“Becoming a leader – Working as a team, spotting, encouragement, standing proud.  I was told I was something, but I didn’t quite believe it until this trip. Thank you.” -Lura Offering scholarships to financially disadvantaged students is something The Road Less Traveled has been committed to since our inception. Each year a minimum of 10% of our students are young men and women who receive between 10-100% financial aid. A summer with RLT gives students the opportunity to see the world in new ways.  Their participation enriches our programs and the world. If you would like to help us continue providing life changing travel opportunities for young people from all walks of life, please consider donating to our scholarship fund. “Well, it’s the beginning of a new month and a new experiment in life. So far everything from little to big has become a new part of life for everyone. We have found a way to come together as a team and a group, from individuals to a whole. It takes more than one to make a dream come true.” [...]

Our 2013 season is around the corner and we here in the Chicago office couldn’t be more excited to get into the field.  What makes us particularly eager is knowing that we will get to spend another summer working with our outstanding returning staff! Here is a short list of some leaders who will join us for 2013 and where they will be leading! Is your leader returning? Three-time leader Chris Emme is back this summer to lead our Footsteps of Giants program in Norway. Former Service Leadership leader, Sarice Greenstein, will be leading our El Sendero program in Costa Rica this summer.  We’re glad she’s back after a year off! From the Gulf Coast to Colorado & Utah last summer, Hannah Russell-Goodson is ready to come back and lead a stellar program to Panama. Our veteran leader and adventurer Ross Kimball will return to lead our Conservation is the Key program in Florida.- We’re happy to announce that Bradley Halpern is joining us again this summer on our Pachamama program in Peru.  As a teen, he was a participant on [...]

As the end of the school year approaches and everyone is deciding the best way to spend June through August, I thought I would put together a succinct and clear explanation of why RLT is the best option for teen summer travel. 1.  Our Staff • We recruit, interview, hire and train the best staff.  Period.  We literally choose from hundreds of applicants to find just the right fit for our mission and summer goals.  It is our understanding that our leader training, in beautiful Colorado, is one of longest and most thorough in the industry.  Covering every possible situation that may come up in the field, we send our Wilderness First Responder certified leaders into the field with the necessary knowledge and skill set to run an amazing program. After they work with us, they are known to go on to do amazing things with their lives.  Here are just two examples:  Caitria O’Neill and Brittany Fair. 2. Our Connections • We have built relationships and friendships with organizations, experts and communities during our 22 years of operation.  Our [...]

A true highlight of working at The Road Less Traveled is our incredible leader staff. Each year we have dedicated young men and women bring our teens into the field for the summer of a lifetime. They are outstanding role models, stewards of the environment, global citizens and representatives for RLT. They come from all different backgrounds, locations and experiences but all of them, without exception, bring something unique and dynamic to the programs they lead. Between the months of September and June, while our office staff prepares for another great summer in the field, we often get to wondering “Where are all of our wonderful leaders now?” And “How have they decided to spend their non-RLT months?” Facebook can only tell us so much and it is all too easy to lose touch throughout the year. Therefore it is always a real treat when we we do have the time to speak with leaders and catch up on their lives more fully. Brittany Fair, our 2012 5280′ and Call of the Wild leader, recently checked in with me about [...]

The Road Less Traveled® is proud to announce that on January 2, 2013, it became one of the first Benefit Corporations in Illinois. Gathered at the James R. Thompson Center fourteen companies took the necessary steps to bring thought and conscience to the business economy in Illinois. On its first day of legislation, RLT was registered in Illinois with Public Act 97-0885 as the first Benefit Corporation. The legislation was sponsored by Senator Michael Frerichs and Representative Sara Feigenholtz. “Since our inception 22 years ago, The Road Less Traveled® has been a business committed to the fundamental philosophy of ‘do no harm’ in business and throughout the world. When we left the corporate world over two decades ago, we were inspired to build a company that, at the end of the day, we could feel good about. We were young, passionate, and determined to make a difference. Thousands of students have traveled with us to dozens of countries around the globe with The Road Less Traveled®, forging new roads through social and environmental service and creating change as stewards in the world.” said Donna Stein, [...]

On December 1st The Road Less Traveled, Life Changing Travel™ for students 12-19, became the 12th company in Illinois to become “B-Certified.”  Our hope for the New Year is to be at the door of the Illinois Secretary of State in downtown Chicago, January 2nd, and also become the first designated “Benefit Corporation” in Illinois. A Benefit Corp is a deliberate effort to change the nature of business by changing corporate law. Benefit Corporation legislation creates the legal framework to enable mission driven companies like ours to stay mission-driven. Chicago Tribune states that Sen. Mike Frerichs, D-Champaign, introduced the bill in the Senate after a Republican constituent brought the legislation to his attention. “It was important that corporations can have other missions, other than just maximizing shareholder value….” Alumni parent, Senator Heather Steans also sponsored the Bill in Illinois. When we created The Road Less Traveled decades ago, our founding philosophy was to “Do No Harm” and share our commitment to social and environmental issues with young people around the world. It was and continues to be the foundation upon which [...]

Join our leaders, activists and friends to support our relentless commitment and work in communities and environments we love around the world. Here’s where we are going come June 2013! Dutch Caribbean, Bonaire Environmental Service: Bon Bini Ken Nedimyer, resident CNN Hero, takes us on an amazing expansion of our coral restoration SCUBA program this year in one of the best places to dive in the world, Bonaire. Learn Basic, Open Water or Advanced PADI certification, plant new staghorn coral and be responsible for the seeding and building of an entirely new reef. Spend your summer afternoons with other teens sea kayaking, sailing and windsurfing in the waters 30 miles from Curacao, 50 miles north of Venezuela, and 86 miles east of Aruba in the Caribbean crossroads – with NO traffic lights! Spend your summer with us on a Bonaire community service trip! Nicaragua Community Service: Valle de los Volcanes A Central American paradise, wedged between the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, this tropic land is fondly referred to as the “New Costa Rica.” Word is getting out – [...]

One of the best feelings for us here at the office is to hear about all of the great things our leaders go on to do after spending a summer (or summers) with us.  Caitria O’Neill, who has lead two trips for us in Norway, has been busy over the last year. After being directly effected by a tornado in her hometown, she and her sister decided to do something about it.  Watch this inspiring video to learn how she has used technology to improve disaster response efforts around the country. In addition, read a piece she wrote for CNN here and see what it’s like to travel with Caitria in Norway. Keep up the great work, Caitria!  You make us proud!