Beyond the Cocoon: How Marilyn and Her Husband, Craig, Explore the World From Home
- Road Scholar’s online lectures make learning accessible for lifelong learners who can’t travel — 90 minutes with an expert, live Q&A, from home.
- Marilyn and her husband, a veteran who uses a power wheelchair, have attended nearly 400 online lectures since enrolling in An Insider’s Look at Israel for their 40th anniversary in 2021.
- Recording links arrive by email and stay live for two weeks, so participants can pause, rewatch and learn at their own pace.
- Donor support keeps many online lectures free, expanding access for adults with health, mobility or caregiving limitations.
For Marilyn and her husband, Craig, the world has always been their ultimate classroom. From history to art, music to wildlife, faraway places and hidden gems close to home — if there was something to learn, they wanted to learn it. Their curiosity never asked for a passport or a plane ticket. It simply asked for a door to open.
Marilyn had heard about Road Scholar for years. The stories stuck with her: the expert instructors, the fellow learners, the feeling of being a student again.
Marilyn and Craig never enrolled in an onsite program. Life, health and raising three children took precedence. There was always a school schedule, an appointment or a timing conflict. But their desire to learn never faded.
How It Began: An Anniversary, a Laptop and a Longing for Israel
August 2021 brought a truly beautiful milestone — their 40th wedding anniversary — and with it, a quiet reflection of a dream still waiting to be realized. Craig had always held a deep-seated wish to explore the rich history of Israel, a journey he deeply regretted not taking when they had the chance. By the time their anniversary arrived, though, it felt as if that window had closed for good. Between caring for Craig — a veteran who relies on a power wheelchair — and the sudden hush of the pandemic, Marilyn found their world growing smaller. They lived in what she still warmly calls "the cocoon of our home."
So, Marilyn did what curious people do. She started investigating to see if she could find something special for them to do together for their anniversary. She remembered Road Scholar and wondered whether there might be something they could do online. To her delight, she found An Insider’s Look at Israel — three days, live, just a few days shy of their 40th anniversary in August.
Before committing, she scheduled a practice session for herself to ensure the login worked and the sound was good. For her trial run, she chose Online Lecture: History and Significance of Juneteenth on June 17, 2021. It worked great and Marilyn felt prepared to share the gift of Israel with Craig.
As their anniversary neared, they spent three days immersed in Israel. “Three mornings in a row, up and dressed by 8 a.m.,” Marilyn laughs. “We enjoyed the experience although it was a lot for us — but this experience opened a door.”
That door led somewhere she never expected. The Israel Adventures Online multi-day program was wonderful — but tucked inside it was a discovery that reshaped how she and her husband learn: Road Scholar’s shorter Online Lectures.
The Classroom Came to Them
Suddenly the barriers that had kept them home for decades simply stopped mattering. No suitcases. No airports. No stairs. No early mornings. Just the two of them, side by side, a screen glowing in the living room and an expert on the other end ready to teach.
Marilyn realized she could learn about Peru on a Tuesday afternoon between appointments, without rearranging her calendar. She and Craig could explore the world, one week at a time — ancient history one day, wildlife conservation the next, Iceland’s geology, Michelangelo, the frozen frontier of Antarctica, the story behind a symphony the week after. Their curiosity finally had room to roam.
“Ninety minutes with an expert, including time for questions, and no early alarm clock required,” she says. “Road Scholar’s Online Lectures are perfect for us. They keep our minds engaged and thinking.”
Nearly 400 lectures later, they’re still at it.
“I appreciate the in-depth expertise of Road Scholar’s instructors, says Marilyn. “They’re the same scholars, historians and naturalists who lead onsite programs, but they’re with us in our living room.”
Dressing for the Occasion
Marilyn and Craig look forward to every lecture — so much so that sometimes she plans what they’ll need to wear and eat for them to get into the spirit of the presentation. “We love these adventures and we always seem to learn something we didn’t already know.”
One winter morning during the pandemic, Marilyn and Craig were enrolled in a live program on the Iditarod, presented by an expert who lived off the grid in Alaska. Marilyn woke up and made an announcement, “okay, we’re going to dress warm today!”
This meant extra layers for Craig. Sweaters for herself. They talked about what mushers eat on the trail, pemmican — a calorie-dense food made from dried meat and fat, and hardtack — a dense yeasty dough baked into a long-lasting cracker. By the time the lecture began, their living room had become, through sheer imagination and a couple of good jackets, a checkpoint somewhere out on the Alaskan tundra.
“Anticipating the experience — that’s so much fun,” says Marilyn. “Especially during the pandemic.” And talking about it afterward mattered just as much. “We compared notes and told our children about our adventures to faraway places. Watching from a distance during those long, isolated months, I know they were quietly relieved,” says Marilyn. “They knew we were keeping our minds active.
Brilliant Minds, Genuine Connections
Ask Marilyn and Craig about their favorite Road Scholar online lectures and the list arrives quickly, the way it does for someone who’s been paying close attention for five years. They gravitate toward history and art, world travel and wildlife.
Together, they’ve enjoyed a wide variety of topics and speakers, including Louis Masur, historian and author, whose program on Lincoln they’ve watched multiple times. “He’s an expert. There’s always something to learn,” says Marilyn. There’s Carolyn Crouch, whose walking explorations of Washington, D.C., come with photographs so good “you feel like you’re walking through D.C.” There’s Brad Gottfried, an expert on Gettysburg and the Civil War, Amanda Hunter a marine biologist, Spencer Jones who’s an expert in World War history and John Kriskiewicz who gives interesting lectures on New York City architecture and history. James Dalessandro, writer and filmmaker, historian Ruth Polling, archaeologist Rob Weiner and local expert Eleni Patroutsou, who brings Greece to life. And they’ve attended both free keynote presentations with Doris Kearns Goodwin in 2025 and Jane Pauley in 2026, one live and one thanks to the recording.
Marilyn and Craig also appreciate the Road Scholar hosts who introduce the speaker and keep the question-and-answer portion organized, informative and on time.
Age Well With Road Scholar
Marilyn watches Age Well With Road Scholar programs and reports back over dinner. A retired registered nurse of 45 years, she approaches each lecture with a professional’s eye and a caregiver’s perspective. She particularly likes Catherine Sanderson and the expertise she shares. And she always finds the experts to be timely and informative.
“I attended the one on dementia. My friend’s husband has it, so I attended and shared helpful information with her,” says Marilyn. She recently attended Age Well: Age-Friendly Efforts to Improve Medication Use & Safety, which she found useful since she prepares her husband’s medications.
“I always learn something — nurses are always learning,” she says. “If it’s a topic I’m already familiar with, I find it validating.”
Flexibility Is Paramount
Marilyn and Craig are grateful for the recording links that arrive by email and stay live for two weeks. “It allows us to adapt when we watch,” she explains. “If we have started a recording and something comes up, I pause it and we finish it the next day.”
Wait — I Learned About This!
The best part, Marilyn says, is how the knowledge she’s gained pops up later, unexpectedly, but happily welcomed!
Her book group was reading a novel that referenced the Great Fire of London in 1666. Marilyn had attended Road Scholar’s lecture, Walking the Great Fire of London with one of her favorite instructors, Ruth Polling. She went back to her lecture notes to share what she had learned with her book group, including details about how unprepared the city was and why the firefighting hooks, needed to pull buildings down and prevent the fires spreading, were only kept in certain places.
Thankful to Road Scholar and Supportive Donors
Marilyn is grateful to Road Scholar for recognizing the importance and need for interactive online programs, and for the donors who support and help keep many online lectures free and flowing.
With nearly 400 lectures to her credit, Marilyn is going strong! She’s enrolled in a dozen more to carry them through the end of this year.
“It’s the only way we can travel, between my knees and Craig’s health and mobility,” says Marilyn. “I admire how Road Scholar pivoted online to serve a part of the population that wouldn’t otherwise have these experiences.”
Never Too Late, Never Too Far
Marilyn's story isn't about what she and Craig missed. It's about what they finally found — and how technology unexpectedly gave them something they'd been quietly awaiting for decades.
They didn't have to travel to become students of the world again. They only had to log on.