Great Global Giveaway Spotlight: Road Scholar Rosemary E.
“On the front, it said, ‘Look on page 50. And I looked on page 50 and there’s this certificate! And I reread it a few times and it was like, ‘Oh my God! I think I actually won!’ I don’t win things, so talk about a lifetime win! I was giddy running around the house.”
This is how Rosemary E. describes discovering that she won Road Scholar’s Great Global Giveaway, a celebration of our 50th anniversary offering seven lucky Road Scholars the chance to embark on an adventure of a lifetime on one of seven continents.
The Temple of the Emerald Buddha, Thailand
But this is not Rosemary’s first Road Scholar experience — she has been on two adventures with Road Scholar, her first one taking her to Iceland. “The geology of Iceland is so incredible!” she describes. “Two tectonic plates meet in Iceland, which explains all the volcanic activity and the hot springs. I was really surprised at how varied the landscape is. And of course, Road Scholar does amazingly well at having different cultural teachings. We would learn about what the different ports were famous for and the traditions behind fishing and how the women would pack the fish.”
Rosemary was also fascinated by Iceland’s wildlife. “One thing that was also really amazing was the whale watching. I live near Puget Sound, and I’ve been whale watching a couple of times. But this — there were so many, and it was up close and personal.”
On her second learning adventure in Egypt, Rosemary was amazed by the number of new experiences she encountered. “That was a totally different culture and a different world,” she explains. “The main thing was how ancient it is and how old the civilization is. The history was just overwhelming. And we had this fabulous Egyptologist, and it was amazing to see him reading hieroglyphics.”
Rosemary’s adventures will continue with her Great Global Giveaway win — she won the Antarctica learning adventure, but she has actually already traveled to Antarctica. So instead, Rosemary enrolled in a learning adventure to Southeast Asia. “It was certainly partly because of my friend, who I wanted to travel with for a long time. The culture of Southeast Asia was very attractive, and I knew Road Scholar would give me a lot of exposure to that.”
Fish market in Vietnam
Rosemary also reflected back on when she first heard about Road Scholar through her sister, who went on a learning adventure to Morocco. “She told me about that, and my parents were big travelers, so I don’t know why I didn’t pick up the travel bug earlier,” Rosemary said. “My parents were such a good example of really living their retirement, but it was really my sister who put me on to it.”
Rosemary’s family played a big role in influencing her educational background. She is the fourth of four sisters, and her parents helped each of them earn college degrees. They’ve also continued their educations throughout life — Rosemary’s oldest sister went back to law school in her 50s, and another sister became a professor after working as a nurse practitioner. When Rosemary was in school to become a dentist, only about 5% of her class were women. “I was part of the vanguard,” she says.
When asked what then drew her to Road Scholar, Rosemary said it was all the benefits included in the programs. “Road Scholar is so inclusive, and the excursions are so amazing, like the whale watching one. We were all loaded on this big ship, and we had all the gear available to us, and it was just amazing. So you have to remember that’s a big part of the value of Road Scholar.”
And as for winning the Great Global Giveaway, Rosemary says, “It’s like winning the travel jackpot!”