THE BEST KIND OF CONTINUING EDUCATION: TRAVEL

THE BACKSTORY:

There were 18 of us who traveled to Morocco in October, 2018 - all of us through the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) program at UNC-Wilmington. Several of us were good friends, which made it an extra fun adventure. I had never been to Morocco or Northern Africa before and frankly, was pleasantly surprised at what we found. Morocco is truly multi-cultural and not once did I feel like I didn’t belong. And no, I didn’t cover my head one single time although my friends did. Here are some of my favorite pictures from the trip:

L-R - me, Gayle Tustin, Peg Schroeder, and Margit Royal in a Marrakesh market.

L-R: Peg Shroeder, Amy Keith (Program Coordinator at UNCW’s OLLI), Margit Royal, me, and Gayle Tustin on top of a dune in the Sahara Desert

Here I am with my sweet camel, Buddy, just before we struck out on the Sahara for our final camel ride. I’ve been asked if: a) the camel smelled; and, b) if he spit on me and the answer to both is NO! My advice to anyone about to embark on a camel ride: keep BOTH hands on the handle - it can get a little bumpy! On the other hand, I took video from time to time so I didn’t follow my own advice! We rode the camels for a total of about two hours total in two days - going into camp and returning.

IF YOU’RE INTERESTED IN TRAVEL AT HOME OR ABROAD:

I certainly can’t vouch for every travel company but here are some programs to check out if you’d like to continue your education through travel:

Directory of Osher Lifelong Learning Institutes (OLLI) - These programs are available on over 100 university and college campuses in the US. Not all of them offer travel, but you check it out at:

www.osherfoundation.org

This was my first trip with the Wilmington OLLI program and I was very pleased.

www.gocollette.com (Collette Tours)- This is the tour company that the Wilmington OLLI program used to plan and book our trip. Over our 10-day journey, we stayed in numerous hotels and in my opinion, most were just fine - in fact, one was outstanding. (There was also one that was not.) All in all, things went off without a hitch and our tour guide simply couldn’t have been better.

www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/ - I have traveled with National Geographic before and the trip simply couldn’t have been better!

Best thing is to ask your friends for recommendations and don’t forget: even traveling a couple of hours from home can be a wonderful learning opportunity! HAPPY ADVENTURES!