As a young boy thumbing through magazines, Tom Grant loved to see advertisements for trips to faraway places.

He'd often take up the ad's offer and send for a brochure or map.

"You could just send away for free information and pictures and I did," he said. "I would get everything I could and just read it over and over."

Mr. Grant, 74, of Zelienople, never lost his interest in other places. He retired from the Perkiomen Valley School District in Collegeville, near Philadelphia, in 1995 after 35 years teaching world cultures and social studies.

He still enjoys teaching and has been presenting a three-part series on world religions this month at the Zelienople Area Public Library. The final class is 6:30 to 8 p.m Wednesday. It is free and no reservations are required.

In his talks, Mr. Grant is focusing on the Islamic religion, Hinduism and Buddhism. He said it is these three religions that many Christians tend not to fully understand.

"I think it's important to understand other religions because the values in a religion have a huge impact on culture," said Mr. Grant, who said he is a Christian. "I think it's not only important that we respect others' religions, but understand them. If we don't, we really can't understand and appreciate their culture."

In addition to accumulating travel brochures as a boy, Mr. Grant collected souvenirs from a friend of the family who was a cross-country truck driver.

"He brought me pennants from what I thought were exotic places, like Arizona," Mr. Grant said with a laugh.

But it wasn't until he was an adult that he had the chance to travel the world, including spending time teaching in Japan.

He married his wife, Marie, in 1993, and since then, the couple has visited 40 countries, including France, Vietnam, Turkey and Japan.

They have chronicled their trips on their website, www.marieandtom.com.

"It's a big world and we want to see it all," Mr. Grant said. "People say, 'Why are you going there?' I say because I haven't been there."

When the couple travels, they try to avoid tourist destinations and instead get to know the local culture and people.

In many places, they have made friends and still keep in touch with them. They also have found that people in other countries tend to welcome Americans and be well-versed in our language and culture.

"People in other countries know far more about the United States than [Americans] know about other countries," he said. "I think it's embarrassing how little we know about other countries."

It is this lack of knowledge that can allow stereotypes and misconceptions to flourish, he said.

That is why he dedicated his teaching career to educating students about other cultures, hoping they would realize that we have far more in common with those living in other countries than we might think.

While a teacher, Mr. Grant also worked to start a student exchange program with a Japanese school, which gave students here and there a chance to swap places. He also had to chance to teach in Japan.

While Japan is a favorite spot to visit, Mr. Grant said, he also loved the beauty of Turkey. He and his wife, a retired psychologist who spent years working with veterans at a VA hospital, also found their travels in Vietnam remarkable.

"With our history there, we didn't know what to expect," said Mr. Grant, noting that because he walks with a pronounced limp from a bout with polio when he was 17, that many there thought he was a returning American soldier who had been wounded in the Vietnam War.

"The people were so kind and openly welcomed us. For them, the war is over."

While illness slowed him down last year, Mr. Grant is feeling better and he and his wife are planning a trip to Greece in the spring and perhaps an Arctic cruise later in the year. They also hope to visit Iran someday, when it is safe to do so.

"We love to travel and will keep doing it as long as we can," said Mr. Grant, adding with a laugh that he finds only one downside to traveling:

"The worst thing is when you come home and no one asks you about your trip."

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