A Tale of Two Books That Seem Fit to Try

Gene and Adele Malott are a Reno couple who publish a good monthly newsletter, “The Mature Traveler,” and have just come out with a new paperback travel guide that’s either just fair or very good . . . depending on what you want in a travel guide.

By regular standards, the Malotts’ “Get Up and Go--A Guide For The Mature Traveler,” is well written, well done. But the Malotts seem to have lost track of who they are writing for--the mature traveler . In that respect it’s just a fair travel guide.

The book’s promotional blurb notes that travel is “by far the number-one indulgence for persons over 50.” Indeed it is, and almost all travel statistics bear this out. Mature travelers are the leading age group on major cruises, European tours and hotel stays. And the topper: 80% of all luxury travel is done by the mature traveler.

But “Get Up and Go” wants to take the mature travelers by the hand as if they’ve been in hibernation since the Great Depression. They are told sage motor tour advice like, “Make sure car is in good mechanical shape, tires are properly filled and tank is filled.”

For those mature travelers who have been in at least semi-hiberation for years and have not traveled in some time, or for the recent widow or widower whose mate handled all the travel arrangements, the Malott guide is very helpful and full of good advice.

While the Malotts’ “Mature Traveler” newsletter is loaded with discount offerings and good deals for seniors, or trips planned specifically for them, or an occasional expose of those that are just fake offerings, their travel guide has a scarcity of the same information.

They think such information isn’t worthwhile in travel guides. As they say in their guide:

” . . . the least useful kinds of travel books we’ve found are those full of travel discounts for seniors. One recently came across our desk with the pretentious title, ‘Unbelievably Good Deals and Great Adventures That You Absolutely Can’t Get Unless You’re Over 50.’ All the information was old--things that you probably already knew.”

That’s baloney or sour grapes.

My copy of “Unbelievably Good” came in the same week as the Malotts’ “Get Up and Go.” I found it great. It’s written by Joan Rattner Heilman (who, like the Malotts, I don’t know at all) and is now in its second printing.

Heilman’s guide is a different type of mature travel guide. It doesn’t bother with how to get a passport, how to pack, et al. It’s just a great fact- , price- and rate-packed paperback on discounts, deals and all sorts of trips, tours and travel ideas for the mature traveler.

The Malott guide has a good number of these, but is lacking in detail and, on occasion, wrong. They say, for example, that to get senior rail discounts in many European countries, seniors need simply show proof of age at the station when they buy tickets.

It’s not that simple, as Heilman points out. Most of these discounts are meant for senior residents of the individual countries and, if you are able to get them, most have special requirements and blackout periods.

Overall, the Malotts’ 325-page “Get Up and Go” (Gateway Books: $10.95) is a helpful guide for the not-so-traveled mature traveler. But Heilman’s “Unbelievably Good Deals” (Contemporary Books: $6.95; 240 pages) is the much better deal for those who already know how to pack and where to get a passport.

Possible solution: Subscribe to the Malotts’ newsletter, buy Heilman’s book.

For more information: “The Mature Traveler” newsletter, P.O. Box 50820, Reno, Nev. 89513. Ask for a sample copy. It’s $21.97 for a year’s subscription.

Both guides are out this week. To order the Malott guide, send $10.95 plus $1.50 postage to Gateway Books, 31 Grand View Ave., San Francisco 94114.

For the “Unbelievably Good Deals” guide, send $6.95 plus $1.55 postage to Best Publications, Dept. UGD2, 180 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, Ill. 60601.

California residents should add 6% sales tax to either guide.

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A group called Outdoor Vacation for Women is geared to women 40 and older. Among trips is an 11-day yacht tour of the Greek and Turkish islands, Sept. 16-30. For more information, contact Marion Stoddart, Outdoor Vacations, P.O. Box 200, Groton, Mass. 01450, or call (508) 448-3331.

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Jean Feilmoser will be the escort on a 16-day tour of the Soviet Union leaving June 17. Feilmoser, who has escorted senior groups to the South Pacific and Europe, says this is not the “live-out-of-the-suitcase” type of tour.

Offered through Cortell International, the tour includes Moscow; Yalta, the famous Crimean resort; Baku, capital of Azerbaijan on the Caspian Sea; Kiev, and three days in Leningrad.

First-class hotels and meals included. The tour price is $3,150 per person, double occupancy, from the West Coast and includes all air travel, including a nonstop Pan Am jumbo jet from New York City to Moscow.

For more information, call toll-free (800) 228-2535. Other departure dates may also be available, as are other nine- to 16-day itineraries of the Soviet Union.

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Outrigger Hotels of Hawaii is offering 25% off room rates at all 20 of its Waikiki properties.

Senior-class rates are available to those 50 and older, based on space availability, from economy rooms to ocean-front suites. Reservations through the Outrigger toll-free line are required, and proof of age must be furnished upon request at check-in. Rates are effective through Dec. 28, and cannot be combined with any other offer.

Rates start at $30 a night, single or double, at the Outrigger Hobron in Waikiki.

Senior Class rates at the beach-front Outrigger Reef or Outrigger Prince Kuhio start at $60 a night. Upgrades at reduced rates are available at all Outrigger hotels.

For information and reservations, call (800) 367-5170.