Questions? Call us: 413.458.9672.

• What is a typical day like on the American Challenge?
  

  On the AC, you'll get up early — 4:00 a.m., and you'll get on the bikes early — 5:00 a.m. (near the end of the trip, in the California desert, you'll get up earlier, and start riding earlier). Depending on the day's route and mileage, wind and weather, and delays and breakdowns, you'll get off the bikes in the afternoon or early evening. While riding, we're as efficient as possible: we ride at an average speed of 12 mph, we take short breaks, and we hydrate, snack, and eat lunch on the bikes. Once we're off the bikes, we enjoy group life as we have fun and make friends, rest and recover, and repair and tune the bikes. Days end with dinner and dessert, then we get to bed early (typically between 8:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. — sometimes earlier).
  
  Note: We have regular (but sometimes infrequent) access to showers. Most students shower once or twice a week. Our AC groups do laundry once a week.

• What is the weather like on the American Challenge?
  

  The southeast is hot and humid, the southwest is hot and dry, and in the mountains of New Mexico and Colorado temperatures range between the 50s and 80s during the day, and cooler at night. Sometimes it is warm and sunny, other times it is rainy and cold. Our packing list takes these factors into consideration.

• What if I have difficulty keeping up?
  

  Given the AC's long daily mileage, every student must maintain an average speed of 12 mph. If you complete the pre-trip training as required at 12 mph, then you should have no problem keeping up once the trip starts. If, however, you have difficulty keeping up, then your leaders will contact the Overland office and your folks. Together (you, your folks, your leaders, and Overland's directors) will discuss the situation. After those conversations, you will have to improve your speed to 12 mph. To help you do so, your leaders will check over your bike and observe your riding technique, they will work with you and encourage you, and they will coach you and cheer you on. But, in order to stay on the trip, you will need ride at an average speed of 12 mph.

• What are the arrival and departure airports for my child’s trip?
  

  You will need to arrange transportation to Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport at trip start. At trip end, most students are picked up by their families at the youth hostel in Santa Monica (students who fly home from L.A. fly out of Los Angeles International Airport, LAX). We will provide more specific travel information once we have placed your child on the trip.

• Do families travel to Los Angeles to see the group finish at Santa Monica?
  

  Yes!
  
  We invite friends and families to join us in welcoming groups to trip end, and we encourage families to make plans to be with us at the Santa Monica Pier. Groups arrive around noon on the second to last day of the trip, and we spend an hour together on the beach celebrating the group’s achievements. In the afternoon, groups head to the Santa Monica Youth Hostel to box their bikes, pack their gear, and spend a final evening together.
  
  Please join us in Santa Monica: it's an exciting day... and a powerful moment — for our students, and for their families.
  

• What are meals like at Overland? Can Overland accommodate allergies and intolerances?
  

  Meals at Overland

  Good food (and plenty of it!), excellent nutrition, and fun are the goals of Overland’s meals. Each group buys, prepares, and eats all of its meals together. Our students, with their leaders’ supervision, prepare all meals. A typical breakfast has cereal, milk, juice, and fruit; most lunches are sandwiches (or wraps) with a variety of fillings, plus chips, and fruit; dinners reflect easily prepared group meals like pasta, burritos, and stir-frys (all of which will typically have a selection of sauces and fillings). At Overland, meals are a group experience, an important way to foster connection with and consideration for other group members.

  Allergies & Intolerances

  We recognize there are many young people with food allergies or intolerances. We welcome these young people’s interest in joining us, and we ask parents of a prospective Overland student with an allergy/intolerance to please consider the following important information.

  Most meals at Overland are prepared in basic kitchens (or outdoors), and groceries are typically purchased from small stores with limited choices. As a result, meals are prepared and served in what may be allergen-contaminated environments, and on many trips allergen-free/gluten-free foods are not readily available. While we cannot guarantee allergen-free meal settings, we will do what is reasonable to provide allergen-free/gluten-free foods on those trips where available.

  In all things, our top priority is to help maintain all students’ well-being; to this end, all Overland leaders are trained to recognize and respond to allergic reactions, including administering antihistamines and epinephrine (both are carried in every trip’s first aid kit); leaders carry cell phones, and in some cases, satellite phones, so that should the need arise, emergency personnel can be contacted and their services requested. It is important for all prospective parents to understand that many groups travel in remote areas where emergency services may not be easily or readily accessible.

  Our Admissions Process is Collaborative

  During our admissions process, we will review all submitted Allergy Questionnaires to understand the applicant’s allergy/intolerance. We will then consider whether or not the applicant’s allergy/intolerance may be reasonably accommodated. If our admissions team has any concerns, they will contact the parent. In this conversation, we will seek to learn more about the allergy/intolerance, and we will discuss the available grocery stores, emergency services, and medical facilities on the applied-for trip. These conversations generally have one of three outcomes:

  1. The applicant is placed on the applied-for trip if the applicant otherwise qualifies.
  2. We offer a different trip if the applicant otherwise qualifies.
  3. We recommend waiting a year and re-applying.

  Managing Food Allergies/Intolerances is a Partnership

  Our commitment is to the health and well-being of each of our campers. Our goal is to partner with parents and campers—a partnership in which:

  • We clearly describe our trips and policies;
  • Parents clearly describe their child’s allergies or intolerances and their child’s maturity level and capability to self-manage their allergy or intolerance.
  • We work together with parents in a collaborative and interactive process to determine if there are reasonable accommodations that can be made so that otherwise qualified applicants can participate in our trips.
  • Students on an Overland trip take an active role in managing their allergies, including reading food labels as needed, eating only those foods with known ingredients, and seeking a leader if a reaction is suspected.

  Meals: Vegetarians & Specialized Diets

  Every summer there are many vegetarians who join our groups and who enjoy meat-free meals. We are happy to welcome these students as long as they understand they will share in the group’s meals but will simply have the meat portion withheld. For example: sandwiches at lunch with hummus, lettuce, tomato, and cheese (while the rest of the group has sandwiches with sliced turkey or ham); pasta at dinner with a tomato sauce (while the rest of the group has pasta with a meat sauce). We sometimes have requests from applicants with specialized diets—vegans, for example—to provide separate, specialized meals. As much as we’d like to be able to accommodate these applicants, the limitations of our kitchens, the size of available grocery stores, and the importance of group meals make it impractical to provide separate, specialized meals.

• Please tell me about Overland's admissions process.
  

  When we receive your application, if your first choice is available, we will: (1) call you to acknowledge our receipt of your application, (2) send you an email with a link to our enrollment forms, and (3) charge a deposit of $795 to your credit card. If your first choice is not available, we will call you to discuss options. For more information, and to access our application, please visit our Apply page.

• How physically challenging are Overland's bike trips?
  

  Overland’s bike trips increase gradually in difficulty–from two weeks on Cape Cod & the Islands to our six-week American Challenge. Many students start on Cape Cod & the Islands (averaging 20 miles of riding per day) or Vermont (averaging 25 miles per day). Nova Scotia & Acadia offers daily rides that are in the 30 to 35 mile range. For students looking for a three week West Coast bike trip, Pacific Coast groups ride 45 miles per day. High school students looking for a physically challenging summer experience can choose from European Challenge, Canadian Rockies & Montana, and American Challenge. These three trips vary in length and location, and on average ride 70, 75, and 85 miles per day, respectively. We’d be happy to talk with you about each trip and the best fit for you: please email us at info@overlandsummers.com.

• Does my child need to have previous experience?
  

  While no previous experience is required, we have high expectations of our students. We expect your child–with your help–to select a trip that is appropriate for their interests and abilities. You should spend some time familiarizing yourself with the details of the specific trip and help your child understand what to expect. We also expect our students to prepare ahead of time: to review the packing list, gather clothing and gear, and complete whatever training the trip requires (for recommended training please see the Before You Go tab). Once the trip begins, your child should be ready–and excited–to contribute to a wholesome and enthusiastic group in which each member feels welcomed and valued.

• Please tell me about safety at Overland.
  

  Safety and risk management are at the forefront of our decision-making–from trip planning to leader training to supporting our groups in the field. We cannot guarantee absolute safety–no program can. All recreational activities include inherent risks. Therefore, we strive to manage the risks that we can, knowing we cannot eliminate them. We work hard to recruit, train, and support our trip leaders so they can create the kind of trips that have made us successful for over 30 years. Please click here to read more about our approach to risk management and our accreditation by the American Camp Association.

• What are Overland’s policies on phones, electronics, and communication?
  

  Phones
  To maximize independence and self-reliance, we do not permit phone calls, emails, or text messages to or from our campers. Your child will call home on arrival and departure with our phones and assistance, and in the case of an emergency. If your child brings a phone for use while en route to Overland, please do not send an expensive smartphone. Instead, an inexpensive prepaid cell phone will do. All phones will be collected on arrival and returned at departure. While we will take reasonable steps to prevent damage, theft, or loss, we take no responsibility for phones and we will not make any reimbursements for lost, damaged, or stolen phones.

   

  Electronics
  Cameras are welcome but please do not bring any other electronics (e.g., iPods, iPads, Kindles or other readers, GPS or similar devices). All electronics (except cameras) will be mailed home on arrival (at your risk and expense).

   

  Communication
  We are committed to providing extraordinary support to you and your child. To that end, the Overland office is staffed from 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. seven days a week during the summer. Outside of office hours, our answering service provides emergency coverage. Our leaders in the field are in touch with our office regularly; they carry cell phones (and in some cases satellite phones). Anytime a camper is treated for an injury or illness by a doctor or other medical personnel, parents are notified by our office. A director will call the parents to explain the nature of the injury or illness, the sequence of events leading up to the injury, and/or the steps leading to the treatment. Parents are typically able to speak with the medical personnel, with the leaders, and with their child.

• Can I send mail to my child during a trip?
  

  Getting a letter, card, or postcard while on an Overland trip is always exciting. Please keep in mind that sending mail to your child on an Overland trip is different than sending mail to a traditional camp because your child will be on the move. Our experience has been that mail often does not arrive on time, and, sometimes, even when it does, post offices, campgrounds, and other mail stops do not reliably deliver mail to our groups. For these reasons:

   

  1. Please do not send anything valuable – please send letters, cards, or postcards only.  If mail is late, lost, or misdirected, Overland’s leaders and staff are not able to return to the post office (or other mail stop) to collect it.

  2. Please use the US Postal Service first-class mail only; do not use UPS, FedEx, or DHL (many of our mail stops accept US Postal Service mail only).

  3. Please do not send overnight letters: many overnighted letters arrive before or after we arrive and are then sent back. For this same reason, please do not send mail that requires a signature upon delivery.

  4. Please allow one week for postal delivery to U.S. mail stops.

  5. Please allow two weeks for postal delivery to international mail stops.