FAQ - Rooted Life Adventures

Any adventure travel comes with risks. However, we are experts in international student travel and have extensive safety protocols to mitigate as many risks as possible.

Students stay in a stationary location and will have a home base for every program. These are carefully selected accommodations to meet the specific needs of our groups and vary from jungle retreats, eco-centers, lodges, or houses often with lots of land and a unique feature that stimulates creativity. Accommodations will have a large kitchen for homemade group meals, large common areas, often dorm style shared bedrooms and shared bathrooms.

Meals on program are supervised by the program instructors, however, students are responsible for the majority of meals on the program. The students spend a considerable amount of time learning about food as it is so crucial to every aspect of our lives and every meal is a learning opportunity! Students will be split into small cook groups so that students can experience food shopping, budgeting, meal planning, critically thinking through nutrition, and practicing new recipes. All dietary needs can be accommodated in this self-catered approach.

Each program has a range of 7-12 who often come from all over the United States, however, there are occasionally students from Europe or Canada.

If you are leaving a home country, it is important you have a valid and up to date passport. For US citizens, Costa Rica does not require a visa and New Zealand requires an easily acquired electronic holiday visa which is purchased in conjunction with your flights. Vaccinations are country specific and we refer to the CDC and your personal travel doctor for all travel vaccination requirements. Our admissions team will walk you through all country requirements upon acceptance.

We work with a travel agency, The Travellist, who coordinates with each family to arrange flights, visas, and travel insurance for a stress free and seamless travel process. Students fly to a common international airport in the US and meet up with their program instructors and the entire group flys together to the program location. This program is voluntary and students may leave at any time if they choose.

Yes. There is always risk anytime you travel and we want to make sure our students are covered in case of any unforeseeable event, therefore, we require that every student has travel insurance that covers 1. Medical coverage while abroad 2. Trip Cancellation 3. Trip interruption 4 Emergency evacuation services. Our travel agent at The Travelist will walk every family through insurance options and questions to make sure you are protected.

Research shows that young people benefit the most from mental health support when parents are involved. Parents will be intimately involved in the admissions process joining with our Mental Health and Wellness Director and their at home therapist to determine specific child needs and set goals for personal program success. Throughout the duration of your child’s adventure, (enrollment) parents have the opportunity to participate in parent coaching sessions.

Families spend dedicated time finding the right therapy fit for their child. We want to honor and build on that foundation. Each participant’s therapist will be brought in during the onboarding process and collaborate with goals setting for the program and pre-program preparation. Then each therapist will continue to meet with their client virtually every week on the program. The Wellness Director and therapist will consult and collaborate to provide the best outcomes for each specific student.

There is no visitation during the program, however, on the last day of the program parents are encouraged to come pick up their student in person, see the facility, and meet the staff and rest of the group. From here Rooted Life Adventures can put together a fantastic mini-family vacation for you to see all of the sites and experiences the students have experienced during their program.

Each program has an on site Wellness Director who will be family’s and therapist’s direct contact for all communication on the program. Rooted Life Adventures HQ is also always available for further questions.

Our programs have a strictly limited technology policy. Students are allowed to bring their phones on the program for travel and safety purposes, however, they will be held by the program instructors for the majority of the program. Students are allowed their phones a few hours a week to connect with family, friends, and virtual therapist meetings. No laptops or Ipads allowed, however a Kindle for reading is permitted.

Every program has 3 staff members present 24/7. There is one Wellness Director who is a licensed therapist who facilitates the core curriculum, wellness workshops, and overall group cohesion and progress. There are also 2 program instructors who are expert world travelers and outdoor educators with required advanced first aid certification.

Students cannot currently get college credit on this program, however we are in process of pursuing college credit to become available in the coming years.

Unfortunately no, Rooted Life Adventures does not claim to clinically process onsite. Instead, it provides psychoeducation for mental health and wellness and allows the at-home therapist to focus on clinical processing. It is the sole responsibility of the family to coordinate possible insurance reimbursement directly with the student’s healthcare insurer for clinical processing with your at home therapist.

Rooted Life Adventures is a sober program and does not tolerate possession or consumption of alcohol or non-prescription drugs.

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