Last night I was fortunate to be in the audience in Tryon at a concert by the Kruger Brothers. If you’ve never heard of them, or never heard them…you should check them out. http://krugerbrothers.com
 
The brothers are two Swiss-born musicians accompanied by an American guy and their music is is a blend of Americana roots music, a little bluegrass, folk, and even classical. Doc Watson was one of their inspirations and in fact the brothers settled in Wilkesboro, North Carolina to be near Doc and his musical influences.
 
And so how does this relate to how an MTA experience can turn boys into storytellers?
 
Well Jens and Uwe Kruger talked last night of their early musical experiences and how part of that was busking as young kids and teenagers on the streets in Western and Eastern Europe.
 
And that reminded me of a MindStretch Europe trip in 2009. We were exploring the streets and canals of Amsterdam and happened upon a string duo. It so happened that one of our adventurers was a 12-year-old who had recently started to learn the mandolin. As things would happen, Mark Gilbert was soon handed over the mandolin from one of the street musicians and the other European musician accompanied Mark for a number or two.
 
I’m guessing Mark no longer plays the mandolin, but I’m guessing he still remembers his entertaining me, his fellow travelers, and absolute strangers as he played on a canal bridge in Amsterdam.
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And that’s one more chapter in turning boys into storytellers.
 
We hope you’ll be interested in being part of your own story this coming summer.
 
Read about the opportunities available this summer.

​Switzerland – Turning Boys Into Storytellers
 
In just about nine months we’ll be trekking around Europe – our sixth trip across the Atlantic.
 
You can check out info right here: http://www.mindstretchadventures.com/europe-by-eurail-2018.html
 
So this little report is just to relate how one day can be so memorable…even in a trip of many days.
 
This is about an adventure we had one day during our 2015 trip and it was so grand we’re repeating this set of activities this coming June. While based in Bern, Switzerland a couple of years ago we took a day trip to the alpine village of Grindelwald, Switzerland. We reached this village in the Alps via a special scenic train. During our Europe trips prior to 2015 just getting to the village was our goal and it was absolutely perfect right there. Lots of shops, cafes, and incredible scenery and then that scenic train ride back to Bern.
 
But we expanded that day during our 2015 and added something entirely new and the boys and leaders this coming summer will get their opportunity to do the same. From Grindelwald we took a gondola several stations up the mountain where the views and the weather changed. It was gorgeous and it was cold. We had lunch up there in the elements and this was just the start of our day. From the station at “First” we started our descent back to the village. So if the gondola ride up wasn’t fun enough, it gets better on the way down. Boys took a zip-line down the first leg of the journey. From there they had a short hike to the next station, and from there they took scooters the rest of the way. Boys had the option of skipping an activity if they weren’t comfortable with the “high adventure” part of this day, but of course most were 100% on board.
 
It was an all-day day trip from Bern and we loved it. And, I can’t wait to be back. In fact, three boys will be comig back on the 2018 version for their second Europe experience. There “could” still be a spot or two if you know something who needs some amazing storytelling adventures in his life.
 
And that’s how boys become storytellers on a MindStretch Travel Adventures trip.