20 YEARS WITH RLT: FROM CAMPER TO COUNSELOR

MORGAN AT STAFF TRAINING 2021

Twenty years ago, I went on my first trip with The Road Less Traveled. I did not know it then, but the time I spent traveling with RLT would lead me down a decades long path starting as a participant, growing into a Trip Leader, and now finding meaningful full-time employment with a company in whose mission and vision I truly believe.

This path was far from straight and certainly not clear to me as I was traveling along it. Where I am today, however, is without question a product of the time I spent in the field with The Road Less Traveled as a participant, the opportunities for growth I’ve been given as a Trip Leader, and the continued support I have received from this company through to this day.

I grew up in the Midwest, just outside of Chicago, IL. My family taught me early to value nature and helped me discover the benefits of time spent there. I was fortunate to have access to a yard, local parks and greenspace, forest preserves and campgrounds beyond the immediate area I lived in. The time I spent in these places helped me build a connection to the natural world.

In Middle School, I was able to travel twice with The Road Less Traveled. Each of these trips were wilderness-adventure programs in the Rocky Mountain West. I chose these trips because I wanted to be outdoors, having fun, and going to cool places. Over those two summers, I went to a wolf sanctuary in Colorado and met a wolf, I kayaked on Lake Yellowstone, I hiked in the Grand Tetons, I rock climbed in the San Isabel National Forest, I whitewater Rafted the Arkansas River.

Unknown to me at the time, these experiences were critical in developing my leadership skills, passion for adventure, and deeply endearing nature to me. At 12 and 13 years old, all I knew was that I was having fun and going to neat places. The lessons that I learned on these trips were taught in such a way that their impact wasn’t immediately clear to me. I left these trips knowing that I wanted to continue exploring what the natural world had to offer, but not much more beyond that. After high school, I went on one more trip with the Road Less Traveled and assumed that would be the end of my connection with the company.

I went onto university, knowing that I wanted to pursue a career in natural resource management, specifically the ways in which we manage natural resources for recreation, finding the balance between use and preservation of the natural world.

Four years after my last trip as a participant with The Road Less Traveled, I returned as a Trip Leader. I led three trips that summer: the final one in Colorado. On that trip I visited many places I had been as a participant. We met wolves, climbed mountains, whitewater rafted, and so much more.

MORGAN AS A PARTICIPANT IN NORWAY

What I learned in that first summer was that the growth and development that I underwent as a participant, the experiences that set me down the path I am on today were not happy accidents. What I could see then, that was unclear to me as a youth, was the intentionality and care that went into planning and executing these experiences. It became so clear to me that I was doing so much more than offering a fun summer experience. This was an opportunity for me to make a meaningful difference in the world.

MORGAN AS A LEADER MEETING THE WOLVES IN COLORADO

I was hooked. I went on to work for the Road Less Traveled as a Trip Leader for the next decade. It is easy for me to say that there has been no equivalent experience in my life. The opportunity to help young people grow into more mature, caring, and responsible individuals has been the highlight of my career. And leading trips for The Road Less Traveled provided me an opportunity to work for and with the best outdoor leaders in the industry. My growth as a leader has been a direct outcome of my work with RLT.

And that brings me to the present. I now work year-round for the Road Less Traveled helping to create and develop programs that offer opportunities to a new generation of young people. Although this is certainly not the end of my journey, it feels like a culmination of the last two decades. I am excited to continue connecting young people to experiences and opportunities that help them grow and might set them on a path that gives their lives as much meaning as I’ve found in mine.

Morgan
Logistics and Recruitment Coordinator