On Why Enrolling Early Makes for a Better Wilderness Adventures Experience
My name is Lydia and I work on the Leadership Team here at Wilderness Adventures. I’ve been a summer camp kid for as long as I can remember.
I grew up going to camp in the Canadian Rockies every summer, working my way through the ranks from beginner backpacking trips to multi-week canoe expeditions through remote areas of Canada. I went from camper to trip leader, eventually leading backpacking trips and climbing programming.
I eventually found my way to Wilderness Adventures (then called Wilderness Ventures!) as a high school student. Looking back, those summers shaped nearly everything about who I am today.
When I joined the Wilderness Adventures team, I knew I wanted to help create that same kind of experience for other kids.
I love getting to know families, hearing from alumni, and helping students find a trip that they are excited about.
One thing I’ve learned (both as a former camper and now as someone who helps families plan their summers) is that the adventure starts far before you actually arrive at camp!
So, when is the best time to enroll? Our recommendation: as early as you can.
Early enrollment gives your family the greatest selection of trips and dates, access to our Early Bird Discount (the best deal of the year!), and perhaps most importantly, ample time to prepare and get excited.
As a high school student who was dedicated to my sport (volleyball), I had to decide: did I want to go to volleyball camp? Or did I want to go to Yellowstone…? I ultimately decided on Yellowstone with Wilderness Adventures, but as a high schooler, it was so easy for the sports camps to dominate and hold my focus. For me, stepping outside of this box was the best thing I could’ve done. It gave me the break to have fun, be silly, get outside, be unplugged, and come back to volleyball refreshed and excited to dive back in.
When I signed up for my Wilderness Adventures trip, my family and I locked everything in in September. At the time, I didn’t realize how valuable that would be – I had an entire school year to get ready and build excitement.
My volleyball coaches knew I was going on a three-week trip and that I wanted to be in great shape for it. I had that goal sitting in the back of my mind all year. I could think about what I wanted to accomplish, start preparing, break in my boots, daydream about what the trip might be like, and I could start imagining myself as someone who was capable of doing it. That anticipation is part of the experience!
Why Enroll Early?
You have the best selection of trips.
Summer adventures are not one-size-fits-all. Students have different interests, experience levels, ages, comfort zones, and ideas of what sounds fun.
Maybe your child wants to spend two weeks backpacking through the mountains. Maybe they’re dreaming about rock climbing, rafting, or exploring Alaska. Maybe they’re ready for their first independent adventure, or maybe they’re looking for something that will push them well outside their comfort zone.
Enrolling early gives families the most flexibility to find the right fit rather than trying to fit a student into whatever remains available.
And sometimes the right trip isn’t immediately obvious, finding the right adventure is a conversation, and our team loves talking with families about their students: What do they love? What are they nervous about? What have they done before? What are they hoping to get out of their summer?
Those conversations help us match students with an experience where they can both feel comfortable and be challenged.
There’s time to prepare without rushing.
You don’t need to be an elite athlete to have an incredible Wilderness Adventures experience, but there are things every student can do to feel more prepared: breaking in hiking boots, starting to think about the packing list, getting comfortable with the gear.
Plus, you have time to plan around that family vacation, that sports camp, that college visit. You can still have a productive summer without missing out on the opportunity to spend valuable time outdoors! And who knows, maybe an added adventure is the perfect thing to write your college essay about, or is just what you need to come back to your sport feeling refreshed, or ends up bringing you a new best friend you didn’t know you needed!
Your child has more time to get excited.
There’s something pretty special about having an adventure on the calendar for months. Suddenly, a summer trip becomes a goal.
Maybe your student starts looking at maps of the places they’ll visit. Maybe they start following the weather in Wyoming. Maybe they begin counting down the days with their friends.
For some students, that anticipation can also make the idea of doing something new feel much less intimidating.
Instead of “I’m going away with a bunch of people I don’t know.”
It becomes “This summer I’m going backpacking in Wyoming!”
So… What Happens After You Enroll?
For many families, submitting an application can feel like the finish line, but for us, it’s really just the beginning of the adventure. Once your student is enrolled, there is a whole process designed to help them (and you) feel prepared for the summer ahead.
Step 1: Find the Right Trip
The first step is finding the experience that fits your student.
We consider age, grade, interests, previous outdoor experience, desired challenge level, and the type of adventure that gets them excited.
And if you’re not sure which trip is right, we’re here to help! We are here to answer your questions and ensure everyone feels good about your trip selection.
Step 2: Submit Your Application
Once you’ve found the right trip, submitting an application officially gets your student on the roster and starts the preparation process. The deposit will hold your student’s spot in the trip you selected, and it is fully refundable until December 1st! So, if plans change or if something comes up and you can no longer commit, we’re more than happy to be flexible. Plus, assuming availability, if you decide another one of our trips is a better fit (logistically or due to your student’s interest), we are more than happy to move you to a different trip or a different session down the line!
Step 3: Get to Know What’s Ahead
As summer gets closer, we will share information about your student’s specific trip, including details about packing, logistics, preparation, and what to expect.
Step 4: Prepare Together
We want students to arrive feeling excited, not overwhelmed. That means we are always striving to help families understand what they need to bring, what they can do to prepare physically and mentally, and what the experience will actually be like. There will be plenty of communication and information coming from our team leading up to summer!
Step 5: Show Up and Do Something Wild
And then, finally, summer arrives! You drop your student off at the airport. They meet their group and their leaders. They shoulder their pack, climb into the van, paddle into the lake, clip into a climbing harness, or head down the trail.
Step 6: Continue to Carry the Spirit of Wilderness Adventures With You
One of my favorite things about my own camp experience is that it didn’t end when I came home. Years later, I still think about those trips. I still remember the people I met, the places I went, the hard things I did, and the feeling of realizing I was capable of more than I thought.
When my partner Johnny and I were driving from British Columbia to Colorado recently, we stopped in Yellowstone and the Tetons because he had never been there and I wanted to show him the place I had fallen in love with years earlier on my Wilderness Adventures trip.
It was the second time I’d driven through the area since my WA trip, and I found myself looking for the trails I had worked on as a teenager. That sense of connection, stewardship, and inspiration is the kind of lasting impact we hope to create at Wilderness Adventures.
We want students to have an incredible summer, but we also want them to leave with something that lasts much longer: a little more confidence, a little more independence, a deeper connection to the outdoors, and stories they’ll still be telling years later. It is our hope that these adventures serve as a launch pad into their future.
Now, I am honored to be back with Wilderness Adventures serving families and helping them find their next great adventure. I love the connections we make, I love the gear talk, I love helping build the excitement – we are a team in this, so please feel free to schedule a meeting with me!
