Two trips to Argentina, one to Chile-Argentina-Peru, one to Australia, one to New Zealand, three Writing Retreats (Oregon, Colorado, Massachusetts) and four Leadership Programs (Oregon & North Carolina) later, I couldn’t feel more gracious and lucky to work with the incredibly bright, creative, and kind teens who have joined my programs.

The next two trips (the Writing Retreat in Colorado and Costa Rica adventure) will be led by the illustrious Dev Carey, who I trust fully to continue Unschool Adventures’ *perfect* safety record and high quality of experiences.

What’s next for me? I just signed a 12-month lease (!) with Brenna at an awesome apartment in Asheville, NC. I don’t have any international trips on the horizon (!!). I’m having a lot of fun planning two brand-new programs for self-directed learners: the Trailblazer Gathering for ages 18-22 and a school-but-not-a-school in Asheville for ages 14-19. Better Than College continues to spread+sell, and I’m still passionate about the written word. I travel around the U.S. often for conferences, Not Back to School Camp, to visit my beloved Lake Tahoe and Deer Crossing Camp, and to see family. I love trail running and dream of bagging some really long trails.

Of course, all this was only made possible by the families who trusted me to take their kids to some far-flung part of the world (or supply them with a hostel, wi-fi, writing workshops, and an endless supply of bagels and Nutella). In my new apartment I put up a giant corkboard with photos of y’all to remind me of this. Thank you for making my life possible.

Do you love thinking about what it means to “live sustainably”? Do you want to meet inspiring people who are working on the cutting-edge of the sustainability movement? And would you love to do these things while exploring the lush jungles and beaches of Costa Rica? If so, then our Costa Rica adventure is for you.

When: Jan 17 – Feb 16, 2014

Where: Costa Rica

Who: 8-10 students (ages 14-19) plus trip leaders Dev & Marian

Departure Airport: Miami

How Much: $3700 plus airfare

Priority Application Deadline: July 1, 2013

Learn more on the trip webpage.

It’s back again! The Writing Retreat is Unschool Adventures’ most popular program. This year we’re hosting 26 writers in the iconic mountain town of Crested Butte, Colorado. October 16 – November 17, $1700. Enrollment opens today. Learn more about the program and apply before April 1st for priority consideration.

Trailblazer Still Blazing

The Trailblazer Gathering for self-directed learners ages 18-22+ has more than 20 enrollees! Check out their 1- to 3-minute introduction videos here. June 10-15, $550,  in downtown Asheville, North Carolina. Returning U.A. students save $55 with the discount code “returningstudent”. Go for it!

Sorry, Turkey

I regret to announce that this summer’s Turkey trip has been cancelled due to the degrading safety situation for Western travelers. We hate to cancel trips, but student safety is our number one concern.

That’s all for now. Thanks for being part of the adventure,

Blake Boles
Director, Unschool Adventures
blake@unschooladventures.com
541-728-3227

The Trailblazer Gathering has almost 20 registered participants, and it doesn’t happen until June. We need 45 to run the program. I consider this a great start for a brand new event.

Something new I’m trying with Trailblazer is YouTube introduction videos. During registration, you’re required to submit a 1-3 minute long video that tells us “who you are, what your interests are, and why you’re joining Trailblazer” (full guidelines here).

I’ve received grief about this requirement. Some people complain that it’s too much work.

I agree that it’s a lot of work—I spent 45 minutes making my video, which is only about 1 minute long.

But I think the videos are ultimately worth the effort. Because now, unlike other events, we have an incredible library of friendly faces that show new members exactly who they’re getting involved with. I anticipate that these videos will increase enrollment among those who aren’t previously part of the unschooling or NBTSC worlds, creating a more robust community of self-directed learners.

And some of these videos are simply fun to watch. A few registrants have noticed that the video guidelines are lax (e.g. you don’t even need to be in the video), and they’ve taken the opportunity to get creative.  My current favorites along these lines are Claire and Logan.

If you know someone who would be right for Trailblazer, please pass the word along. We’re going to have a great first event.

-Blake

ps- Check out our the new map showing where Trailblazer registrants are coming from across the US, created by U.A. office assistant Blueberry Keller.

Here’s a bit about the guide:

Do you dream of exploring India, biking across the United States, backpacking Europe, or taking a gap year—but money is a big issue? In this concise book, Blake Boles cuts to the chase, explaining what you need to know and do to run a successful travel fundraising campaign on the website Indiegogo.com.

You’ll learn:

- how to evaluate whether you’re ready to start a campaign
- why to think of yourself as an entrepreneur, not a charity
- crowdfunding basics, such as setting goals and campaign time limits
- the keys to an effective campaign: the pitch and the perks
- how to choose the best funding model for your campaign
- smart and ethical campaign promotion techniques

Think you can just decide to take a trip, create an Indiegogo campaign, and watch the money pour in? Think again. There’s a lot more to it than that—including a lot of hard work. This book will help you summon the resources, persistence, and creativity needed to run a successful campaign and get you traveling as quickly as possible.

All applicants to Unschool Adventures will receive a free PDF copy.

You can grab a copy for your Kindle on Amazon.

Happy holidays!

The mission of Trailblazer is to provide community, direction, and inspiration to college-aged self-directed learners—whether or not they’re going to college.

Read a little more about why we created this event.

We’d love your help spreading the word about Trailblazer to any young adults who may benefit from it. We’re trying to bring in a diverse group of people from across North America to make this first event as awesome as possible.

Registration opens December 30th with early bird discounts.

As a teen, you’ve got summer camps (NBTSC, ETUSC), conferences (LIG, NEUC, HSC + more), regional resource centers and free schools (like North Star in MA, Tall Grass in IL, or Open Connections in PA), and tons of local support groups. I’ve added to this mix, too, with Unschool Adventures.

Such options make it easy to build community as a self-directed teen. Yes—it’s still difficult if you’re rural, shy, or don’t have the resources to bounce between camps and conferences. But the options are there.

Turn 19 or 20, and the game changes. You drop off a cliff, community- and support-wise.

You can still attend conferences—some may even court you—but you’ll pretty much be the only person between age 20 & 30. You’ve aged out of the camps and alternative schools, unless you become a staff member. Support groups start looking like collections of little kids and parents.

College becomes your best option, and many unschoolers do go to college and find great community and support there. But the four-year college price tag is quickly departing from the value it provides. If your interests aren’t academic, will you pay $5,000 – $30,000 per year for the privilege of hanging around other people your age?

This isn’t just an issue for grown unschoolers. Some 18-22 year-olds from traditional backgrounds discover their autodidactic natures in college. I did. Lots of others do too. They crave a community of fellow self-directed learners but have no idea where to find it.

I think we need more self-directed learners in the world. We’re doing a good job of supporting such learners at the teenage level. We could be doing better at the young adult level.

- – -

To this end, I’m designing a big new annual event for 18-22 year-olds. Its explicit mission: to offer community, direction, and inspiration to the North America-wide community of young adult self-directed learners.

Unschoolers and the avowedly unlabeled… college students, college drop-outs, and college never-beens… entrepreneurs, artists, makers, travelers, and those without a clear direction: all will be welcome.

I’ll post more about this event very soon. (You may also join the Unschool Adventures notification list to get an e-mail when it launches.)

- – -

To promote self-directed learning as a viable approach for young adults, we will need more than an annual gathering. But it will be a step in the right direction.

What other steps can we take?

[Cross-posted on Blake Boles dot com.]

I am sitting in a hotel room and find myself thinking back on the past month. There is so much that has happened in the last month and I would like to thank you all for that. I could just list y’all and do it that way but that would result in a crazy long post, and really who wants to read such a long post? So let’s just keep it general…

Thank you for sharing with me in this month of writing. For introducing me to the world of Starbucks. For teaching me how to trick or treat. For sharing with me in this month of writing. For kitchen dancing to the music of dish washing. For alerting me to dangers of them squirrels. For all the dancing. For dancing in front of bars/clubs. For night time runs for food. For impromptu fire drills. For pineapples. For alerting me to all the words I said ‘wrong’. For introducing me to Poop Smoothie, PDQ, and other such games. For showing me with personal experimentation the addicting ways of Catan.

I shall, and am, missing you all and will cherish the memories of this month for many, many years to come.

I thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

So, till we meet again,
Adieu.

I have learned more in this trip than I have in my entire life, if that’s even possible. Perhaps it’s just my perception of knowledge that has changed. I learned to do things that I didn’t even think I would be interested in, like dancing and Catan (which if you don’t know is a board game almost as addicting as crack…. Heh heh did I say crack? Psh I don’t know how addicting crack is, what are you talking about) My mom is always saying that I should do extra curricular activities and suggesting all sorts of things that never appeal to me in the slightest but now because of the freedom I have been given for these four weeks my life seems clearer than ever. I know what I want to do. I want to take blues dancing classes when I get home and in a larger picture I want to live.

I realized that my priorities haven’t been in order. That I’ve been worrying too much about the future and not living as much as I could be in the present. Having only a month to spend with people you love and cherish taught me to savoir every moment and experience it to fullest. This month taught me that when someone asks you if you want to go on an adventure you say yes and then have the time of your life rather than sitting inside and watching a TV show. While that meant only getting an average of 4 or 5 hours of sleep per night, and being a lifeless zombie even with caffeine its been worth it.

It taught me that you always have a place to go. That home is a feeling rather than a location. That when you open your heart to someone they become your family and that if you need or want a home they with gladly share theirs. It taught me that bonds can be made in a night and then become unbreakable in a week. We will always have a support group or a safety net a phone call or text away. I will always have someone to call in a time of crisis or someone to save me.

I was always a bit scared of having freedom. I was convinced that I would eat nothing but sugar and do nothing but mess around on the computer, living in the dark between my bed and a blanket alone save for a couple bags of snack food and a cup of tea. But with my month of freedom I have done incredible things I never would have otherwise. I have walked three miles for a cup of coffee or a movie, died my hair purple, sang my way loudly down main street, gone without sleep for almost 24 hours, walked through a graveyard at night, watched the sun rise and set over the sea, danced outside of pubs and clubs, walked in a hurricane, and stripped inside a CVS after I was sprayed with so much perfume my head was getting fuzzy. Sure I’ve eaten sugar, curled up in bed with my computer, and watched a fair amount of movies, but so little of my time has been consumed by aimlessness that I feel more productive than I ever have.

I’ve realized that confinement is much more dangerous than freedom. Much like a dull knife is more dangerous than a sharp one- a dull life is more dangerous than a significant one. Happiness is the deciding factor as to whether you live a good or bad life. I’ve learned skills here that will help me lead a good one. I learned that with a couple dollars in your pocket and a notebook tucked into your bag you can do anything, and that the dollars and notebook aren’t even necessary.  Nothing is impossible until you tell yourself that it is. Adventures can be made out of a short walk to a seven eleven. A coffee shop can become another world when it’s filled with caffeine driven unschoolers.  That a pen and paper can be the best tool you have; that they will save you from boredom, a fictional problem, and even yourself. They can be a tool, a weapon, and a therapist. I learned that breaking down to a computer in number two font is both liberating and enlightening. That re-reading a stream of consciousness typed in a flurry of feeling, shows you what you are really thinking.

Time is a funny thing and it seems to pass differently here than anywhere else I’ve been. It feels like I’ve only been here a week and already its time to leave. It feels like I’ve known you all for years and we’ve only known each other for a month. Time seems to pass quickly and slowly at the same time and that’s been wonderful and terrible. I wish we were staying longer.

Being here has made me a better person. I feel more confident, strong, and loved. I’ve allowed myself to let go and be honest. To trust people I had only known for a night. I know more about myself now. I know what I want. I know what I need. I know that whenever I see one of you calling my lips will part into an unavoidable smile. I know I have places to go, and people to see all over the US and even a few in Canada. Most of all I know I can take care of myself, and that there are people caring and looking out for me.

I have enjoyed being here more than I can express with words. I’ll articulate with hugs, and cuddle puddles, and the tears that are sure to roll down my cheeks when I leave. I don’t want to leave. But I have to. I’ll miss you all. You aren’t just my friends you’re my brothers and sisters. You’re part of my family and I hope I am a part of yours. Hope to see you soon.

Goodbye.

-Sita

Bowling.

On the ferry to Nantucket.

Nantucket.

On the way to kickball.

Obligatory group shot: 1800′s deadpan style.

Crazy faces.

Just happy.

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