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When Doug Madison (Econ’76) visits a foreign city, he wanders the streets with his camera in hand. He always tries a local beer. It’s not uncommon for him to spend eight hours alone in a museum. 

“I’m a bit of a culture vulture,” said Madison, who is retired from a career in foreign currency exchange. 

Usually the Boulder resident travels solo, but that has started to change. 

In fall 2010, Madison saw a tour to Africa offered by the Roaming Buffs, an Alumni Association travel program, and decided to give group travel one try. He went to Tanzania and Kenya, where a group of 17 went on safari with a personal guide. He was mesmerized by the animals, especially the lions, cheetahs and leopards. He swapped his camera for binoculars. 

Madison was hooked. He visited Africa again with the Roaming Buffs in 2012, and has now been on four other tours with the  program. This June he’ll go to Paris with ����������. 

“I took a shot at the safari and really had a good time on that,” he said. “Now I keep going because they are all so interesting.” 

Madison’s job took him around the world. He has visited about 40 countries and has lived in London, Brazil and Hong Kong. Now, at 62, he is interested in seeing museums, art and learning a city’s history. 

On his travels with the Roaming Buffs, he has hiked the Great Wall, strolled the streets of Myanmar and visited the Black Sea. 

One Roaming Buffs moment stands out in particular. In June 2013, he  and a few others were in Istanbul and happened to witness thousands of young Turks protesting their government at Gezi Park.

 “When traveling one often finds oneself standing on the site of historic events both ancient and modern,” he said. “In this case we felt as if we were witnessing a bit  of history in the making.”

For more information about the Roaming Buffs travel program, email lisa.munro@colorado.edu, call 303-492-5640 or 800-492-7743 or visit Colorado.edu/alumni.

Photos courtesy Doug Madison