As COVID-19–related travel restrictions are lifted across the globe
and you and your troop feel safe doing so, your girls will find that
Girl Scouts is the best way to travel. They’ll challenge themselves in
a safe environment that sparks their curiosity, and they’ll create
lifelong memories with their Girl Scout sisters. And the Girl
Scout Cookie Program can help to make travel dreams a reality as
girls use their cookie earnings every year to power amazing adventures for themselves and their troop.
Traveling with Girl Scouts is very different from traveling with
family, school, or other groups because girls take the lead. As they make the decisions
about where to go and what to do and take increasing responsibility
for the planning and management of their trips, girls build important
organizational and management skills that will benefit them in college
and beyond.
Girl Scout travel is built on a progression of activities, so girls are set up
for success. Daisies and Brownies start with field trips and progress
to day trips, overnights, and weekend trips. Juniors can take
adventures farther with a longer regional trip. And Cadettes, Seniors,
and Ambassadors can travel the United States and then the world. There
are even opportunities for older girls to travel independently by
joining trips their councils organize or participating in Destinations.
Planning Ahead for Adventure
As you start thinking about planning a trip you will
want to review the following resources. Remember trips for more than 2
nights require Council approval.
Not sure where to begin? Check out the Girl Scout Guide to U.S. Travel. This resource is designed
for Juniors and older Girl Scouts who want to take extended trips—that
is, longer than a weekend—but also features tips and tools for budding
explorers who are just getting started with field trips and overnights.
Once girls have mastered planning trips in the United States, they
might be ready for a global travel adventure! Global trips usually
take a few years to plan, and the Girl Scout Global
Travel Toolkit can walk you
through the entire process.
Safety First
If you’re planning any kind of trip—from a short field trip to
an overseas expedition—the “Trips and Travel” section of Safety
Activity Checkpoints is your go-to resource for safety. Please
see the Council Troop Trip Applictaion. Be sure to
follow all the basic safety guidelines, like the buddy system and
first-aid requirements, in addition to the specific guidelines for travel.
Note that extended travel (more than three nights) is not covered
under the basic Girl Scout insurance plan and will require additional coverage.
Girl Scout Connections
It’s easy to tie eye-opening travel opportunities into the
leadership training and skill building your girls are doing in Girl
Scouts! Your girls can use their creativity to connect any leadership
Journey
theme to an idea for travel For example, girls learn where their
food comes from in the Sow What? Journey. That would connect
well with a trip focusing on sustainable agriculture and, naturally,
sampling tasty food!
There are abundant opportunities to build real skills while earning
badges
too. The most obvious example is the Senior Traveler badge, but
there are plenty more, such as Eco Camper, New Cuisines, Coding for
Good, and, of course, all the financial badges that help girls budget
and earn money for their trips.
Want to include Girl Scout traditions on your trip? Look no farther
than the
Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace in Savannah, Georgia! Your girls
also have the chance to deepen their connections to Girl Scouts around
the world by visiting one of the WAGGGS (World Association of Girl
Guides and Girl Scouts) World
Centers, which offer low-cost accommodations and special programs
in five locations around the world.
And if your girls are looking to stay closer to home this year?
Check out our council camp options.
As your girls excitedly plan their next trip, remember limit your
role to facilitating the girls’ brainstorming and planning, never
doing the work for them. Share your ideas and insight, ask tough
questions when you have to, and support all their decisions with
enthusiasm and encouragement!