If you love to travel, are passionate about youth development and want to make a difference in kids' lives, we'd love to have you lead trips for us this summer!
The mission of The Road Less Traveled is to facilitate life-changing experiences that foster personal growth in those who travel with us. Through travel to new places, meaningful service, and stewardship of the natural world, it is our vision to provide young people with the skills and connections to help make the world a better place.
Domestic Trips explore Alaska, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Maine, Utah, and Wyoming. International Trips visit Belize, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Galápagos, Greece, Iceland, Mallorca, Norway, Tanzania, Thailand, Vietnam
About The Road Less Traveled
The mission of The Road Less Traveled is to facilitate life-changing experiences that foster personal growth in those who travel with us. Through travel to new places, meaningful service, and stewardship of the natural world, it is our vision to provide young people with the skills and connections to help make the world a better place.
The Road Less Traveled offers three field leader positions: Trip Leader, Co-Leader, and Intern. Most first-year staff are Co-Leaders, but applicants with extensive experience working with youth in settings similar to the programs offered by The Road Less Traveled may qualify for a Trip Leader position. Trip Leaders and Co-Leaders guide and engage participants in service-learning projects, language immersion programs, backpacking, rock climbing, biking, kayaking, trekking, scuba diving, whitewater rafting, and more from June through August. Both Trip Leaders and Co-Leaders have a minimum age of 21; Interns are graduates of The Road Less Traveled programs that are at least one year removed from high school.
The Road Less Traveled offers both domestic and international trips. New in 2023 are trips to Greece, Norway, Belize, Spain and Ecuador! Check out www.theroadlesstraveled.com to see all of the travel destinations. If you are interested in being a Co-Leader or Trip Leader, we recommend that you apply here!
The Employee Experience
We are always looking for motivated people to join us. We're especially interested if you share our love of the outdoors, our passion for life-changing travel, our dedication to the youth of our world, and most of all our desire to make a difference.
As a Trip Leader or Co-Leader, you will have a lot of autonomy to make the trips yours. We lay out a lot of the itinerary ahead of time, but the execution -- and how fun it is -- is entirely up to you and your other co-leaders and participants.
Our passion for travel is rooted in exploring new cultures and embracing differences in others. Come spend a summer with The Road Less Traveled and have a summer full of adventure, community service work, laughter, bewilderment, new cultures, new friends and more!
Ideal Candidate
The following are characteristics/qualifications that each staff person is expected to match:
Experience: Previous experience working with and/or teaching young people age ranging in age between 12-19 is mandatory. Additional knowledge of and experience in group dynamics, teaching or facilitating groups, supervision of meal planning, food preparation, risk management, and/or managing logistics is a plus.
Skills: We are looking for staff that are knowledgeable in any or all of the following: Language Immersion, Service-Learning Projects, Backpacking, Camping, Rock Climbing, Whitewater Rafting, Kayaking, Scuba Diving, Biking.
Maturity: Must be 21 years of age by June 1st and possess the mature judgment necessary for the ongoing demands and safety requirements of the program.
Confidence: Self-assurance is required to live and relate with adolescents and other leaders in close-knit situations.
Personality/Motivation: Must be self-motivated and act as a role model, possessing personality characteristics that will accelerate and maintain a healthy rapport with participants and other staff.
Flexibility/Patience/Organization: Must have the patience to respond to stress, crisis, change, and non-glamorous tasks in positive and productive ways at all times. Must have the ability to organize and assure a smooth flow of activities.
Current unrestricted drivers license: Applicants should have no major convictions including driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, reckless driving, hit and run, homicide or assault with a motor vehicle, drag racing, operating a motor vehicle without the owner's consent, license suspended, or revoked within the previous seven-year period for accidents and/or moving violations. Driving records should reflect no more than three moving violations and/or chargeable accidents during the previous seven years. Experience or willingness and ability to learn to drive a 15-passenger van is a requirement for domestic trips. Some international trips require the ability and knowledge for driving manual (stick shift) vehicles.
Room and Board
Your employment with RLT includes all food, lodging, transportation, and activity costs from the time you arrive at staff training through the end of your trip. Most trips will have lodging either in backcountry style campsites or AirBNB/hostel-style group settings. Salaries are based on qualifications and experience.
Employee Perks
You get to travel the world and get paid to do it! What can be better?!
All food, lodging and transportation expenses are covered by The Road Less Traveled during your employment.
The Road Less Traveled offers training for Wilderness First Responder (WFR) course and Lifeguard/First Aid Training Courses. RLT covers up to $750 in course fees for WFR or $150 in course fees for Lifeguard/First Aid, reimbursed at the end of a successful summer with us.
We also offer pro-deals on outdoor equipment from a variety of well-known manufacturers.
Getting Here and Getting Around
We will fly all trip leaders to Minneapolis - St Paul International Airport on or around June 5th for the beginning of staff orientation. Our training team will pick up trip leaders and bring them to the location in Hayward, WI where our 10-day training occurs. From there, we will bring you back to Minneapolis - St Paul International Airport where you will depart for your first trip location and await the arrival of your first group of kids!
All transportation costs are covered by The Road Less Traveled.
For Fun
Each The Road Less Traveled trip contains different adventures and community service projects. You might go climbing with your group of kids or spend a day going whitewater rafting. Or if it's a service work day, you may be helping build composts and bunk beds in Costa Rica, or go to a Wolf Sanctuary in Colorado, or help with the repopulation of coral reefs in Florida. One thing that's for certain -- you'll have a lot of fun, meet new people, experience new cultures, and travel to some amazing places while working for The Road Less Traveled!
How to Apply
The hiring process:
- Submit an application online via the link below.
- RLT's Hiring Director reviews applications on a rolling basis and invites all qualified candidates for an interview.
- First Round Interview with RLT Hiring Director.
- Final Round Interview with RLT's Director.
- Check References.
- Make you a job offer!