These classes are like a vacation. You just walk away knowing you ve learned something, too. With growing longevity, many healthy individuals now ride a wave of middle age into their 70s, 80s and beyond, gerontologists say. If they see a rocking chair in their futures, it s at the end of an adventure-filled road looming ahead. Add to that a demographic truth, says Hazel Reinhardt, a Minneapolis demographer and consultant.
Young people buy goods.
Middle-aged people buy services, and older people buy experiences. But the attraction is not just to learning. It leans to a bit of the exotic. The aspect of adventure is very appealing. More than 275,000 people each year pluck adventure from a voluminous catalog listing 10,000 programs offered by Elderhostel, the granddaddy of schools for seniors.