The Power of Nostalgia Travel: 5 Things I Learned Revisiting a Special Place from My Childhood
Nostalgia tourism is a growing travel trend, where travellers visit destinations to reconnect with memories and experiences from years gone by. On my recent trip nostalgia trip to Bradenton and Anna Maria Island, Florida, I was flooded with childhood memories, and learned a few valuable lessons about nostalgia travel along the way.
Chris and I retracing my steps at Bradenton Beach on Anna Maria Island, FL.
I recognize I still have so much life ahead of me, but with every passing year I can’t help but get a little sentimental about pivotal experiences that have helped to shape my life. As it turns out, travel has been a part of so many of these pivotal moments for me. From the experiences I’ve had travelling to more than 60 countries to living abroad during my teaching career with Chris in countries like Turkiye and South Korea, I feel so lucky to have had the opportunity to work in and visit so many parts of our world.
I’m not sure who originally said it, but I’ve been seeing this quote online a lot lately: “What a privilege it is to yearn for your own memories.” It’s a beautiful sentiment that gives a sentimental person like myself pause, since I find that with the more years I’m able to spend on this earth, the more I feel the complicated layers of nostalgia hit me when I revisit places I know well.
Just last year, I was lucky enough to return to one of my favourite cities in the world and a place that still feels like home to me: Istanbul. The revelation that it had already been ten years since I moved there hit me like a ton of bricks in the most moving, beautiful and unexpected ways possible. And a similar feeling hit me when I revisited a special place from my childhood most recently, in Bradenton, Florida.
Nostalgia Travel
This concept of revisiting places that are special to you isn’t a new one.
Nostalgia travel is a growing trend in travel, where travellers seek out destinations and experiences tied to their memories, cultural heritage, or times past. This might mean returning to a beloved childhood getaway destination, a place that was special to family members of generations past, vintage destinations like retro hotels and diners, or vintage tourism connected to historic food trails or train trips.
Anyone who’s close to me knows I’m a sentimental person, and I come by it honestly. So when I had the opportunity to revisit Bradenton and Anna Maria Island in Florida and introduce Chris to a place that was so special to me as a kid, I jumped right in.
The Origin Story of My Flock of “Snowbirds”
Most people in North America will be familiar with the term “snowbirds.” And no, I’m not talking about Canadian geese flying south for the winter. These snowbirds are the Canadian and American retirees hailing from colder climates who “fly south” for around six months in southern parts of the United States.
My grandparents on both sides of my family were snowbirds. On my mom’s side, specifically, both sets of my great-grandparents were immigrants who fled Bolshevik Russia (now Ukraine) in the early 1900s. My grandpa’s dad found his step working as an artist in advertising in Toronto, and once he retired, he and my Nana bought a condo in Delray Beach, Florida in the ‘70s.
They spent nearly 20 years enjoying the warm sun of Florida during their retirement, and once my great-grandpa passed in the early ‘90s, the condo was sold to help my grandparents buy a place of their own in Bradenton.
One of my great-grandpa’s paintings that hangs in my parents’ house in Bradenton. The woman on the right is my Nana (great-grandma) on the beach, from when they spent their winters in Delray Beach, FL.
My Family’s Home Away from Home in Bradenton
As retired teachers and principals who loved to travel, my grandma and grandpa were looking to embrace the latter of their retirement winters in a place that was laidback, warm and relaxing. With so many things to do in and around Bradenton and Anna Maria Island, its access to pristine white sand beaches and the smell of orange blossoms in late winter, they loved settling down here.
I remember coming to visit them over many a March Break with my sister and my parents. We’d splash around in the pool under the warm Florida sun, head to the beach, I’d help my grandma hang laundry in the backyard and we’d bike around their neighbourhood on cruiser bikes. They spent nearly 25 winters in Bradenton, right up to the time of my grandpa’s sudden passing in 2015.
My grandpa was a wonderfully curious, charming and fun-loving man. As much as we all miss him—especially my grandma—I’d like to think he lives on in so much of all of us. And I think he’d be especially happy to know that all of his kids–my mom, my aunt, my uncle and their families–now spend their winters here in Bradenton, too.
My little sister, Brooke (right) and I with my mom, my grandma and grandpa in their neighborhood in Bradenton
It was so nice to come back and revisit a place that’s been so special to my family for generations with Chris. It brought back too many childhood memories to count, and made me grateful for the opportunity to reminisce about all the visits here when I was young. It made me realize a few things about nostalgia travel, too, which I wanted to share here.
5 Things I Learned on My Nostalgia Trip to Bradenton & Anna Maria Island
1. The Senses Remember, Even if The Mind Forgets
When you revisit a place you know, some experiences will come flooding back to you in ways you might not expect.
When Chris and I were walking around Manatee Village Historical Park during our early March visit, I was hit with a strong smell of orange blossoms in the air. Februrary to late March is orange blossom season in Florida, after all. It’s a wonderfully sweet smell that is instantly comforting to me, and it brought me right back to playing in my grandparents’ backyard and hanging laundry with my grandma.
Or when I was walking on the white sand at Coquina Beach feeling the hundreds of tiny seashells crunching underfoot. Looking down at them, I remembered collecting seashells in a pail as a kid for what felt like hours, trying to find the perfect one. They really are a lot like snowflakes—each a different shape, colour and texture than the next.
2. Revisiting Places Can Honour The Memory of Loved Ones
Catching a baseball game at LECOM Park during spring training
When we come back to a place we used to go with loved ones—whether they’re still with us or not—it feels like a good way to honour them.
Chris and I caught a ball game at LECOM Park in Bradenton, where the Toronto Blue Jays were playing a spring training game against the Pittsburgh Pirates. My grandpa used to volunteer as a valet to park cars at the Pittsburgh Pirates games. He loved sports, and he loved the opportunity to watch some of each game during his retirement years—especially if his beloved Blue Jays were playing.
The experience of coming back here with Chris (who was just as excited to see a spring training game for himself!) felt like a nice way to honour my grandpa at a place where he spent so much time in his retirement. He always loved to travel and couldn’t believe it when Chris and I moved to Turkiye—he had always wanted to visit. I think he’d be really proud and amazed at what I’m able to do for my job as a travel writer today if he were still around.
3. You Might Have More in Common with the Generations Who Came Before You Than YOu May Think
There’s always been something healing and familiar about the warm Florida sun for me. I actually remember crying after coming back from Bradenton one time when I was about 6. As much as I’ve learned to embrace winter now, returning to a snow-covered Toronto at the end of a March Break trip was emotional experience for me, even back then!
Based on the generations who came before me, I’d say it’s no surprise that I have always felt drawn to warm places. When Chris and I started dating way back when and he said he wasn’t really a “beach person”, I was admittedly a little concerned. But I’d like to think that we balance one another out in our travels these days, and we both appreciate being given permission to slow down under the sun’s rays from time to time.
4. Intentionally Pulling Out The Photo Album Helps to Bring it All Back
If you’re going back to a place you’ve visited before, taking out old photos or pulling out an album is worth doing before you go. I pulled out the album with pictures of my sister and I when we were so little heading to Florida, and it instantly reminded me of all the early memories we shared, many of which I had nearly forgotten.
After looking through old photos before our trip, walking around Robinson Preserve’s trails brought me back to a camping trip my family took in the area way back when. Or when I was sitting on a pool deck chair at Silver Surf resort with my legs extended, it reminded me of all the pictures of my sister and I at the pool as a kid, when our legs weren’t even halfway the length of a lounger.
5. Watching a Sunset Over the Water Will Always Feel Grounding
Catching a sunset over the Gulf of Mexico from Anna Maria Beach
There are few opportunities to really let yourself be filled with nostalgia than by watching a sunset. No matter where we are in this world, sunrises and sunsets have such an incredible way of grounding us and connecting us to each of the places we’ve visited. I know when I watch a sunset, I’m instantly flooded with so many memories of sunsets I’ve witnessed around the world.
Whenever you’re in a place with beautiful sunsets like Bradenton and Anna Maria Island, catching a sunset is a must. Some of the most beautiful sunsets over the Gulf of Mexico can be found on Anna Maria Island—specifically on Anna Maria Beach and Bean Point Beach. With so many friends, couples, families and multi-generational families enjoying the sunset around you, it can be hard not to remember times past with friends and family members of your own—whether they’re physically here with us, or not.
A Message to Parents and Grandparents About Travel
Revisiting Bradenton and Anna Maria Island showed me that I was taking in far more on my childhood trips here than I realized. If you’re able to travel with your family, do it. You don’t always need to go far—a lesson we share in our kids’ book—but if you’re able to share small, unique experiences with your family, your kids will remember these experiences, even if you think they won’t.
I’m at an age now where many of my friends and family members have young kids. There will always be reasons to not take the trip, but if it’s within your means, I’d encourage parents and grandparents to focus on all the reasons you should.
I think this is one of my favourite lessons in travel—meaningfully engaging and being present in new experiences and environments pushes our minds to draw connections and recall information we may have thought we’d forgotten. As tricky as it can be to feel so deeply when we’re hit with a heavy wave of nostalgia, we really are so fortunate to have memories worth yearning for in the first place.
I want to thank Bradenton Gulf Islands for hosting Chris and I as media during this trip, and offering me this opportunity to reconnect with so many important childhood memories in this special place. All opinions expressed are completely my own.
Bri Mitchell
Bri Mitchell is a travel writer and content creator from Toronto, Ontario. She loves to highlight all things nature, food, wellness, sustainability and adventure in her work. Bri writes and shares her travel experiences from across Canada, the United States and around the world on Instagram and TikTok (@brimitchelltravels), and in her articles for travelingmitch, Ultimate Ontario, and We Explore Canada.