Great Global Giveaway Spotlight: Road Scholars Kathy & Larry N.
In celebration of Road Scholar’s 50th anniversary, we awarded seven lucky Road Scholars the chance to embark on an adventure of a lifetime on one of seven continents. Learning adventures such as “Land Ho!” Icebergs and Penguins in Otherworldly Antarctica and African Safari: A Close-up on Wildlife will offer winners and their travel companions unforgettable experiences across the world.
Sung Sot Cave, Vietnam
Kathy and Larry N. were thrilled to be selected as winners of the program The People of the Mekong: Vietnam, Cambodia and Angkor Wat. “I’m always looking for travel opportunities,” Kathy says. “I was very surprised to win and couldn’t believe it!” Larry agrees: “This is the biggest thing we’ve ever won, we felt like we were really blessed.”
This will be the couple’s first Road Scholar learning adventure. “I liked Road Scholar because it’s different in that it’s educational,” Kathy says. “Back when I was younger, I thought it was for older people, now I’m here! I have the time, and we’re always interested in staying educated, in learning something new every day.”
Asia will be the fourth continent that Kathy and Larry have traveled to, and Kathy is especially excited about experiencing Angkor Wat. “I’m a big ancient history buff,” she says. “But I really had no knowledge of Cambodia and Vietnam outside of Angkor Wat and the Vietnam War.”
Ta Prohm Temple, Cambodia
But Kathy is doing a lot of preparation. “I not only read the itinerary, I go to YouTube and we look at every city, what other people have liked or not liked,” she says. “I just kept saying ‘Larry, I think this sounds really interesting!’ And he was all for it!”
“Travel to Asia was just way outside of our comfort level, so what better organization to go with than Road Scholar?” Kathy continues. “This is their forte, educating you, getting you involved with the people and their music and their food and their culture, so we’re totally excited! What a perfect opportunity to do something we never would have done on our own.”
Their learning adventure in Asia might be a new adventure, but Kathy and Larry are no strangers to exploring the world. “We always travel together,” Kathy says. “We’ve gone to several European countries. We have four kids, and we’ve raised them to know that travel is so important for their education, you just learn so much about other ways of thinking.”
Cambodian traditional dancers
“We’ve always traveled since we got married,” Larry adds. “Whether it’s here in the United States or our travels to Egypt and Jordan. We just like to get the feel of how other people live and talk to different people.” The couple are currently planning to journey to Tanzania this year to go on safari!
“We’re to the point of where we’re retired, we have the time, so where in the world would we like to go?” Kathy says. “So winning this learning adventure has just opened up two new countries for us.”