In less than two weeks after opening up enrollment for 2013, the Europe by Eurail trip already has 17 boys on the roster. This is exciting for several reasons, but one thing I'm particularly pleased about is that five boys from the 2009 trip are returning for the 2013 adventure. One mom said when asked why her son wants to join us, "He wants to go back to Europe for another adventure-a-minute experience." 

And that's a good description. This photo is from Strasbourg, France - an accidental discovery. Part of our experience is that the boys decide where they want to go and how long they want to stay. Occasionally we can't make it to where they want to go without a stop for a night somewhere else and that's how we discovered Strasbourg, a relatively small town compared to the likes of Paris, Amsterdam, Munich, Vienna, and some of the other cities we visited on our last trip in 2009. It was a wonderful change of pace. It was also the only place where we stayed in an International Youth Hostel - the rest of our nights were spent in hotels and a couple were spent on overnight trains in sleepers.

I'll willing to add only three more names to our roster and then it's a waiting list until next year to see if any places have opened up. Click to read more about the 2013 adventures.

I'm also offering a June 2013 trip to the West Virginia mountains and we've just had the first boy sign up for it. This trip is geared toward younger kids but older boys would enjoy it as well. The real push for this trip won't start until fall, so it's always exciting when there's some early interest.

For the past several years I've announced  our future trips a year and a half before departure. It's been very helpful for planning purposes for both me and the parents.

And so today the official sign-ups for the 2013 trips have started to go out.

We'll have two trips next year: a seven-day adventure in the West Virginia Mountains and a 19-day incredible journey across Europe by Eurail.

And within five minutes of sending out the first emails, we had our first "camper" - David Christianson. David signed up for the Europe trip. He was with us on our adventure in 2009 and is ready to go back for more. In fact I believe several boys from 2009 will be returning for another round. I'm excited to still be able to do this after over 30 years.

Click to read about the 2013 MindStretch Travel Adventures and start telling your friends.

Our trip this coming summer is full steam ahead for a wonderful experience out West in Wyoming & Montana. There's still a couple of spots left, so be in touch if you're interested. And in 2013 we're heading back to Europe for an incredible adventure. 

And for the first time in over a dozen years or so, we'll be having two summer trips in 2013. So in addition to Europe we'll be taking a group of boys to West Virginia for what will probably be a one-week trip. We'll base in the Greenbrier River Valley area where we'll take a bike trip along the Greenbrier River Trail (a really nice Rails-to-Trails conversion. We'll go on a scenic train ride, take a raft trip, explore some great hiking trails, do some geocaching, go on a cavern tour, and tour an underground bunker for top government officials that was top secret until just a few years ago. It's apparently so big that it could hold over 1,000 people. That's for starters. The trip will be geared toward younger kids but older boys are always welcome as helpers. 

Sign-ups for this West Virginia adventure will begin in January 2012 at the same time as the Europe trip sign-ups. If you want to get a head start and make sure you get notified early, go to this page and click the box and submit the form. So tell your friends and start making plans.

Country Roads, take me home
To the place I belong
West Virginia, mountain momma
Take me home, country roads.