Get outside your comfort zone. See something new – whether it is a market in Tanzania or the French Quarter in New Orleans. Exploring different languages, cultures and landscapes, we travel with open eyes and minds to acquire a new global perspective and find the best places have no address, and some sites cannot be captured in a web.

Help a community in need. You might help build a schoolroom, an orphanage, or a home. The possibilities are endless!

Where better to learn Spanish than Spain? Travel abroad to Spain and join our Andalucia Mia summer language program where you will improve your Spanish, explore the rich cultural history of the Iberian peninsula and eat tapas galore!

Trekking has an almost spiritual quality to it. Perhaps because it is done in some of the most beautiful places on earth – the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu and among 20,000 foot peaks in the Himalayas, to name a few. Trekking is a journey undertaken on foot in areas where common means of travel are not available – through tiny, isolated villages and past unspoiled mountain lakes - generally carrying a day pack or nothing at all.

Surfing is one of the oldest practiced sports on the planet, having been around for over 3,000 years. Nothing can quite describe the feeling of picking a wave, timing its approach and surfing its swell. On our programs, we start at the beginning and teach you the basics. Whether you are a seasoned veteran or have never stood on a board before, you’ll learn something new and surf in some of the most beautiful locations out there.

Sea kayaks are renowned for their ease of use, stability and comfort, as well as what they allow us to see. On our programs, we focus on proper paddling and steering techniques, as we flow through majestic fjords and past hidden waterfalls. Paddling along a remote coast line is a masterful way to see places and things up close up from a very unique perspective.

Snorkeling provides us with the opportunity to observe underwater life in its natural setting without complicated equipment and technical training. With relatively little effort, we are immediately immersed in an environment where colorful fish and complex coral formations surround us. We teach proper snorkeling techniques so that you learn how to clear your mask and breathe efficiently underwater, as we explore some of the most beautiful waters in the world.

On our program we become PADI certified open water divers as we experience a series of confined and open water dives. PADI is the world’s largest recreational diving organization and we’ll start with the basics working our way up to more advanced diving skills. The benefits of SCUBA diving are the extended period of time we are able to spend underwater, exploring a remarkable array of ocean life.

Sailing is the art of controlling a boat with large foils called sails. By changing the rigging, rudder, and sometimes the keel or center board, a sailor manages the force of the wind on the sails in order to change the direction and speed of a boat. On our programs we practice our skills on a variety of boats, whether it’s a 42-foot catamaran in the Caribbean or a local sailboat on Lake Titicaca. You will have the opportunity to test out new skills or build on previous knowledge as we set sail on turquoise waters and open seas.

Rock climbing provides an array of challenges – the pitch of the route, the type of rock, the difficulty of the climb are just some of the variables encountered. We start with the basics, knot tying, belaying, moving on rock and work our way onto more difficult challenges, such as multi-pitch climbs, anchors and rappelling. Not much can compare to the feeling of making it to the top of a route only to see a view of everything below.

The word safari literally means “overland journey” in Swahili. It is much more than gameviewing from a Land Rover; it encompasses travel across some of the most remote and untouched wilderness on the planet. We experience a variety of safaris as we travel across the Sand Dune Sea of Namibia, the Yaeda Valley accompanied by our Hadza guides, and the Ngorongroro Crater of Tanzania.

Backpacking combines hiking and camping into backcountry environments for an extended period of time. Carrying our equipment on our back, we learn the skills needed to effectively backpack – pressure breathing at altitude, choosing a backcountry campsite, cooking, and Leave No Trace ethics to name a few. Our backpacking excursions take us past mountain lakes, tide pools, and 14,000 foot peaks.

Mountain biking is a sport which consists of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, using specially adapted bikes. Proper precautions related to braking, steering, traveling as a team, weight distribution and downhilling must be followed to ensure a safe ride. We learn the intricacies and subtle differences between traditional touring and mountain biking, as we explore the countryside of Norway.

Whitewater rafting is an exhilirating activity using an inflatable raft to navigate a river, usually done on different degrees of rough water. We focus on paddling as a team as we learn the commands needed to navigate Class II – IV rapids. Our routes take us through some of the most beautiful canyons, valleys and rainforests in the world.

This is a nationally recognized 72-hour curriculum that includes standards for urban and extended care situations. Emphasis is placed on prevention and decision-making, not the memorization of lists, and the learning is experiential, hands-on and fun. The course is designed to provide us with the tools to make critical medical and evacuation decisions in remote locations, and we find that the knowledge we gain can be applied in everyday situations as well.

While mountaineering began as attempts to reach the highest point of unclimbed mountains, it has branched into specializations that address different aspects of the mountain and whether the route chosen is over rock, snow or ice. All require athletic ability, determination and technical knowledge to maintain safety, and our focus is on teaching you the basics as we attempt to summit some of the most beautiful peaks in the world.