Road Scholar: Adventures of a Lifestime
By guest writer Howard Parnes, Director, Road Scholar's Northern America Program Development
Catch Howard on Spectrum Generations February Mature Lifestyle cabe TV show by the same title. Click here to watch You Tube video available February 1st. |
From surfing and e-biking, to watercolors, birding in Guyana and exploring the richness of American history, Road Scholar offers something for everyone. Our learning adventures engage expert instructors, provide extraordinary access, and stimulate discourse and friendship among people for whom learning is the journey of a lifetime. More than 5 million people have enrolled in our programs since our inception.
Uluru, Austrailia Photo by Frank Motanaro |
Intergenerational Program in Paris. Photo courtesy of Road Scholar |
Cooking in Sorrento, Italy Photo by Alfio Garozzo |
Founded in 1975 as not-for-profit Elderhostel, the organization changed its program name to Road Scholar in 2010. Road connotes a journey and Scholar reflects a deep appreciation for learning. Road Scholar captures the heart of the program experience — learning from expert instructors enhanced by direct discovery of an idea, subject or place.
Each year more than 100,000 people explore around the world with Road Scholar on thousands of educational adventures in all 50 states and 150 countries. Road Scholar’s educational explorations are in-depth experiences that offer participants the opportunity to hear from local experts and interact with local residents in a way that’s not possible through a tour.
Our first Elderhostel programs were offered to 220 pioneer participants at five colleges and universities in New Hampshire in 1975. Today's Road Scholar programs include an extraordinary range of topics, formats and locations in every state in the U.S., in 150 countries, and aboard ships and sailing vessels on waterways throughout the world. The "hostel" lodging of more than 35 years ago has given way to today's comfortable hotels, inns and other more luxurious yet affordable accommodations. At the heart of today’s organization are the participants, who are lifelong learners engaged in programs that foster camaraderie and a sense of community. Learning with, and from, other curious, open-minded adults often makes these experiences exceptionally transformative.
The core of Road Scholar’s mission has always been to inspire adults to learn, discover and travel. That hasn’t changed — however, the types of programs that we develop have certainly evolved over the years. In the early years, many Road Scholar programs were classroom-based. Classroom learning now accounts for less than 10% of all programming, as participants prefer more experiential, hands-on learning.
In 2012, Road Scholar is offering 6,500 educational adventures, adding dozens of new offerings that will appeal to adults with a thirst for knowledge and new experiences. Intergenerational and Service Learning Programs are among the many types of programs that we offer.
Intergenerational Programs
Intergenerational adventures help to foster the unique relationships between grandparents and their grandchildren and top of list of things people want to do most when they have a little free time on their hands. After all, what's more rewarding than cultivating your love of lifelong learning? Teaching a younger adventurer to love it too - and creating family memories that last a lifetime.
Road Scholar has been offering Intergenerational programs for years, and now offers more than 180 adventures. One of the most exciting for 2012 is our Intergenerational Surf Camp: San Diego and the Baja Coast. Along with surf camp, grandparents and grandchildren can also experience Andalusia, Seville and Granada on a river voage on the Guadalquivir on Toros, Flamenco and Palaces on Spain’s Great River; or explore Boston’s rich sports history on Intergenerational Boston, City of Champions.
Service Learning
One of the biggest trends in travel for the past few years has been volun-tourism. Volun-tourism gives travelers the opportunity to not just visit a locale but to give back. From delivering supplies, building schools and teaching children in India and the Dominican Republic, to saving animals in need and fixing up historic locales, Service Learning programs are for participants who want to do more than just visit and learn about a particular country or topic—they want to leave an indelible mark and leave it a better place than when they arrived.
Road Scholar offers a wide variety of Service Learning programs, which include opportunities to repair the USS Missouri in Hawaii, save raptors in Alaska and build schools in India and the Dominican Republic and a new program in 2012, Service and Safari: Mammal Conservation in South Africa.
What’s Included
With Road Scholar, there are no hidden costs – everything is included and average costs range from $150 day for U.S. & Canada programs to $275 a day for International programs covering accommodations, lectures, activities, meals (unless noted that some are excluded), transportation within the program, gratuities, taxes and a travel assistance and insurance plan.
To learn more, please visit our website at www.roadscholar.org and watch Road Scholar: Adventures of a Lifetime on Spectrum Generations February Mature Lifestyle cable TV show using the link provided at the top of the article.