The motto at Beatrice Bradley is “We do not tour places, we experience places,” and its South Dakota trip lives up to that philosophy. The company’s tours are designed for women over the age of 45 who love the USA and want to experience its rich history. Trips created by the Beatrice Bradley team are meant to mimic a “friends getaway,” so whether traveling with your own friends or heading out solo, everyone feels at home. Balance is a key component to these trips, so days are filled with exciting adventures, chances for a peaceful walk or an early morning fishing trip, and time to relax by a bonfire at night. Each trip is headed by one or two Beatrice Bradley hosts.

The South Dakota trip begins at Chamberlain’s Thunderstik Lodge, which the group has all to itself. All meals are prepared by the lodge’s chef, and there is plenty of time to walk the beautiful grounds and hang out with the property’s pheasant dogs. Activities include lessons at the lodge’s shooting ranges, a tour of Badlands National Park, shopping in the city of Wall and a pontoon ride down the Missouri River. (https://bbgage.com/women-hosted-adventures/thunderstik-2024/)

By Olivia Opperman

PRESS EPOCH TIME: TRAVEL

‘Forever Friendships’: Conservative, Older Women’s Travel Group Is Booming

Between the elections and a pandemic, 2020 brought about deep divisions that made it difficult for people to reach out and form connections during a time when it was needed most.

In the aftermath, Deborah Schutt, Kim Kalan, and Jane Rabe, entrepreneurs with plenty of travel experience, had embarked on a venture to get women back out into the world. They tried wine and cheese events. They tried mother-daughter trips. Kalan, who ran outdoor businesses Gage Outdoors and Big Hat Outdoors with her husband, tried asking that clientele, mostly men, if they’d gift girls trips to their wives.

They were all complete and utter flops.

After a year and a half of failed launches and money lost, the trio went out to lunch together, albeit a little sadly, Kalan said. There, they came up with one more idea.

“We said, let’s see if we can get conservative women to travel together,” Kalan recalled. It turned out to be the perfect formula. The idea would turn into Beatrice Bradley (bbgage.com), a travel club where women would travel solo but experience a destination together in a group of no more than a dozen with a host who has everything already booked and planned.

They put up a Facebook ad targeting conservative, patriotic women over 50, and immediately got a response. That first day, Kalan remembers seeing alerts about new sign-ups by the minute. By the Fourth of July, they had received some 700 members, and Facebook shut the ad down. In 2022, the group organized 32 trips, and this year will see 55. Next year there are some 70 trips planned, more than doubling their first year, with other ventures in the works. Broader travel industry statistics show similar growth: Solo travel is the biggest growing sector, and the vast majority of these travelers are female. A quarter of Americans reported considering a solo trip this year.

“Somehow we stumbled upon it over chicken wings and salad,” Kalan said. “It’s truly magical … these women come together, and a lot of these women come from a bad spot … and they come and they heal. It truly is magical.”

Friendships Forged Through Adventure

Debbie Henderson lost her husband a few years ago. They had been a close couple, and Henderson cared for him all the way to the end. She’d brought him home from the hospital, and set up a hospital bed for him in their home by a window and slept nearby. She heard him take his last breaths, saw him close his eyes for the last time, and then she called the funeral home and crawled into bed beside him to wait. After he passed, she fell into a deep depression, losing her appetite for life. She dropped a drastic amount of weight and was skeletal at 95 pounds, when one days she woke up and realized she had stopped living herself, and decided it had been long enough.

“I started my journey back to living again and that’s when I found Beatrice Bradley and that’s why I tell them that they saved my life,” Henderson said. “I needed to get back to my life and they gave me the opportunity.”

Henderson isn’t the only one with a story like this, Kalan explained. Some of these women lost spouses by death or divorce, some have lost children to suicide, and many have lost friends. She can hear the courage they’ve mustered up in order to book these trips when she speaks to them by phone, and she’s experienced numerous times in person the transformation that they undergo on these five to seven day trips. Schutt remembers one woman who told her she hadn’t laughed in the past two years after losing her husband and lived in a cloud of gloom, but on that trip she took she smiled and laughed every single day.

“Jane and Deborah and I, we’ve lost a lot of our friends. And it’s hard. It’s sad. You don’t know how to have fun anymore. So these women come on these trips, and they truly learn how to have fun again,” Kalan said. “They’re all grandmas going ziplining, going rafting, hiking, eating fabulous food.”

Women the average age of 67 decide to step into an adventure, ziplining together and swimming with the manatees. The more adventurous the trip, the more it seems to appeal to the older set, Kalan quipped, and on every trip these hosts hear women say that they’d had the trip of a lifetime. But, they add, the magic of it is really in the camaraderie.

Henderson and her husband had both been in the travel business and took vacations together frequently, but traveling alone seemed too intimidating for her. With a group of other women, in similar age range and with similar views—Beatrice Bradley stresses repeatedly in its signup process that the club is for conservative, patriotic women who love America—Henderson and other women said they have one less thing to worry about. There’s no fear being ostracized on a trip, or a political debate dividing a travel group; and as such the travelers usually leave behind the issues of politics altogether in pursuit of adventure.

Ivy McKinney has a long bucket list of places she wanted to experience, and a husband who will travel but doesn’t quite enjoy it. Many times, she says, he will ask whether one of her girlfriends could go with her instead. She considered traveling alone, but wasn’t quite sold on the idea of having to plan out everything herself and then sit in restaurants alone. The meticulous planning at Beatrice Bradley convinced McKinney after her first trip to then book five more, many of them with women she met on her first trip.

“They just think of everything,” McKinney said. The trips are paid for up front, and travelers book their own flights. Once they arrive, hotels, meals, snacks, itinerary, and everything else is covered for and considered, so there aren’t additional fees or planning to take care of while you’re there, McKinney said. The company is a boutique one, selecting unique accommodations like a mansion in the mountains and local chef-driven restaurants. It’s not budget travel; trip costs run in the thousands. McKinney’s New York City Christmas trip was around $3,000, and international trips run higher, Schutt’s recent Costa Rica and Ireland trips coming out between $6,000 and $7,000. At this price tag, the Beatrice Bradley team is conscious that the trips are truly special experiences for these women, and make it so that the women need not focus on anything but enjoying the experience.

“And the great thing is, that was kind of unexpected for me, was that I made friends that I’ll have for the rest of my life,” McKinney said. “I know all about their lives and they know all about mine, so it’s really forever friends. You just don’t really have the opportunity to make friends like that in your day to day life.”

At the request of several club members, the Beatrice Bradley team cautiously ventured into couples’ trips. One such trip went well this year, and more may come in the future. The founders say a travel club for younger women, in their 30s and 40s, is also on the horizon.

Beatrice

Beatrice Bradley is named after Schutt’s grandmother, Beatrice Belle Baker Bradley.

“My grandmother was a take-no-prisoners kind of feisty women,” Schutt said. “She’d say, come and let’s have a little adventure today. I remember when I was 4 she took me to the movie ‘Gigi’ … we’d grab our coats and get into the car and go somewhere, just spend the day doing something fun.”

“She really, really said to me, you need to embrace adventure. Have fun. Don’t be afraid of it. Don’t let anybody talk you out of something. Be fearless. Push yourself and try something new and different, you’re going to enjoy life so much more,” Schutt said. “She was very bold in that way, well before her time.”

Beatrice did not have the opportunity to travel the world, or much at all, but the fearlessness Schutt admired in her grandmother inspired her to name the travel club after her. “It puts people together and gives them a chance to be fearless and embrace adventure and meet all these new people.”

​Inauguration Watch Party Brings Together 100 Women Traveling Solo, United by Shared Values and a Love for Adventure

Miami, FL – January 19, 2025

Beatrice Bradley,(https://bbgage.com)a travel club dedicated to empowering conservative women over 50, is hosting a unique Inauguration Watch Party at the prestigious Trump National Doral in Miami, Florida. This event is more than a celebration of a pivotal moment in American history; it’s a testament to the power of solo travel and the lifelong connections forged by like-minded women.

A Journey of Connection and Empowerment

The Inauguration Watch Party brings together 100 women from across the United States, all traveling solo but united by shared values and a love for adventure. These women, many of whom are embarking on solo travel for the first time, find a safe and welcoming space to step out of their comfort zones and build meaningful relationships.

“These women come together as strangers and leave as lifelong friends,” said Kim Kalan, co-founder of Beatrice Bradley. “The bonds they form, the laughter they share, and the courage they show to embrace new experiences are truly inspiring.”

The Power of Solo Travel

Solo travel can be daunting, especially for women over 50. Beatrice Bradley bridges that gap by creating group experiences where participants can travel independently while enjoying the safety and camaraderie of a supportive community. From the moment they arrive, these women find themselves surrounded by peers who share similar values and a thirst for adventure.

For many, the experience is transformative. One attendee shared how her first trip with Beatrice Bradley helped her rediscover joy after a difficult chapter in her life. “I was nervous to travel alone, but this group changed everything for me. I laughed, made lifelong friends, and felt like I truly started living again.”

Trump Inauguration Watch Party: A Historic Celebration

The highlight of the event is the Inauguration Watch Party, where attendees will gather to witness live coverage of the 2025 presidential inauguration. Set in a festive, patriotically themed venue, the event reflects the shared pride and optimism of the group. For many, it’s an opportunity to celebrate America’s future in the company of those who share their conservative values.

A Growing Movement

Beatrice Bradley has rapidly grown into a nationwide community for conservative women seeking adventure, healing, and connection. By providing meticulously planned trips, boutique accommodations, and thoughtfully curated activities, the travel club ensures that every experience is as enriching as it is memorable. What sets Beatrice Bradley apart is its focus on creating “forever friendships” among women who might otherwise never have met.

“This isn’t just travel; it’s about building a community,” Kalan added. “These women support each other, lift each other up, and remind us all that it’s never too late to embrace life’s adventures.”

About Beatrice Bradley

Beatrice Bradley is a travel club designed for conservative women over 50 who seek meaningful connections and transformative experiences. With a focus on boutique luxury and personalized planning, the company creates safe and welcoming spaces for women to explore, bond, and rediscover their zest for life. For more information, visit bbgage.com/inauguration2025.

Media Contact: Kimberly J Kalan Founder kim@bbgage.com 763-784-8291