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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

Meals at Overland

Staying clean and comfortable is important at Overland!

Most trips have frequent access to hot showers. This ranges from nearly every night on some of our Introductory trips and our shorter biking trips, to every couple of days on many hiking trips, to longer stretches–three to five days, sometimes a little longer–on some of our more challenging trips. The goal on every trip, however, is to take showers when they are available!

In general, on every trip we do laundry once a week— this is typically in a laundromat with funds and detergent provided by Overland (and it’s usually a lot of fun!).

Yes. We want each of our students to feel completely supported.

Every one of our trips will spend some of their time in areas with access to bathroom facilities, many of which include flush toilets, running water, and trash receptacles. Our youngest students, and most of our bike trips, will spend most of their time in settings like these.

All of our hiking trips will spend time away from areas with bathroom facilities. In preparation for a day hike away from facilities, or for a longer backpacking section, our leaders will teach the group about backcountry bathroom practices. In most cases, this will include digging a cat hole (a shallow six-inch hole) in a private location away from water sources. Leaders will also provide every group member a small bag to pack out toilet paper (and other paper products, e.g., pads and tampons).

Our leaders will also make sure that group members are supported with menstruation information, needs, and supplies (i.e., pads, tampons). We recommend sending your child with a supply of these items. If your child needs additional pads or tampons, the leaders can provide them.

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 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’ll Be In Touch With You If Needed
Our leaders in the field check in 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.

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 sent back. For this same reason, please do not send mail that requires a signature upon delivery.

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

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

We recommend that you send a letter, card, or postcard instead and save the gift for when your child returns home at the end of the trip (and, don’t worry; your child’s trip leaders will make sure there is a celebration!).

We recommend letters, cards, or postcards instead of care packages. If, however, you send a care package, bear in mind that many don’t make it to the intended recipient (because we’re moving), and that many aren’t returned to the sender.

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.

Our full Covid-19 policy can be found here.

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 since the 1980s.

Please click here to read more about our approach to risk management and our accreditation by the American Camp Association.

When we receive your application, if your first choice is available, we will:

(1) call you to thank you for 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.