Isabella Pelà, a 110-year-old resident of Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy, traveled to Thailand in November 2024 with her grandson (photo taken in January 2025), possibly making her one of the oldest tourists in history. She is spending several months in Thailand.
Pelà was born in Rovigo, Veneto, Italy on 26 July 1914. At the age of 16, she married Achille Masarà, a judicial officer. At 18, she gave birth to her daughter Ilda, and at 20, to her second child, Loris.
Around 2014, she moved to Trentino, where she lived with her nephew, Alberto Bottiglieri. She also traveled extensively with her nephew, including annual trips to Phuket, Thailand, where she escaped the winter cold. Throughout her life, she visited numerous places such as Dubai, Bangkok, Pisa, Venice, Munich, Prague, and Salzburg. In 2022 and 2023, her nephew accompanied her on trips to Spain.
This year, she traveled to Thailand once again due to her lung health. Her grandson sees it as a way to keep her warm during the European winter and protect her from potentially fatal bronchitis or pneumonia. At 110 years old, she is possibly one of the oldest tourists in history.
Cases of supercentenarians traveling abroad are extremely rare. One notable example is Canadian man Herman Smith-Johannsen. In June 1986, around his 111th birthday, he returned to his native Norway for a six-week visit after spending more than eight decades in Canada. On 26 December, he caught the flu and was hospitalized in Tønsberg, where he passed away on 5 January 1987, at the age of 111 years and 204 days. At the time, he was the world’s oldest living man.
