Life is a River.
 

Kids need connections.

 

It takes one quick chat with a school counselor to realize that it’s tough to be a teen today.

A quick Google search will lead to countless magazine articles, blog posts, and even medical journal papers that detail the alarming trends in adolescent anxiety and depression - too often leading to self-inflicted injuries, opioid drug use and/or suicide. Closer examination of these studies reveals a common repeated theme - the growing sense of hopelessness that stems from today’s kids feeling socially isolated.

We are living in an age of great innovation and “advancement.” While there are many benefits to society, today’s kids are growing up as subjects in a experiment about the influences of technology - traversing a savage social emotional landscape built upon electronic “connections” that are not as rewarding as those humans crave.

By linking the data of adolescent mental health with the power of structured, confidence-building and connection-generating exploration outdoors, GOALS is creating a new norm for today’s youth.

 
 
 
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Re-defining “friends lists.”

 
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Upon return from his second trip with GOALS in as many years, my teenage son sat in the car as we drove home from the airport with tears gently rolling down his tanned cheeks.

“I grew so much, Mom. I’d flip my ducky because I
made a mistake and when I got back in the boat everyone would be cheering and clapping and laughing and smiling. I thought to myself, why are they celebrating me when I just screwed up? And I realized- I don’t have to be perfect and they still like me. I’m always afraid people don’t like me because I’m kind of weird. I don’t always fit. I mean I’m a total athlete but I don’t fit in with the “jocks”, I’m smart - a total nerd but I don’t fit in with those kids. I’m deep but also totally goofy and people don’t always get it. On the river, none of that matters. It all goes away. We just get to be totally ourselves and we all just love each other for it.”

As you’d imagine, the tears were equally pouring
down my face as well.

- Deb, mother of a GOALS middle school explorer

 

 

“The most important thing I want to not only remember, but carry with me into my everyday life, is how quickly and strongly you get close to the people on the river with.

They truly become your river family.”

- Anna, 8th grader - from her thank-you letter to Desolation Canyon

 
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The GOALS community.

The GOALS experience is not defined by a single expedition. It’s a lifestyle - one that is reinforced each time we leave a river put-in and head downstream.

Those who have experienced a GOALS expedition never completely disconnect. They know of their capacity to impact others. They’re drawn to protect wild places. And they’re motivated to navigate their own lives using the “inner compass” that GOALS has made them aware of.

Some kids whose first GOALS expedition occurred in elementary school have returned to sink back in to the growth our platform generates on multiple rivers around the world. They often refuse to remove their collection of end-of-trip bracelets, a nod to the nostalgia that lingers long beyond the take-out.

Others take their toolset from a single expedition and apply it to other interests and pursuits. We applaud them all - our aim is not to train the next generation of river guides. Instead, our we exist to empower kids by helping them identify an authentic sense of self, then to use it in navigating a life of being, not just doing; a life that feels connected to the things we think matter most - peers, planet, and self.

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