If you want to travel, but don’t want the hassle that can come with it, take a bus.
Recreation and senior centers throughout the region sponsor escorted bus tours to dozens of interesting places. Museums, resorts, historic sites, adventure outings, if there’s a place you want to visit, a bus can get you there.
Community-based centers, churches and civic groups organize trips weekly. Start there, or try one of the bus companies listed.
Frequent traveler Ron Howard, 69, of Mayfield Heights is a retired engineer who can’t seem to stay home. He’s traveled the world, but you’re just as likely to find him exploring closer to home through motor coach excursions sponsored by senior centers.
He has been taking these trips since 1995 and has been on more than 10 multi-day trips and more than 50 bus day trips.
We caught up with him between his travels to learn why a bus tour is a great way to travel.
WHAT’S WITH ALL THE TRAVEL?
When I was a kid growing up in Cleveland, my family did not do vacations. We would go to Cedar Point on a Sunday, but that was about it. I felt vacation deprived.
HOW DID YOU GET HOOKED ON BUS TOURS?
I kept seeing these advertisements for these trips, so I decided to take one. One of the trips I saw advertised was for (Frank Lloyd Wright’s) Fallingwater and Kentuck Knob. It was a one-day bus trip that left out of Lakeland Community College in Kirtland.
WHAT’S THE BEST PART OF THE BUS TRIPS?
You don’t have to drive and you’re with other people. Generally, most of your meals are taken care of and usually they’re at good places. I find the trips are reasonably priced for what you get.
BEST ONE DAY TRIP?
JKL Tours runs historic and ethnic Cleveland tours. I’ve gone on a lot of those. Many of these trips go to museums that aren’t in Cleveland, like museums in Youngstown or Toledo. There are wine tasting trips, Put-in-Bay, Pittsburgh, Oglebay Park or West Virginia. It’s always better than staying at home and watching television.
WHAT KIND OF ACTIVITIES CAN YOU DO?
I did a zip-lining trip through the Willoughby Senior Center. The first time, we went to a zip line near Loudonville. It’s a lot of fun if you’re physically able to do something like that. The Mentor Senior Center advertises how strenuous the trip is so people can pick their trip.
TELL US ABOUT MULTI-DAY TRIPS
I took a four-or six-day trip to the Biltmore (in North Carolina). One time we picked up the train in Cleveland and went to upstate New York. I went on a trip to Charleston and Savannah last year. I’ve been to Boston and Cape Cod.
DO YOU TRAVEL ALONE?
On these bus trips, there’s generally people who know each other and people who don’t know anyone. Some are married, but go alone. I’m single and I always go as a single, but I’m never alone. These days I know many people on the bus trips.
ANY ADVICE FOR SOMEONE THINKING ABOUT SIGNING UP FOR A TRIP?
Try one, and if you don’t like it you never need to go back.
