About the Director and Staff
Mark, still taking kids on trips since 1978.
I'm Mark Levin and I'm the director for MindStretch Travel Adventures. I got my start in outdoor education as a camp counselor during and immediately after my college years when I worked in a North Carolina camp for seven summers. I got the itch to start my own camp and launched Open Road Experiences, a travel camp, in 1978. I was teaching school at the time and had my whole summer free so those early years included some very long trips stretching out as long as seven weeks for one trip one summer. I usually offered two trips each summer, a long one and a shorter one.
I married Barbara Poole in 1981 (she was also a camp person) and she followed me deep into the North Carolina mountains to start our own residential boys' camp in 1982. TrailRidge Mountain Camp operated for 15 summers as a residential camp until the property was sold. Then I returned to my "roots" by running TrailRidge as a travel camp like the old Open Road days. The TrailRidge business was transferred to a couple from Asheville who took it over for me for several years and I continued to help them until 2004 when MindStretch Travel Adventures took on a life of its own.
I've just retired from my day-to-day job of over 35 years in school settings so now I have more time for these trips. Bobbie and I live in Columbus, NC on ten acres of land inhabited by us and several pets and a few wild animals.
I do write a couple of stories a month for a magazine published by the local newspaper.
Check out a couple of things I do just for fun:
The Gary & Mark Show is a podcast I do with a long-time camp friend, Gary Eblen. We have a hoot and are gaining a lot of attention in the podcast world.
We're "The Gary & Mark Show." Click to check us out.
I have a blog where I write short stories about and photograph people and places in the Carolina foothills. It's called 'Foothills Faces" and can be found by clicking on this link.
Other Staff Members...
Each trip is made up of usually four or five staff members including myself. These are often teachers who have experience working with kids in both classroom and outdoor settings. Many staff members come year after year and we usually have a staff member or two who have never been. On occasion parents come along as staff members. Let me know if you're interested in how this might work. Adult leaders are not employees. They help as volunteers. Sometimes older boys who have been previous campers attend as helpers but they are never given responsibility for your child. They just assist the adult leaders with everyday tasks such as helping shop for our trail lunch or sitting with a younger table in a restaurant. They do get a "title," a couple of extra privileges, and can always add this to their future college or job application!
I married Barbara Poole in 1981 (she was also a camp person) and she followed me deep into the North Carolina mountains to start our own residential boys' camp in 1982. TrailRidge Mountain Camp operated for 15 summers as a residential camp until the property was sold. Then I returned to my "roots" by running TrailRidge as a travel camp like the old Open Road days. The TrailRidge business was transferred to a couple from Asheville who took it over for me for several years and I continued to help them until 2004 when MindStretch Travel Adventures took on a life of its own.
I've just retired from my day-to-day job of over 35 years in school settings so now I have more time for these trips. Bobbie and I live in Columbus, NC on ten acres of land inhabited by us and several pets and a few wild animals.
I do write a couple of stories a month for a magazine published by the local newspaper.
Check out a couple of things I do just for fun:
The Gary & Mark Show is a podcast I do with a long-time camp friend, Gary Eblen. We have a hoot and are gaining a lot of attention in the podcast world.
We're "The Gary & Mark Show." Click to check us out.
I have a blog where I write short stories about and photograph people and places in the Carolina foothills. It's called 'Foothills Faces" and can be found by clicking on this link.
Other Staff Members...
Each trip is made up of usually four or five staff members including myself. These are often teachers who have experience working with kids in both classroom and outdoor settings. Many staff members come year after year and we usually have a staff member or two who have never been. On occasion parents come along as staff members. Let me know if you're interested in how this might work. Adult leaders are not employees. They help as volunteers. Sometimes older boys who have been previous campers attend as helpers but they are never given responsibility for your child. They just assist the adult leaders with everyday tasks such as helping shop for our trail lunch or sitting with a younger table in a restaurant. They do get a "title," a couple of extra privileges, and can always add this to their future college or job application!
When I asked my son last year what he enjoyed the most (and he eventually told me about many, many things that happened, both big and small), he thought for a moment and said, "Our leaders. They were all just really great guys." It was first and foremost for him. You and your colleagues really made an impression, and struck just the right balance for him - safety, warmth, encouragement, fun, humor, clarity of expectation, firmness... all of it was spot on for him, and I thank you. From a parent after the 2017 North Carolina Mountains trip
And something else you should know...
Virginia Highlands 2018 leaders doing a sound check for our trip to the drive-in movie.
My leaders and I are all on every adventure and every activity we do. We all have years and years of experience of working with students. We have the maturity to make good judgment calls when it comes to safety and the well-being of your son. It makes a difference having the leaders with your son at all times. We might seem "old," but we're young at heart and seasoned in people skills. We work with each boy to make sure their experience with us is positive and memorable. Boys return year after year.
It should be noted that there are rules boys and parents must be aware of and agree to and you will receive notice of these before trips, but generally they involve safety and common-sense issues such as boys are not permitted to leave a motel/hotel room after they've been told it's bedtime.
It should be noted that there are rules boys and parents must be aware of and agree to and you will receive notice of these before trips, but generally they involve safety and common-sense issues such as boys are not permitted to leave a motel/hotel room after they've been told it's bedtime.