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The Age of Reason:
Ages 55 and Up



Sails and Sunsets
Island-Hopping in the Aegean Sea

Temperate azure seas, salubrious breezes, evenings spent sipping ouzo in tiny harbor tavernas in Greece's Dodecanese archipelago: Can there be a better reward for a life well lived? The 163 islands, some of them unnamed, only 26 inhabited, all of them with uncountable coves and beaches, are perfect for warm-weather, line-of-sight sailing. Emmanuel Allot, a spokesman for the Moorings, an international yacht-rental service, recommends chartering a boat out of Cos and sailing north for a week ($2,626 a week from June through September, $2,031 a week from October to May; www.moorings.com). Then, if time permits additional days at sea, sail south to Rhodes. On the northbound leg you should call at Kalimnos, sail up an impressive, fjordlike passage to Vathi, and share your evening table with sponge fishermen in an untouristed taverna that serves the day's catch. On Patmos you can walk up to a mountaintop monastery and see most of the Dodecanese. Then continue to Samos. Southbound calls might be at Nissiros, Piscopi, Halki, and medieval Rhodes, with a return via Simi. The Moorings offers boats from 32 to 50 feet (10 to 15 meters) with two to five cabins, either skippered ($1,379 additional a week, including cook) or bareboat. If your skills are rusty, head out with a captain for a few days
to brush up, then proceed on your own—into the sunset.
 

Grottoes and Great Walls
Cultural Trekking in China
Even as China hurtles toward global dominance, its true allure lies in its venerable past. Geographic Expeditions' Classic China trip ($5,795 for 17 days, including lodging, most meals, and domestic airfare; www.geoex.com) nods to the country's must-see wonders—the Forbidden City is a given—but endeavors to probe beyond the usual China checklist. You'll wander the mystifying Longmen Grottoes in Luoyang, where tens of thousands of Buddhist statues and myriad fifth-century frescoes fill labyrinthine caves. You'll explore villages in mountainous Lijiang, tasting steeped bowlfuls of local tea. You'll visit a more distant section of the Great Wall than most itineraries permit, where you can better marvel at walkways and watchtowers stretching into green hills. A GeoEx private journey, a bespoke option (prices vary), could include hiking in Guizhou Province, in rugged limestone karst country, or trekking along the Dragon's Backbone in Longsheng, where dramatic rice terraces ascend steep mountains. Overnight at Jinshangling, then stroll the Great Wall at sunrise to appreciate that today's China is still a mystical and venerable beauty.
 

Temples and TLC
Relief Riding in Rajasthan
The greatest adventures are those with purpose, and when the purpose is to swoop on horseback through the majestic Thar Desert of Rajasthan, in western India, bearing aid for rural residents, the appeal is obvious. On a Relief Riders International expedition ($6,300 for 15 days; www.reliefridersinternational.com), the reward is in both the good deeds—delivering supplies and setting up eye-surgery camps—and the style of the doing. If spending two weeks trotting in desert terrain and gathering around nightly campfires has an iconic ring to it, that's by design, according to executive director Alexander Souri. "The experience for the rider is just as important as for the relief recipient," he says. "It's about the journey of self-discovery and what we can do for change." Riders average four to six hours a day in the saddle aboard Marwari horses—a tough and nimble native breed—negotiating soft, sandy tracks on unforgettable rides. At destination villages, they help register and triage the inhabitants, deliver livestock, and distribute school supplies. At night, they sip chai or beer around a very social campfire, entertained by Rajasthani dancers. Participants as young as ten and as old as 70 have made the trek—but they're all in search of the ultimate reward: doing good for their fellow humans. Adventurously, of course.

Guidelines: "A relief ride in Rajasthan draws people in their 50s and 60s, even 70s, people who value human connections and deeper meanings, not material wealth."—Alexander Souri, Relief Riders International

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