About Us

Director Blake Boles explains the history and mission of Unschool Adventures. (2 minutes)

What We Do

Since 2008 Unschool Adventures has organized international and domestic adventure programs for teenagers and young adults. We’re a small company with a big mission: to help self-directed young people build new friendships, unforgettable memories, and the confidence to lead an unconventional life.

Here are some important things to know about us.

Our trips typically enroll unschoolers: young people with large amounts of freedom and responsibility to design their lives and educations. But you don’t have to be an unschooler to join—we’ve also had high schoolers, traditional homeschoolers, alternative school and community college students.

We interview every applicant and only accept motivated, prepared, and conscientious young people, ensuring a high-quality experience for everyone.

We do not run regular, repeating trips. Every Unschool Adventures program is a one-time-only experiment, keeping things fresh for both the trip leaders and participants. Browse all of our previous trips.

We offer 1 or 2 trips per year—and they don’t always run. If you see one that interests you, apply early! If we receive sufficient applications for a trip, then it moves forward. Otherwise, we scrap it and return to the drawing board.

Our international traveling group trips are typically 6 weeks long and enroll 10-15 teenage participants (ages 14-19) with 2-3 trip leaders. Previous destinations have included Argentina, Chile, Peru, New Zealand, Australia, Southeast Asia, Spain, Nepal, Mexico, and Germany.

Sometimes we offer residential retreats, both in the United States and abroad. These enroll 20-25 participants and focus on topical learning (such as the Patagonia Retreat) or creative pursuits (such as the Writing Retreat).

We occasionally experiment with creating online communities for self-directed teens—though we prefer creating in-person experiences.

Unschool Adventures is always evolving. Each year is a blank canvas. Some years we may offer no trips at all! We keep our eyes open for new opportunities, respond to changing global circumstances, and continually reassess the needs of teens, parents, and trip leaders.

Join our email notification list to be the first to know whenever we announce something new.

Partner Organizations

Unschool Adventures shares many connections with Not Back to School Camp (the summer camp for self-directed teens) and The High Desert Center (offering gap year programs for 17- to 23-year-olds). If you don’t find what you’re looking for here at Unschool Adventures, we highly recommend both of these partner organizations.

Our Roots

Unschool Adventures LLC was formed in 2008 by Blake Boles with the assistance of Abbi Miller. The company is legally based in Colorado and managed globally from Blake’s laptop.

Get in Touch

Write anytime: blake@unschooladventures.com.

Next Up

Meet our trip leaders, read testimonials from previous participants, and browse our frequently asked questions.