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Girl Scout Travel

Travel

COVID-19 Update: Troops should assess and consider local state and county health and safety guidance for all of the areas that the trip will include. Consult Girl Scouts Together for the current travel guidelines.

If your troop has questions or needs support, please contact answers@girlscoutsosw.org or 800-338-5248.

Do you have an idea for a new travel program? Share it by filling out the Girl Scout Program Idea Submission Form!


 TYPES OF TRAVEL FOR GIRLS

Troop Travel

Girls begin their exploration of travel together by learning how to plan their own trips. Leaders gently guide girls into increased responsibil­ity and plan trips of growing complexity and distance over time based on their grade level and previous experience. Girls learn valuable life skills when learning the logistics of travel, goal setting and money earning to fund their experience, how to roll with unexpected changes, and the feeling you get when accomplishing your goals. Check out the How to Travel with your troop section below for more detail on getting started with troop travel.

Council-Sponsored Trips

Council-sponsored trips can include multiple formats and are organized by GSOSW staff and travel team volunteers. These trips are open to all girls across the council and are a fantastic way for motivated girls to receive travel progression and experience as Juliettes, or in addition to their own troop experiences. The locations of these trips vary (local to international); travel costs vary accordingly and are the responsibility of each participant, though they can be funded by money-earning activities like council-sponsored product programs and program credits.

Preset trips: Throughout the year, council staff and volunteers collaborate to plan a group travel opportunity where the destination and most of the activities are set in advance. Girls who join the experience will not only have a fun adventure with girls they might not have met otherwise but will gain essential travel progression experience in girl-led travel planning that they’ll need to participate in more hands-on adventures like Travel Patrols and GSUSA Destinations. Search our Activities tab to find upcoming trips.

GSOSW Travel Patrols: Travel Patrols sponsored by GSOSW are designed for participants to function like a troop for the duration of the trip, including the planning stages. The destination of the trip will be predetermined, with girls who are interested signing up using a GSOSW application. Girls who are accepted into the patrol start planning portions of the trip together. This is a great way for girls to experience more complex trips by having a chance to get to know their travel buddies before leaving on the trip. Travel Patrols can take 1-3 years to plan as girls are actively involved in the planning stages. If there are any Travel Patrols currently accepting applications, they will be listed below.

Travel Patrols

Any Girl Scout Juliette, troop, or volunteer wishing to pursue travel goals can consider participating in or forming a travel patrol. Patrols are a group of girl members supported by adults working towards a specific task, activity, or particular interest focus. These groups are an excellent way for individuals to engage with a group of like-minded girls while still maintaining their troop membership or supplementing their Juliette experience. Patrols function similarly to a troop but can happen in tandem with a girl's primary troop activities and can include girl members from outside of their primary troop. In our council, there are currently several established travel-focused patrols that decide and plan travel to locations both domestic and international. Patrols can be open to members across the council or just within their local service unit. Patrols have been formed for things aside from travel, like supporting specific service unit activities like planning events or supporting product programs. If a group that meets your girl’s interests doesn’t currently exist, we can help you form one! Because girls can become a member of a club or patrol in addition to or instead of participating in a troop, groups can be formed over long distances and include various participants. To find out more about how these groups work and come to be, please review the video below and the Girl Scout Patrols and Clubs FAQ. To find out if there are any open patrols or clubs near you or for support in starting one of your own, please email answers@girlscoutsosw.org or connect with your local service unit team.

GSUSA Destinations

Make friends from all over the country as you travel with Girl Scouts from different states, see and learn new things, and pack your bags full of inspiring, life-changing experiences and memories. With trips of varying lengths, costs and distances, there is sure to be a trip for you! Destinations bring together individual Cadette, Senior, and Ambassador Girl Scouts from all over the country for amazing summer and winter adventures filled with nature, culture, service, art, science, and tons more.

DISCOVER TRIPS
Check out the new catalog of Destinations trips at girlscouts.org. Apply online today! Financial assistance may be available. Email travel@girlscoutsosw.org with questions.


plane_32 HOW TO TRAVEL WITH YOUR TROOP

Are your girls interested in traveling as a troop? Travel is an important part of the Girl Scout experience and can help girls build valuable life skills, learn to work as a team and create lifelong memories. Follow this Travel Progression Chart to see how girls can learn the skills they need to become competent travelers, including how to plan and organize trips. Travel fun can be endless when girls lead!

1. Girls get excited about traveling and begin planning their trip.

As your girls begin discussing travel together, please check out these helpful tools for girls and volunteers to use when planning a trip.

GSOSW Trip Planning Guide – council specific resource to guide volunteers and girls in planning a trip with all the information about council approval and requirements. This guide includes a sample budget, trip planning steps, training requirements and much more!

GSUSA Guide to U.S. Travel – resource designed to assist with regional or national trips targeting Junior and Cadette troops. Are your girls ready to travel? Check out the quizzes for girls and leaders!

GSUSA Global Travel Toolkit – national resource designed to assist with international trips targeting Senior and Ambassador troops. Download girl and adult guides.

Girl Scouts Together - Your one-stop-shop for all of the Girl Scout-related information and health and safety guidance you need during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Safety Activity Checkpoints - A resource that provides safety standards and guidelines for GIrl Scouts of the United States of America-approved activities.

2. Trip leaders complete their training.

There are different types of trainings required dependent on what kind of trip experience your group is planning. Please refer to GSOSW Policies and Procedures for specific requirements.

Course Name Required For Time Frame
Grade Level Trainings All troop leaders Within three (3) months of receiving a troop number
Girl Scouts Inside & Out
(Previously Day Trips & Indoor Overnights)
At least one adult volunteer attending a day trip or indoor overnight trip At least three (3) months prior to an outing
Outdoor Skills At least one adult volunteer attending a camping trip At least six (6) months prior to an outing
Extended Travel At least one adult volunteer attending a trip of three nights or more, regardless of destination At least six (6) months prior to the trip; training should be completed prior to submitting paperwork
3. Troop travel council approval.

Each fall, all troops must complete Regional Troop Travel Qualification (for travel within the council region, including high risk day trips, indoor overnights of any lengths, or outdoor overnights of any length) in order to travel with their troop. This process is supported by service unit girl experience mentors (GEMs). If you do not know who your GEM is or your area does not have one, please email answers@girlscoutsosw.org for staff support with qualification.

Troop travel within the council region (within 200 miles outside council borders) of any length.

National and international troop travel (any length of time, outside the council borders).

4. Ready, set, travel!

While there can be many steps and a lot of time spent planning a trip with your troop, we are here to help along the way! Reach out to your service unit girl experience mentor (GEM) who can help coach you through the planning process. Use the helpful resources we shared as well as the valuable info you learn in your training to help guide you in stepping back and allowing the girls to plan the trip. 

Contact Shannon Shea at answers@girlscoutsosw.org for travel questions.


 TRAVEL OPPORTUNITIES FOR ADULTS

Travel Volunteer Team

The Travel Volunteer Team (TVT) is composed of adult volunteers from around the council who have experience planning trips and traveling with girls. The team works with council staff to create a long range plan of progressive travel experiences for girls; from mystery day trips to international patrols to WAGGGs World Centers. The TVT also offers innovative Extended Travel trainings to adults and inspiring Travel Discovery workshops to girls. Members of the travel team offer support to individual traveling girls going on Destinations and also help to distribute council travel financial assistance and the DPass Grant for Destinations. If you have experience traveling with girls and an interest in being involved in the creation travel experiences for GSOSW, this team is for you! Members will be required to attend monthly call-in meetings and two in-person meetings per year. 

Travel Chaperone

GSOSW provides a variety of travel experiences for Girl Scout to participate in; however, these trips would not be possible without qualified and dedicated adult chaperones. If you have interest in helping girls achieve their dreams of traveling nationally or internationally, we may have a trip that interests you! All interested adult volunteers must apply to be a travel chaperone and are eligible to apply for financial assistance to help pay for their trip. 


If you have questions about travel opportunities or are interested in being a travel chaperone, please contact Shannon Shea at answers@girlscoutsosw.org.

Girl Scouts love to travel—from the field trips they take as Brownies to the global adventures they go on as teens. If you love exploring different places and cultures, then Girl Scouts is the place for you.

You can experience all that our country has to offer, whether you’re “blasting off” at Space Camp in Alabama, taking in a Broadway show in New York City, or visiting the birthplace of Girl Scouts’ founder, Juliette Gordon Low, in Savannah, Georgia. And you can plan even bigger adventures around the world, traveling with other Girl Scouts who share your love of adventure.

Check out Girl Scout Destinations, the ultimate adventure program for girls ages 11 and older. With a ton of different trips to apply for every year—from surfing camp on the east coast and breathtaking hikes out west, to the crazy-cool wonder of new cultures abroad—there’s something amazing for everyone to experience.

Make friends from all over the country as you travel with Girl Scouts from different states, see and learn new things, and pack your bags full of inspiring, life-changing experiences and memories. Find your trip today!

Where can you go?  Places like China, Costa Rica, Switzerland, Patagonia, Peru, Scotland, Germany, Mexico, and more!

How far will your Girl Scout experience take you? That’s up to you!