NOLS Blog
Summer Travel Programs for Teens: Why Wilderness Expeditions Offer More Than a Passport Stamp
Most summer travel programs for teens promise adventure. A select few actually deliver it. There is a difference between traveling through a place and learning to move through it with skill and intention. That difference is worth understanding before you commit to any program, and before your teen boards a plane. This guide breaks down…
Staying Power
Shari Kearney didn’t just find a place at NOLS—as our longest serving female instructor, she has worked over ...
Connection, Resilience, and Dal Bhat: Manaslu Circuit Alumni Trip 2025
In November 2025, five gentlemen, one lady, three guides, and three support staff met in Kathmandu in preparation ...
Best Summer Programs for Teens: Outdoor Adventures That Build Leaders
Most teens will spend this summer doing something fun, but maybe not so meaningful. Not because they lack ambition, but because the summer camps available to them were designed to center around fun, rather than building long-lasting skills. The difference between a summer that fades and one that becomes a reference point — something your…
Case Study: Motion Sickness on a Surf and Dive Trip in Oahu, Hawaii
The Setting You’re leading a small group on a combined surf and introductory scuba trip on Oahu. The group is staying on the North Shore and driving early in the morning to a south shore harbor to meet the dive boat. The coastal road is narrow, hilly, and full of tight curves. Several group members…
Summer Programs for High Schoolers: Choosing an Adventure That Lasts
Every parent of a high schooler feels it: these summers matter. The window is short, and how your teen spends it shapes more than you’d think. The science backs that up. Adolescence, roughly ages 12 to 18, is one of the most significant growth windows a person will ever experience. It’s when teens actively figure…
The Complete Guide to Summer Programs for Teens
Each summer between high school years is about 90 days. For most teens, the time passes quickly — and how it’s spent matters more than it might seem at the moment. For parents thinking about how to help their teen get the most out of these months, a structured summer program is one of the…
Teen Wilderness Programs: What Parents Need to Know
If you’ve started searching for programs that will allow your teen to spend time outside learning leadership, adventure skills, and more, you’ve probably noticed that the term “teen wilderness programs.” This term covers very different types of experiences. Some are clinical. Some are recreational. And some are educational: multi-week expeditions built around outdoor skills, leadership…
Case Study: Bug Bite or Blister on a Trail Crew Project
The Setting You are working as part of a backcountry trail crew in the Nantahala National Forest near the North Carolina-Tennessee border. The project involves brushing and tread work in steep, densely vegetated terrain with long approaches and limited access points. Summer conditions are hot and humid, and the crew has been in the field…
Backcountry Lessons for Today’s World: Tolerance for Adversity and Uncertainty
Tolerance for adversity and uncertainty (or resilience) is a major element of the leadership model NOLS teaches and it has broad applicability, especially now.
You Don’t Always Have to Know the Answer: Vulnerability in Leadership
Sometimes being a good leader means admitting you don't know the answer, a lesson Carolyn Highland learned on her outdoor educator course in the Absarokas.
What I Wish I Knew Before I Was a Camp Counselor
See why a former camp counselor thinks all camp staff should have wilderness medicine trainings!
Social Distancing Responsibly in the Outdoors
Now's the time to apply lessons learned outdoors, like practicing LNT, having a positive attitude, and managing risk responsibly, to the frontcountry.
Hiking Like a Girl
On an Alaska backpacking and sea kayaking course, NOLS grad Caroline Dooley realized that hiking like a girl is something to celebrate. Here's why.
Getting Down to the Basics: Wilderness First Aid Quiz
Take this Wilderness First Aid quiz to test your knowledge about basic WFA skills.
Expedition Science on the Slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro
The NOLS Tanzania Scientific Expedition is a unique opportunity to design and implement a scientific research study—and summit Mount Kilimanjaro!
Northern Absorption: Backpacking & Canoeing in the Yukon
Katie Raymond relives the unforgettable day when she paddled for 13 hours in stormy weather on her Yukon Backpacking and Whitewater Canoeing expedition.
How Winning the Iditarod on Foot Started with NOLS
I had no idea I was going to work toward this masterpiece of a race, where I’d blend skills I'd spent years working on for 1,000 miles in the winter with a sled. But now I look back and I see it all come together, and NOLS was the conduit, the peephole.
Creating Space: Why All-Women’s Expeditions Matter
In many ways, an all-women's course is just another NOLS course. But it's also something more.
How Outdoor Adventures Set Teens up for Life Success
Mistakes aren't fun. But they might be just what teens need to succeed! NOLS courses offer an opportunity to make mistakes productively and learn key leadership skills.
Stepping into Action: First Aid on the Appalachian Trail
NOLS grad Kimberly Blazzard unexpectedly put her wilderness medicine skills into practice on a solo trip on the Appalachian Trail.
