Road Scholar’s First Employee on His Love for Grandparent Adventures
I’m Mike Zoob and I’ve been employed by Road Scholar for some 38 years of my 54-year working life. I am a bit less “employed” than I used to be as I am semi-retired and serve as Senior Advisor to Road Scholar President Jim Moses. It is a very good arrangement as I can proffer advice and Jim, my good friend and associate of 35 years, doesn’t have to take it.
One of the benefits of my position at Road Scholar is that I now have the time to go on many of our programs, something I couldn’t do when I was helping to raise the seed money to launch our organization, helping to publish our catalogs and handling our legal affairs. And the best part now is that I get to go with my grandchildren on our Grandparent adventures — unique experiences that are among the most fulfilling of my life!
I try not to be one of those grandparents who pull out pictures of their grandchildren at a moment’s notice, but I am prone to sharing with anyone who will listen to me the joys of going on a Grandparent program with their grandchildren.
I have two granddaughters who live in New York. Gwendolyn was 9 when we went on our program together in Arizona and the Grand Canyon four years ago. Her younger sister, Evelyn, was 9 when we experienced the Tetons in Wyoming two summers ago. While the Big Apple is close enough that I get to see them with some regularity, I get to see my two grandsons more frequently.
My grandsons, Theodore and Nathaniel, live in the suburbs of Boston and are only an hour away from my beachside garret on an old estate in Scituate, Massachusetts, not more than a quarter mile from where my late wife and I lived for more than 30 years. Not many things beat having them come down and spend time with me at the beach, but my experience at a Grandparent program at Gettysburg with 9-year-old Theo was about as good as it gets.
As you can see, I like to take my grandchildren on their first Grandparent program when they are 9 years old. Road Scholar has programs for grandparents and grandchildren as young as 6 and as old as 24, and the activities and learning environment on all of these programs are geared to the specific age group (noted in our catalogs and on our website). I and my two daughters have chosen 9 for my grandchildren, but I know from talking to many grandparents that Grandparent programs with younger children is equally rewarding.
I will be going on an Grandparent program with my grandson, Nathaniel, in the summer of 2016, when he will be 9. We both are eagerly awaiting the new catalog, which features Grandparent programs for summer 2016, so we can sit down and choose our adventure.
Over the coming year, I look forward to sharing more with you about the Grandparent experiences with my grandchildren that have given me so much pleasure. In the meantime, I can assure you I am not alone in thinking these programs are one of the very best things about growing a bit older.
Want to learn more?
Explore Road Scholar’s collection of Grandparent adventures →