Safety is our first priority and we have an exceptional safety record to prove it. The Road Less Traveled's philosophy is that wilderness medical training is serious business; therefore, ALL leaders are required to have advanced first-aid training in the form of WEMT (Wilderness Emergency Medical Technician), EMT (Emergency Medical Technician), or WFR (Wilderness First Responder) certification. All have CPR training, and many have Red Cross Lifeguard training. Leaders can consult with the directors any time of the day or night through our 24-hour assistance line. We also have a doctor on call at all times and designated medical facilities and evacuation routes in each of the areas we travel. All groups carry ground-to-air radios, phones (either cellular or Satellite phones), and extensive first-aid kits that include epi-pens and antibiotics. Participants wear life jackets, safety harnesses, and helmets during all adventure activities. In vehicles, everyone is required to buckle up.

Any person in average physical condition can succeed on The Road Less Traveled. The only requirements are a genuine desire as well as a willingness and commitment to participate. It is important to prepare for your expedition by getting in good physical shape. Our expeditions are carefully designed to allow everyone to begin on a fairly equal basis regardless of experience or ability. Our leaders will provide and guide you with instruction before and during each activity. (A medical exam by a physician is required upon acceptance.)

There are between ten and twenty-one participants on each program.

It depends on the trip. The maximum student to leader ratio is 7:1, with both male and female staff represented on each expedition. Often times the student to leader ratio is as low as 2:1 while working with expert guides.

Whether it be on the water, the rocks, or even cook crew, at The Road Less Traveled, challenge is always by choice. We ask that you try new things and keep an open mind, but we also provide alternatives to meet every skill and comfort level.

While on the road, we travel in new air-conditioned vans, meticulously maintained to ensure that your trip is comfortable, safe, and trouble-free. The vans are complete with radios, CD players, and iPod connectors when available. To ensure plenty of room inside the vans, there are trailers for our gear.

Vehicles are used only for transportation between activities, and to-and-from the airport.

Food and nutrition are important to all of us, but they become far more important when we are expending additional energy. We follow daily recommendations for food using the food pyramid as a guide, and purchase food as we travel. Everyone engages in the planning and preparation of a variety of fresh, creative, and nutritional meals three times daily. We have plenty of tasty recipes for our cook crews.

It depends on what "special" means. Our meals always include the four basic food groups. We do require that each participant eat well-balanced meals. If you are a vegetarian, we respect your beliefs and will do our best to prepare any meat dishes separate from the veggies. Allergies and Kosher diets can be accommodated for on most programs.

RLT participants are a diverse population from across the country and world. They come from different social, financial and ethnic backgrounds. They are intelligent young people who are curious and willing to take risks and share the load. They have an interest in grasping a broader sense of responsibility and a larger understanding of the physical world. They want to meet new people and cultivate a greater appreciation of the outdoors.

We are a co-ed expedition company. You will be hanging out with each other, but when it comes to sleeping arrangements, you are separated: girls with girls, boys with boys. (A participant found in the tent of a member of the opposite sex will be sent home.)

Two people share a four-person tent to ensure ample room for you and your gear. In the backcountry, you will double up with another tent pair in order to cut down on weight and impact to the area.

We typically discourage anyone from coming with a friend. Sometimes, however, we will allow friends to come together if they both understand that we require each person who joins us to put as much energy into everyone else on the trip as they will into their friend. Pairings or cliques are not allowed (girl-girl, boy-boy, girl-boy). We find it detracts from the group experience. We limit how many people can come from any one area to assure a broad geographic distribution.

Our policy is that participants may call home three times: when they arrive safely at the airport, during the middle of the trip, and just before they get on the plane home. During the expedition, we restrict calls to emergencies with the belief that calls home consume valuable time on the road. Imagine fifteen people making ten-minute calls home on one working pay phone. Then imagine one person not able to get through. Calls home also pull us away from our group and the experience. We have weekly mail stops for care packages and letters. Everybody loves to get letters!

On our domestic programs, we will stop in a designated town to pick up mail at the post office about once a week. A list of these addresses will be provided to you in your Travelers Information Packet. Due to time constraints, most of our international programs are not able to receive mail.

 A TIP is sent to you upon your acceptance in the program. It describes everything you need to know for your RLT summer program: flight information, health tidbits, medication information, release forms, medical forms, etc.

New airline and airport security measures currently in place forbid anyone other than ticketed passengers or adult escorts of ticketed, unaccompanied minors beyond security checkpoints. Currently, the best place for us to meet you is at the baggage claim area (unless you are an unaccompanied minor, in which case special permission and arrangements may be made for an RLT staff member to greet you at the gate). When you arrive at the airport, our staff will be waiting for you at a pre-determined location - at your baggage claim area or just outside the security check point. We will keep you advised of any changes due to security policies.