Consider Alumni Travel - Grandparents.com

One of the best ways to introduce your grandchild to educational travel — not to mention planting a seed for future college choice — is the burgeoning alumni travel market.

Virtually every college and university in the country with a large enough alumni base has offered alumni tours for years. Most feature a tenured professor or alum with relevant expertise.

Family-focused travel

Many alumni groups now offer trips especially designed for families, which makes for a perfect opportunity to involve the grandchildren. Stanford Alumni Association reports rising interest in family trips “to destinations that are difficult to travel to on your own, such as China.”

At Princeton University, the Alumni Association bills Princeton Family Journeys as trips that “will allow children, parents, grandparents, and other friends the chance to see the world together. Special learning activities for kids will keep them engaged, while the adults take in the sights on another level.” Among the 2008 destinations suggested for children 7 and up are a marine biology seminar in Bermuda; a raft trip on the Colorado River; a cruise to the Greek Isles; a climb up Mt. Kilimanjaro; and a Princeton Pirates in the Caribbean Sea cruise.

Yale Educational Travel’s current schedule shows three family-focused trips. These include 11 days sailing a 114-passenger yacht in the Mediterranean, a seven-day cruise along the Inside Passage of Alaska, and an expedition to the Galapagos.

Family-specific tours frequently include youth counselors who engage youngsters in activities and outings customized to their interests. Stanford has children exchange letters with Turkish kids in advance, then arranges for the kids to meet their pen pals at school in Istanbul. And children on an Aegean cruise enjoy a chance to race in the original Olympic stadium.

To get the most from your alumni tour, read up ahead of time. Nick Mangini, who handles passenger services for Stanford Alumni Association travel, advises, “You will enjoy the places you visit more if you already have some background knowledge on the history, politics and/or culture. Get your grandkids excited about the places they're visiting by doing the same for them. Teach them about some of the cultural practices of the countr(ies) they'll visit. Learn a bit of the local language ahead of time.”

Occasionally, alumni groups combine forces to bring more diverse groups together for trips. Tour operators may offer similar itineraries to multiple alumni groups, but each alumni organization can customize its own trip.

While you should check with your school’s alumni association regarding such trips, alums can also book their own adventures. University Alumni Travel Benefits, a Parsippany, N.J.-based company, offers vacations at discounted prices to anyone 21 or older who is a member or employee of a participating alumni association.

The best part is that in some instances, you don’t necessarily have to be a graduate of a particular school to participate in college-sponsored trips. Some schools allow you to join their alumni associations for a fee.

8 alumni groups that sponsor multi-generation trips

Here are a few customized family trips sponsored by various alumni associations:

The University of Wisconsin Alumni Association offers a family trip to the Galapagos Islands. Introduce your grandchildren to blue-footed boobies and giant tortoises.

Vanderbilt University Alumni Association is sponsoring a 10-day Family Voyage to the Lands of Gods & Heroes. Youth education counselors will be on hand as participants explore the ancient civilizations of the Mediterranean.

The Penn State Alumni Association takes an annual Penn State Family Escape to the Caribbean. In 2008, this affordable trip is booked into a resort on St. Maarten. For the adults, there’s a special Parents and Grandparents Night at the Q-Club Disco.

The University of Notre Dame Alumni Association plans a family rafting adventure down the Salmon River in Idaho. The five-day float trip will hit class III and IV rapids.

The Alumni Association of the University of Michigan will keep everyone in your family busy with kayaking, horseback riding, snorkeling and exploring Mayan ruins in Belize for eight days.

The Stanford Alumni Association offers a selection of family trips that include Young Explorers programs geared for children. Choose from an Aegean cruise, an Alaskan adventure, a tour of Turkey or Tuscany.

The MIT Alumni Association is sponsoring a family dinosaur dig in Colorado. Children and adults get to excavate fossils in a quarry where eight different dinosaur species have been found.

Alumni at Williams has scheduled a Family Safari to Tanzania in 2009. Children’s programs will be included in the 12-day journey through the Serengeti Plains and the Ngorongoro Crater.