Unschool Adventures

27/06/2024

The deadline for Greece & Turkey 2025 is June 30th. We already have more applicants than spaces available—act quickly!

07/06/2024

Attention, young people age 17-23ish! 🚨✈️

Want to learn how to travel affordably and adventurously—across the world or your own country?

Unschool Adventures director Blake Boles and fellow experiential educator Dev Carey are giving a free, online, 1-hour presentation on unconventional travel advice for young people who are excited to try things differently in the name of growth, thrift, learning, and memories.

Blake and Dev will share stories from their own low-cost / high-meaning adventures, plus tales from their group travel programs. The goal is to inspire more young people to travel independently, without feeling like they need pricey organized programs. Adventure travel is more accessible than we imagine!

To register, simply email Blake ([email protected]) for the Zoom link.

Date: Tuesday, June 18th
Time: 10-11am PT / 1-2pm ET

If you cannot attend, you may also request a recording. Parents, you're welcome to join, but FYI—the talk is directed toward young adults themselves.

**Dev and Blake are co-leading the Unschool Adventures Greece & Turkey in Spring 2025, and this presentation also reflects the kind of adventure challenges that those participants will enjoy/endure 😉 A short Q&A about the Greece & Turkey trip will follow.

19/05/2024

Our next teen trip just launched! Join us for six weeks of spontaneous adventure across Greece and Turkey in Mar/Apr 2025. Apply by June 30th.

Six weeks of spontaneous adventure in the Mediterranean for a dozen self-directed teens (ages 14-19) in March/April 2025. Apply by June 30th.

30/03/2024

Parents of self-directed teens: please note that a place called "Not Back to School Camp" exists, and it is AWESOME.

If you have a homeschooler, unschooler, alternative school student, or even an outside-the-box public schooler or community college student from ages 14-19, consider inviting them to join Not Back to School Camp in Oregon or Vermont this summer.

Oregon dates: August 7-21, 2024
Vermont dates: September 3-12, 2024

NBTSC is a place where we've witnessed teens form friendships that last decades. They get to hang out and learn from amazing staff, many of whom are adult unschoolers. There's tons of freedom combined with tons of workshops and all-group activities. It's a blast.

Many Unschool Adventures participants also attend NBTSC, and many of our staff have worked at camp.

The mission statement says it all:

Not Back to School Camp is a place that affirms, inspires, and mentors unschoolers… where campers and staff transform spiritually, emotionally, physically, creatively, intellectually… where profound friendships begin and grow… and where adventure, mystery, music, wild spontaneous fun, and magic prevail.

Register before April 7th to save $150 @ nbtsc.org

20/12/2023

We're delighted to announce Dance Trip 2024: a 5-week adventure across the west coast USA, and the only trip that we are offering in 2024.

Vital information:
• Dates: Sept 13 – Oct 18, 2024
• Ages: 15-20 (flexible)
• Group size: 12-13 participants
• Leaders: Milla von Tauber + one more TBA
• Cost: $5000 + lunches

Applications open February 1st, 2024!

[update: cancelled due to low interest!]

Five weeks of partner dance across the West Coast USA for ages 15-20. Sept 13 – Oct 18, 2024. Applications open February 1st.

02/11/2023

Low-cost + no-cost urban adventure ideas for teens, courtesy of the UA Berlin 2023 group!

These are some of the activities that the teens on the UA Berlin 2023 trip discovered/invented during our month in Berlin (photos). We purposefully do not include most standard, touristy Berlin activities on this list. We did enjoy a handful of pricier outings—like the Berlin Zoo and Charlottenbur...

01/11/2023

Here's what some of the teens on the Berlin trip wrote in their post-trip feedback forms:

“I was worried leading up to this trip, but as soon as I got here, everything fell into place. It just felt right. I would not recommend this to people who are not willing to push themselves. In every moment I was learning something new. The community was also extremely welcoming and the leaders were very encouraging and supportive. The month that I spent in Berlin felt like it forever shifted something for me.”
– Ava

“This experience far exceeded my expectations. Going into it, I didn’t know what to expect. Leaving, I am torn between the thought of returning home to my family and the sadness of leaving this incredible journey and the people I grew to know as friends.”
– Chase

“Unschool Adventures provided a wonderful experience. Everyone here is so friendly, accepting, and supporting. Not once did I feel excluded due to my identity or interests.”
– Nikki

“With this group I felt very welcomed. I almost always feel invisible when with other teens, but with daily check-ins and group games I felt very included and seen. It was a little challenging to be open about how I was feeling in the beginning, but because everyone else was so open and honest, it very soon felt like a safe place to open up.”
– Scarlett

26/10/2023

Final days in Berlin! Photo shoots, epic street art, a palace, an independent travel masterclass, and... cupcakes 🧁

23/10/2023

Are we sick of Berlin yet?? Not a chance. Hostel hangs, Silent discos, Wes Anderson impersonations, Art jams, Horror movies, Blindfold days, and fantastic guests. Living it up every day 🎧🎨🎬

19/10/2023

We've got stacks on stacks of Berlin goodies.
Hippo, stack.
Climbing stuff, stack.
Human tortilla, stack.
Concert, stack.

🦒

16/10/2023

The Festival of Lights had us ooo'ing and ahh'ing, more museums and the East Side Gallery tickled our brains, falafel is sooo goood, partner dance is happening, and after a few rainy days we've started happily enjoying the sunshine. We're also talking more about budgeting and responsible spending.

13/10/2023

A charisma workshop, the Jewish Museum, boba, thrifting, and dancing in the sun—it's been a beautiful week in Berlin.

11/10/2023

No unschoolers were harmed in the second week of this trip! In fact, they've been having a blast 💥

08/10/2023

Late night dances, hostel friends, flea markets, weird cheese, movie nights, and endless public transport: This is Unschool Adventures Berlin.

05/10/2023

One day on an Unschool Adventures trip can feel like three days in The Real World.

03/10/2023

The Berlin trip is about discovering all the amazing things that a big city has to offer that cost little or no money.
In the past 48 hours, our participants sleuthed out an interesting building they saw from a train window, wandered a flea market, found a free jazz concert, attended a €3 organ concert, and befriended a musician at the hostel.

01/10/2023

Our first activities: visiting a flea market, Berlin Wall murals, cafe time, a picnic, aimlessly wandering the city center, and... playing "stalk Blake!"

Also: German breakfast 🤤👍

30/09/2023

We came, we slept, we rode the S-Bahn 🚉🫡

01/04/2023

New Unschool Adventures trip: UNSCHOOLTOPIA 2023.

We will create our own little utopian community, 100% centered on the values of unschooling, in a lightly inhabited zone of northern California.

Dates: June 10 – Aug 23, 2023
Ages: 14-19 (flexible)
Priority Application Deadline: TODAY

https://www.unschooladventures.com/trips/unschooltopia-2023/

Join Unschool Adventures as we create our own little utopian community, 100% centered on the values of unschooling. Apply by April 1, 2023.

24/03/2023

We did it! 🥳 19 teens, 4 weeks, lots of learning and adventuring, and countless kilos of helado. Even finicky Fitz Roy bid them goodbye.

The group is now doing independent travel, with many going back to the USA together and some sticking around Buenos Aires for a full week. Bon voyage, chic@s!

19/03/2023

Perfect weather on our free day = fiesta de hiking 🏔️☀️

17/03/2023

SUN! 🌞 When Patagonia dishes it out, we soak up every photon.

13/03/2023

Language exchange #2! Just can't get enough.

08/03/2023

Taking advantage of a rare sunny afternoon, multiple groups hiked the famous Laguna Torre trail.

All hiking adventures on the Patagonia Retreat are teen-organized!

05/03/2023

Saturday= free day! Some of us woke early for a pre-dawn hike to Mirador de los Cóndores (where 4 actual condors were sighted), while others checked out a nearby waterfall. Also: we had soup.

01/03/2023

Language exchange! Thanks to UA staffer (and El Chaltén resident) our participants had the chance to connect with local teens. 15 minutes in Spanish, 15 minutes in English, repeat. Many smiles, laughs, and mates were exchanged 🧉

27/02/2023

Living together in a hostel with 20 other 16- to 20-year-olds is part of the fun (and challenge) of the Patagonia Retreat! Participants cook and clean for each other, and every night there's a meeting to bring up issues and find solutions.

25/02/2023

SCAVENGER HUNT! What better way to learn a new place? Here are some of the group's favorite photos.

26/01/2023

Berlin 2023 already has 12+ applicants 😎

If you're interested in joining, be sure to apply before February 1st, the Priority Application Deadline!

10/12/2022

Announcing: BERLIN 2023
A month of urban exploration, social connection, and learning how to enjoy life on a budget.
* Ages 14-19 (flexible)
* Sept 29 - Oct 29, 2023
* Priority application deadline: February 1st, 2023
* Apply now!
https://www.unschooladventures.com/trips/berlin-2023/

A month of urban exploration, social connection, and learning how to enjoy life on a budget. Ages 14-19. October 2023 in Berlin. Apply now.