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.
Our trips typically enroll unschoolers: young people who are given large amounts of freedom and responsibility to design their lives and educations as they see fit. But you don’t have to be an unschooler to join—we’ve had high school students, traditional homeschoolers, alternative school students, and college students join us in the past. Because we only accept motivated, prepared, and conscientious young people in our programs, we ensure a high-quality experience for everyone who joins an Unschool Adventures trip.
Director Blake Boles explains the history and mission of Unschool Adventures. (2 minutes)
Group Trips for Teenagers
Our international and domestic group trips are typically 4-6 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, and Mexico. We’ve also run a handful of retreat-style programs in the United States. Browse all our previous trips here.
Unschool Adventures doesn’t offer regularly repeating programs; we design each trip with a unique mission in mind. Because we are constantly experimenting, we’re not sure which trip will be a hit, and occasionally cancel trips that fail to meet minimum applicant numbers by the priority application deadline. This means: If you see a group trip that you really want to join, apply early!
Launchpad
Launchpad is a 3-week, email-based workshop all about getting stuff done as a self-directed learner. We offered it as a paid program for a while, but now you may enroll for free.
Email Notification List
Join our email notification list to be the first to know whenever we announce a new group trip, online offering, or pretty much anything else:
New Zealand 2013 – Hiking in Queenstown
Partner Organizations
Sometimes we help other small trip-leading organizations (with very similar missions) spread the word about their programs. Our first partner is the High Desert Center in Colorado which is now offering the teen Writing Retreat program that Unschool Adventures pioneered. HDC also offers excellent and affordable gap year programs.
Writing Retreat 2011 – Durango, Colorado
Our Roots
Unschool Adventures LLC was formed in 2008 by Blake Boles to serve the North American community of teenage homeschoolers and unschoolers. Abbi Miller helped start the company and co-lead the first three trips. Since then we’ve run trips with a variety of talented trip leaders who sign on to lead specific trips. Our company is managed remotely and legally based in Colorado.
Next Up
Meet our trip leaders, read testimonials from previous participants, and browse our frequently asked questions.
Get in Touch
Write anytime: blake@unschooladventures.com.