Check Out the Activity Levels
For those who have been hesitant to travel because of mobility issues, Road Scholar makes it possible to choose specific trips geared towards varying levels of activity challenges. Trips have descriptive categories for each listing, from Easy Going, with more than 70 choices (including Costa Rica at a Slower Pace) to On Your Feet, with programs like Winter in Spain, which includes walking from one to two miles per day. Keep the Pace has such listings as Ancestral Homelands: Hopi, Navaho, and Chaco Canyon, with a description of the activity level as “exploration of ruins requiring agility. Elevations up to 7,000-plus feet.”
Some programs, like the Odyssey ship journeys, have a Choose Your Pace level, with two activities available each day — one that has less walking and fewer stairs and another with a more active pace.
There are also several levels of outdoor travel, from Outdoor: No Sweat (Horses and Canoes: Summer Camp in the Ozarks with Your Grandchild) to Outdoor: Spirited (Rafting Grand Canyon’s Granite Gorge), and finally Outdoor: Challenging (Hiking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, and the description helpfully includes “Hiking up to six hours a day over varied terrain. Elevations up to 13,779 ft).
One example of Choose Your Pace for an outdoor trip one entitled Off the Map: Choose Your Pace Hiking and Camping Along the Rogue River, which enables travelers to choose from hiking and rafting options each day. The activity details state, “Depending on the day, hikes range from 2.2-6.3 miles on maintained trails with varied terrain.”
When in Doubt, Make a Personal Connection
If travelers have specific issues or questions, Lucy McClelland, Associate Vice President Participant Experience at Road Scholar, suggests that they get in touch directly with the company.
“Any time a participant has questions about whether they can manage the activities on a program,” she says, “they should call us. If they explain their situation and concerns, the Support Team will work with the Programs Team on how suitable the program is for that participant. We will work to identify any activities that may be challenging and if reasonable accommodations can be made on that program.”
Travelers Weigh In
Because I was interested in how Road Scholar participants with mobility challenges prepare for their travels, I took to social media. It turns out that many travelers have concerns about how they will do on travels that require walking, hiking, or biking.
One Road Scholar alumnus on my Facebook group, Bobbie Henry of Encinitas, California, discussed how she is preparing herself for her next trip:
“I’m signed up for Great American Get-Together in Santa Fe in April, which is Keep the Pace. I’m very energetic, but no longer very fast, since a hip replacement in Aug 2018.”
“But now I’m “in training” by forcing myself to speed up every time I’m in walking mode, whether strolling past the shops or walking around Target. Definitely improving! With physical therapy planned, I have high hopes for reversing my balance and strength issues.”
Anne Ziegler of Grand Junction, Colorado, said that she does not plan “to climb to Alps” because she has had bilateral knee replacements and knows what she can — and can’t — do. She likes Road Scholar because of the different levels of activities, and she describes her trips with them as “wonderful experiences.”
Jane Carroll of Silver Spring, Maryland was “scared to death to hold up everyone else,” so she went on a Road Scholar trip to the Alps at a slower pace prior to her knee replacements. She is planning a program in Spain at a slower pace as well as a journey to the Scottish Highlands this year.