A Message From the President of Road Scholar

We are here to serve you now and into the future. [Road Scholar]( “Each of us is a student and everyone else in the world is our teacher …” — The Dalai Lama We must appreciate the opportunity difficulty provides us to learn and grow, to appreciate the simplicity of life, and to recognize that happiness comes from within. To all our Road Scholar friends who have suffered illness or loss during this pandemic, we empathize with and honor you by limiting our interactions, exercising caution, wearing our face masks and physically distancing. To all of you who are surviving the pandemic in good health, we have much to be thankful for, even as we accept the altered circumstances of our lives and the necessity and difficulty of living apart from others. We at Road Scholar are devoted to all of you, and as we navigate these challenging times together we believe Road Scholar’s mission to inspire you to learn, discover and engage with your peers is more important than ever. We may be living our lives apart, but that very act is a connection that brings us closer together. Spending time at home has been a return to a simpler life, reminiscent of when we all watched the same three TV networks, read the same bestsellers, rushed to see the same movies and the only thing that made our telephones mobile was the length of the cord attached to the wall. Our lives were connected, because we had more common touchpoints and fewer ways to distance ourselves from each other. While Road Scholars would love nothing more right now than to be on a voyage circumnavigating the British Isles (which is where I was supposed to be as I write this), or in an open safari vehicle in Tanzania observing a pride of lions, or in a lecture hall in Montgomery, Alabama listening as Bryan Stevenson helps us process a devastatingly emotional visit to the National Memorial for Peace and Justice — the reality of current circumstances requires that we hold on to those dreams and delay them for a while. But, while we may not be able to travel easily right now to any of these extraordinary Road Scholar experiences, it is possible for you to enjoy the excitement, camaraderie and discovery that is at the heart of every Road Scholar adventure without leaving home. Road Scholar is launching a [series of educational adventures]( that will re-connect you to each other and to Road Scholar’s life-changing learning experiences, channeling the power of the virtual world to create a series of live Road Scholar experiences that will immerse you in knowledge, learning, social engagement, intellectual stimulation and the warmth of the Road Scholar community. Our commitment and promise to you is that Road Scholar is here for you now, in our 46th year, and will be here for you long after this pandemic has passed. To meet that promise, recognizing that the majority of you will not be ready for an in-person Road Scholar experience for quite some time, we have made significant changes to reduce the size of our team, transitioned communications from paper to email, and redoubled our online presence so that we may continue to serve you. Making these changes will save millions of dollars as we marshal our resources and focus our efforts toward a time in the future when the world might be more welcoming for all of us. Until that time arrives, we will not grow stagnant or dwell on our isolation. We will continue to learn and will take comfort knowing our journey of discovery is all around us as we start down a new path to learning — together. Most sincerely, James Moses Road Scholar President See All the Ways You Can Support Us [Learn More]( Welcome to the Road Scholar World Bazaar [Explore Now]( [View online]( © 2020 Elderhostel Road Scholar educational adventures are created by Elderhostel, the not-for-profit world leader in educational travel since 1975. [Facebook]( [Youtube]( [Instagram]( [Pinterest]( 11 Avenue de Lafayette Boston MA 02111 [1-800-454-5768]( [Privacy & Terms]( [Unsubscribe](