What the Media has to say about Learning Vacations and TraveLearn

Recent articles in The Washington Post, The Arizona Republic, The Oregonian, and the Premiere Issue of Paine Webber's Best Years magazine along with past articles in The New York Times, USA Today, and the National Geographic Traveler are just the latest of a growing number of articles and publications nationwide attesting to the growing popularity of vacations that combine learning with travel, and which mention TraveLearn as a pioneer and a leader of companies specializing in travel/study programs for adult learners. These "far-flung trips," as the Times calls them, offer an opportunity for adults that may have been long delayed - that is to study abroad, just as their children and/or grandchildren have often done.

Join the growing number of travelers who are turning to TraveLearn and the TraveLearn Network of universities and colleges when they take a tour that allows them to learn and experience a culture and not just visit it. 

THE WASHINGTON POST
"In Trips Abroad, Learning by Route"
Program Schools Travelers On People and Cultures
by Sara Gebhardt - Washington Post Staff Writer
Penguins sidling up to him and chewing on his boot and fingers was so much better for Richard Fields than watching his favorite animal from afar at the Baltimore Zoo.

Seeing his favorite animal up close in its natural habitat was the New Carrollton resident’s goal when he signed up for a 13-day trip to Antarctica through a program affiliated with Prince George’s Community College (PGCC) in Largo.

"Just for the heck of it, I offered a penguin my finger, and he started chewing it. One of them stood right next to me, and I didn’t know if he was adopting me or if I was adopting him." Fields said.

A member of PGCC’s Seniors Program, Fields has already made his second trip to Antarctica and is planning his third with TraveLearn, the program offered through PGCC that has been sending county residents to sites all over the world for 11 years. TraveLearn destinations highlight important historical and natural landmarks such as the Great Wall of China, the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, Machu Picchu in Peru, the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador, the pyramids of Egypt, Vatican city in Italy, the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland and the Acropolis in Athens.

"Most people who go on our trips are interested in learning about the culture and peoples of a county more so than, perhaps, shopping," said Maureen Ickrath, the community college’s travel coordinator. Ickrath has been to Ireland and Kenya with the program and was amazed at the opportunity she had to interact with locals, most notably spending time with a women’s weaving cooperative in Kenya.

"I felt I got a sense of the culture on this tour because they made scholars and artisans available to us, and we had opportunities to go into private residences." Said John E. Sloane, a Largo resident who traveled to China with the program.

Andrew Habermacher, an anthropology professor at PGCC, is one of the experts TraveLearn uses as trip guides. Habermacher has led tours to Costa Rica and Kenya, where he taught his groups about the countries cultural diversity, archaeology, primate behavior and social customs. The professor generally gives in-depth lectures and seminars throughout the trip.

"There’s a nice blend between sending an American with some expertise in the country and matching them up with an in-country guide. People get academic information from the professor and a daily life perspective based on cultural knowledge the native host might have." Habermacher said. TraveLearn’s winter schedule includes trips to Australia, Morocco, Egypt, Belize, Kenya, Costa Rica and Ecuador.

TRAVEL AND LEARN
by Evelyn Kaye

TraveLearn has once again been selected in the new 4th edition of Travel and Learn by Evelyn Kaye as one of the premier companies providing quality educational travel programming. When the first edition of Travel and Learn was published in 1994 the author was featured on ABC TV's Good Morning America, National Public Radio, and radio stations around the country. According to the American Library Association, Travel and Learn "is a handy and concise reference guide to educational vacation programs sponsored by organizations and colleges across the  United States." This reference book also includes a comprehensive listing of the stringent criteria utilized by the author in selecting the companies recommended in the book.

THE OREGONIAN
TraveLearn Widens Foreign Experience
"Travelers who want to experience a culture, rather than just visit a destination, might be interested in TraveLearn, a nationwide program that has been referred to as an upscale Elderhostel..."

"TraveLearn incorporates guided educational trips for adults with first-class accommodations.  The company offers more than 100 departures a year, primarily to non-Western developing countries; the majority of participants are 45 or older...Trips last from two to three weeks with a maximum of 20 participants..."

"I want travelers to have on-site, people-to-people experiences," says Professor Edwin Williams, founder of the 23-year old program. TraveLearners have visited farm families in China and middle-class families in Costa Rica. A group in Istanbul dined with corporate leaders and educators at a private home on the Bosporus while looking across to Europe..."

PaineWebber - Best Years Magazine
(Premiere Issue)
"Be a Road Scholar: Travel and Learn"
"Remember how, as a kid, you couldn't wait for school to end and vacation to begin?  Now we're more likely to look forward to a vacation that takes us back to school.  But this is no dry, classroom-bound holiday:   The hot trend in travel these days is toward special-interest sojourns that let people do everything, from cooking up some new culinary skills to boning up on biology while swimming with tortoises in the Galapagos..."

"...Whatever your interests - nature or culture, archaeology or photography or gardening - a unique, mind expanding opportunity awaits.  If your on your own, this is an excellent way to meet like-minded travelers; if you're traveling as a couple, it's a great way to break some new ground together..."

"TraveLearn has made its name by establishing a network of cooperating universities and local specialists.  Choose the photo safari through Kenya and wildlife researchers will fill you in on the area's ecology.  In Nova Scotia, lecturers describe the history of the Acadians and naturalists escort whale-watching tours and guided walks.  Many of TraveLearn's tours visit World Heritage sites, ranging from Machu Picchu in Peru to Cappadocia, Turkey."

THE WASHINGTON POST
"Ask the Experts: Tour Operators and Their Specialties"
"...But it's true that a good tour operator, with expert knowledge of the attractions and way of life in specific countries, can make the difference between an undistinguished trip and a memorable one.  And that travelers everywhere are increasingly demanding more than standard tour-bus itineraries... So, how do you find that elusive good tour operator?"

TraveLearn was one of only four Educational Tour operators recommended by The Washington Post in a selective listing of Tour operators chosen for "their insider's knowledge of a country or region."

THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC
by Carl Young
"Vacations can also be a learning experience"
More than 20 years ago, Ed Williams had a vision. He foresaw the baby boom generation aging, graying and looking for a more enriching form of international travel.

Williams' idea: Pair college and university faculty and a local cultural expert with small groups of boomer tourist. Twenty-two years later, Williams' company - TraveLearn - is going strong and attracting many affluent adults who like to travel to places such as China, Kenya or Peru.

"They want more than an airline ticket and hotel room," said Williams, a professor at Kean University in Union, N.J. "They want to learn about the people and culture of the places they visit."

The organization limits the number of participants to 14 or 15 to avoid the packed-in-a-can feeling of many group trips, Williams said. The faculty expert and in-country advisor also have more time to spend answering questions from a small group.

"Travel and learning are just a natural fit," he said.

TraveLearn works with colleges around the country, including Arizona State University, the University of Arizona and Rio Salado Community College, to promote the idea of packing an expert or two into a travel program. The colleges and universities typically offer the programs as part of their continuing education programs.

In the 1970s, the idea of learning something while you travel was mainly restricted to college-age students who would enroll in a "study abroad" program. In the '90s, colleges, university and organizations such as the National Geographic Society and the Smithsonian Institute have recognized the market for educational travel, and they offer dozens of programs that take visitors to exotic lands.

PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE
Compiled by Rebecca Sodergren
" Tours - Learning Vacations "
TraveLearn, a travel company based in Lakeville, Pa., offers a myriad of educational trips for adults. College faculty escorts and in-country specialists share insights about the contemporary, natural and historical aspects of the destinations. Local lecturers are experts in their fields - wildlife researchers, archaeology experts, even the personal interpreter to King Hassan II of Morocco. The travel groups are small, averaging 14 participants. There are never more than 20 on a trip. Groups often have luncheons in the homes of local residents or intermingle with the culture in other ways. Tour destinations include Alaska, Antarctica, China, Costa Rica, Egypt, Galapagos Islands, Greece, Kenya, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Morocco, Nova Scotia, Peru, South Africa and Turkey. 1-800-235-9114

EXCERPTS FROM: "Far-Flung Study Trips for Adults" - New York Times
"The chance to learn in a different culture may have been missed in college, but more and more adults find that it need not be missed forever."

"....Every year tens of thousands of Americans spend their vacations abroad on educational trips sponsored by museums, universities, religious and political groups and other organizations that offer specialized learning..."

"For many adults study abroad is a dream postponed," said Joan Elias Gore of the Council on International Educational Exchange in New York. "They want to enter a culture in a way that lets them learn it and live it, rather than see it as tourists."

"A trip to Turkey led by an internationally renown faculty escort who specializes in both historic and contemporary Turkey or a safari escorted by a wildlife researcher often seems to be the ticket to adults seeking a learning vacation."

"To get the most out of a study tour, a traveler should insist on two criteria," according to Ed Williams, Director of TraveLearn, a Lakeville, Pa., organization that arranges travel/study for 266 universities, colleges, and community colleges in the United States, "First, be sure the tour is led by a guide and a faculty escort who have expert knowledge about the country you're visiting and the discipline you're studying," said Mr. Williams, a professor at Kean College in Union, N.J. "Second, look for a small travel group. Our philosophy is never to send more than 20 people, and we average 14. Think of it this way; this should be a luxury field trip with the best teachers you've ever had."

EXCERPT FROM: " Travel, work, learn enjoy " - National Geographic Traveler
"...TraveLearn is another organization that offers upscale learning vacations abroad through a network of more than 260 universities and colleges. Program participants visit destinations as widespread as Greece, Alaska, and Indonesia, enjoying a classroom-in-the-field atmosphere created by college faculty escorts and local lecturers. Wildlife expert Cynthia Moss, at her campsite near Mt. Kilimanjaro, talks to Kenya tour groups about elephant behavior. In Morocco the personal interpreter to King Hassan II explains his country's traditions and religion. Some groups visit or eat with local families."

EXCERPTS FROM: "Making the world your classroom" - USA TODAY
"International learning vacations used to be for high school and college students only. Make way for the adults."

"....Adult learning vacations are booming. Now older students are traveling to study everything from French in Paris to digging for archeological treasures along the Nile."

"Going abroad to study used to be for the traditional student only. Then it evolved. Over the last 10 years there's been significant growth in the adult market," says Keith Williams, Director of Marketing of TraveLearn, a Lakeville, Pa., company that specializes in international learning vacations.

"There are several reasons more older travelers are hitting the trail", says Williams. "One is changing demographics in the U.S.," he explains. "There are more older travelers with discretionary income, and they are taking more than one significant overseas trip in their lifetime." "Also, people no longer want to sit in a motor coach and look out the window. They want to get involved, to meet the natives."

Learning vacations may not be for everyone, but they fit Diane Darling to a T. The Boston resident has gone on trips to Turkey, the Galapagos Islands, and Antarctica. "I'm the daughter of a college professor, so for me travel has always been academic and educational," she says. "A vacation is sitting on the beach; a trip is something where I'm going to learn. There's nothing that replaces hands-on experience."

How do learning vacations differ from other trips? "You get an inside view of the country and the culture," says Evelyn Kay the author of a guidebook about study vacations, Travel and Learn (Blue Penguin, $19.95). "A lot of older people when they travel don't want to redo the trips they did as teen-," she says. "They want to get an inside flavor of what it's like to live abroad."

....Don't worry about being stuck in a drafty dormitory with bunk beds. "Our accommodations are first-class and deluxe," says TraveLearn's Williams. "Our travelers want to have hot showers, private bathrooms and great food."

....When 67-year-old Patricia Wade took a learning vacation cruise to Alaska last year, in addition to a faculty escort, there was an anthropologist and biologist on board. "They had very good people to prepare us for each stop," she says. "We learned about the Native American culture and the history of the various cities. You have so much more of an appreciation when you have some in-depth knowledge toward the scene rather than going in cold."

EXCERPTS FROM: "Vacations That Put Your Mind To Work" - BusinessWeek
"A lot of tourists are eschewing veg-out trips in favor of vacations where notepads may be more important than swimsuits. Such tours are as diverse as the outfits that sponsor them."

"... Trips with a strong cerebral component are as far-reaching and diverse as the schools, museums, wildlife associations, and tour companies that sponsor them. . . Many scholarly trips attract an older crowd, since seniors have the interest, income, and time. . . Elderhostel specifically gears classes and field trips to adults 60 and older ... while TraveLearn which provides learning vacations through an extensive nationwide network of universities and colleges has many older participants in their programs they welcome travelers of all ages."

"...Not all vacationers want such a heavy dose of academics as provided by some programs....Determine ahead of time just how intensive an educational program a trip sponsor offers: Free time means more to some folks than others. You should also ask if the tour operator sends out reading lists or books prior to departure. Other questions: How many daily lectures will be offered? Will they be at landmarks or in classrooms? What is the ratio of educational staffers to participants?"

"... The credentials of the guides are critical. Some sponsors employ local guides and resource people to supplement American faculty escorts. Dr. Abdellatif Kriem, who is King Hassan II's personal interpreter, lectures in Morocco on the "Five Pillars of Islam" for TraveLearn (800-235-9114) which markets trips via 243 universities and colleges."

EXCERPTS FROM: "Study Trip Travelers Have More Fun" - San Jose Mercury News, Sunday
San Jose, Calif. - There are those who figure that spending their vacations with a professor, discussing the esoteric values of pre-Rahaelite art and its meaning for the 21st century, is about as exciting as trying to paper-train a Santa Cruz banana slug. On the other hand, there are those who have traveled around a fair amount and are looking for more than just hitting a new hotel every other day. They have gone beyond the awe of a first-time trip and would appreciate understanding - in a lot more depth - the things they're seeing. To find out how boring - or enlightening - a university-sponsored study vacation is, I headed for South America to give it a try. Boring? Not on you life. Dull? No way. A good trip? Well, just about the best vacation I've ever taken, and that's saying something.

Part of it was our group, which was very compatible. Part of it was the location - how can you go wrong with the Galapagos and Machu Picchu? And part of it was the opportunity to have a university professor put everything in context.

The bottom line: Try a study trip; you'll love it. Travel study programs are expanding, and universities are offering increasingly sophisticated programs and services for nonacademic travelers. So you should not be surprised to get a brochure in the mail one of these days announcing that your local state college or university is offering a trip to Nepal with a local professor.

If you decide to take the bait, you might end up having one of the best vacations of your life. The list of places available and topics to be studied is truly awe-inspiring.

And generally, you'll find the prices right and the quality good. TraveLearn programs, for example, use the best foreign travel companies available; the hotels are all top-rate; the logistical services are excellent; and the tour leaders (from my experience) are great. TraveLearn is a Pennsylvania company specializing in setting up university-sponsored study trips. My trip, 15 days long, was $2,895 from Los Angeles, including air fare and most meals. TraveLearn programs run from the low $2,000s to the upper $3,000s. Professor Larry Foster, Dean of the Graduate School at San Francisco State University, and the man who led our trip, is an old hand at travel study programs, having led trips over-seas for 25 years. He works with TraveLearn and other wholesalers as part of the university's extension department. He's quite impressed with the quality of the nonacademic travelers he's been getting.

"We've never had that many regular students," he said. "Most of them early on were college and high school teachers working on their credentials and a friend or relative now and then."

"But in the middle 1970s, school districts were cutting back on the number of teachers, so we started getting more adult, non-educational travelers. And I have to say that in general, all the groups I've had have been great."

Word spread, which was a good thing because all of a sudden enrollments started dropping and fewer teachers were being hired. That meant fewer students were around to go on tours, so universities couldn't afford to organize tours.

One solution, starting back in the early 1970s was to go public: a successful move that ran right into a demographic fact of life. Even non-educators wanted to learn, and many had the time and the money to try.

Ed Williams, who runs TraveLearn , is Professor of Education at Kean College in New Jersey. He thinks the increase in the number of "civilians" going on study trips is caused by changing perceptions. "In the early 1970s, you started seeing the emergence of the belief that education is a lifelong learning experience, and we had a lot of people, not just teachers, coming back to school, coming back to retool. We saw this market and started summer programs for adult learners, primarily teachers, and people started hearing about it. Next thing we knew, it was growing like mad."

Indeed it was. Some sources estimate that the number of university-sponsored trips has doubled since 1980. With the increase in programs came an increase in interest by non-educators.

"What happened," Williams said, "is that these study trips matched the demographics. We discovered right off that there is an ever-increasing number of people who want more than an airline ticket and a hotel room." In most cases, a university's travel study programs are part of its extended education department.

One of the keys to its popularity is networking. If, for example, TraveLearn offers a trip to the Galapagos, a number of universities then advertise the trip as part of their own extension services. Even if only two or three people from each university area sign up, the trip is still feasible by combining groups from around the state or nation. Almost all the university study trips open to outsiders are offered for credit. But few take the classroom along to the point where it gets in the way of the trip. Normally, there are daily meetings or classes, where tour participants learn about the areas they are seeing or will see in a few days. Only rarely is attendance mandatory.

But the whole idea behind the study tours means that most of the people on a trip will eat up the class-room experience and make the most of the faculty member or expert who is leading the tour. The faculty members who are picked to lead the tours are also part of the network. Usually, a university wants to have one of its own lead its trips, but Williams says he tries to rotate faculty members so everybody gets a shot.

"We like to change around so that every trip is not always the same," he says. "Not all faculty members are capable of handling a tour, so we tend to know who are the good ones. We've only had one bad problem, all these years, and he'll never lead a tour for us again." So go travel - you might learn something.