Joe on Mt. Olympus during the Leadership Summit trip.

As some of you may know, Josh Goldbach, our associate director, has moved on from Adventure Treks. After six years with us, Josh decided that while he did not want to leave AT, he did want to try on a new hat. He is still a part of the Adventure Treks family, and has been helping with staffing and new ideas for our upcoming 2017 season. While we miss having Josh in our office and are thankful for all of his hard work, we are excited to welcome Joe Sisti as the new staffing director. Some of you may already know Joe as one of our students’ (and staff’s!) favorite Adventure Treks instructors

Originally from Virginia, Joe received a bachelor’s degree from Virginia Tech. Instead of playing football, he decided to focus his time in the outdoors, and has since become an accomplished outdoor educator, rock climber, skier, and mountain biker. Joe has been working with Adventure Treks as an instructor, then a trip leader, and then our educational programs director for the past five years. So you all can get to know Joe a little better, he answered a few questions for us.

What’s your favorite AT activity? It’s not the most exciting on paper, but the backpacks are the best. Biking and climbing are exciting, but I feel like the real moments that make AT what it is happen on our backpacks. Everything changes once you leave the trailhead. You get time to settle down and take it all in. The hours on the trail allow everyone to have great conversations and get to know one another. After a few days of this, the guards come down and everyone is able to be themselves. You play tons of games and work together to get all the little chores done so you can have more time to enjoy the views, talk, or just hang out in nature. Backpacking with AT students is great, and most of the time, I forget I’m even working.

Joe on the Lost Coast during a California Challenge trip.

What made you want to work as an outdoor educator? I had some pretty tough times in college, and I really struggled to find my path. I had no idea what I wanted to do for a job or career. The one thing that seemed to make my worries go away was going for hikes in the mountains around Blacksburg. The Appalachian Trail runs pretty close to town, so there are tons of opportunities for great hikes. One day while outside, I thought, “I wish this could be my job.” After doing a little research and getting some helpful advice from my manager at Domino’s Pizza (I had a brief stint as a delivery boy), I took a NOLS course in Wyoming whereI spent nearly 30 days in the backcountry. I had never felt so good. One of my instructors, Claire Parrish, really inspired me. She was such a competent outdoorsperson—tough and strong—but also the most positive person I had ever met. She made brutal hikes through steep terrain a blast. I realized I wanted to be her. I thought if I could have the impact on at least one student the way she did with me, it would be worth it.

What’s your favorite AT memory? There are lots, but two come to mind immediately. In summer 2016 while on Leadership Summit, we stopped at Goodwill to purchase some summit flair before climbing Mt. Olympus in Washington. All of the students purchased purple clothing, and we held an impromptu purple prom at our group campsite in Sequim Bay. It was better than any prom I attended in high school, and I realized, once again, that the students who come to AT truly are special: inclusive, fun, and totally willing to be their weird selves. I loved it. The second one occurred on a backpack in the Trinity Alps in California. We made camp early due to some tough conditions, and to pass time, we played loads of games, wrote a group poem, and took a swim in an alpine lake. The icing on the cake, though: acting out books one through three of Harry Potter. There were only four of us involved, and the group asked us to stop at three, but there are not many times I can remember having more fun in the woods.

Joe showing off his AT colors in Colorado.

What keeps you coming back to AT? The people: the students, the instructors, the directors I get to work for. Our trips are great, and I haven’t had a course area at AT that wasn’t spectacular. Dock [John Dockendorf], though, has truly created something special at AT. It really is a second family. My friends there know me better than anyone else; they have seen me at my best, and also at my not-so-best, and they still love me. That’s a pretty rare thing to come across these days: total acceptance for who you are. At the end of a season, I think most people involved with AT feel that way, students and instructors alike.

What’s something unique about you? If we are talking about quirks, I could go on for a while. I’ll choose two. I love Reuben sandwiches. I have had one in every new place I have traveled to. I lost count of how many I have tried in how many restaurants, but the best one can be found at Choice City Deli in Fort Collins, CO. Seriously, I’ve tried them all over America and the corned bison Reuben there is just the best. I also have an odd connection to writing utensils. The pen I am currently using has been with me for nearly three years now. I can’t stand losing them.

Thank You for Being Late by New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman is the most powerful book I have read this year, and it does an outstanding job of explaining the current state of the world and the “accelerators” driving the insane pace of change. Friedman’s accelerators include Moore’s Law, Big Data, the markets, population growth, and global warming—all whose effects are expanding exponentially. At this point, the pace of change has exceeded most humans’ ability to adapt.

Throughout the book, Friedman points out suggestions to help one thrive in the years ahead. Without knowing it, he makes a compelling case for the Adventure Treks experience by emphasizing the importance of three of our most defining outcomes:

1. Time to reflect

By temporarily removing kids from their busy, tech-filled lives, Adventure Treks provides a natural environment where students have the opportunity to be alone with their thoughts and reflect on their place in the world. “To whiz through our obligations without time for a single mindful breath has been a model for a successful life,” Friedman writes. But a pause is important; wisdom comes through reflection, and we are building a world that isn’t giving anyone the time to turn information into wisdom. “Not everything is better faster or meant to go faster.”

An extended break, surrounded by wilderness, is a unique opportunity to realize what is most important and help choose, how in our terms, we want to fit in with 21st-century life.

2. The 4 C’s

Intelligence used to be defined by the breadth of what we knew. Now, with the advent of artificial intelligence, information is becoming a commodity—and intelligence is instead knowing what questions to ask. “Not only are we required to think both inside and outside of the box, but now we need to be prepared when there is no box at all,” writes Friedman. While technological skills are important to thrive in this accelerating and changing world, Friedman emphasizes the importance of “stempathy skills,” which include the ability to communicate, collaborate, empathize, flourish with uncertainty, and think creatively and critically. Friedman notes that the only occupations that have shown consistent wage growth since 2000 require not only cognitive skills, but, more important, strong social skills.

Friedman implores educators to focus on the 4 C’s (communication, collaboration, creativity, and critical thinking—and to this he adds coding); these line up with what the research and advocacy by the Partnership for 21st-century skills. He emphasizes that these 4 C’s are not innate skills, but ones that can be taught. He warns that any skill without a strong human component will be replaced by computers or robots. We feel, and research from University of New Hampshire on Adventure Treks supports, that there are few better ways to improve one’s communication, collaboration, creativity, and pro social skills than an Adventure Treks outdoor experience.

4. The importance of community

In a technological world, we spend a lot of time in cyberspace where there are essentially no rules. There is a general feeling that the world is becoming less stable and that fewer people know the “rules” of living in society. If we want society to remain stable, Friedman emphasizes the importance of community, character, and values, and knowing how to live as a contributing member to one’s community. Anthropologically speaking, humans are meant to live in a community, and studies show that we are happier when we are connected to others. Relationships are the hallmark of the human experience, and they can only be nurtured with time. Our ability to forge human relationship is a unique human capacity and is what separates us from nature or machines.

Friedman affirms that character is rarely an individual accomplishment; rather, it emerges through “joined hearts and souls and in a group.” Our focus at Adventure Treks is “cultivating the intense, thick community” that Friedman and David Brooks emphasize. Once students have experienced the power and joy of a close community experience, they seek it out elsewhere and facilitate community in the groups they work and live in. A strong community experience provides important grounding in a constantly changing world.

As the world becomes more technological, we feel a great way to build skills to thrive in this world is to actually take a break and spend time outside with friends. While our students are having fun in the outdoors, they come home with a skill set that better prepares them to thrive in this new age of accelerators.

Becoming “experts” together on our first mountain summit!

Getting acquainted with outdoor activities can be both challenging and intimidating. There are a lot of factors to consider, especially if you are new to the outdoors. But it doesn’t have to be scary! Our first recommendation: Do not make being a beginner one of those factors.

We’re all beginners at some point. But when we first try a new activity, sometimes thoughts of inadequacy creep up within us. During my first extended outdoor experience on a seven-day backpack trip in Pisgah National Forest, I fell in love with the sense of self-awareness and calmness I achieved—even though it was my first time ever wearing a heavy pack! But I also thought, “I will conquer this new skill to be a master, and only then I will truly receive the benefits of the outdoors.” It has taken me a long time to realize that being the best at something, or at the very least surpassing “beginner status,” is not the reason to go out into nature—and is not the only way to receive benefits from nature.

In fact, the whole reason I was flocking to the wilderness was to find some peace from the constant competition in my daily life. We are immersed in a culture that values performance. In education, career advancement, even the local rock climbing gym, there is a looming presence of competitiveness. It is hard not to engage in this culture, and instead simply enjoy being outside. I felt torn and confused: I began engaging in that competitive culture outside, though I was going there in the first place to specifically avoid it. It’s hard to break free of something so ingrained in us, though, even in the wilderness. I started to make an intentional effort to focus more on enjoying the experience of being surrounded by nature, and working toward getting to know myself and my fellow companions. I tried to think less of how far or fast I went, and think more about what it felt like to climb over a mountain ridge or walk silently in the forest. I had enough outdoor  skills to keep myself safe, of course, and loved learning new tricks from fellow backpackers, but I stopped comparing myself to other people (the “masters”). Think about what Theodore Roosevelt said: “Comparison is the thief of joy.”

Rock climbing for the first time.

If I could give one piece of advice to Adventure Treks students, it would be to not let fear of being new at something prevent you from having a wonderful experience in the outdoors. Many of our students come to Adventure Treks having never backpacked or rock climbed or whitewater rafted. It is not until the second day or so that they realize that most of the other people on the trip are in the same boat! Instructors teach students everything they need to know throughout the entire adventure, and by trip’s end, students usually aren’t beginners anymore—without any help, they can set up a tent, clean up camp, tie a figure-eight knot, pack their backpack, and much, much more. 

As my love for the outdoors continues to grow, so does my desire and capability to learn and improve on new outdoor skills. For teenagers and adults alike, this is a great way to build confidence and increase your comfort level in both the wilderness and at home or school. I make more of an effort now to focus on my mindset and intention when I’m learning new outdoor skills. My goal is to not let my fear of “looking weird” or not being good at something prevent me from having an awesome outdoor experience. Living by this sentiment has greatly increased the quality of my outdoor experiences and my happiness.

As a mother, I spend countless hours trying to think of ways I can help my children lives’ feel fulfilled. That can include anything from making special dinners and planning trips to washing and folding clothes and nudging them to complete homework and tasks. As they get older and many of my responsibilities (like chores) evolve into their responsibilities, how do we encourage and allow our children the space to experience and make decisions while they are still at home?

Sharing your own childhood experiences—be it positive or negative—is a great start. Imagine your teenager hearing about a faux pas from your childhood. I’m pretty sure that would keep his or her attention, especially as you share how you wish you would have handled your mistake, or what you learned from not handling it so well. Allowing them the chance to fail can sometimes be the hardest thing to do, but letting them know you’ve been through it as well can help. I’ve begun to shift with my almost-15-year-old son, choosing not to remind him about assignments or packing his gym bag to allow him to face any consequences of not remembering himself.

Sarah on the Alaska Expedition in 2015.

Years ago, at the end of my now-17-year-old daughter’s eighth grade year, I ran into her head of school. She exchanged some really sweet things about Sarah, and then chuckled and said, “Do you know anyone else who shows up to school without their shoes?” Go figure my daughter showed up to school with no shoes. (Side note: Her school was over an hour away, and I dropped her off at our carpool spot with no mention of any missing items.) Once she got to school and realized she did not have shoes—and realizing I would not drive two-plus hours to bring her shoes—she didn’t even bother to call me. Instead, she went into problem-solving mode. She went to the lost and found, took a pair of shoes (that did not fit very well), and wore them for the day. Lucky for her, lost and found actually had shoes. I’m pretty sure she always remembered to grab her shoes from then on (but one never knows). The important thing is, she figured it out, without Mom’s help. When she told me what she had done, I admit I thought it was brilliant.

Our kids feel good when they have the chance to figure it out. They may wobble and bobble in the process, but they build resilience and confidence. It does not have to be perfect—the shoes were not a perfect fit, and they were not what she would have chosen—but they worked, and she appreciated having them.

Thomas (left) at Camp Pinnacle.

Just last week, my son arrived at what was the agreed-upon time for an afternoon school trip. He quickly realized the group had departed 10 minutes earlier—he missed the bus (yikes). He’s the type to strive to do all that is required of him, and he gets easily stressed out in this kind of situation. Evidently, an announcement was made during the all-school meeting earlier in the day outlining the time change that he somehow missed.

He called me and told me what happened, and I asked him what his choices were. He said that he would get a demerit and have to do makeup work, and in the meantime, he would work on his homework. He also decided to follow up with the teacher the following day to apologize, explain what had happened, and to assure his teacher that he would be more careful going forward. I hated that he missed the trip, but I also appreciated that the teacher made it clear that if you are not here on time, there will be consequences. I felt my son showed maturity and, although it was unsettling, he did not fall apart. He did the best he could and managed it. From my vantage point, it felt good to not have to triage the situation during a busy work day. He handled it, learned from it, and moved on.

It is so hard when it just takes a moment or two for us to fix it or remind them and it will save them from so much grief. My mom used to say, “Little kids, little problems. Big kids, big problems.” The consequences certainly grow as they do. I believe allowing our teenagers the space and creating a dialogue where you can to support them, but let them figure things out on their own.

Many folks are wondering what the Adventure Treks team does this time of year. While most of you have put your backpacks away for the season as you transitioned from outdoor adventurer to student, we haven’t stopped doing what we love: working with teenagers in the great outdoors.

Believe it or not, our fall outdoor education season is just as long as our summer season! Just a few days after we closed our summer base of operations in Washington in August, we began training our school group instructors at our Camp Pinnacle base in NC.

We have an incredible team of instructors, including Joe Sisti, Dennis Mabasa, Allison O’Brien, Casey Clark, Nate Humphreys, John Cox, Wells Jones, Brett Smith, Laura Horowitz, Jenna Maurer, Katie Bigbee, Kacie Ross, Emily Riggs, Ian Hilburger, Zach Dugas, and Devin Wilkinson. Several instructors have also made guest appearances during particularly busy weeks including, Rachael Mallon, Nick Hill, Jack Hoiland, Elise Campbell, Katie Ebner, and Sam Haines.

We love school programs because we know the growth and learning that happens outdoors transfers immediately into the classroom. Invariably, a school community becomes far closer as a result of shared outdoor adventure. Our programs do many of the same activities we do in the summer (backpacking, whitewater rafting, and rock climbing), and we also offer science programs and programs that emphasize community building. Our educational programs also give kids who might otherwise never have an outdoor adventure the chance to have a great time outdoors.

Summer is too short, so we are glad we get more time to spend with our great instructors. This fall, we will work with more than 700 students and 75 teachers from 12 different schools. Our last program ends November 2, and by then, we’ll be more than ready for a rest!

Meanwhile, we are also hard at work in the office getting ready for summer 2017. In fact, a couple of 2017 trips have already filled and several trips are already half-full! We are also planning a new trip in Yellowstone and the Tetons, which we’re very excited for. We’re about to launch a brand-new website, and we’ll have many fun new videos for you to watch soon.

We hope you are having a great year at school and are making plans to join us again for summer 2017!