Elderhostel, a nonprofit organization that arranges trips that combine learning and recreation for people fifty-five and older, grew from 220 participants and six programs in its founding year of 1975 to 170,000 participants and ten thousand programs in 2003. In 2004 Elderhostel offered 8,300 programs in the United States and Canada and 2,000 in over ninety countries overseas.

Along with exotic travel adventures around the world, Elderhostel has developed a popular group of intergenerational programs that pair grandparents with their grandchildren in a range of learning adventures. It has turned ships and barges into floating classrooms and created service programs that offer participants the chance to volunteer for worthy causes around the world.