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destinations: Your Passport to Travel

Current destinations • 2013 brochure • Dates to Remember • Five Steps to Apply •

Travel Resources • Girl Stories • Types of destinations

The World is Waiting! Where Do You Want to Go?

Girl Scout destinations — travel experiences that range from two days to three weeks — can whisk girls around the country and to the far corners of the world where they will meet other remarkable girls, develop leadership skills, gain confidence, and enjoy valuable learning opportunities to take action. This year’s destinations are open to girls ages 11-17.

A Girl Scout destinations experience is your chance to go somewhere new, do something different, and meet people from everywhere you can imagine. What’s stopping you from applying? Nothing! So apply today and travel the world as a Girl Scout! 

Descriptions for Current destinations

Click here to learn about the current exciting destinations!

destinations 2013 Brochure

Click here to download the brochure.

Important destinations Dates to Remember

• Jan 15: Deadline for second round applications due to GSNorCal San Jose Office. Financial aid application must be filed with initial event application.
• Jan. 16: Applicants notified of their status for first round applications.
• Feb. 1: All deposits holding a participants’ spot are due to event sponsors for first round applications.
• Feb. 18: Second round applications sent to event sponsors by the GSNorCal Destinations Committee. 
• March: Additional applicants notified of their status. Participant status report to GSUSA by event sponsors
• March 16: All second round applicants' deposit due to event sponsors (Please note that there might be some destinations that will extend the deadline if the event is not full).

Applying for a destination? Five Steps:

1. Log on to girlscouts.org/destinations. Select your top four choices.
2. Download the application form and complete it. You’ll need to fill out an application for each event you want to attend.
3. Print out at least two copies of the reference form and ask people who know how awesome you are to fill them out. You can use the same letters of reference for all your applications, but you might want more targeted references depending on what destination you are applying to.
4. Send your application to GSNorCal San Jose office by Oct. 31 for first round review and Jan. 15 for late review.

Girl Scouts of Northern California
Attn: Destinations Committee
1310 S. Bascom Ave.
San Jose, CA  95128-4502

5. You and GSNorCal will receive notification of acceptance from the host council or event sponsor.

Don’t be intimidated by the price!

Travel Resources

• Global Travel Toolkit (Girl Guide and Adult Guide available)
• The Girl Scout Travel Log 
• The Appendix

Coming soon ... Stories and photos from GSNorCal girls who have gone on destinations recently!

What Type of destination is Right for You?

There are five different travel categories for Girl Scout destinations. Which one is right for you?

International

Travel outside the United States is one of the best ways to learn about other cultures — and yourself. How about camping in Austria, rafting in Costa Rica, or soaking up the culture of India — one of the world's oldest civilizations?

Outdoors

You could explore Alaska's Kenai Peninsula in sea kayaks or visit Hawaii's Mauna Kea Observatory and Volcanoes National Park. Or maybe you'd rather go canyoneering in California, biking through Michigan, or trekking across the Colorado Rockies on horseback?

Science

Ever dream of being an astronaut? If you have the "right stuff," then Space Camp® at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama, is for you. More interested in marine or aquatic biology? Then hop aboard a schooner with real-life scientists and learn about weather, waves, and zooplankton. Be warned — you'll take your turn at night watch!

People

Travel from New York City to Washington, D.C., to trail the history and future of women in leadership, community activism, and advocacy. Or maybe you'd prefer exploring the Mall of America in Minnesota, home to more than 520 shops, the nation's largest amusement park, and the biggest underground aquarium!

Apprenticeships

Calling all budding biologists, anthropologists, geologists, and archaeologists: How would you like to survey Alaska's Copper River Delta, ancestral home of the Eyak people? Or perhaps your desired apprenticeship runs more along the lines of training with special education professionals to become a counselor at a camp for girls with disabilities.

For more information, resources, and application, visit the GSUSA destinations web page. For more information, contact the Program Department at program@girlscoutsnorcal.org.

 

Upcoming GSNorCal Travel Trips

Travel: China
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to travel to China? Or what it would be like to see the Great Wall, The Forbidden City or the Terracotta Warriors? Join us on a 10-day EF Tour to China in June 2013. You’ll get to experience a taiji lesson and a meal with a Chinese family, ride a bike on the Xi’an City Wall, a dragon boat ride in Beijing and many more activities. Please note: This trip is open to girls only. Registration deadline is February 27

Travel: Savannah 
Have you ever wanted to visit the city where Girl Scouts got started? Join us on a trip to Savannah where we will visit the Birthplace and take part in a program, participate in a walking tour around the historic city and see other places that were important to Juliette Gordon Low. We will visit a fort and learn about being a part of the militia, take a dolphin cruise and more. Please note: This trip is open to girls only.

 

This web page was last updated on Friday, January 18, 2013.