Name: Alaska for Older Teens was a great trip!
Item: Travel For Teens: USA
Rating: 10
Author: Sydney Johnson

Community Photos

Up close and personal with the elephants! This elephant was rescued from a lumber mill. She was used for heavy labor and you can notice her bottom front foot is broken - it re-healed improperly and the elephant is now permanently disabled. The retirement parks provide a wonderful place for her to live out the rest of her days.

The view of the spectacular sun rising up over the vast Pacific Ocean.

Having a blast with the local children at Nacula Island School!

Beautiful view above the clouds in Maui!

The gorgeous Norwegian countryside from a ferry!

While having a picnic on the Seine, we watched the sun set behind the Notre Dame- a truly magical sight!

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About

Travel For Teens is a program provider that believes that teen travel should be both enriching and fun. TFT offers a full range of travel experiences that teens can choose from to create their own ideal international experience.

TFT's motto is "Teaching teens to be travelers, not tourists," and their itineraries are designed to reflect this. While participants have the opportunity to visit mainstream attractions, TFT also provides insider opportunities and experiences, giving participants the ability to explore the culture far beyond the tourist perspective.

If you are looking for a summer travel program that goes beyond the typical tourist path, then Travel For Teens is the perfect fit!

Website

www.go.travelforteens.com

Founded

2003

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Headquarters

900 West Valley Road
Wayne, PA 19087
United States

Now Hiring: Travelers with Youth/Education Experience!

Are you passionate about inspiring youth? Do you believe experiential education is crucial to growth and development? TFT staff have the unique opportunity to work with teens in incredible countries all around the globe. Our staff have in-depth knowledge of the destinations we visit and are proven role models and leaders. If this sounds like you, we want to hear from you! Check out our site for more details and to submit your application today!

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Reviews

No one would really think that if they could travel, they would go to Alaska. I was totally like that. But after seeing what this trip had to offer, I decided to sign up and do it. It was such an amazing experience! By far, my favourite Travel for Teens trip. I was with a small group and we all got along so great. The activities were amazing like going sea kayaking and seeing seals, going hiking and seeing a herd of wild goats and a glacier, and going whitewater rafting down a canyon! I would totally do this trip again, if I could, I loved it so much. Travel for Teens is a great company to travel with because you’re going with great kids your age and you’re very safe. Also, the dinners and breakfasts are included and the counsellors, food and accommodations are great! I absolutely love Travel for Teens and would totally recommend signing up for the USA for Older Teens: Alaska Service & Adventure trip (only if you like the outdoors though).

What would you improve about this program?

The only thing I would improve is to minimize the amount of time we spent camping and spend it on going into a town or doing another adventure activity.

After traveling with TFT last summer to Paris, France, Cinque Terre, Italy, Florence, Italy, and Interlaken, Switzerland, I thought nothing could top the memories I made on this whirlwind trip. However, traveling to Thailand this summer as a Counselor in Training gave me a whole new level of appreciation for TFT and the impact the staff truly has on shaping the campers' experiences. I loved the balance between community service, cultural exploration, and exhilarating adventures. Everyday brought something new and different, especially as we traveled across the country to experience the natural beauty, bustling cities, and breathtaking islands Thailand has to offer. I can't recommend this trip enough for future campers and am so excited to continue working with TFT in the future! Go TFT!

Travel for Teens creates a wholesome experience for its campers by carefully planning activities that cover a big range, from watching a show in Las Vegas to sea kayaking in San Diego. My third trip with Travel for Teens covered Las Angeles, San Diego, Las Vegas, and Arizona in 11 days! It was action packed with things like Disneyland, a bike tour through Santa Monica, and exploring Grand Canyon National Park! My favorite part of the trip was exploring Arizona! Along with the Grand Canyon, we explored Horseshoe bend and Antelope Canyon! Walking through Antelope Canyon was a sight to behold, with the red rocks contrasting the blue sky above. It was stunning. I always leave my Travel for Teens trips with lifelong friends and memories, and I couldn't be more grateful for my experiences with this company.

What is your advice to future travelers on this program?

Be open to getting out of your comfort zone! This is a big part of traveling, and it is the best way to grow as an individual!

This summer was my favorite summer yet. I had the chance to spend a week on the Galapagos Islands and two more weeks in the numerous amazing places in Ecuador. I was able to snorkel with sea lions and sea turtles, learn about Charles Darwin's research, and help out the local community to maintain the island's sustainable practices. The Galapagos were incredible, but I could not wait to go to the Amazon! Not many people can say that they hiked through the Amazon to get to a lodge and shortly after, go piranha fishing, and top off the night with a night-walk to spot giant tarantulas. The adventure did not end there. We hiked up Cotopaxi, one of the tallest volcanos in Ecuador. The views were unbelievable! We finished off the trip but relaxing in natural hot springs, standing in the middle of the world (on the equator), and going on the best ziplining course I've ever seen. This was a truly unforgettable trip, and I have found another country to add to my list of places to re-visit!

What was the most unfamiliar thing you ate?

Piranha, ants, and medicinal plants found in the Amazon!

In the Summer of 2018, I had the amazing opportunity of traveling to Australia and New Zealand. It was absolutely amazing. I got to do once-in-a-lifetime activities such as scuba diving at the Great Barrier Reef and the Sydney Bridge Climb. These are memories that I will never forgot. for community service, we volunteered at a wallaby sanctuary. This was absolutely amazing, The wallabies were beyond cute, and they reminded me of my dog that I missed dearly. I never once imagined that I would be able to spend so much time with wallabies, and it was amazing.I had the most amazing counselors and met friends that I still keep in touch with. There was not a day that I did not love. If you have the opportunity to do this, you should, I can guarantee that you will not regret it.

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Alumni Interviews

These are in-depth Q&A sessions with verified alumni.

Why did you choose this program?

At first, I really wanted to study abroad and, while looking for those kind of programs, I stumbled upon Travel For Teens and never looked back. My original plan was to study in Australia for a year and so, when looking for a program with TFT that suited these requirements, I chose the service trip to Australia and New Zealand.

What did your program provider assist you with, and what did you have to organize on your own?

While I got ready for the trip, TFT helped throughout the entire process. As a first time traveler, I had a huge amount of questions that TFT answered with as much detail as they could. They helped organize my flight to meet with the rest of the group and also the flight home. A few months before departure, I was able to contact and get to know the people that I was gonna spend three weeks with.

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What is one piece of advice you'd give to someone going on your program?

An advice that I would give for traveling with TFT is to enjoy it. Don't be afraid to get out of your comfort zone and meet new and amazing people, to explore the place you are traveling to, and to keep in touch with the people that you meet. When choosing what place to travel too, there is no wrong answer because, when traveling with TFT, even the most boring place will be the best place.

What does an average day/week look like as a participant of this program?

An average day with TFT is an amazing day, even if you have to wake up before the sun is out. An average day consists of a quick breakfast and then off to do something exciting like visiting the place where Lord of the Rings was filmed, paragliding over Queenstown, New Zealand, scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef, holding a koala, or climbing the Sydney Harbor Bridge in Sydney, Australia. For lunch, there is an amazing variety of places to choose from and after off to another exciting adventure. Never a dull moment.

Going into your experience abroad, what was your biggest fear, and how did you overcome it? How did your views on the issue change?

My biggest fear was leaving home, but from the moment I met up with the group, I didn't even think about it. I did miss my family and my own bed and room, but with so many things to do, my mind was distracted from that fear. Another thing that I was worried about was meeting new people. I am very shy, but traveling with so many amazing people you're bound to get out of your shell

What was the hardest part of your trip?

For me, and probably many other people starting out as travelers, the most difficult thing was packing. I tend to overpack for even two day trips with a suitcase that is meant for a few weeks. An advice that I would give about this is pack as little as you can. TFT provides a pack list specifically made for each program and I would definitely recommend sticking to it.

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Sydney Johnson

2018 Alum

Evelina Ogrodniczuk

2018 Alum

Olivia Haan

2018 Alum

Sofia Casale

2018 Alum

Taleen Cochran

2018 Alum

Makenzie Hoag

2018 Alum

Jessica Paszko

2018 Alum

Jordana Levine

2018 Alum

Staff Interviews

These are in-depth Q&A sessions with program leaders.

Sam Rae Roy

Program

Travel For Teens: Canada

Job Title

Sales & Marketing Manager

Sam is an adventure enthusiast who has spent time living in both New England and Colorado. She has road tripped extensively around the continent, from Canada to Central America, which has aided in her development of our North America programs. In addition to her home continent, Sam has traveled all over Europe, Oceania, Asia, and Latin America. After numerous summers leading trips with TFT, she became a member of our Sales and Marketing team!

What is your favorite travel memory?

My favorite travel memory is the last night I spent in the backcountry on a 9-day trek in the Andean mountains of Peru. I had wanted to complete this trek for years but knew it involved an immense amount of preparation and planning. At our final campsite, not only was I overwhelmed with the feeling of accomplishment, but the beauty of my surroundings took my breath away.

A man who had lived in the area where I camped with my companion offered to cook us trout caught from the pristine alpine lake we were set up by and we took him up on the offer! We had a delicious meal in an incredible place knowing we had completed something we had longed to for years.

How have you changed/grown since working for your current company?

I started as an ambitious counselor who wanted to make Travel For Teens her full-time career. Over the course of the last nine years that I have been with this company, I have grown and learned so much about how travel positively influences today's youth and myself as well. Travel For Teens fosters growth in everyone it touches and spreads a love for authentic travel around the world.

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What is the best story you've heard from a return student?

The best story I've ever heard from a returning student is that, after traveling on our Hawaii Sea Turtle Service program, he had started an environmental awareness club at his school--and he was the president! It was really special to me that this student had felt so strongly about what he learned about recycling and sustainability in Hawaii that he wanted to share it with others.

To me, that is what Travel For Teens is all about: exposing today's youth to the world and all of its different cultures, beauty, needs, and teaching them to respect these cultures, maintain this beauty, and help our world's needs.

If you could go on any program that your company offers, which one would you choose and why?

I would go on the Hawaii program over and over again because I feel passionate about our planet and sharing my love for sustainability with them. You have the opportunity not only to work with an endangered species while on the beautiful island of Maui but you see a beach on the North Shore that is infamous for collecting hundreds of thousands of tons of micro pieces of plastics that have traveled from the beautiful beaches of Hawaii from California and Asia. It really paints a picture of where the plastic fork you leave on the beach in LA ends up.

What makes your company unique? When were you especially proud of your team?

We are unique because we allow our students to feel like a local instead of a member of a tour group. We don't travel in huge groups of 30 to chain restaurants and ride massive tour buses. We take local transportation and make food a part of our itinerary. It's important to us that our students feel like they've learned how to be a traveler at the end of their trip.

I was especially proud to be a part of this team when I was off in a small group visiting a museum a group of kids had wanted to see while a different group was at a market with a different leader. We ran into a different company who were all wearing matching backpacks following a leader with a giant pink sign in a straight line. They stuck out like a sore thumb and myself and my small group looked like a traveling family which, by that point, we were.

What do you believe to be the biggest factor in being a successful company?

I think being honest and passionate about what you are selling makes all the difference in a successful company. The people that run TFT truly love what they do and believe in the product they are endorsing. This is enhanced by the natural honest the comes with truly believing in what you are giving and that leads to happy customers.

Community Awards

Website

Founded

Connect with us

Headquarters

Now Hiring: Travelers with Youth/Education Experience!

Travel For Teens: Travel Programs for Older Teens

Travel For Teens: Thailand

Travel For Teens: Italy

Travel For Teens: Costa Rica

Travel For Teens: France

Travel For Teens: Greece

Travel For Teens: Australia

Travel For Teens: USA

Travel For Teens: Fiji

Alumni Interviews

Kseniya Klyuchka

Why did you choose this program?

What did your program provider assist you with, and what did you have to organize on your own?

What is one piece of advice you'd give to someone going on your program?

What does an average day/week look like as a participant of this program?

Going into your experience abroad, what was your biggest fear, and how did you overcome it? How did your views on the issue change?

What was the hardest part of your trip?

More Interviews

Staff Interviews

Sam Rae Roy

What is your favorite travel memory?

How have you changed/grown since working for your current company?

What is the best story you've heard from a return student?

If you could go on any program that your company offers, which one would you choose and why?

What makes your company unique? When were you especially proud of your team?

What do you believe to be the biggest factor in being a successful company?

More Interviews