A Helpful, Online Compendium of Learning Vacations

Photo by Brendan Lally

You always hear folks in the travel industry touting the experience of travel as one that will create "lasting memories." Yes, they'd better be lasting, as that's all you've usually got at the end of an expensive trip (unless you're a souvenir hound, but that's another ball of wax). But what if you were to come home not just with memories but with a new skill? A good investment, eh? As a Chinese proverb says "Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere."

I recently stumbled across a British website called GoLearnTo.com which is entirely devoted to different types of learning vacations across the globe. Those interested in dancing, for example, might find themselves studying tango in Buenos Aires, salsa dance in Ecuador, flamenco in Spain, merengue in Costa Rica or belly dancing in Turkey. Cooking classes, wine appreciation, painting seminars, photography workshops, French jewelry making, music lessons, language classes, and instruction in various sports are also featured. The site even covers such unusual topics as gladiator schools and perfume-making.

Singles are particularly targeted by the site, a smart move as learning vacations are an excellent choice for solo travelers. They allow singles to meet others who have similar interests to their own. And because the group learns together, friendships form in a more natural, relaxed fashion.

Perhaps most tempting for those of us on this side of the pond will be the cross cultural exchange. Not only will participants be traveling abroad, but they'll be doing so in the company primarily of Brits, a situation that can be quite fun for us Yanks.