Background: The COVID-19 pandemic presented numerous, significant challenges for older people in their daily life. In order to reach a deeper understanding of the feelings and thoughts of older people related to their possibilities to travel and engage in activities, this study takes a qualitative approach to exploring the views of older people themselves. The study focuses on experiences not only before and during COVID-19, but also on the perceived possibilities to travel in a future without the pandemic.

Methods: 14 in-depth semi-structured interviews with Swedish residents above 70 were conducted. Applied thematic analysis (ATA) was applied to, in a first stage, investigate meaningful segments of the data. In a second stage, identified segments were combined into themes to generate a descriptive and exploratory model

Results: Self-efficacy and health are important prerequisites for older peoples´ travel. When the pandemic hit older people felt they had nowhere to go anymore, and the importance of social interactions became clear during the pandemic. Some were able to adapt to the new circumstances but others could not and worried about their future.

Conclusions: The findings highlight the urgent need to develop a transport system that addresses the physical as well as the mental health of old people, with a particular focus on facilitating social interactions