I love learning and teaching languages. I think more expats and long-term travelers would share my passion if they learned a foreign language in a small school abroad while living with a local family.
My favorite type of travel experience is taking short term classes for travelers. I have taken dozens of such classes (learning vacations) in everything from Mexican medicine to elephant training. No aspect of travel has so influenced who I am as a person and how I view the world.
Thousand of opportunities await long-term travelers over 50 to volunteer worldwide. I have volunteered eight different times during my eight and half years traveling around the world and count these experiences as some of the best experiences of my traves. (photo from pxfuel)