It’s no secret that baby boomer travelers look for experience and ways to find self-actualization when they travel.  Educational travel is a means to accomplish both.

Road Scholar (formerly Elderhostel) is a non-profit organization founded in 1975 to provide lifelong learning opportunities at a remarkable value for baby boomers and seniors.

In poking around their website, I found organized educational trips that included things like photography, digging for woolly mammoth bones, service trips, impressionist painting, hiking, biking, history,  and much, much more.

Road Scholar Program formats include:

• Discoveries: This grouping of programs covers themes as far-ranging as holidays and festivals to national parks and food and wine. Participants can explore the American and global experience on itinerary-based programs, or gain an in-depth look at locales and landmarks.

• Intergenerational: A grouping of programs designed for grandparents and grandchildren to study subjects ranging from dinosaurs to hot-air ballooning, Mayan temples to French castles.

• Individual Skills: In informal workshop environments, participants immerse themselves in topics including photography, crafts, health, language study and more.

• Outdoor Adventures: These adventure programs spend at least a third of their time in the outdoors hiking, kayaking, biking and more. Walk the roads less traveled in Vermont studying the poetry of Robert Frost. Camp in the dunes of Baja California while learning about gray whales. Explore the cultures and biodiversity of Borneo’s jungles. Learn about the history, art and people of the Netherlands on a bicycle adventure.

• Service Learning: These programs involve both learning and hands-on work to support the needs of a community. From conducting wildlife or marine research to protecting endangered species to tutoring schoolchildren to building affordable housing, Service Learning programs allow Road Scholar participants to invest their love for learning into helping others in the U.S and around the globe.

Additional programs include:

• Adventures Afloat: Our shipboard programs explore the world’s most fascinating waters — from the Aegean Sea to the Mississippi River, Antarctic inlets to the canals of France. Learn about history, art, ecology and culture aboard a floating classroom riverboat, small ship or ocean liner.

• Day of Discovery: One-day programs allow participants to discover the treasures in their own backyards. Lectures and behind-the-scenes access to the great museums and religious, political and other cultural institutions provide participants a taste of the learning opportunities available through Road Scholar. Day of Discovery programs are also offered at retirement communities.

• Small Groups on the Go: Small group size makes it possible for these programs to focus on hands-on learning presentations in the field, centrally located accommodations and independent time to explore topics and places at participant’s individual pace and level. Participants learn about subjects from the inside out, in the role of active participant, with behind-the scenes experiences that would be difficult or impossible to arrange on their own.

This sounds like a blast and is immediately going on our travel bucket list!