As a travel writer, I’ve often referenced my family’s limited travel sphere in essays for AARP, Fodor’s Travel, and many other regular outlets. My family camped exclusively and rarely ventured beyond Southern Ontario, save for a bi-annual foray to Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. However, our trailer was filled with Golden Guides, popular field guides that identified everything from the constellations to butterflies and moths. Though limited in geography, our trips provided a global seminar where my dad would share his mutual love for nature, education and vacations that teach.
Beyond camping
I was thus surprised to learn many years ago that my dad had become a fervent international traveler upon retiring from his Presbyterian ministry. He ventured exclusively on tours arranged by his alma mater, Amherst College, joining professor-led excursions to Japan, Paris, Germany and elsewhere.
Fortunately, educational travel no longer requires an alumni association from a prestigious college. Tours designed to engage our minds and stimulate our senses are flourishing, taking us on paleontological digs in Mongolia, spiritual sojourns in Japan, and cultural studies of France’s Belle Epoque movement.
Wesley residents
Intellectually engaged traveling also promotes “Active Aging.” According to a recent National Institute of Health study: “Social emotion, spiritual perception, and instrumental support are the key driving elements of active aging. The identification of key personal traits and strengths of seniors…provides a strong analytical basis for explaining the health effects of tourism on seniors, translating the effectiveness of active aging and tourism value practices.”
And oh, the places we can go!
Road Scholar, formerly Elderhostel, offers budget-friendly trips for 50+-year-olds to all seven continents. Celebrating its 50th year, the not-for-profit company also offers financial aid intended to increase travel opportunities for everyone. A scholar or historian leads each tour with years of experience in her chosen field of study. Tour groups also meet guides who may have personally experienced more recent history, such as participants in a Civil Rights Movement march or authors of historical texts.
Educational group travel is about much more than scholarly lectures and living history. The most important “discoveries” often result from casual dinner conversations with trip participants. Lifelong bonds often form between individuals who share a similar past, explore experiences together or enjoy each other’s company.
Several years ago, I traveled with Tauck Tours on an ecologically themed excursion to Yellowstone National Park. I eventually stopped counting the number of “Taucksters” who’d met on a previous tour and had now traveled with each other on a tour several times a year. I also met Frank from Michigan who, to celebrate his 85th birthday, had recently returned from Antarctica and completed his seven-continent trek for the second time!
Like a college curriculum, today’s immersive teaching tours invite us to take a relaxed 101-level survey expedition or delve deeply into “300-level” subject matter. They offer chances to travel 150 miles north of the Arctic Circle to study the Aurora Borealis at Sweden’s Aurora Sky Station, explore the Italian Renaissance from a scientist’s perspective, retrace Charles Darwin’s steps on a walking tour of Wales and unfurl Madagascar’s unique ecosystems.
Wesley also includes educational trips as part of the amenities offered for residents and through Wesley U.
Including a spiritual path
Several contemporary tour companies present a spiritual path of study through travel. You can focus on ethereal components with tours to the Hemis Festival in Ladakh, a “Walk of Renewal” along the Camino de Santiago, and the “Heart of the Pachamama” in Peru. Each tour is led by a teacher esteemed in his field as an author, lecturer and scholar of the specific subject.
Each Sacred Earth Journeys sojourn also includes personal growth potential seminars, meditations, and other spirit-elevating sessions. Seattle-based Explorer X crafts a “Destination Unknown” tour, creating a full itinerary to somewhere based on your interests and “transformational travel” goals.
Unlike most impressions, educational moments are less likely to be forgotten. Rarely do I travel to photograph wildlife, explore botanical gardens or chronicle the streets of Joyce’s Dublin without recalling youthful impressions of earlier travels. After twenty years as a travel writer and photographer, I remain certain there’ll be something new to learn waiting for me around the next corner.
Crai S. Bower’s passion is writing and photographing outdoor adventure articles like “Connecting with Temagami” (Explore), which received a 2025 “Best Illustrated Story” award from the North American Travel Journalists Association. A frequent contributor to Condé Nast Traveler, Garden & Gun, and Fodor’s Travel, he also created the “Aging Playfully” column for AARP. Crai also enjoys writing for the Wesley blog. You can read his work at www.FlowingStreamMedia.net