Program Puts Visitors at Home While Abroad : A San Diego-based organization will arrange home-stays next year in Australia, Scandinavia, Japan and New Zealand.

Seniors Abroad, the small San Diego-based operation that is entering its 10th year of fostering international friendships through home-stay travel, will again sponsor three trips for travelers age 50 and older in 1993.

Founded and directed by Evelyn Zivetz, Seniors Abroad has been responsible for connecting more than 2,400 hosts and guests from the United States, Japan, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, New Zealand and Australia.

The trips are to Australia/New Zealand (Jan. 22-Feb. 19), Scandinavia (Aug. 12-Sept. 3) and Japan (Oct. 6-27). The trips share the same basic structure: A brief stay and group orientation in the arrival city, after which the group splits into singles and couples for at least three hosted visits in various sections of the chosen country or countries.

Tour members meet again for the journey home or, should they prefer, arrange to visit additional destinations.

Foreign hosts for guests are also seniors who share their homes and daily life styles and culture, usually with local sightseeing included. Travel between one home-stay city and the next is included in the overall cost, as is round-trip air costs from Los Angeles plus hotel stays at the beginning and end of each trip.

Final costs for the 1993 trips have not been finalized, though Zibetz noted that the prices figure to be close to similar trips taken this year, which were: $2,795 per person for Australia/New Zealand; $2,525 for Scandinavia, and $2,450 for Japan.

Zivetz is looking for Californians who would like to open their homes to singles or couples for a week’s stay, providing a separate bedroom, meals and some sightseeing--but mainly just sharing their life style with foreign guests.

In 1993, hosts are needed March 14-20 for visitors from Scandinavia; May 9-15 for Japanese guests, and June 20-26 for Australians or New Zealanders.

It is not necessary for those who sign up for a Seniors Aboard trip overseas to become a guest host at home, though many frequently do. Guests, whether overseas or in the United States, do not pay their home-stay hosts for their accommodations or meals.

However, in most cases, some dining costs and entertainment or sightseeing charges are often shared by the guest with the host family.

Tour members who opt for the New Zealand/Australia trip will visit both New Zealand’s North and South Islands, with home stays there as well as two more in Australia. These could be in Victoria, New South Wales or Queensland.

In Japan, home stays could be provided in the Tokyo area as well as the north island of Hokkaido, the south island of Kyusu or even the island of Shikoku, now attached to the main island of Honshu by a car/train bridge.

In Scandinavia, there will be one home stay each in Norway, Sweden and Denmark, as well as an orientation overnight in Copenhagen.

For more information, contact Seniors Aboard, 1255 Pacato Circle North, San Diego 92128, . Or phone, during regular weekday business hours, (619) 485-1696.

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Vagabond Inns, through its free Club 55 program for travelers age 55 and older, is offering a variety of golf packages at hotels in California, Arizona and Nevada. Packages include two nights at a nearby Vagabond Inn, plus greens fees, advanced tee times and a golf cart.

Locations and courses are:

San Diego--Bonita Golf Club, $130 single, $170 double; Santa Barbara--Santa Barbara Golf Club, $146 single, $184 double; Hayward, Calif.--Skywest Golf Course, $132 single, $164 double; Reno--Wildcreek Golf Course, $135 single, $172 double, and Tempe, Ariz.--Arizona State University/Karsten Golf Course, $116 single, $160 double, now to Dec. 31, then $174 single, $248 double.

For more information and/or reservations, call Vagabond’s Club 55 at (800) 522-1555 and ask for the golf desk.