The Big Trips

[Basementdweller]

Roundtable this evening......they discussed Big Trips....... Our troop has never ventured more than 3 hours from home..... Now we are in Ohio.....Troops have taken trips to Maine, Glacier National park, Uss Yorktown......Philmont, northern tier and Seabase..........Big Trips......

 

I remember reading about a troop jumping on airplanes and going to valley forge over a long weekend......

 

 

Lets just say that I couldn't afford what they were talking about..........

 

So these big trips.....are they the boys idea or adults........

 

 

Jealous maybe.....

 

 

So how typical is this??????

 

 

 

 

 

 

[desertrat77]

Basement, I'm thinking back to my trek as a scout at Philmont in the '70s, and it was the SM who made the sales pitch to the scouts. It worked. We senior scouts were on board from day 1. That trek ranks as one of the most memorable things I've done in life. I hope to go back some day.

 

You raise a good point--money. I mowed a lot of lawns to raise the cash and buy a decent pack. We were in a nearby state, so we drove...I squeezed in the back seat of a Jeep C-5, no seat belt, rag top, gear strapped to the spare tire and jerry cans, like the Joad family...others jammed into a Pinto...we stayed in an old dorm on Kirtland AFB for free. Aside from a big feed a great Mexican restaurant in Albuquerque, and a trip to the movies (the first Star Wars!), the trip was no-frills.

 

As for the other examples you shared, those troops operate at a level I've never experienced. Aside from Philmont, my other outdoor adventures were all local, depending on where dad was stationed (Panama, AZ, AK)...there was plenty of adventure in each of those locations without a big trip far away. Gas and food for the trail. And some spending money for a junk food blast when we finished.

 

 

 

 

 

[Gone]

We do a big trip about once every year or two. We got,out of council for summer camp because our camp is not very good. Never by plane. Cars or if we are lucky and raised good money we use a bus.

[King Ding Dong]

I am new to the Troop but am told the older boys make one high adventure trip a year. This year it SeaBase. Next year summit. I was told SeaBase would cost $900 per Scout. Driving 20 hours to get there.

 

Yeah if the boys want to go they need to work for it. This stuff is planned well over a year in advance. Popcorn money, camp cards, wreaths, calendars. It all adds up. Mow some lawns, rake some leaves, paint some walls. Some bring lunch to school everyday. Some give up weed (good), some sell it (bad).

 

Goes really well with Personal Management MB.

 

Some boys don't want to put the effort into it and don't go, some do. Some would rather put that money to the fumes.

 

Whose ideas are these trips ? Well the BSA thought up the programs and just markets them to the Scouts, So technically its the adults. But if you want the boys to have buy in they need to choose what they want to do.

 

Typical with middle to upper middle class troops. More money, more typical.

[King Ding Dong]

Before I relocated recently there was a troop I was really interested in. Suburban town had an annual 4 day carnival and the troop had some "funnel cake" type fried food trailer they set up. Those boys did nothing for 4 days in June but man that trailer. They made enough money in those four days to pay for the entire program year. Everything. Recharter, campouts, summer camp, COH, high adventure for the older scouts. No popcorn sales, registration fees, nothing.

 

Someone at some point made the investment in that trailer and it paid off big time. Makes you think.

[Basementdweller]

The trips to the high adventure bases I expected.....

 

But renting a house on the outer banks and surf fishing for a week as a troop?????

 

Smokey mountains complete with laser tag and go cart racing?????

 

Even Gettysburg to do the battlefield hikes?????

 

I sat there just mystified.........

 

I would love the boys to be able to raise all of the money for the entire program year........I don't have big money to spout of pocket to spend on the initial fees........Heck we can't even sell bottled water at the 4th of July fireworks celebration and parade without a $500 vendor permit. In the past few years we sell popcorn, candy bars and flower bulbs pretty successfully.

 

 

 

[King Ding Dong]

When investigating troopwebhost I saw a lot of amazing stuff. Try ski trip to Swiss Alps, that didn't come from popcorn sales, parents have money. My troop has a diverse economic mix, some in apartments some in McMansions. We cater to the lowest common denominator as best we can. The boys wanted to do a float trip and I priced some canoe rentals on the rivers in southern MO, $35 a day was deemed to much, our campouts are usually $20.00. There is a troop not to far from me that charters buses a few times a year for trips. Part of it has do do with the economic status of the scouts, part with size of troop. Roundtable is great for networking. My troop is not big enough charter a bus, but we have tossed around the idea of finding another similar sized troop and collaborating so maybe we can go to Yellowstone or the Grand Canyon. There needs to be trust and a relationship between leaders to make that work.

[Basementdweller]

We canoe every summer.....it works out to 25 bucks a boat so $15 per scout with a stop for ice cream on the way home and we make it a day outing instead of a weekend trip to save cost......

 

 

So why the non-high adventure base big trips???????

 

[Gone]

So why the non-high adventure base big trips???????

 

So why not the non-HA big trips?

 

If the boys can plan it, fund it, execute it, why not? I don't agree with how some of the mega troops do things where the parents run and fund everything like a mini army. But those of us who raise our own money and do our own planning, why not do a few big trips every year or so?

 

[King Ding Dong]

The trips to the high adventure bases I expected.....

 

But renting a house on the outer banks and surf fishing for a week as a troop?????

 

Smokey mountains complete with laser tag and go cart racing?????

 

Even Gettysburg to do the battlefield hikes?????

 

I sat there just mystified.........

 

I would love the boys to be able to raise all of the money for the entire program year........I don't have big money to spout of pocket to spend on the initial fees........Heck we can't even sell bottled water at the 4th of July fireworks celebration and parade without a $500 vendor permit. In the past few years we sell popcorn, candy bars and flower bulbs pretty successfully.

 

 

Laser tag is a prohibited activity by BSA, not smart to mention that at a roundtable. Another troop I was looking at in NE was an outdoor machine. The dads were all avid outdoorsmen and certified NRA whatevers. That troop was always fishing, boating and HUNTING. I am sure not as an official troop event, just a bunch of friends going hunting. Advancement was not a priority for them, having fun was.

 

Every troop has their own culture, some focus more on civic trips like to DC and museums, some go rouge and hunt, some focus on Eagle by 13/14 before the fumes hit. My current troop seems to fall in the later but advancement still depends on the boy. The mom of one is a teacher and he was Eagle at 13 and at 14 has over 50 MB. I sat on a BOR for for a 1st year who just made Star, been camping with him twice, he knows his stuff. He also has an Eagle older brother and is determined to make Eagle faster than him. That kind of ambition is not a bad thing.

 

A lot of success in life can be attributed to your connections. If the SM or CC is buddies with the Mayor or Parks director, maybe that troop gets a preferential site at the carnival and who knows maybe the vendor fee is waived. If the CO is a big church with full kitchen facilities maybe the troop has a spaghetti diner and the congregation shows up in support. Maybe they go rouge and serve beer also. Boom, big bucks. Do you think the district or council sends out investigators to police this stuff ? Even if someone rats you out, if your troop made their FOS goal, do you think the DE is going to give a hoot ?

[King Ding Dong]

We canoe every summer.....it works out to 25 bucks a boat so $15 per scout with a stop for ice cream on the way home and we make it a day outing instead of a weekend trip to save cost......

 

 

So why the non-high adventure base big trips???????

The same reason people buy 90 inch plasma screens for their bedroom, have a $6,000 Internet connected Kohler toilet with Bluetooth, drive a Hummer, and dogs lick their balls.

 

Because they can.

[King Ding Dong]

So why the non-high adventure base big trips???????

 

So why not the non-HA big trips?

 

If the boys can plan it, fund it, execute it, why not? I don't agree with how some of the mega troops do things where the parents run and fund everything like a mini army. But those of us who raise our own money and do our own planning, why not do a few big trips every year or so?

MB, what happened to Peter Sellers ?

[Gone]

So why the non-high adventure base big trips???????

 

So why not the non-HA big trips?

 

If the boys can plan it, fund it, execute it, why not? I don't agree with how some of the mega troops do things where the parents run and fund everything like a mini army. But those of us who raise our own money and do our own planning, why not do a few big trips every year or so?

He died.

[Basementdweller]

guess I need to just be happy with the White Castle of scouting programs and not aspire to the Brown Derby scout program.

[Basementdweller]

We canoe every summer.....it works out to 25 bucks a boat so $15 per scout with a stop for ice cream on the way home and we make it a day outing instead of a weekend trip to save cost......

 

 

So why the non-high adventure base big trips???????

Seriously, if I am going to spend the big bucks and go to the alps to ski, the absolutely last thing I want is to be responsible for the troop.

 

I go on vacation to be away from it, not bring it with me.