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Senior Travel Resources

Senior Travel Resources and Home Stay Programs Offer Rich Experiences

The dynamics of travel have changed in the last several years for seniors as well as for the general population. Older travelers once wanted a comfortable tour of castles and churches in familiar territory; foreign travel meant a tour of the Continent. Today they are heading for exotic destination like Peru and Zimbabwe.

Now that they have more time and energy, seniors want more interesting and intellectually challenging traveling experiences. They want to get out and meet people in countries they visit-people with ideas and experiences to enrich their own lives. They like to combine travel with home stays, volunteer work, teaching, and language study.

The travel industry is aware of this growing demand for travel enrichment, and more and more tour operators are getting their offerings in this direction. Instead of three countries in 10 days, travel agents offer longer stays in one area.

Seniors traveling in unfamiliar territory who want to experience more than just the usual sightseeing activities should look into a home stay program. Much more than merely a convenient solution to the room and board problem, living in your own quarters in a private home with the resident owners adds a valuable dimension to travel.

While apartment or house vacation rentals or exchanges are gaining in popularity for extended stays, home stays offer the further advantages of actually learning first hand how the host families go about their daily affairs: their work and eating habits, entertainments, holiday observances. How else could a traveler learn what Russian or French or Japanese people think about politics, child rearing, education, or world affairs? Only by living with them on a daily basis is this possible.

Travel home stay programs usually ask you to fill out forms outlining you preferences as to location, living arrangements (bed size, separate or shared bathroom, kitchen privileges, etc.), length of stay, language requirements, occupation, and cultural interests. Then they try to match you with carefully selected hosts in the designated area or areas if you choose to go from one home stay to another.

The obligations of the host families vary according to those who arrange the home stay. Some families leave you on your own to find your way around while relying on them to make suggestions and provide general guidance. Other families commit to being your personal daily guides to places and events not covered by traditional travel tours.

Joining families for meals, calling on their friends or relatives, visiting their workplace, shopping, attending sporting events all add to a mutual understanding among people of different cultures and persuasions. Such an experience is not possible when you spend precious travel days in hotel surroundings.

Finally, there is the comfort and convenience, especially for seniors, of staying in one place. And, if your new family members become real friends you’d like to see gain, you may end up being hosts to them in your stateside home.

There are many travel resources to help seniors plan and get ready for a safe and pleasant experience. A simple online search with the term “senior travel” will bring up many ideas and information to get you started on your travel journey.