a Cajun cooking class in the bayous of Louisiana or a hands-on glassmaking course in Corning, N.Y. In the United States, I could choose, just to name a few options, a bird-watching excursion along Boston's North Shore a history of the Manhattan Project in Los Alamos, N.M. ![]() Emphasis on learningįor my first venture into over-55 group travel, though, I went with Road Scholar because I liked the emphasis on instruction, and because of its far broader selection of programs, particularly closer to home. Many of its European excursions cost less than $250 a day, including airfare. Grand Circle Travel, founded by the woman who founded AARP, specializes in low-cost, small-boat and river cruises. Group tours for the over-55 crowd are one of the most competitive niches of the market, and bargains abound. trips and $288 per day (excluding airfare) for international excursions they're still among the better values in travel. The lodging upgrade means the programs aren't quite the standout bargains they originally were, although at an average price of $150 per day for U.S. Under its new name, Road Scholar offers 4,800 learning-based programs in the United States and Canada, and 1,700 international programs in 150 countries, from a history of fiddle music in coastal Alabama to an exploration of archaeological sites along the Silk Road in Uzbekistan.Īccommodation these days is typically in comfortable motels and hotels, some of them four-star, though a few of the lowest-priced offerings still use dorm-style lodging. Even today, its catalog looks more like a community college catalog than a slick-and-glossy travel brochure. It was built around not-for-credit courses and inexpensive lodging in university dorms. ![]() Academic beginningsįounded in 1975 by a University of New Hampshire administrator and a former high school teacher, Elderhostel got its start as a summer school for retired people. "Baby Boomers, even when they're in their 60s, don't like to think of themselves as 'elders,' " Moses told me.īesides, he said, the "hostel" part of the name brought to mind Spartan dormitories and down-the-hall bathrooms, which the program largely abandoned years ago. The rebranding and some moderate tinkering with the program in recent years, said company President Jim Moses, were designed specifically to appeal to the next wave of older travelers: me and my Baby Boomer cohorts. In a move worthy of the witness protection program, it had changed its name twice in less than a year before emerging as "Road Scholar." ![]() When I finally turned 55 a few months ago I went looking for Elderhostel - and couldn't find it.
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