Trip Leader & Director of Unschool Adventures
Blake’s first big adventures were living abroad in Chile at age 14, backpacking Western Europe at 19, and traversing South America at 24. He quickly realized that a traditional career wouldn’t work for him, and he set about building a company that would let him continue exploring the world.
Blake got involved in the world of alternative education in 2003, when half-way through an astrophysics major he read a John Taylor Gatto book and soon became an advisor at Not Back to School Camp. He is the author of College Without High School, Better Than College, The Art of Self-Directed Learning, and Why Are You Still Sending Your Kids to School? He’s also the former acting director of a wilderness summer camp where he co-led an intensive teen leadership program, a previously certified Wilderness First Responder and Emergency Medical Technician, and a UC Berkeley graduate. Learn more at blakeboles.com.
Trip Leader
Dev loves the kind of learning that changes who we are and how we see the world. He earned a Ph.D. in ecology and later discovered that while chasing butterflies made him happy, education made him passionate. He’s been sharing adventures with young people ever since. In the late 90’s he became an advocate for students and families learning outside of the classroom, and started The Vision Program, which utilizes public funds to support over 600 students in learning however and wherever they want while still earning a diploma. Dev has worked for Sterling College, with inner city youth as a VISTA Volunteer, as a counselor at Not Back to School Camp, and as a river guide. He is most fulfilled when working outside of traditional classrooms, mentoring students to figure out how to lead a life full of meaningful, wonderful moments.
In 2015, Dev co-directed The Adventure Semester with Blake. He has also directed two UA Writing Retreats. Learn more about his gap year programs at The High Desert Center.
Trip Leader
Milla spent their childhood bouncing back and forth between the U.S and small town Germany. They were introduced to the world of unschooling in 2016 when, as a junior in high school, they left to join an Unschool Adventures program to Nepal. Milla became fascinated with alternative education models and partner dance and spent time traveling across the country growing their skillset.
Eventually, Milla found themselves working at the High Desert Center in Colorado, leading gap year programs centered around sustainability and community living while teaching dance to young people. Milla holds a deep love for games, chocolate, community and swimming in cold rivers. They recently moved to Portland, Oregon, to dive deeper into their dance education and works as a dance instructor and event organizer.
Trip Leader
Sydney grew up unschooled in southern California among a quick-witted family that turned her (by nature or nurture) into a professional sass machine. She joined the Not Back To School Camp community at 15 where she later returned as Junior Staff, Senior Staff, and Assistant to the Director. Sydney has participated in multiple Unschool Adventures trips and traveled in England, France, Germany, Switzerland, Mexico, Argentina, Uruguay, and Guatemala. She’s excited to return to Berlin for a full month, and she’s a little afraid she’ll never leave Europe. Just kidding! She could never abandon her dog, sister, and other family members who she convinced to join her in beautiful Bellingham, Washington. When not crushing Blake in Settlers of Catan, Sydney manages a team for a major retail corporation and consumes far too many true crime stories.
Trip Assistant
Vick is a lifelong self-directed learner from San Jose, California. Vick discovered their passion for alternative education and community-building while attending Not Back to School Camp and Unschool Adventures trips as a teenager. At Not Back to School Camp, they found a sense of belonging and gained invaluable relationship-building skills, eventually taking Junior and Senior Staff positions. Traveling with UA to Colorado, Southeast Asia, and Spain, Vick learned cold-emailing, haggling, and conflict resolution, as well as the importance of forming healthy relationships and how to actively seek out what you want in life.
Two years ago Vick relocated to Eugene, Oregon, where they work as a barista (love coffee!) and live in a cute downtown apartment with a lifelong friend and a cat named Morty—the most beautiful creature in existence, according to Vick’s objective analysis. They also enjoy cooking, baking, and learning about geography and queer history on YouTube. Vick is excited to explore Berlin’s art scene, try vegan German food, and bring back new Euro-games to play with their roommates.
Trip Leader
Born and raised in Argentina, Mica grew up devouring books and dreaming of all the far-off places she would visit one day. Her love for nature led her to study Atmospheric Sciences, volunteer at a Nature Reserve, and work as a hiking guide and English teacher in Patagonia. She holds a current certification as a Wilderness First Responder.
Fluent in both English and Spanish, Mica has also formally studied English Translation. After questioning traditional school most of her life, Mica’s discovery of the world of unschooling in 2014 blew her mind and inspired her to volunteer with the Argentina Semester 2017 and co-lead the Humans of Mexico 2022 trip.
Trip Leader
Ari developed wanderlust at a young age and has been fortunate to travel consistently for the past decade, visiting parts of South America, the Caribbean, Europe, Africa and Southeast Asia. She strives to live life doing the things she loves, which lately has meant working as a field instructor for Outward Bound in Oregon and California, exploring the west’s rivers, mountains and canyons, routinely eating herself into a coma, and attempting to play more than four chords on the guitar. She is a current Wilderness First Responder, graduate of UC Davis, and certified sriracha lover. She previously served as a UA trip leader for New Zealand 2019, Southeast Asia 2017 and Adventure Semester 2015.
Trip Leader
Born and raised in Spain, Fred participated extensively in the scouts as a young person and throughout his time at the University of Valencia. But the world was not big enough for him, so he spent a year studying abroad in England and traveled to California three times to serve as a climbing instructor and assistant director at Deer Crossing wilderness summer camp. The Deer Crossing teen leadership program led him to discover the world of alternative education, and soon thereafter, Unschool Adventures. Fred is currently pursuing Master’s Degree in exercise physiology in Calgary, Canada. When he’s not studying or in the lab, he enjoys reading, traveling on the cheap, moving in the mountains, and pursuing meaningful human connection. Fred is looking forward to sharing his homeland with a group of North American unschoolers. He is certified in Wilderness First Aid.
Corey Shooter
Katie Mitchell
Nick McEachern
Zoë Newmarco
Matt Sanderson
Lainey Bein
Zoe Vlastos
Margie Sanderson
Kina Wolfenstein
Ingmar Nilsen
Autumn Star
Joel Malkoff
Addison Pond
Tabi Musselwhite
Eric Viele
Marian Pierce
Hannah Hall
Shona Warwick-Smith
Abraham McClurg
Melissa Townsend
Cooper Westerkamp
Julie McPherson
Logan Woods-Darby
Brenna McBroom
Cameron Lovejoy
Abbi Miller