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…
10 Things That Will Happen to You in the Backcountry
Number 1, You will remember songs that you have not heard in forever.
Big Agnes Co-Owner Len Zanni: Finding His Way in the Outdoor Industry
Len Zanni, co-owner of Big Agnes, Inc. and NOLS grad, talked with us about what he’s learned from NOLS and from his years of working in the outdoor industry.
Sam Glinsmann Completes 77-Day Wilderness Course
Sam Glinsmann’s Semester in New Zealand was with NOLS, which aims to teach participants leadership skills in the wilderness.
Any Year Can Be a Gap Year
Best Time to Take a Gap Year: Discover how any year can be transformed into an impactful and transformative gap year.
ASL-Supported Course Fosters Inclusive Diversity and Growth
Longtime instructor shares stories from the most diverse NOLS Wilderness Medicine course she has ever taught.
How to Create an Eye-Catching Resume by Talking about Your NOLS Course
Stand out from the crowd by talking about NOLS on your resume
Into the Wild, Every Day
Both my boys went on NOLS trips when they were 15, spending five weeks in the Wyoming wilderness. With bears. For five weeks, I had no contact with them.
5 Things You Learn from Climbing (That Also Matter in Real Life)
5 Things You Learn from Climbing (That Also Matter in Real Life)
3 Months in the Rockies to 30 Countries in a Year: How a NOLS Alum Went Worldwide
NOLS alum Erica Levine Weber takes her experience on a NOLS semester and turns it into a lifetime of international travel with her family, taking her daughter to 30 countries before her first birthday.
