Road Scholar

I did the San Miguel Allende (SMA) trip and it was just okay. It started out bad when no one was at the airport to meet us at the time we were told to be there. The airport was about two hours from SMA so this was not a small issue. I finally called RS and the person showed up an hour late with the attitude of "I'm here now!" The lectures were old and canned from a US expat who screamed in a small room. I am hard of hearing and had to remove my hearing aides because of the pain caused by his large lecture room voice. I asked the tour director to ask him to moderate his voice and she said there was nothing she could do. Less than a third of the people went to the lectures because there was so little content. This was during the entire immigration and border detention problems! What a wonderful opportunity for current events. Why aren't lectures done by real locals - it would be so much better than hearing it from a US perspective. That is all we get at home. Essentially there was little education on what was billed as an educational tour. The tour director was very disorganized to the point of walking us a couple miles to the wrong restaurant and then walking us all back. It was very hard on the elderly participants. You were on your own if you had food allergies in spite of the fact that RS asks about this in advance and I also informed the tour director. She showed up at my table almost hysterical about 10 minutes after I was served something I was allergic to. Luckily my travel companion tasted it before I did and took my dish away. One local guide mentioned the plays he was in, and recited from them, ad nauseum, while we sat in the hot sun and learned almost nothing. RS could not even manage to send me a review form and finally just took my review over the phone. This was not what I had expected and it turns out others were very disappointed too as everyone was give a $200 credit toward a future trip. I will give them one more try and am hoping the tour is not cancelled due to COVID-19. I had heard such good things about RS. I was very disappointed.

We recently traveled to Madeira for a medium rated activity level trip. Our guide was fantastic, providing enthusiastic and knowledgable information about the natural features and flora of the region as well as sociological and political contexts of present day life on the island.

Unfortunately, my wife became ill the morning of our scheduled return flight to Lisbon, from where we were to make connections to fly home (U.S.). Our guide was extremely helpful and communicative regarding our circumstances, but the process he was instructed to use to support us in this situation was seriously flawed.

He gave us an 8 page Road Scholar instruction sheet outlining the process by which we would be covered for expenses of our delayed and rebooked travel. The process is administered by something called "On Call." It turns out that this outfit is the same as "Emergency Assistance Plus", a travel insurance company.

We were required to seek medical care and have the attending physician fill out FOUR of the pages (in English) with results of medical examination, including vital signs, blood test results and a medical diagnosis. One form was essentially an affidavit requiring the physician to assert that the patient was unfit to travel. All four required signatures, email and telephone contact numbers.

Our guide advised us to go to the local public hospital emergency room, which we did. The situation at the hospital was chaotic to the point of nightmarish. My wife on a gurney with an I. V. in a hallway with other patients, most of whom were in much more serious medical issues. We observed one poor soul not 5 feet away who suffered a seizure and was bleeding from his mouth, probably from biting his tongue. It took fully 5 minutes before any medical staff intervened and attempted to navigate his gurney through the maze of other beds in the hallway.

Needless to say, the likelihood of ever even being examined by a Dr., let alone having him fill out a 4 page form, was an impossibility. We left the facility and ultimately made our own arrangements for return travel to the U.S. at considerable $ expense to us.

Upon contacting "On Call" upon our return, their response was to again send us the Road Scholar 8 page form originally presented to us. It seems that it is necessary now to get a Portuguese doctor whom we never saw and who didn't examine my wife to my wife to provide 4 pages of information from our home in Colorado.

We admit to our naivety in going to a public hospital in a foreign country, but given that many Road Scholar trips take place abroad, the process they've contracted for through "On Call"/Emergency Assistance Plus is a joke. We were hung out to dry with zero returned communication for hours. The communication we received was useless at best, and if it weren't so insulting, it could be considered ironic.

It's been three months since my RS bike trip from Deggendorf to Vienna. The dust has settled, I've cleaned the mud from my clothes, and now I can evaluate the trip in a more objective manner.

I guess I should start by asking this question: would I do it again? I would love to say yes, but knowing what I know now the answer is a likely no.

I made my own travel arrangements and spent a few days in Munich and the immediate area before going to the Gasthaus in Deggendorf. That was all good. Bavaria is lovely and clean and the people are friendly and seem happy.

Upon arriving in Deggendorf I was told I must provide my own helmet. That was the first I'd heard about that. Seems I didn't get a vital information packet. This necessitated a frantic taxi ride into town (at my own expense) to a bike shop. Luckily I bought one and made it back in time for an orientation ride. After that things settled down and a nice meal was had an I got to meet my fellow travelers.

The bikes they provided aren't my style. They are heavy, slow, and the saddles are catch as catch can. Some good, some not. There was a lot of grumbling about the saddles. Mine on the other hand worked fine for me. Didn't make up for the helmet mess, but one has to move on.

The actual biking, the lovely scenery, the food and beer were all great. Our group leader was quite good at her job. She may have been one of the best things about IBT, the outfit that RS contracted for the cycling part of the trip.

The educational aspect was less interesting than I expected. Churches, cathedrals, monasteries, a concentration camp. What more can you say?

I had a couple of good evening adventures where I went out with a couple of people to hear music and stroll around. Drank too much beer.

But there's not much one can do about the weather. We had some dreadful, chilly rainstorms with strong headwinds. The last two days in Vienna were total washouts. But, to be fair, we had some glorious days as well. Some of the vistas and villages delightful. We all had a very good time and lots of laughs.

But, here's the rub. You can't choose your fellow travelers. Some of the personalities were right out of a Hunter S. Thompson story. Autistic New Yorkers. Cancer survivors frantically trying to pack it all in before the end comes. One domestic abuse survivor who was like a life force sucking vampire. Lovely woman, but eegads, could she drone on! A 95 old man who road an ebike and was a true miracle of nature. And then we had Canadians. Three couples. I have nothing bad to say about them. Very nice people.

Which brings me to my one, very subjective observation. You might think that after two weeks together one or two friendships might be formed. But no. That's not why they come on these trips. They come to get away from something, to be distracted, to have a long party. When it's over, it's over. The RS veterans all knew the score -- once we said goodbye there would be no emails, no follow-ups, no promises to stay in touch. I think it may have something to do with being over 60 and facing one's mortality. No time for that. Once I returned home and the reality dawned on me, I felt a bit sad. This was a shared experience, but then again it wasn't.

And that is why I won't do another RS trip. I'd rather go on a trip where there are some younger people with a different energy. It's too much money to shell out to return home depressed.