---
title: "James Moses of Road Scholar on Educational Adventure, Global Diplomacy, and Finding Purpose Through Lifelong Learning"
url: "https://authoritymag.co/articles/james-moses-of-road-scholar-on-educational-adventure-global-diplomacy-and-finding-purpose-throug"
publisher: "Authority Magazine"
author: "Savio P. Clemente"
authorUrl: "https://authoritymag.co/authors/savio-p-clemente"
interviewee: "James Moses"
company: "Road Scholar"
category: "Business"
datePublished: "2022-01-28T08:49:05.669Z"
dateModified: "2026-11-12T17:07:59.488Z"
tags: "Business"
---

# James Moses of Road Scholar on Educational Adventure, Global Diplomacy, and Finding Purpose Through Lifelong Learning

*The longtime leader discusses expanding international horizons, pivoting to virtual travel during quarantine, and the profound human impact of shared educational journeys.*

> Road Scholar took the best elements of a university experience — the excitement of learning, personal development, engagement and friendship — and invited older adults to become coeds for weeks at a time.

---

As*part of my series about “How To Create A Travel Experience That Keeps People Coming Back For More,” I had the pleasure of interviewing James Moses, President and CEO of*[Road Scholar](https://www.roadscholar.org/)*, the not-for-profit world leader in educational travel for adults, founded in 1975. He has held the position of President since 2002. Under his leadership, Road Scholar has become a leading educational adventure organization, offering thousands of programs worldwide. Moses began his career at Road Scholar in 1979 as the organization’s first registrar. He has held several leadership positions, including Chief Operating Officer, Senior Vice President of Programs and Vice President of International Programs. Moses holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Psychology from Boston College.*

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**Thank you so much for joining us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?**

I loved the idea of Road Scholar (then known as Elderhostel) right from the start and was deeply moved by its founding concepts of learning for the pure enjoyment of learning; of an educational community as the perfect opportunity for developing meaningful friendships; and the idea that engaging with the world is a powerful stimulus to healthy aging. Road Scholar took the best elements of a university experience — the excitement of learning, personal development, engagement and friendship — and invited older adults to become coeds for weeks at a time. It was a new and marvelous concept that looked at older people differently and gave them a new way of looking at themselves. This was particularly meaningful to me because my father had recently become disabled and had stopped working, and his loneliness was palpable as he had nothing to substitute for the social community and engagement of the workplace he’d lost. I recognized right away Road Scholar offered an extraordinary alternative that was changing people’s lives — perhaps even saving people’s lives from the loneliness and despair that seemed to engulf my father. Road Scholar changed societal norms, perceptions of aging and aging itself, and that has been and continues to be an incredibly powerful stimulus in my life’s work.

**Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?**

In the early 1980s, I travelled to Moscow to try to launch Road Scholar in the USSR. At that time, the country was not a travel destination, particularly not for Americans, and there was a great deal of work involved to set up a meeting with a university dean, making our way through numerous Russian government agencies that had to give clearance. I remember sitting in an austere office with dark wood paneling, high ceilings and a huge dark wood table, with representatives from various government affairs offices, as I tried to explain that older Americans wanted to come to the Soviet Union to study and learn about the country, its culture, its people. The people around the table made their skepticism clear and seemed to find the idea very hard to believe, if not entirely absurd. It took two days of discussions to convince them it was real and an idea worth trying. Ultimately, we created a series of learning adventures with the country’s best universities, offering extraordinary insight into its history, culture and people, and we enrolled thousands of Road Scholar participants. Best of all, we gave Americans and Soviets the chance to talk and enjoy each other’s company, which was truly a wonderful accomplishment that gave people who had learned to be suspicious of each other’s governmental systems the chance to come together and connect through learning.

**Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?**

My first international “business” trip was to visit a series of Road Scholar programs throughout Scandinavia. I was traveling by train and meeting various groups at different points in their three-week visits, which usually meant they would spend one week in each of three different Nordic countries. My visits were limited to a few days with each group, and I didn’t expect to be able to do laundry, so I packed for a two-week trip, filling two pretty large duffels with clothes. This was long before the world advanced to wheeled luggage, and I often found myself running to catch the train, lugging what came to feel like enormous bags! It was a tough, but extremely valuable lesson, and from that time forward, I never take more luggage than I can easily carry, and I limit myself to carry-on bags. I also learned to pack things that can easily be left behind, like old shoes and older clothing that didn’t have much wear left to it — so I could easily make room for new things I might have wanted to acquire during my travels. This is one of the most important lessons that has served me for my entire career of travel!

**None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?**

The person who hired me at Road Scholar was an exceptional guy — charismatic, gregarious, creative — and a former teacher. He taught me early on that if you were lucky enough to have options, loving what you do was, by far, the most important reason to go to work every day — even if it meant you made less money than you could make working somewhere else. That was the most important guidance I ever received, and I learned there is extraordinary joy and unimaginable value in believing in your organization’s mission, devoting your life to advancing it and working within a community of people intent on raising each other up for that common goal.

**Thank you for that. Let’s jump to the core of our discussion. Can you share with our readers about the innovations that you are bringing to the travel and hospitality industries?**

We have teams of exceptional experts and academics around the world who are always developing new and exciting learning opportunities for our participants. Most recently, when the world went into quarantine in March of 2020, the challenge we faced was how to engage our community of older adult learners when they were alone, isolated at home and unable to go anywhere. We knew we needed to find a way to connect and engage with them, and, most importantly, to find ways for them to connect with us and with each other. So, just as we members of staff were all interacting through online Zoom calls, we utilized that technology to develop a series of free, one-hour virtual lectures as a way of reaching out to and bringing our community together, even while they were in isolation at home. It was immediately apparent these lectures were a lifeline for our participants, and we then went on to develop an entirely new program experience of multi-day online courses.

Road Scholar’s Adventures Online program series is unique in that we recreate the educational travel experience virtually, so each experience is live and interactive. Road Scholar participants learn from the same world-class faculty they would meet if they’d physically travelled to the destination, only this way they are traveling virtually without leaving home, with opportunities to ask questions and share perspectives in real time. There are virtual field trips to the same fascinating places visited during a traditional program, and, because the social aspect is so important, our online adventures all include opportunities to meet and engage in discussion with other participants.

**Which “pain point” are you trying to address by introducing this innovation and how do you envision that this might disrupt the status quo?**

Road Scholar’s virtual experiences have opened the world to people when the world itself was not accessible. What we learned — and what will drive the continuing development of these online adventures into the future — is that there are older adults who are not able for various reasons, including physical challenges and health issues, to physically leave home and travel long distances. These online adventures in experiential learning have provided access to our educational communities all over the world to so many older adults who cannot travel. Road Scholar has been able to reach thousands of grateful people, and we are committed to continuing to offer virtual programs — to not only bring people to Road Scholar learning experiences around the world, but to bring those learning experiences around the world into the lives of so many people at home.

**As you know, COVID19 changed the world as we know it. Can you share a few examples of how travel and hospitality companies will be adjusting over the next five years to the new ways that consumers will prefer to travel?**

When the pandemic hit and the world shut down, it was a shock to all of us, particularly those organizations involved in travel. We at Road Scholar were intent to do the right thing for our participants and we [garnered the attention of the New York Times](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/12/travel/coronavirus-road-scholar-refunds.html?searchResultPosition=), when it recognized Road Scholar as an organization that offered full refunds to its participants. It was a scary time for everyone, but we did what we knew was right, and it was only later we learned from news reports that tour operators did not prioritize their customers’ best interests. I think the pandemic has likely forever changed people’s expectations of how companies will treat them. Our participants place enormous trust in us, and we will continue to do all we can to deserve their trust. After all, we exist to serve the greater good in society. I imagine many tour companies will have to find ways to win back their customers’ trust, and that will mean having clear safety protocols in place to offer as much protection to travelers as can be expected. Ensuring travelers and travel personnel are vaccinated, having clear plans in place should a traveler become ill, providing easy access to medical professionals when needed — in short, giving travelers the security and peace-of-mind of knowing they will be well cared for should the need arise — will, I think, be an essential element of travel going forward.

**You are a “travel insider.” How would you describe your “perfect vacation experience?”**

Travel, for me, is intrinsically tied to the excitement of learning, going behind the scenes, opening doors to discovery and meeting and connecting with new people. When I travel, I want to be invited to experience the elements that make a place unique, to be introduced to people who will share their knowledge and insights and to connect with the culture in ways that open my emotions and my senses. Travel is the experience of being fully alive because you are wide open to everything and everyone you encounter. It is exhilarating to meet a new friend, to learn what it’s really like to live in place, to be immersed in the sights, sounds, smells and tastes of a place. I love those moments that are so exclusive to being on the inside and behind-the-scene that you feel overwhelmed with the importance of it all, with the uniqueness of it. These kinds of adventures are only possible through the generous giving and sharing of people who live in a place and have become experts in understanding and sharing it with others. These are all elements that make Road Scholar learning adventures so extraordinary.

**Travel is not always about escaping, but about connecting. Have you made efforts to cultivate a more wellness driven experience? We’d love to hear about it.**

Connecting socially, learning, intellectual engagement, making new friends — these are all essential wellness experiences. We know social connections and friendships lead to better physical, mental and emotional health and, even, longevity. Road Scholar attracts older adults who share a passion for learning, and we are intentional about fostering a welcoming, inclusive atmosphere so that Road Scholar participants become members of a warm and welcoming community.

**Ok super. Here is the main question of our interview. Based on your experience and success, what are the five most important things one should know in order to create a travel experience that keeps bringing people back for more? Please share a story or an example for each.**

What has always made Road Scholar unique is our **focus on learning and friendship**.Intellectual stimulation and emotional engagement are at the heart of every Road Scholar experience.

1. **Making friends**. Create opportunities that foster camaraderie and community. Road Scholars love having the opportunity to meet and engage with each other as much as they enjoy engaging with their professors. We constantly hear stories of lifelong friendships that started on a Road Scholar program, and I personally know two women who met on a Road Scholar program in Africa ten years ago, who have become such close friends they have traveled together on at least one Road Scholar experience every year since.
2. **Keep it real.**Yes, people want to know about the landmarks, monuments and history of a place, but they also want to know about what’s happening right now. We create sessions we call “real and relevant” on every Road Scholar program to introduce participants to a hot topic that gives insight and helps bridge gaps of understanding. We incorporate at least one session for this kind of candid, spontaneous conversation to give participants the chance to delve into an issue that’s part of the life in a particular place. I recall a program in South Africa during which the discussion focused on the days of apartheid, and our two instructors, one white and one black, talked candidly of the pain of that time and of the way life had changed for each of them since. It was so personal to each of them and gave us such insight into the social upheaval and undercurrents of the country.
3. **Personal growth**. Getting beyond one’s comfort zone can, in itself, be an opportunity for growth. Giving people opportunities to experience something new can often lead to personal growth and development. Consider what makes a place unique, and find ways to explore that aspect of the visit and then share perceptions and feelings about it. Helping visitors see the world from new perspectives — to learn histories and experience cultures they may not have been familiar with before — can be transformative, and when someone feels transformed by what you have created, they will keep coming back for more. 
While not directly intended, I think of a story shared by a woman who participated in one of our hiking programs. She was travelling alone and befriended a couple who were on the opposite side of the American political spectrum. She told me they talked candidly and openly with each other about their diverging political beliefs and they listened carefully to each other. She was moved by how respectful they were to each other, and they became good friends despite their different political affiliations. She noted how refreshing it was to have had such an intimate experience with people she would have considered “other” had she not opened herself to listening and sharing.
4. **The best people.** Find the best people who are able to share their knowledge and local access. Our network of esteemed and passionate local experts take visitors behind the scenes to experience more than most travelers could imagine. More than 30 years ago, I met a professor of art history in Istanbul who was teaching on a Road Scholar program. This gentleman gave so much of himself to our participants, utilizing his social and academic connections to open doors to private collections and unseen rooms in the country’s many amazing museums. His graciousness and generosity was so heartfelt; everyone loved him. I learned so much about Turkey’s social and artistic history from him, and we became lifelong friends and until he died last year during the pandemic.
5. **Integrity**. Moving experiences are based on truth. Travel can be difficult, and in today’s world, there are many obstacles and challenges to overcome. Being honest, sincere and truthful will always help people move beyond any logistical difficulties we encounter when traveling. Your personal integrity can help soothe any rough patches. When people believe in you and trust you, they want you to succeed, and they will join with you to overcome any challenges.

I think one of my favorite memories of a Road Scholar experience illustrates this point very well. I was in Costa Rica with a Road Scholar group many years ago, and we were heading into the cloud forest in the late afternoon, our bus climbing a winding mountain road. Suddenly, we encountered a massive logging truck jackknifed across the road. With a sheer drop-off on one side and the mountain on the other, there was no way around the obstacle, and it was going to be hours before the truck could be moved. Our leader called the lodge where we were heading and arranged for several vehicles to drive to the other side of the truck. They arrived a few hours later at what was now nighttime, and we helped every participant crawl under the truck to the waiting vehicles on the other side, all of us helping each other with luggage and belongings. It was very, very late when we finally arrived at the lodge. People were tired and hungry, but every single person was so grateful and so thrilled by the brilliant way our leader had worked out a solution to a real world problem.

**Can you share with our readers how you have used your success to bring goodness to the world?**

I think people are inherently good, and, given the opportunity, it is in our nature to support each other. I have tried to create a culture at Road Scholar based on kindness, integrity, honesty and the understanding that we are strongest when we work together united in purpose, raising everyone up. Those principles guide the way we work and the way we interact with the more than 10 million people who have experienced a Road Scholar program these past four decades. The Road Scholar network has touched millions more individuals in more than 150 countries around the world, and I hope the honesty we demonstrate in every relationship and the simple kindnesses we have shared over so many years have helped make the world a little better for everyone.

**You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)**

Road Scholar founders Marty Knowlton and David Bianco started a social movement when they created Elderhostel in 1975 — a movement that changed the very fact of how we grow older. My personal mission has always been to usher that movement forward to empower older adults with each successive generation. Elders have the power of their life experiences to help the world overcome its differences, one new friendship at a time. Engaging with people gives each of us an opportunity to better understand our differences, to accept other points of view, to accommodate and compromise, to cultivate cultural exchanges that celebrate our differences and reinforce the concept that there is so much more that connects us than divides us.

**How can our readers follow you on social media?**

[Facebook.com/rsadventures](http://www.facebook.com/rsadventures)[Instagram.com/rsadventures](http://www.instagram.com/rsadventures)[Twitter.com/roadscholarorg](http://www.twitter.com/roadscholar.org)[Linkedin.com/company/road-scholar](http://www.linkedin.com/company/road-scholar)

**This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!**

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Source: https://authoritymag.co/articles/james-moses-of-road-scholar-on-educational-adventure-global-diplomacy-and-finding-purpose-throug (Authority Magazine, Business). Interviewee answers are first-person statements of the guest. Index of all pages: https://authoritymag.co/llms.txt