Retirement is traditionally a time for folks to travel a bit and finally see the world. But just as the baby boomers on the cusp of retirement are quite different from the generations that preceded them, so are the kinds of vacations that they’re choosing.

The staples of retiree travel – like chartered bus trips and vacations to Europe – are as popular as ever, but travel agents are noticing a distinct uptick in interest in more out-of-the-way destinations, even among older travelers. Along with guided tours of Paris and Rome, senior citizens are taking more trips to explore the Patagonias of Argentina, the wildlife of the Galapagos Islands, the bike trails of Germany.

“Seniors are a lot more active today,” says Ruth Nagy, director of travel operations with AAA in Pittsburgh. “What we find is that today, seniors seem to be more well-traveled.

They’ve traveled a lot more in their early years than their parents did. They’ve already done cruises to the Caribbean, and Mediterranean, they’ve seen the national parks out west. By the time they’ve retired, they’re looking for something different.”

Nagy has helped retirement-aged clients book vacations that had them climbing volcanoes in Hawaii, hiking through the West, and even taking a European river cruise that permitted guests to bring bicycles, to better explore stops like Munich and Zurich.

Richard Ponzio, of Ponzio International Travel in Mt. Lebanon has sent seniors on snowmobiling adventures, rafting trips, and catamaran sailing trips. At the moment, he’s taking reservations for a 2010 trip to the small Bavarian town of Oberammergau, which has staged a massive Passion Play every 10 years since around 1630.

“We already have nine groups going,” he says.

At some levels, the diminished valued of the dollar has hurt the travel business, Ponzio says, but there’s been an uptick in the senior segment. That’s partially because seniors have been waiting their whole lives for the chance to travel in retirement, but also because the Baby Boom generation is hitting retirement age and looking for adventure now that their work lives are complete.

Nagy predicts that, as more Boomers hit their ’60s, it will have a continually positive effect on the travel industry. “We’re going to see a lot more demand for travel,” she says.

“The Baby Boomers tend to be more educated on travel and know what they want more than travelers of the past. Often, they pretty much have a destination in mind and are just looking for some direction on exactly where to go and how to do it.”

Not that the Boomers will sound the death knell of the bus tour business. Short group trips to places like Nashville, Chicago, New York, and Atlantic City are hard to beat when it comes to getting the most for your dollar, says Leigh Ferris, of Peck International Travel in Peters Township.

“Even though you’re pre-paying more,” she says, “you’re buying that luxury, and with gas prices where they are, it’s a great value,” she says. Plus, for older seniors, there’s the security of traveling in numbers, and with an escort, something that Ponzio’s and AAA’s clients also appreciate in their senior-oriented offerings. But for those willing to venture out of the mainstream, the senior travel business seems poised to offer adventure to suit anybody’s taste.