I just wanted to take a moment to express my deepest gratitude to Bold Earth for the incredible impact they've had on my daughter over the past three years. She's participated in multiple trips, but Ultimate Hawaii 2 was by far her favorite--and not just because of the epic adventures and fun activities (which she absolutely loved). It was truly transformative. She came home beaming with confidence and excitement for the future. Before the trip, she was really stressed about college applications, but Bold Earth changed all that. Hearing the trip leaders' stories and seeing the diverse paths others had taken completely opened her eyes. It gave her the perspective, inspiration, and self-assurance she needed. She now sees multiple pathways to her goals, and she returned with a whole new mindset. Now, she's loving her senior year--despite a crazy-busy schedule, she's happy, motivated, and present. She's chasing her dreams without letting fear hold her back, and I honestly credit Bold Earth for helping make that possible. If you're a parent wondering whether to send your teen on one of these trips, my advice is: Do it. read more

Bold Earth Adventures - Summer Camps Near Me - Hendersonville, North Carolina

My child's 8th-grade class went to Yosemite with Bold Earth and the kids had nothing but wonderful things to say about the trip and their guides! They were very easy to work with (from a planning and parent point of view) and had a lovely Zoom presentation with parents ahead of time to answer questions. I would highly recommend Bold Earth to schools planning out-of-town trips! read more

Bold Earth is a somewhat well designed camp. Unfortunately, it has many shortcomings in terms of the staff at the camp and the kids who go to the camp. I was a member of Colorado bold trip 3, and in this review I will be recounting my experience with Bold Earth. To keep track of the people, Leo is a camper, Sophie is a camper, Jacquetta is a camper, Lucas is a camper, Louis is a camper, Josh is me, Anon is a camper, Evan is a councilor, and Gracie is a councilor. Firstly, the councilors. Evan and Gracie should not have been put together. They clearly have some sort of personal connection outside of camp, which caused them to focus less on us, the campers. After about day 3, they almost completely disconnected with us as councilors, and treated us as friends. This sounds fine on paper, but if we have no authority figure, someone will step up to become one. In our case, it was Sophie. Sophie was a mean, racist and homophobic 16 year old girl from Chicago. She was mean behind everyone's backs, and she especially hated the councilors. It got to the point where she made Gracie cry on one occasion, which a counselor should not be doing. Also, we are not supposed to have our phones until day 8. We had them by day 6, because Leo, another camper, in collaboration with Sophie, managed to brute force the phone lock box code. This allowed them to be on their phones for hours as we drove, all without the councilors noticing anything. They were sitting 3 seats up and just talking to each other. Sophie also had brought a pack of cigarettes on day 1, leaving them behind after the first lunch we had together so she would not be caught. On day 2 of the Via Ferrata, she picked up an unsmoked blunt that she found on the mountain, and she would sniff that for the rest of the time she was there. Because our group only had 6 campers, one clique formed very quickly, and Lucas and Anon were not included in it. On day one, I remember Leo came up to me and confessed he was afraid to sleep in the same tent as Lucas, because he was transgender. Eventually, I got swapped to Lucas's tent because Leo did not want to sleep there anymore. Anon, Jacquetta and Sophie all shared a tent as well. Another problem was racism. Louis said the n word with an er twice, and Leo did once. Sophie even taught them how to do it in sign language, because she was fluent in it for some reason. They are all white. That's the Racism and Transphobia, but the worst part by far was the bullying of Anon. To preface, Anon has an eating disorder that only allows her to eat and touch some foods without vomiting. This is manageable, but her laziness was not. She almost never did anything around camp, as we are all supposed to pitch in and cook, clean, and set up our own tents. We did everything short of driving, and some people did nothing. She also had an attitude, and was prone to crying very easily when she got upset. She also did not interact with anyone socially, opting to read a book on the side instead. This leads to a horrific combination when you combine Sophie with her. The incident happened when Anon put the pegs in wrong, and a large windstorm blew their tent over, causing all their stuff to fall out. Sophie yelled at her, and Anon started to cry. As revenge, Sophie threw Anon's head torch into a bush, which would be fine if we were not doing a 3 mile 1000+ feet of elevation gain hike at night. Obviously, Anon fell and hurt herself multiple times. I was fed up with the group at this point, being that it was day ten and I had already told Evan everything about the phones and the racism and the smoking and the transphobia. I was not aware of the back end, but basically nothing happened. On that mountain I told Lucas that Sophie threw the head torch, which made him furious. He then shouted at Sophie, ending with everyone walking home in silence. Jacquetta and Louis, who were good friends of Sophie, told the councilors that what I said was true, and she was sent home 2 days later. Things still never got better, as the racism was still prevalent among Louis and Leo, and the homophobia among all Jacquetta and those two boys as well. By the end of the camp, Evan and Gracie were completely checked out as well, letting us play whatever music we wanted, which was supposed to be against Bold Earth guidelines. They were also cussing with us, which is again against Bold Earth guidelines. It was a little bit better without Sophie, but we were still miserable. I also find it appalling that it took them 4 days of a 14 day trip from me snitching on Sophie to her getting sent home. If she hadn't thrown Anon's headtorch, I don't think anything would have happened. Part two will be posted in another review. read more

Bold Earth Adventures - part 2 - Summer Camps Near Me - Hendersonville, North Carolina

The adventures this company leads are incredibly interesting and educational. They put a huge amount of time, money and effort into coordinating all aspects of these travels. Good food, good time, good experiences all with safety being the prime concern. I highly recommend Bold Earth Adventures. read more

My son Alex attended Bold Earth Colorado/Utah trip this summer. He had never flown away to camp before and has some confidence issues. We were concerned about his fear of heights and fast moving rides getting in the way. He had an amazing time and handled all of the challenges beautifully. When Alex came home he said it was by far the Best Experience of his Lifetime! He would love to attend next summer! He loved every aspect of the trip and all the people he was with including the trip leaders. Thank you for a Great Job Bold Earth! read more

"My son Corbin has been able to do three trips with Bold Earth, and I cannot tell you how much this has meant for him and us. We have watched him grow so much from the experiences he has had with you. My hope is that Corbin will be able to join in the future and become a trip leader one summer." You guys are amazing. He has so many memories and stories that have made lasting impressions on him. You guys make a difference in such a positive way to these young adults. Thanks bunches. read more

I can't say enough about this program- such a life changing experience. This is NOT like a "teen tour" - it is much more personalized and individualized experience that your child couldn't have with any other organization. I am so impressed with the level of detail that goes into planning these trips. A unique, one of kind experience. If you don't want your kid sitting on the sofa all summer I would urge you to look into Bold Earth. Safely introduces them to travel and gives them a thirst for adventure that (so far!) seems to persist even during the school year when the iPhones and TVs are back on. This is pretty much the best gift you can give your kid. Heck, I wish I could go on one of the trips. read more

I am a Bold Earth alum myself and I cannot recommend this program enough!! I grew up going to summer camp, but nothing compared to the amount of personal growth I experienced on the Ecuador/Galapagos trip. To give you context, I was fifteen at the time, knew about five words in Spanish, and was a bit of a scaredy-cat when it came to anything too adventurous outdoors (especially if it involved insects/spiders!). However, Bold Earth paired us with leaders who were both kind and supportive, encouraging us to face our challenges and expand our knowledge of different cultures and ways of life. Our first stop was to a beautiful, self-sustaining farm deep in an Ecuador forest, where we helped care for the animals, made chocolate from scratch (starting with cutting down the cocoa beans!), and built a mini library for the local children's school. There were incredible, diverse insects in the forest that I was very hesitant to go near, but with the help of my leaders, I was able to jump through that hurdle and even got some pictures holding a leaf bug about the size of my outstretched hand (eek!). We were also encouraged to speak Spanish with the local Rancheros (who were all extremely kind, genuine, and hard-working) and it launched my interest in Spanish speaking, which I can speak fairly fluently today! The Galapagos Islands were of course breathtaking with their crystal-blue waters and diverse wildlife, and we got front row seats as we swam with electric blue shrimp, wild baby sea-lions who spun around us playfully, GIANT sea turtles and... wait for it... hammerhead sharks!! I was especially proud of the shark swim, as it was towards the end of our trip and I knew that I could not have gotten up the courage to try that week one. So thank you so much to my leaders for encouraging me to believe in myself and dive in! read more

This is the kind of experience you dream of providing for a kid. I can't thank them enough. Truly transformative and supportive in all the best ways. I've looked at multiple of these sorts of outfitters and had friends use other companies. Bold earth stands out because they have truly unique experiences for the participants and the groups are really small. I think they have special permits that other places don't have which allows amazing access to national parks etc. Their communication is stellar, trips are well run, meticulously organized and in my opinion provide just enough structure. I was worried about fitness levels but you don't need to be a mountain climber by any means. The whole staff and the leadership clearly loves what they do and is not in this for the money. Fair warning: your child will talk about their trip nonstop until the next summer. My only complaint is I think they should consider adding adult options! I would sign up in a heartbeat. read more

I can not say enough about my daughters experiences at Bold Earth!! She recently returned from her third trip ..which was Iceland this year! She had an amazing time with qualified leaders and met friends to last a lifetime! The professionalism of the leaders and staff is stellar.. their communication and concern also beyond excellent!! My teen grew in ways that were unimaginable and her experiences were life changing! These adventures push the kids outside of their box and give them the opportunity to accomplish feats that they would usually never encounter if not for on these trips!! I highly recommend Bold Earth to any kid who is willing to venture out and face the unexpected... this is not just any teen tour... it is the chance of a lifetime!! Thank you Bold Earth and thanks to the amazing staff that you employ!! read more

My daughter participated in Ulimate Hawaii this summer. Truly a Right of Passage for both my daughter and us as parents. My daughter had an amazing experience! She said trip was SO much more than she expected jam packed with surfing, sailing, snorkeling, hiking and more. But the highlight was making meals, campfires, and playing games with her new friends. As a nervous parent of an only child, I was very skeptical and concerned to send my daughter across the world. I honestly couldn't say enough for the staff at Bold Earth. The director stayed in constant communication with me months before the trip to be sure every question was answered, marketing has awesome blogs where they post the activities of the day. Then there are the leaders, my daughter said they were absolutely amazing! They are a ton of fun, yet professional and put safety first. We cant wait for next summer!! read more