Summer Travel Information
Summer Trip Cities & Dates
Montana High School Trip 2024
Arrive July 1st in Missoula
Depart July 16th from Missoula
Big Island Middle School Trip 2024
Arrive June 8th in Hilo
Depart June 17th from Hilo
Who travels with the middle school group?
We always say, “A Wild Kids trip starts at the gate.” An important goal of our program is to teach self-sufficiency, independence, and flexible thinking. Expeditions, including flights, provide excellent experience to improve accountability, awareness and problem-solving. As such, we usually have the students fly as a group on their own or with a Junior Counselor in the past. There are many excellent tales of this part of the adventure from our alumni!
Who books our tickets? (Montana)
We will be using a new travel agency this year to book the group flight from Honolulu to Missoula. Families will be given group flight details by April 1st. We ask that students flying in from other areas arrive within no more than 1 hour of the group arrival time. The driving time between Pattee Canyon and airport is about 30 minutes, so fewer trips to the airport is best.
Who books our tickets? (Big Island)
Our Wild Kids team will book a group flight for all participants through Southwest Airlines. If you prefer to book your own flight for your child, we as that you plan arrival and departure within 1 hour of the group flight.
Can we drop-off or pick-up our child in Montana?
Absolutely! We highly recommend tacking this trip onto a family adventure. Please email Wild Kids Montana if you plan to either drop your child off or pick him/her/them up in Montana. We will work with you to make this possible!
What type of bag should we bring as luggage?
(We pack as a team in advance!)
Because it is absolutely imperative that everyone arrive in Montana with the right gear, we pack as a team in advance. This allows our Wild Guides and Junior Counselors to actually see what is going into each bag and ensure that no one is overpacking, under-packing, or misunderstanding the gear and clothing guidelines.
For Middle School trips, each student is assigned a "duffle buddy." Then, each duffle buddy pair receives a Wild Kids duffle bag to use for the duration of the trip. The duffle buddy pair will pack under the supervision of a Wild Guide or Junior Counselor. After packing, one duffle buddy is responsible for checking the bag to Montana and the other duffle buddy is responsible for checking the bag back to Hawai'i. If a student requires certain gear or clothing for other trips throughout the summer, this must be cleared by the attending packing guides and students and parents must sign a contract to commit to bringing the items removed from the duffle bag to Montana.
For High School Backpacking trips, we will pack our backpacking backpacks as a team in advance. These will be checked onto the plane. Students may also bring a small daypack to carry-on.
ALL GEAR AND CLOTHING MUST BE READY FOR PACKING BY JUNE 3RD.
What do we bring as a carry-on?
For Middle School, you will carry-on your sleeping bag, sleeping pad and daypack.
For High School Backpacking, you will carry-on a small daypack.