2) Personal history and external context – childhood, family, partnerships, parenthood, and significant life events influenced travel routines; (3) Adapting travel to changing capacities, values, and alternatives – health, environmental concerns, and digital options shaped how participants reassessed when and how to travel; (4) Facing illness, mortality, and existential limits – awareness of aging and life’s finitude shaped travel decisions, motivating both caution and meaningful engagement with valued experiences. The study highlights that older adults’ travel behavior evolves through the interplay of life events, personal values, social relationships, and aging bodies. Changes are rarely immediate or uniform; instead, travel reflects both conscious choices and unconscious adaptations, intertwined with identity, health, and relational contexts. A life course perspective emphasizes that mobility is continuously negotiated and re-evaluated, offering insights for designing sustainable and adaptable travel options for an aging population.