•
Extended overnight trips (Juniors and older): Three or four nights camping or a stay in a hotel,
motel, or hostel within the girls’ home region (for example, Philadelphia, Washington, DC, New York
City, Cleveland, Charleston, WV, Virginia Beach, Columbus, Niagara Falls, and so on). Sample
extended overnight trip: an Ambassador troop from Armstrong County travels to Shenandoah
National Park for a Memorial Day weekend camping trip.
•
National trips (Cadettes and older): Travel anywhere in the country, often lasting a week or more.
Try to steer clear of trips girls might take with their families and consider those that offer some
educational component—this often means no Disney and no cruises, but can incorporate some
incredible cities, historic sites, and museums around the country.
•
International trips (Cadettes, Seniors, and Ambassadors): Travel around the world, often requiring
two or three years of preparation; when girls show an interest in traveling abroad, contact the
Travel, Series and Events Manager at [email protected] to get permission to plan the trip and
download the Global Travel Toolkit from GSUSA. Visiting one of the four World Centers is a great
place to start, but also consider traveling with worldwide service organizations. For example, girls
can travel to rural Costa Rica to volunteer at an elementary school, to Mexico to volunteer with
Habitat for Humanity, and to India to work with girls living in poverty in urban slums. Additionally,
girls may apply for GSUSA Destinations.
If your group is thinking about travel, consider first whether the girls are mature enough to handle the trip.
Determine a group’s readiness for travel by assessing the girls’:
Ability to be away from their parents and their homes
Ability to adapt to unfamiliar surroundings and situations
Ability to make decisions well and easily
Previous cross-cultural experiences
Ability to get along with each other and handle challenges
Ability to work well as a team
Skills, interests, and language skills (where applicable)
Whether the trip is a day hike or a cross-country trek, the basic steps of trip planning are essentially the same.
It’s true that as the locale gets farther away, the itinerary more complex, and the trip of greater duration, the
details become richer and more complex, but planning every trip—from a day-long event to an international
trek—starts by asking the following:
What do we hope to experience?
Who will we want to talk to and meet? What will we ask?
Where are we interested in going?
When are we all available to go?
Will everyone in our group be able to go?
Are there physical barriers that cannot be accommodated?
What are visiting hours and the need for advance reservations?
What are our options for getting there?
What’s the least and most this trip could cost?
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