Travel far and near with program that caters to lifelong learners

Published 12:01 am Sunday, May 8, 2011

Anyone age 40 and older who longs to travel and learn more about the world — but feels daunted by the task of planning and booking the perfect trip — should know about Road Scholar.

This Boston-based, not-for-profit education and travel program, known until 2009 as Elderhostel, offers a variety of organized group trips all around the world, including adventures right here in Western Washingto

n.

Though the all-inclusive travel program, founded in the mid-1970s, has long promoted its trips through catalogs, Road Scholar’s website is fun and easy to use if you want to browse trips.

You can sort through thousands of trip offerings by location, physical activity level, group size and date, or you can simply click anywhere on a detailed map of the world to narrow down your search.

Will you choose 11 nights in Indonesia with “Bali: An Island of Culture and Rich Traditions” in early December ($2,458) or stay closer to home for “Island Hopping on Three of Washington’s San Juan Islands” this June ($998)?

Though airfare and other costs of getting to your starting point are not included in the price, Road Scholar does have a travel agency that can help you make those arrangements and, perhaps, save you money on international flights if you fly out of certain major cities.

Everything else is covered, including meals, group transportation during the trip, instructors who are experts in their fields of study, experienced group leaders, field trips, excursions, hands-on activities, gratuities, fees and taxes.

Road Scholar also offers a variety of trips priced under $600, and all of them come up online with just one click, including “Minnesota: Loons, Living Waters, and Ancient Rocks of the Earth” ($471), “The Illusion of Roughing It: Adirondack Great Camps of the Vanderbilts and J.P. Morgan” in Raquette Lake, N.Y. ($399), and “The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library” in Ventura, Calif. ($484).

Lodging can vary from college campus dorm rooms to moderately priced hotel rooms such as the Red Lion Hotel on Fifth Avenue in downtown Seattle.

The Red Lion Hotel is used as home base for an ambitious day-touring trip titled “The Upper Left Hand Corner” ($975).

Short day trips require no lodging at all, such as the local trip, “Give ’em Hell: The Life and Legacy of Harry S. Truman,” in Tacoma ($17).

Road Scholar participants aren’t just socializing and checking famous tourist sites off their life lists. They’re there to learn.

In “Geology of Pacific Northwest, Naturalist David Douglas and 20th Century American Popular Music” in Newport, Ore., from May 23 to 26 ($455), travelers will explore the geological record of the ice age floods that created the topography of the Northwest, the life of a Scottish naturalist who visited the Northwest, and the stories behind the musical stylings of Irving Berlin, George Gershwin and Cole Porter.

Guests will stay and dine at the Clearwater Lodge, a retreat center overlooking a glacier-carved lake.

With Road Scholar trips, the No. 1 goal is education, so you can search for trips that match your interests, such as food and wine, computers and technology, culture and arts, language studies, homes and gardens, history, nature and other themes, such as signature cities.

There are some women-only trips and retreats, such at the “Rejuvenation Retreat for Women” ($475) in Santa Cruz, Calif.

Traveling alone? Road Scholar’s website has features that allow you to network with other travelers online so you can carpool, find a roommate, which can keep costs down, or simply meet each other before the trip.

Resources
Road Scholar, formerly known as Elderhostel, can be reached at 800-454-5768 or see www.roadscholar.org for a complete online catalog of trips.