You did it! You took the first leap by signing your child up for Adventure Treks 2025. What an AWESOME adventure we’re all going to have this summer.

As a first-time family, it can be a little nerve-wracking sending your teenager on a 13- to 30-day trip with a new group of peers and instructors. So we asked a few returning families for advice and tips for our new families to help ease any nerves and get everyone as excited and prepared as possible. Here’s what they said!

What advice do you have for parents or students who might be a little nervous about attending AT for the first time?

“Taking advantage of the opportunity to go outside of your comfort zone, to experience the thrill of the unknown, and to explore new parts of the continent is seldom afforded to today’s youth. Being a little nervous is perfectly OK and normal! Just know that AT prioritizes safety and has super-experienced staff.  And they have always focused on matching up participants with lots of other first-timers so that every kid is similarly inclined to make new friendships.” – Jeff Berger from Cabin John, MD (10 trips between 3 daughters)

“Try to relax. This trip is a dream! Call an AT family to help you relax.” – Brittany Schwartzwald from Atlanta, GA (3 trips between 2 kids)

“If you have a child who is nervous, I won’t say don’t worry (because we parents always do) but know that the instructors are AMAZING and will have your kid playing cards in the airport with other kids in five minutes. My son called to tell me he had arrived and was “under adult supervision” (as he put it jokingly) but had no time to talk to me because he already had new friends to hang out with. We are on our second trip with AT because they do such a great job. Trust their experience!” – Sarah Tueting from Naperville, IL (2 trips)

“I was so nervous about my two boys embarking on their first adventure with Adventure Treks last year. My husband had done the research, and I had talked with AT parents and the supportive directors Amanda and Dave, but still, at my core, I was just questioning if we were doing the right thing. 18 days with essentially no communication… what if they hated it, what if they were lonely, what if they didn’t get along with everyone… the worry and concern that I had didn’t stop. My husband was adamant that this would be a great adventure and would be a critical part of their adolescent development.

WOW, was he correct! The boys (age 12 and 15) had an amazing trip. They had so much fun with the group and the instructors that they literally got off the plane and asked to go back!!! I honestly couldn’t believe how much they gained from the experience. They both got out of their comfort zone and did something that they hadn’t done before. I believe that this built some confidence and some resilience within them that they will lean upon in tough times. From beginning to end, the staff at AT has been great. They are so professional and supportive of the kids and the families. They truly believe in giving our kids real experiences, without electronics, without preconceived ideas, and without judgment. From all walks of life, the kids and instructors work together to create a truly magical and meaningful trip, and I am just so incredibly grateful that we found AT and that our boys are blessed to experience another trip with them this summer.” – Amy Morosoff from San Clemente, CA (2 trips between 2 boys)

“Adventure Treks goes above and beyond to create a supportive and welcoming environment for students of all backgrounds and experience levels. From our very first experience—two weeks in Rocky Mountain National Park three years ago—my son came home already counting down the days to his next trip. If your child enjoys being outdoors, is reasonably active, and is open to being part of a team, they’ll do great. The instructors are incredible at helping everyone feel comfortable, included, and challenged in the best ways.” – Jodi Eppler from Conifer, CO (4 trips)

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What lessons have you learned about packing for AT?

“You’ll never have everything you want, but you’ll have everything you need. Bring flair for special occasions! Hiking poles can be helpful.” – Jeff

“Start early. And thrift / resale/ “buy nothing” groups are your friends. You absolutely want merino wool and good waterproof things. Break in your hiking boots.” – Brittany

“Follow the packing list exactly!!!! It is perfect—my son was well prepared with what is on the list, and we followed it to the letter. We bought a lot of REI branded gear (it doesn’t have to be super pricey Patagonia), and it was great. He particularly loved the pants where the bottoms zip off into shorts. The only thing he said he would add is a camping pillow, which is a luxury, not a necessity. AT has this down to a science, and if you follow it, your child will be totally set!”

“We’ve followed the packing list each year and found it to be spot-on. With a teenage boy, I can confirm there are always a few things that come back untouched—usually extra socks and underwear! The most important things to get right are quality rain gear and solid mosquito protection. Also, duffel bags are definitely the way to go—no need for suitcases. And prepare yourself emotionally for a few lost items along the way… we’re currently down two cameras over three summers and countless pants with new holes in the knees, etc.” – Jodi

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Any advice for opening day and flying to AT?

“Your AT adventure actually begins when your parents drop you off at the airport to navigate layovers and terminals. Practice leading your family through the airport, if possible, on a family vacation. Don’t be afraid to ask for help from a member of the airline staff and give yourself plenty of time. Pro tip: ask AT administrators to see if anyone from your area is on your trip and try to coordinate flights with a future friend.” – Jeff

“It’s a little stressful because everyone is feeling all their feelings. I recommend sending your most stoic adult for drop-off (not me). The most feeling parent (me) went and picked my kid up, and I loved that because I got the full download on the plane.” – Brittany

“My son prefers to arrive on the early side of the arrival window and depart in the middle of the departure window—he likes settling in early and having a little breathing room on the way home. If your child is flying, you can rest easy knowing AT staff are true pros at making travel days smooth and stress-free. On opening day, goodbyes tend to be quick by design, which actually helps the kids shift into ‘adventure mode’ and start bonding right away.” – Jodi

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Any tips for how parents should spend their time while kids are away at AT?

“My wife spends her time looking at pictures from AT on the website, but I don’t recommend [only doing] that…” – Jeff

“Go take your own adventure!” – Brittany

“Know that no news is good news while they are away… it means your child is having a blast and doing awesome.” – Sarah

“Our son has been going to sleepaway camp since he was in first grade. So sending him off to try a new adventure with new people is secondhand for us. And we find ourselves enjoying camp prep. He looks forward to the break to travel and try new things with new people… to escape the stress and anxiety of middle school. We spend the time recharging as parents and giving our other son some undivided attention.” – Katie Porwick from Normal, IL (2 trips)

“This is probably the hardest part—for us, anyway! Even after three trips, we still anxiously wait for photo and blog updates just to catch a glimpse of our son. It’s totally normal if your child’s group doesn’t post as many pictures as others; every group is different. And try not to read too much into the photos—if your kid is standing alone or not smiling in one shot, it doesn’t mean they’re having a tough time (though I know that’s easier said than done!).” – Jodi

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Any other words of wisdom?

“Make sure your kid is fit! Prep and do some practice hikes with your kid.” – Brittany

“Our son made some great friends—he is going to visit one of them in a few weeks! And a group of them decided to take this summer’s trip together. I totally underestimated the power of no names or contact before the trip so that the kids can just meet each other and get to know each other at face value, without the social media definitions that seem to follow us everywhere. It’s fantastic because they can just be who they are and make friends ‘old school’—just by hanging out and talking.” – Sarah

“One thing I would strongly encourage: Help your child be physically prepared before the trip. These adventures are physically demanding, and we’ve heard of trips being cut short or adjusted because a few students weren’t quite ready for the physical challenge. Being in shape makes the experience more enjoyable—not just for your child, but for the whole group.” – Jodi

As parents, it can be hard to imagine sending your child away for two to four weeks in the summer. Not having direct, continuous communication with your kids is rare these days, and often it’s parents who are more nervous about going to camp than their kids! (Here’s a great article about how parents can alleviate their own anxiety about their kids going to camp.)

But don’t forget: The many benefits of summer camp and outdoor adventures should far outweigh any parental hesitation. Below, we outline why tech-free summer programs are a necessary investment in your child’s future.

Friendships and social connections

In Jonathan Haidt’s recent book The Anxious Generation, he points out that kids’ time spent playing with friends (in real life, not online) has plummeted since the rise of smartphones. Summer camp has phenomenal benefits for children’s social development:

• It helps combat anxiety and loneliness caused by lack of in-person connection.
• It introduces them to a whole new group of people they probably otherwise never would have met.
• It provides the opportunity to immerse oneself into a brand-new community, which teaches kids how to get along with peers from different backgrounds and varied hobbies, interests, personalities, and belief systems.
• It shows kids how to find commonalities among new friends to create tight bonds and that our world is much bigger than they originally thought.
• It also gives kids the chance to be themselves—not someone they’re pigeon-holed into being at school, or a persona they think they should adopt based on social media’s standards.

Yes, kids can—and should!—do hard things

All too often, children are told they cannot do something, as parents think it is too hard. Even not giving your child the chance to do something (because you’re not sure if they can handle it) sends the message that you don’t believe in their abilities or strengths.

Camps operate with the kids in mind and help them find their inner strength. Adventure Treks has 33 years of experience working with kids in the outdoors. We know our students can climb Mt. St. Helens and conquer 10 miles in a day with 4,500 feet of elevation gain. We know they can hike in the woods for five days, with everything they need on in their backpack. We know they can learn to manage negative feelings in a constructive way and receive feedback on how to grow. We know they can navigate an airport by themselves. We know they can have fun outside in bad weather. In fact, we know that not only can do they do it, but they’ll thrive with the opportunity!

Challenges are important for adolescents because it allows them to push the boundaries of what they thought was possible. Facing challenges helps them:

• Build confidence in themselves.
• Develop problem-solving skills.
• Adopt a more positive and growth-oriented mindset because they might not actually succeed the first time. And that’s OK! They should be given the opportunity to fail (at AT, it’s in a safe, supportive environment)—and the chance to pick themselves back up and try again.
• Grow a stronger sense of resilience and work ethic, and the attitude that “I can do anything if I put the work in.”

Letting kids face challenges and do hard things at camp translates seamlessly to life at home. On the first day of school, they’ll stand a little taller, less intimidated by new faces because they learned at camp that they can indeed make friends with anyone. They’ll try to run a little faster at track because they believe in themselves, or be inspired to join the science club because they found a new passion at camp, or better prioritize their homework because they learned time management skills during the summer.

Don’t sell your kids short. Give them some credit and let them do hard things. It’s not only good for them—it’s crucial to their development into healthy, competent young adults.

Tech-free

I’ll reference Anxious Generation again (we’ll be posting a longer blog on this book soon), which dives into the decline of a play-based childhood and the rapid rise of the phone-based childhood. It’s no secret that kids spend too much time immersed in social media or video games. Parents oftne lament the difficulty of prying their children’s eyes away from screens. But there is hope!

Adventure Treks (like many camps) is completely tech-free—students hand over phones immediately upon arrival. They soon learn how rewarding and refreshing it is to not be bombarded with everything the digital world throws at them. They don’t worry about how many likes they got an TikTok because they’re feeling liked and appreciated in person! It is probably one of the most important resets to their brains that we can give them.

Leadership and responsibility

Adventure Treks allows teenagers to step up and lead their peers with guidance and support from our instructors. Back to Anxious Generation: As we continue to give our kids more freedoms as they mature, so too should their responsibilities increase. Trusting teenagers and charging them with productive tasks gives them a greater sense of purpose and helps them feel useful and valued. It also keeps them grounded and more deeply connected to the people around them. At Adventure Treks, teens have endless opportunitities to take on leadership roles, like:

• Taking responsibility for themselves at the airport, for example, when they’re flying to Adventure Treks (often traveling solo for the first time).
• Becoming leader of the day for their backpacking groups, helping plan the day and navigate on trail.
• Cooking meals for each other, ensuring that everyone gets enough food to eat.
• Taking part in food shops and learning how to navigate a grocery store, manage a budget, and buy food for a large group.

Harvard agrees: In an ongoing 75-year study, researchers found that kids who do chores are more successful as adults because they adopted a solid work ethic early on. At Adventure Treks, students will take on different tasks around camp to make sure our trip runs smoothly; they’ll help wash dishes, set up and take down camp, organize gear, and so on. They learn how valuable pitching in is, and they see it as not just work—but as a way to connect with those around you, and as a way to care more deeply about the community you’re in.

Our instructors guide our students into these roles and then take a step back, giving students a real voice. Staff will provide feedback if and when needed, and debrief how that student’s leadership role went. What a great “low consequence” way to learn to lead!

Positive social environment

As teens go through middle and high school, the pressures of drugs, alcohol, and the “party side” of being a teenager increase. Summer camps show students that they can have even more fun and make greater friendships without those kinds of pressures. Our traditions, like plus / delta during evening meeting, shows students the value of publicly recognizing others for their hard work and acts of kindness and service, which in turn encourages everyone to be their best self.  Our instructors act as role models, helping espouse great values that every family can appreciate, like kindness, selflessless, respect, and wholesome silliness.

Personal challenges

Your child will at some point struggle in life—it’s important to learn at a young age that this is not a bad thing, but rather something that makes us stronger and better. At camp, a personal challenge might look like homesickness, or learning how to have interpersonal conflict, or pushing yourself forward on an uphill trail. If we see our students engaged in too challenging a struggle, we’ll step in and provide support and guidance—they won’t be alone. By facing personal challenges at camp, they’ll learn strategies to help them face anything head-on—and they’ll be well-equipped to leave home after high school and live on their own.

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Being able to lead a group, make genuine social connections, do hard things, be a crucial member of a thriving community—these are all important in the workplace and life! When you send your child to camp, you’re not only setting them up for a life-changing summer, you’re also providing them with the tools to succeed later in life.

[button url=”https://www.adventuretreks.com/enroll/” target=”_blank”] Commit to the investment now and enroll for the summer [/button]

Earlier this fall, Dmac and I took a scouting trip to Norway. WOW—what a SPECTACULAR place! When planning or debuting a new trip, it’s important that we visit these new locations to meet with our in-country guides and check out all aspects of the itinerary ourselves.

Check out our scouting trip gallery below! It was quite rainy in the national park while we were there, but weather is typically much warmer, drier, and blue sky-er in summer months! 

What do we do on a scouting trip?

Meet with our in-country partners and guides

When working with any new partners, meeting them in person is crucial to making sure it’s a mutually good fit and that we’re on the same page for working to create the best experience possible for our students. These in-person visits follow many hours of vetting over multiple Zoom, phone, and email conversations. We choose in-country partners who have experience working with teenagers in the outdoors and have excellent reputations for safety and fun.

This also gives us the chance to meet some of their guides—we can often hand-pick specific people we’d like to work with our students (these folks not only guide us through the trip itself, but become just as central to our community as our instructors). In Norway, for example, we spent our via ferrata day with Iain, an experienced guide from Ireland who’s also a whitewater kayaking coach and rock climber with a long history of working with teens outdoors.

Lastly, spending face time with our partners gives us the opportunity to talk about Adventure Treks’ program goals, gush about our students, and get our guides as excited to meet them as we always are.

Walk through the itinerary

We don’t visit a new location just to say we’ve been there! We walk (quite literally) through as much of the itinerary as we can. That way, we’re well-versed in the actual trails and rivers, possible challenges, where to find the most scenic spots, local knowledge and history, and much, much more. We visit campsites, drive the route, hike the trails, check out drive times, create a menu that features local cuisine, and make any tweaks necessary.

It’s crucial to make sure that physical challenges are age-appropriate for our students, which is why we hop on trail and hike the actual routes we’ve planned. We cannot wait for our students to experience Jotunheimen National Park and the fjords—the landscape is simply magical!

Make any necessary changes

After running through the itinerary, we’ll discuss possible changes to the planned itinerary and create backup plans just in case. There’s so much to experience in only 16 days that we want to to make sure our students get the absolute most of of their trips!

What our students will love about Norway

We cannot overstate how beautiful the Nordic landscape is. Once you drive out of the cities and head north, you become surrounded by towering mountain ranges. Tumbling waterfalls cascade hundreds, maybe thousands, of feet down the cliffsides EVERYWHERE you look. Mountain spring water is so clean that locals drink it right out of the stream.

The sea kayak route in Nordfjord is gorgeous; students will love gliding through the dark blue waters, surrounded by grazing sheep on surrounding bluffs. One of our campsites is nestled in a remote valley right next to a pristine river—beautiful!

I’m excited for our students to hop on the Hornelen via ferrata. Fun fact: Our in-country partner was the driving force between getting the Norwegian government to build this into the cliff. There are multiple routes of varying difficulty, so similar to rock climbing, students will be able to choose their challenge as they traverse, downclimb, and ascend Hornelen. No matter which route they complete, they’ll feel a great sense of accomplishment—and the views are nonstop!

Jotunheimen was perhaps our favorite part of the trip. Our backpacking route will take students next to many alpine lakes, whose deep, alluring teal waters eclipse even the emerald waters of the North Cascades in Washington (one of our favorite places to paddle in the US). Well-marked paths have been carefully carved through the hillsides, and Norway’s “right to roam” laws (aka allemannsretten) means we’ll have our choice of magnificent campsites. Trails are challenging but accessible—perfect for AT students.

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This is going to be an utterly unforgettable experience for our students. We cannot wait for them to experience the wonder that is Norway!

If you’re anything like me, the next-best thing to going on an epic adventure is reading about someone else’s! At the same time, I can only handle so many memoirs about climbing Everest before I start to wonder what else counts as adventure, exploration, or going beyond a “normal” life. Below are some of my favorite recommendations—books inspired by adventure, the natural world, personal development, or all of the above. These are stories of expeditions, experiments, and triumphs of many kinds.

Disclaimer: unless otherwise noted, these books are written for an adult audience, and therefore may include adult themes and language.

Spirit Run: A 6,000-Mile Marathon Through North America’s Stolen Land, by Noe Alvarez (memoir)

This epically cool book is both a memoir and a collection of stories, as Alvarez chronicles an intense journey through North America in his own voice and the voices of others he meets along the way. The following is from the literature of the group he runs with, called Peace and Dignity Journeys, and is quoted in the book as well:

“Peace and Dignity Journeys occur every four years and start with Indigenous runners on opposite ends of the continent (Chickaloon, Alaska, and Tierra del Fuego, Argentina). They run for six months through hundreds of Indigenous communities where they participate in their respective spiritual practices and traditions; spark dialogue on the issue of peace and dignity for Indigenous peoples; model their responsibility to Mother Earth, Father Sky, communities, and themselves; and receive the community’s prayers. These prayers and conversations are then carried to proceeding communities until the runners reach the center of the hemisphere.”

The two groups meet at the Panama Canal in a ceremony of unity. Pick this one up to learn quite a lot about a variety of Indigenous peoples’ traditions and beliefs, as well as the social aspects of organizing a multicultural event.

The Signature of All Things, by Elizabeth Gilbert (fiction)

I’ll be the first to say it—this is a slow read. However, anyone who has ever been on a hike with me (or a walk, or simply been outside in my presence) can tell you that the thrilling amount of information about mosses (bryophytes!) in this book is enough to make a person obsessed for the rest of their days. This is an adventure through the eyes of a botanist, and very worth reading if only to be immersed in Gilbert’s beautiful storytelling and description of natural spaces.

Lab Girl, by Hope Jahren (memoir)

Hope Jahren is a geobiologist and an award-winning author. Her relatable memoir has much to say about the experience of a woman in science, mental health, and friendship, all intertwined with nearly unending knowledge of trees and other plants.

Hoot, by Carl Hiaasen (fiction, young readers)

Carl Hiaasen’s colorful novels are a treat for all audiences, but his series of novels for young readers is surprisingly silly and heartfelt for any age of reader. Hoot chronicles the creation of an animal-rights activist as a young man stands up for a family of owls, and Flush tackles water pollution with a quirky cast of characters. Like Hiaasen’s novels for adults, his books for young readers are set in Florida and overflow with exploration of one of the country’s wildest habitats.

The Forest Unseen: A Year’s Watch in Nature, by David George Haskell (nonfiction)

If you enjoyed My Octopus Teacher on Netflix, this is the book for you! The author visits a small patch of the local forest each day for a year to observe the myriad of things happening within it. This is, surprisingly, really not a memoir! Haskell writes poetically about his observations, then focuses deeply on the science behind what he sees, and sometimes connects spirituality with the natural world.

Wildwood, by Colin Meloy (fiction, young readers)

This adventurous tale about an impassable wilderness and a brave girl’s expedition into it is written for young readers, but is a lighthearted and compassionate adventure read for any age. You know how Harry Potter is immensely enjoyable even when you’ve well outgrown the age of person it was written for? Meloy crafts a similar atmosphere—there are magical elements, talking animals, and mystery, all beautifully told. Enjoy it as a light read on vacation or before bed!

A few more Adventure Treks book recommendations:

• Rooted: Life at the Crossroads of Science, Nature, and Spirit, by Lyanda Lynn Haupt (nonfiction)
• To Shake the Sleeping Self, by Jedediah Jenkins (memoir)
• Dogs on the Trail: A Year in the Life, by Blair Braverman (photo story. Check out her other work on living in the Arctic and working with sled dogs—it’s fascinating.)
• Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer (nonfiction), and The Overstory, by Richard Powers (fiction), both reviewed by AT staff here.