If You're Seeking a Mate, Go on a Trip

Looking for love close to home but feeling uninspired? Check out romantic group adventure packages. "There are hundreds of well-priced adventure treks out there that are tailored to midlife travelers," says travel agent Angela Magness of Victoria Travel in Santa Barbara, Calif.

Consider the many love connections you can make on a cruise. When you're not exploring exotic ports, you're communing with each other in your cabin or blissing out on deck watching the waves. With vacations to Australia, Asia, Europe, North America, South America and Africa, Saga Holidays specializes in value-priced trips for people age 50 and over.

Saga is also loosely affiliated with the Smithsonian Institution, and offers educational "Smithsonian Odyssey" tours to Athens and elsewhere. The tours, led by scholars and museum experts, may appeal to culture vultures who enjoy learning about history and art in a group situation.

The international nonprofit organization Elderhostel offers a huge array of vacations to fire both the minds and bodies of those 55 and older. Imagine the romance and delight you'll share studying Shakespeare's love poetry and plays, jaunting through Europe's opera houses, taking a river rafting trip or, if you're a baseball fan, visiting spring training camps.

If nature and wild animals turn you on, epic-romantic travels are available via ElderTreks. Each of the 34 active trips to over 40 countries involves walking, and sometimes hiking, in exotic environs such as rain forests, deserts or mountains.

Through ElderTreks, you can visit rugged North India and a tiger sanctuary to watch the great cats snuggle and play. Or follow the ancient and picturesque Silk Route through the mountains and valleys of northwestern China, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Pakistan. Buy handmade rugs, silk clothing and ethnic jewelry keepsakes along the way.

If you never trekked the Himalayas in the '60s or '70s, you can still experience the romance of hiking through that remote and beautiful region. Overseas Adventure Travel (OAT) offers Himalayan trekking/camping or trekking/inn tours. The camping trips are more off-the-beaten-track and give you more time alone together in nature.