The husband and I have done Segway tours in a number of cities, so it's become a go-to activity for…read moreus whenever we visit somewhere. Because hello, Segways are a TON of fun, and a great way to get up close to attractions without having to walk or being stuck on a bus! However, this tour in particular wasn't one of the better ones we've been on. Because the storage/training area is in a parking garage, you meet your guide outside a nearby restaurant so they can take you into the alley and down to the secret Segway closet (seriously DOWN a massive ramp, which may be intimidating for inexperienced riders). The instructions explicitly state that restrooms are available inside the restaurant...but for a 10am tour, they're not open yet. Luckily, the Panera next door was happy to give us the code for their restrooms. The Segways themselves have obviously seen WAY better days. Our guide apologized for being late due to having to inflate the tires, but the handlebars were banged up, my Segway made a constant clanking/rattling noise from one wheel, and the guide ended up riding one with a low battery because no others with fully inflated tires were available. The available helmets were in similar rough condition. While our guide was friendly enough, knew the basic spiels for the stops, and even texted me in advance of the tour to confirm we knew where we were going (and when he was running late), he also seemed pretty lackadaisical (although pleasant) and didn't wear a helmet. I was also annoyed that, for some reason, we didn't receive the waivers via email ahead of time, so we had to fill them out on the guide's phone. In hindsight, he wasn't checking anything, so I should've just lied and said we'd already signed... On the upside, we were the only two people signed up, so we got a longer tour and more stops that we would have otherwise. Since we've ridden Segways before, we also got to skip the training -- we just hopped on and demonstrated that yup, we know what we're doing. A vast improvement over watching 10+ people slowly get the hang of it! And of course, we really enjoyed seeing a wide variety of Denver spots up close and personal, and learning at least a little bit about some of them. So while you can't ever really go wrong with a Segway tour, definitely head into this one with open eyes about what to expect.

I took a trip back to Denver to visit friends and family over Labor Day weekend. My father-in-law…read moresurprised us with tickets for a two hour Segway tour through Denver, and it sounded like so much fun! You meet at the visitor center at 16th and California where you will get an individual tutorial on how to ride the Segway before heading off on the tour. I'm so glad they did the tutorial one person at a time, so give us a chance to get really comfortable on the Segway before we committed to two hours of zipping around the town. Our tour guys did a great job breaking down how to safely operate the Segway and I immediately was comfortable and ready to go! We zipped around checking out the sites and our guides did a great job navigating downtown during both a Rocky's game and the taste of Colorado! Crowds everywhere and there were no problems. My favorite part of the tour was when we were really cruising down the sidewalk parallel with the Platt river. I lived in downtown Denver for five years, but moved away six years ago so it was great seeing how much of it changed and what stayed the same. The guide and I had a fun time comparing facts and information about different historical spots in Denver. You can have up to 4 people in your tour group, and there is a guide in front and in back so we stay together as a group. Their website says they may be able to accommodate larger groups if you call way in advanced, but the standard is up to four. I had a lot of fun and would highly recommended this to both tourists and locals! Thanks Brandon and Jake for the fun tour!

Highly recommend the tour. Our guide was Andrew and he did a wonderful job explaining the history…read moreof the mine, how gold was mined and what life was like for a miner. Andrew was very knowledgeable and made the tour enjoyable from start to finish.

Had a great time at the Mines. The best part was our guide - Jim! He kept the tour fresh and…read moreexciting. The highlight for me was gold panning. Like anything worth learning, it's an art. The included chipmunk feeding turned out to be another great activity. Great time and great people. Highly recommend! Aloha and mahalo Jim and staff! PS - Jim deserves a RAISE!

What a great time! Great unique places and of course excellent beers. My fav was the Belgian Strong…read moreAle at Shine. This is a Must-Do activity with a group of friends for any occasion, or just for fun! Thanks Lee for a Fab day! :)

What an awesome time. They really made sure everything went smoothly and everyone had a good time…read more Would highly recommend if you and some friends or coworkers are looking for a fun and safe way to visit a bunch of local breweries!!

Loved our whitewater rafting trip with Kade at the Colorado Adventure Center! We were doubly…read moreprepared to stay safe because they explained all the safety instructions before getting on the bus and before getting on our boats. As a former educator, I get it! Paying attention is hard and staying safe is important, so thanks for the double prep. It paid off because nobody in our boat fell out and we had a blast! At first Kade was all business, but as we traveled through the rapids, he got more personable. He did a great job being the responsible leader of the group of 4 boats and taking care of us in his boat. I highly recommend taking a trip with the CAC!

We had a great time on the intermediate rapids trip. Our guide Amy was the BOMB! Highly recommend!read more

Jessica was awesome! Curated the perfect route for us and met us at the trail head with great, new…read moreequipment and a positive attitude! Can't wait to do it again.

Took the e-bike tour with my mom and a friend and it was even better than we expected! I have very…read morelittle biking experience but the pedal assist bikes were super easy to get used to and the guides were very helpful and encouraging the whole time. Got to see some really cool sights and hear some neat history!

Our bike guide was Justin, and he was fantastic! He was extremely knowledgeable about the city as…read morewell as the history of the Boulder area. It was funny and had a fantastic personality. The tour took us an all different kinds of places we would never see on our own and what I liked was that Justin wrapped in his own favorites into the tour like his own favorite place to eat and go hang out with his family and other things. I would definitely recommend this bike tour and make sure that you get Justin!

Bodhi brought our group of 4 on a wonderful tour of Boulder. The e-bikes were a great way to see…read morethe town. We saw the bet of Boulder, from the CU campus, to the river trail, to the tea house and much more. Riding the e-bikes was easy enough for my 12 year old as it was for our 80 year old father. Lots of great sites and excellent knowledge shared of this wonderful city. Would highly recommend!

We couldn't have asked for a better tour of Denver because John was such a knowledgeable and…read morefriendly tour guide - it was like hanging out with a friend who knows a ton about Denver! He told us lots of interesting facts and really catered the tour to what we were interested in. It was a great way to start our trip because it gave us a good overview of the different neighborhoods.

Super experience!!! We had a new driver (Justin) but he was extremely prepared, shared plenty of…read moreinteresting info about the sites and restaurants, and made the tour very enjoyable overall. Justin even helped us capture some great photos along the way. And he recommended a great local brewery to round out the tour. Not a single complaint. Added bonus is that the eTuk manager worked to fit us on the schedule during a weekend that was super busy. He called me back an hour or so later with an option for the following day. Great customer service from start to finish. And the electric vehicles were also just a cool option.

There are so many organizations that take students abroad these days, but I can say with absolute…read moreconfidence that Dragons offers the most unique, comprehensive, and life-changing experience available. I've been lucky enough to attend two of their programs, one 6 week summer course in high school, and one gap year semester before beginning college. "Attend" isn't even the right word; being a part of a Dragon's course is a full wake-up call to all your senses, a hands-on adventure that teaches students to engage deeply in the foreign world around them, and reflect on their own personal growth throughout the course. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think back to my experiences abroad with Dragons, and how these courses continue to affect me. At school, I am in a number of leadership positions that require skills that I picked up through Dragons- communication skills, learning how to give and receive feedback, navigating my needs with the needs of a group, responding sensitively to a completely different way of life and set of values, and so much more. Dragon's taught me to always look for ways to raise the bar- to constantly question if I am living a life that is aligned with my values, if I am taking full advantage of all the opportunities around me. This skill couldn't be more valuable in a college setting, and I started college after 3 months in Indonesia with Dragons ready to get the most of my 4 years. There are many qualities of a Dragon's trip that makes it stand out from other programs, but in particular the staff at Where There Be Dragons are some of the most incredible and inspirational people I have ever met. My instructor team on both trips that I participated in remain some of my greatest heroes. Years after our trip, they still check in with me and remember specific goals that I was working on during our course. Having the support of adults who were so invested in my personal experience and how to help me make the most of it, every single day of the trip, was amazing. My mom is the perfect archetype of an over-caring and nervous parent, so the fact that she let me go on not one but two trips to a foreign country says a lot about this organization. If you are looking for a few weeks of coasting on bus tour, or visiting museums apathetically, or chilling on a beach for 6 weeks, don't choose Dragons. If you are ready for an all-consuming adventure that will challenge you, inspire you to raise your awareness of self and the world, find yourself living with homestay families so drastically different than yours but so willing to open their way of life to you, to make 15 of the best friends you've ever had, and to come home and be shocked with how much there is to love in your life, then sign up for any course with Where There Be Dragons. It's the best choice I ever made.

Last fall, I was a student on the Where There Be Dragons Semester course in Indonesia. I hadn't…read moreplanned on taking time off between High School and College, but my ED school (Middlebury College) accepted me with a gap semester. The idea terrified me, challenged me, and ultimately has been an incredible gift. The course with Dragons changed my life. One of the most incredible parts of Dragons courses are the instructors. Each program is made up of twelve students and a minimum of three instructors, at least one of whom is native to the country where the course is based. The instructors are chosen because of their experiences as travelers, teachers, and citizens of the world, and each came to the program with a wealth of experience in human rights, conservation, academics, and cultural building. All were wonderful, passionate people with a will to open our minds, widen our knowledge of this world, and to grow with us as we experienced the consciousness-expanding wonder of deep, informed travel. Whether the experience is four weeks or three months, being immersed in a new culture can be immensely challenging. It is so important to have quality mentorship in times of intense growth. Dragons recognizes this, and thus the instructors are people who can hold space for this kind of transformative opportunity. I found that, beyond being more than qualified to inform us on human rights issues, the environment, cultural tendencies in the developing and western world, and many more intellectual pursuits, the instructors were there to support us mentally and emotionally. They guided us, challenging us when necessary, but always there for us. They took care of us, but they also helped us learn to take care of ourselves. Another amazing thing about Dragons is the relationship they build with local communities. Everywhere we went Dragons sought to create a sustainable friendship that benefits students and locals equally. This certainly deepens the student experience as it opens up doors for friendships and mentorships. A homestay family that trusts Dragons as an organization will be more likely to get excited about sharing their world with a student. I will never forget the connections I made with parents, children, and friends as we traveled through Indonesia. In each community we studied the culture (religion(s), history, customs, political dynamics, and role of the western world in all of this), environment (conservation issues facing communities, the impact of these on their everyday lives, changes being made going forward, and our roles in these issues), and community (what are the health care and educational systems, how far away is the nearest hospital, how and what language do the children learn to read). We studied all of this through community interaction: we'd sit in on community gatherings, organize talks with the village head, midwife, shaman, workers, and professors, and we'd ask them to tell us about their lives and their world. We also set aside time to process with the group, to learn how best to handle the intensity of our experiences. The course had a great balance of time spent learning with the group and time spent exploring, hanging out, and integrating our experiences into a newfound awareness of self and the world. Each day we would come together for at least two hours to check in with everyone, take care of medical needs, and rediscover solidarity with our peers. When we needed it we would always make time to go snorkeling in the nearby coral reef, explore the regional volcano, sing songs around a bonfire, have a dance party, drink a coconut, and decompress. I know that this trip changed my life. On my own, I never could have made it to such remote and beautiful places, experienced so much depth in new cultures, made such close friendships, and internalized my experience as lasting inspiration. I have been blown away by the integrity and values exhibited by all the staff at Dragons, and I am so incredibly grateful to have been their student. Each student faced many challenges on this program: we went into the unknown and fought against our comfort zones. We pushed into growth and found that, as we were challenged, new worlds started to open up to us. New perspectives appeared, deeper empathy was felt, greater integrity was realized, and we were suddenly more mature, more moral, more in touch with our inner selves, and more sensitive to the lives of those around us in this vast, unpredictable, beautiful world. Having had this experience, I will never be able to live without thinking of myself in service to my community. I can't go back: I will always work harder in my friendships, find ways to explore, adventure, and deepen, and remember that I am a citizen of the world. I wish that more of my friends would do Dragons programs. I have complete faith they would find their minds and souls expanded by it, just as I have.