Rooted Life Adventures

22/04/2025

Our program outcomes are categorized under four key objectives:

Sense of self | sense of belonging | sense of capability | sense of purpose

Our highly qualified team support our students in finding their inner strength, confidence and motivation to identify what brings them joy and what interests them, so we can support them in identifying, planning and taking their next step ⭐

20/04/2025

Summer in Costa Rica, Spring and Fall in New Zealand.

06/04/2025

Mobile phones and coping mechanisms. Our Wellness Director Micky discusses the problematic dependency many of us have with our devices. Adults, this is one for us too.

04/04/2025

Meet Mechi, our Operations Director at Rooted Life Adventures.

Born and raised in Argentina, Mechi has lived and worked around the world, calling New Zealand home for over 13 years. With a deep love for adventure and logistics, she ensures every Rooted Life Adventures program runs seamlessly.

Before joining Rooted Life Adventures, she spent years managing a traditional gap year program, where she planned and booked 70-day itineraries across more than 15 countries, helping hundreds of students navigate transformative travel experiences—even operating programs through the challenges of COVID. She has handled
every possible student crisis with ease, managed complex safety and risk protocols, and brings extensive international program management experience to the team.

Fluent in both English and Spanish, Mechi offers a warm, global perspective and a
meticulous eye for detail. With years of experience guiding students through diverse
cultures, she deeply understands the complexities of traveling safely, ethically, and
respectfully across different countries. She lives on-site at each program location, serving as a program leader and ensuring everything runs smoothly behind the scenes.

“Let me tell you something about Mechi—she’s the one who keeps the train on
the tracks. She handles all the details, anticipates every need, and makes sure
everything runs smoothly. Nothing would happen without her.” - Austin Rogers, Founder and Executive Director

21/03/2025

Most of the girls who come to Rooted Life Adventures have been on a long, hard journey. And let’s be honest—so have their parents.

When your child struggles with anxiety, social challenges, or just feeling like they don’t fit, it can feel isolating for both of you. The late-night worries, the endless research on what might help, the feeling that other families just don’t understand—it’s exhausting.

That’s why our Rooted Life Adventure programs aren't just an escape; they're a celebration. A chance for your daughter to experience joy, connection, and adventure in a way she never has before. We like to call it 'fun for kids who’ve been through hard'.

Our next confirmed program is our supported six-week Summer Camp in Costa Rica, from June 21 to August 1. Suitable for teen girls aged 14 - 17.

Check out our latest blog for more information on 'Why Our Teen Girl Costa Rica Summer Program is the Ultimate Reset' 💚

We have reimagined summer camp for teen girls by pairing it with therapeutic coaching in a way that facilitates exponential growth for students & their mental health.

19/03/2025

Where do we stay whilst on our Costa Rica program? We stay here! Big thanks to our helpful students who kindly gave the camera a tour.

Looking to make summer 2025 plans? We still have availability on our teen girl program from June 21 - 1 August.

27/02/2025

Family dinners! We know it can be difficult to carve out time in the evenings to sit down for a family meal - we understand the complexities of busy and conflicting schedules. This is why we schedule in mealtimes during our programs, to ensure we make dinner an occasion - every evening.

We sit down all together to eat and chat; we show an interest in each other's days, and we engage in conversation. It's a great time to be curious, respectful and show a genuine interest in others, to give feedback, to be listened to and to learn.

In addition to having a therapeutic coach on program, our Wellness Director, and being able to coordinate therapy sessions with at home therapists, we find that our students get a lot of these informal chats. Dinner times trigger thought provoking conversations and provide students with a platform for self-expression and to become a bit more self-aware.

Our programs also encourages students to both cook dinner and to clean up afterwards. So we find that dinner time is a great, well-rounded experience for our students - setting them up for success in the future.

25/02/2025

☀️S U M M E R ☀️ We had such an incredible time in Costa Rica last year and are so excited to return this June for six glorious weeks.

Considering our Costa Rica summer program for yourself, or for a teen girl in your life? Here's what you need to know:

🌴Suitable for those aged 14 - 17 years old
🐒 Small group size of 5 - 10
🦜 42 days (6 weeks) in length
📅 Program runs from June 21 - August 1
‼️Enrol before 1 March to save $2000USD in fees

Get in touch with Austin and the team today on [email protected] or schedule a call via the website rootedlifeadventures.com

30/01/2025

Are you looking for a program for 2025? Rooted Life Adventures are running two programs - a six-week Costa Rica Summer for teenage girls aged 15 - 27, and ten-week New Zealand Fall for young adults, all genders, aged 17 - 22 years.

We currently have availability on both programs and are offering an earlybird promotion - book by the end of May 2025 to save $2000USD on program fees.

Would you like to talk to our CEO and Founder, Austin Rogers, about whether the program could be right for you, or a young person in your life? Please email [email protected].

Austin (pictured here on right), with Metchi - Operations Director (centre) and Mickey - Wellness Director (left).

27/01/2025

Candid moments of joy 💚

We love a candid snap. A photo of genuine joy, of authentic emotion. So much of what we see online is scripted, it's designed purely for the intention of being shared. We crave for that dopamine hit of being accepted, of approval, of your photo or video being 'liked'.

On program we rewire ourselves, we pull it back into focus. We remove reliance on technology and reintroduce the importance of genuine human connection. Our programs are designed for students to enjoy themselves, to learn, to be inquisitive and to discover new things - both about themselves and about new things they haven't experienced before. Our students find new hobbies, they build on current ones, or perhaps just experience things for the first, and only, time.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words - well we think these ones are pretty special. No filters, no second and third tries to get the right angle, no curation. They're perfect.

26/01/2025

Have you ever seen teens enjoy household jobs so much?!

On program we spend one day a week cleaning the house, doing laundry, prepping and cooking in the kitchen, budgeting, meal planning, and grocery shopping. We learn how to live independently, how to be self-sufficient and how to be well organised!

Our students learn what it means to be a great housemate, how to communicate with others and the importance of holding themselves accountable. They begin to understand how their actions impact others, especially when sharing rooms and living spaces - it can be a complex situation to navigate.

On program, all students muck in and get jobs done around the house, and we teach them how to do it - properly. It doesn't sound exciting, but it's quite incredible how behaviours towards domestic tasks evolve during the program.

If there are any students reading this - please know this is a much more enjoyable part of the program than you would assume, we promise!

22/01/2025

Our very own Mickey Myers, Wellness Director and qualified Therapist, is attending NATSAP Annual Conference on January 28th in Carlsbad California.

Are you attending the Annual Conference? If so, Mickey would love to meet with you. Mickey has provided care for youth in the foster care system and in wilderness therapy settings for eight years, having joined the Rooted Life Adventures team early last year - she's an incredible asset to the team.

Please reach out if you'd like to make an appointment with Mickey by messaging the team on [email protected].

19/01/2025

Our program components - these are the pillars our programs are built on 💚

Any questions? Please comment below or feel free to send us a message!

17/01/2025

We're advocates for structure and health, so Rooted Life Adventures have a day committed to wellness every week. Our programs feature an itinerary of wellness topics we work through via interactive workshops, as we recognise students all learn in different ways!

Here's some snaps from a recent team bonding exercise that our New Zealand group participated in, where students had to guide others that were blindfolded. A trust exercise like this is deeply important for both the student blindfolded and the student who is guiding - for an abundance of reasons. We were proud of our students for both approaching this workshop with an open heart and mind ⭐

12/01/2025

It is not too late to lock in your plans for spring! Are you considering an overseas program for 2025? Or perhaps a young person in your life is? Please get in touch with the team today to hear more about what a supported ten-week program in Aotearoa New Zealand looks like.

07/01/2025

Our Young Adult New Zealand Gap Year Program is suitable for those aged 18 - 22 years old. We know that our students flourish in this environment and find the age range to be incredibly helpful in setting themselves up for adulthood and in supporting their personal growth💚

04/01/2025

What are you looking for in a program? Or, perhaps there's a young person in your life who might be interested in what our students have to say about our programs? Feel free to tag or send to them!

29/12/2024

⭐ Lacking energy, confidence and keen to establish emotional boundaries, our students join us for many different reasons. Hear directly from some of our recent students from the Young Adult New Zealand Gap Year Program⭐

Applications are open for our Spring Semester intake in February - save $2000USD on fees until the end of December, just a few more days to schedule a call! rootedlifeadventures.com