We also rent places locally and try to enjoy the community events. I wasn't trying to be disparaging. Sorry if it appeared that way.

I don't know what to make of this post.

Even if I wanted to hunt or fish in Europe, which I don't, it would hardly be worth the paperwork to obtain the proper licenses and permits to do so. And how is fishing a "participatory venue?" In the Dordogne, the fishermen (and yes, they are almost entirely men, but let's not go there) line up along the rivers about 20 yards from each other and sit there all day without practically even speaking. Do you think if I parked my chair among them and tried to chat them up I'd have a REAL travel experience? Doubt it - I'd just be the laughing stock of St-Cirq!

Canoeing? Sure, I've done that, and frankly, floating down the Dordogne is one of the most passive things I can think of. Golf? Not interested.

I've been horseback riding and hiking plenty of times in Europe, stopped in at local spas and enjoyed the waters with the locals, and taken part in plenty of local festivals and celebrations. I guess those were "participatory" activities, but were they any more valuable as travel experiences than visiting a museum that lots of other European tourists were visiting or whiling time away at a café with other tourists from all over the world?

If the point is to get involved in athletic activities, I just think that's a personal choice - it doesn't have anything to do with whether a vacation is more REAL or not.

As for elevators, If I'm in Paris or some other major capital, where I'm out walking from about 8:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. or later, yes, I like an elevator for that ride up to my room after a dozen or so miles of walking all day. If I'm exploring the backroads in Europe and staying at B&Bs and small hotels, I don't care a whit if I have an elevator or not. Elderly people and people with disabilities are definitely concerned with whether or not there's an elevator. People are also concerned with noise - I can't stand a room in a hotel that's on a noisy street. Does that make my travel less REAL? Don't think so.

I find it rather scary to contemplate the Peace Corps as being a source of any kind of tourism, never mind REAL tourism. If what the poster meant was that we need to travel not to just soak up the treasures of other cultures but to understand what goes on in undeveloped countries, well, there's some validity to that, but it's a whole new topic, and not one for this board probably.

As for Swan Lake, Bolero, and Carmen, that's great you get cheap seats. How is watching a performance in Eastern Europe less passive than spending two hours in the Musée d'Orsay?

I'm just at a total loss as to what the point was here - too much stream of consciousness.

My kids go to school in the USA.