I am also at a troop in Texas and we alternate near & far camps. One of the things we look at is total cost of the camp (fees, rentals, gas $, shirts, etc) and total it up. When they boys have asked for an expensive camp - we total up the cost & they have to plan to fundraise as a unit to get the group costs down to a reasonable level. One thing I have seen is that sometimes you have a group of parents who are willing to write a check for a high dollar adventure (which is fine), but as their scouts move through the program, the new scout families coming in might not feel the same way, and the change needs to be discussed openly. I consider it a good teachable moment for the scouts. So maybe you plan to do the expensive "dream" camp/trip and start saving money & fundraising towards that, but in the meantime, they pick a more affordable camp.
