My brother, Lester, and his wife, Ruth, (now deceased), retired Pennsylvania teachers, saw their world – almost free. They didn’t deliver meals. They delivered people all over North America.
Actually, it all started in 1967, when their teenagers lived at home.
“We sold our home and rented another; bought a 20-foot trailer and a new car to tow the RV; then set out on a 22-state, 64-day, 11,000 mile tour of the West,” says Lester.
During his teaching years, Lester was an escort/travel consultant for Travel Service Int’l, responsible for researching tours and setting up itineraries. Ruth used her economic and vocational skills to prepare nutritional meals for Travel Service.
On vacation periods from school, the couple escorted tours to Europe for the American Institute for Foreign Study. With all group tours, the organizers travel free or at reduced cost.
When retirement came, the Christmans purchased a 15-passenger van and camping gear, and established Christman Travel Service Inc., which provided “luxury camping” tours in North America. A few years later, the couple bought a 33-foot Winnebago Motorhome and began taking couples on luxury motorhome tours.
Their tours covered 50 states including the Colorado Rockies, the Canadian Rockies, the Pacific Coast and the Florida Everglades. One national-park tour encompasses Bryce, Utah; Mesa Verda, Colorado; Yellowstone, Wyoming; Grand Canyon, Arizonia; Grand Teton, Wyoming and Zion, Utah.
What about advertising expenses?
Lester smiles, “Our trips have become so popular that we need not advertise. Most of our guests are repeaters – some upwards of 5 tours,” he boasts.
If you have the impression these retirees enjoy their lifestyle, you are so right.
“Most of our present circle of friends are our travelers,” Ruth says, “We visit people all over America, staying a few days – always in our motorhome. We even house-sit a home in Texas while folks vacationed.”
Motorhome traveling continues to be a family affair. They’ve taken their two sons and daughter and children to six national parks. Since 1988, the children, with their families, have been vacationing in Hawaii. Lester and Ruth rent a condominium there during the summer months.
Not one aspect has been left out in making past experience work for the retirees. Lester has taken advantage of his college photography lessons in his travels. He has a photography portfolio of some 17,000 35 mm slides from Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Holland, France, Italy, Spain, Egypt, Canada and the U.S. Some slides are with an advertising agent. Others are used for travelogs the Christmans put together for organizations.
Perhaps the Christmans’ retirement years can be summed up in these words of 17th century English poet John Dryden: “A foundation of good sense, and a cultivation of learning, are required to give a seasoning to retirement, and make us taste its blessing.”
Reprint: 1992 Trailer Life -condensed Carole Christman Koch grew up in Berks County and has been published in numerous publications. She has a passion for writing and has many stories from growing up on a farm to raising children to humorous stories about her and her husband to everyday stories to season stories and more.
