faq
Have a Q? Our team is here for you! Check out some of our frequently asked questions below. If you don’t see your question here, feel free to contact our staff.
About
Global Routes
To prepare emerging leaders with the tools, skills, and confidence to thrive in our interconnected world through the powerful experiences of immersive, meaningful, and authentic cross-cultural exchange.
At Global Routes, we provide summer programming for students ages 14-18 to international destinations across the globe! Our summer programs are culturally immersive, community-driven, and based on the principles of reciprocal exchange.
Our program pedagogy seeks to incorporate all of our Global Routes values:
- Curiosity – We remain open to see, learn, and experience what is different.
- Courage – We step outside of what’s comfortable in order to challenge ourselves and grow.
- Community – We see ourselves as members of a global community and we take responsibility for the direct and indirect impact our actions have on others and the planet.
- Compassion – We suspend judgment to and strive to openly appreciate and understand perspectives other than our own.
- Creativity – We find joy and exhilaration in thinking outside of the box, playfulness, expressing ourselves, and harnessing our imaginations.
- Collaboration – We believe meaningful change occurs most effectively when we work together across national and cultural boundaries.
- Connection – We build meaningful and long-lasting relationships based on trust and mutual respect by first connecting to our own inner truth.
Choosing a program
No problem! Use our program finder tool to identify the programs that are a right fit for you or schedule some time with our team via the “book a call” link to chat directly with our staff. We can help you determine the best program based on your availability, goals, and interests.
Applying a program
Simply get started by submitting our Interest Form. Afterward, you’ll be directed to schedule an interview with our team and take the next step!
Our programs are meant to be inclusive, empowering, and promote confidence. During our interview, we’re looking for reasons that the program will be a mutual good fit! The ideal Global Routes student is open-minded, interested in self-growth, and curious about the world around them. As long as we are assured that students are applying for the right reasons, we’re excited to welcome you to the Global Routes community!
Tuition, costs & payments
Once you’ve completed your interview and received your acceptance, you’ll receive a link to sign into CampMinder. CampMinder is our third-party platform that we use for collecting tuition payment and your pre-travel documents, like your health form. Simply follow the instructions sent by your interviewer to complete your account set up and pay your tuition directly in the platform.
Over two decades of experience has demonstrated to us that providing financial aid awards increases the diversity of our student body and thus the depth and quality of our programs. Global Routes strives to make our programs accessible to students who otherwise, due to financial reasons, would not have the opportunity to contribute their energy and special gifts to our projects.
We offer aid packages of between 10% and 50% off tuition, which is exclusive of airfare to select students. Apply for tuition assistance here.
Preparing to travel
Yes, for most programs, you will need a passport. We accept students from all over the world, so be sure to review your passport and/or visa needs when deciding which program is for you. Our team can help!
Once you’re enrolled, you’ll be invited to our password-protected student page. There, you’ll find packing lists, reminders, best practices, and everything you need to know to prepare for your trip.
During a program
Living conditions will vary throughout your program, but they will always be safe and comfortable. During orientation and final travel you stay with your group in family-run guesthouses or small hostels or hotels. During the homestay portion of your program, your entire group will stay in one village where you and a partner live in a simple and rustic home, constructed of wood or cement block. Host families are selected for their warmth and friendliness, though their homes may not have electricity or indoor plumbing.
Your leaders are possibly the best part of your program! We pride ourselves on having fantastic leadership, selected for their professionalism, cross-cultural experience, educational background, leadership skills, and empathy. You’ll be “introduced” to your leaders via your program page after complete enrollment and will meet them in person for the first time on departure day!
In each destination we have in-country staff who identify potential communities and interview and select each host family. Prior to the start of your program, one of your leaders makes an additional pre-trip visit to your community to meet with village leaders, members of the project committee, and all host families. We go to new communities and work with new families nearly every year. This keeps the experience unique and special for communities and students alike
You spend between 10 and 18 days on the service projects (40-100 hours total) and work between 5 and 8 hours each day. After the workday is over, you have a chance to develop your secondary projects, play soccer with local children, help prepare dinner with your host family, or simply enjoy some down-time to read, relax, and take it all in. Some evenings are spent meeting with your group to discuss the service projects or plan a community party. On the weekends, you and your group may have the chance to go to a nearby beach, hike to a waterfall, accompany your family to the local market, or attend a dance in a neighboring community.
Throughout the program, we’ll partake in family meals, restaurant meals, grab-and-go, and home-cooked dinners at different times in the program. Many of our students are vegetarian or have other dietary restrictions. We make every effort to accommodate dietary restrictions to ensure that each student is well-fed. There may be occasions when it is not possible to obtain a different meal or when hosts do not understand the dietary restriction and are therefore unable to prepare the meal accordingly. In these cases we ask you to be culturally sensitive, flexible, and patient as we work together to find a solution.
Health & safety
As an organization, we work hard to mitigate risk on our travel programs. Ahead of travel, we provide you with a comprehensive list of immunization recommendations specific to your program to make certain that your preventive inoculations are up to date. Additionally, each of your leaders is certified in First Aid and CPR and travels with a well-stocked medical kit. If you have allergies which require special emergency medications such as Epi-Pens, please contact us and we’ll work out those details if necessary. Finally, we have highly competent medical, mental health, and risk management partners who assist our staff when necessary.
College Credit
This is an experiential field course that allows students to earn credits for activities and experiences they would already be having on a Global Routes program. The course focuses on self-growth, cultural immersion, language skills, goal setting, intra- and interpersonal skills development, leadership development, outdoor leadership and expedition skills, all in the context of exploring a new country and the challenges that inherently arise from travel. Again, these are not sit-down lectures, but just lessons that naturally happen on our programs. You will earn college credit as you trek in the Himalayas, learn about conservation in Hawaii and Costa Rica, and camp in Colorado. How awesome is that?!
Don’t worry, you would be inside studying for exams and writing papers while your friends are out exploring. Your grade is comprised of participation on the program, journal entries, and a reflective paper completed at home after the program. Most students are already journaling on our programs, doesn’t it make sense to earn college credit for it?
Earning college credits as a high school student has major advantages. You can include your credits on your resume when applying to college/university. You might be able to forgo general education courses/electives, allowing you to take other classes that interest you. Having college credits before college might give you more time to study abroad and complete your major requirements, or even let you study abroad for two semesters instead of one. There really aren’t any downsides to earning college credit early!
In addition to the program tuition, the 3-credit course is $995.
Program tuition and airfare + 3-credit course ($995) = Final total
Remember that if you choose to earn college credits you can pay for your entire experience through Western Colorado University, making it tax-deductible. (Global Routes will collect payment for deposit, incidentals, and flights, these will not go through the university).
All colleges and universities have their own policies about credits they will accept that were completed with another institution. The most likely scenario is that credits will count as electives or general education credits.
Students sign up for their Global Routes program and decide if they want to earn college credits on their program. Students then fill out a quick form with Western Colorado University and enroll in the course. Families can pay for their Global Routes program and college credits through Western Colorado, making the entire experience tax-deductible, which essentially pays for the college credits.
