Embedded Files
E&E Expeditions Expectations Agreement
E&E Expeditions Expectations Agreement
You are about to embark on an amazing opportunity that we hope will allow you to open your mind, enrich your understanding of the world and leave you with memories to last a lifetime.
In order to have the best experience possible, we insist on some safety and behavioral expectations from participants. Safety is everyone’s responsibility. To help you understand your responsibility, E&E Expeditions has prepared this list of expectations.
E&E Expeditions takes this document and the trip approach known as “Expedition Mentality” extremely seriously…and you need to as well. Please read this document carefully, contemplate it, and engage in discussion within your family. This is not to be done quickly. In fact, we do not want this signed and returned until you have a chance to discuss. Thank you for taking this seriously and discussing these important considerations!
Rules to Ensure the Group’s Safety, Health, and Welfare:
I. No Bullying or other social harassment - or even being in the company of anyone engaged in or expressing a desire to engage in such inappropriate behavior. Isolating a person or small group of persons within the group so that they do not feel comfortable either physically or psychologically, or even just expressing themselves in the presence of others in the group, is unacceptable.
II. No Sexual Harassment of any kind - or even being in the company of anyone engaged in or expressing a desire to engage in such inappropriate behavior.
III. No Buying or Using Alcohol or Drugs - or even being in the company of anyone engaged in or expressing a desire to engage in such inappropriate behavior.
IV. No Breaking Off from the Group or “sneaking out” - or even being in the company of anyone engaged in or expressing a desire to engage in such inappropriate behavior. Students are never to wander off and/or leave another on her own, either in city, town, village, jungle, ocean or anywhere else!
V. No Culturally Insensitive Behavior - or even being in the company of anyone engaged in or expressing a desire to engage in such inappropriate behavior.
VI. No Showing off or engaging in any stunt, such as jumping off a dangerous cliff, climbing a suspect tree, swimming out of sight. You will have ample opportunities to demonstrate your skill, strength, and athleticism in safe circumstances and situations where we know the “lay of the land.”
VII. Be Prepared to the Best of your Ability. Excessive borrowing or relying on others to bail you out and provide for you simply because you did not adequately prepare (for example, by not bringing a water bottle or having only one tee shirt) is not acceptable. While we encourage you to seek help if needed, and we place an emphasis on helping others, we discourage taking advantage of the goodwill of others and relying on it inappropriately.
VIII. Be Alert to Potential Medical or Psychological Problems involving either yourself or another student and Communicate this to Teacher/Leader or Guide. This includes what may pass as seemingly minor issues, such as unusual appetite and thirst, because lack of proper hydration and nutrition can quickly develop into a big problem. For your health and welfare and that of your classmates, at least one leader must be alerted to any of these situations. This is essential on expedition. Keeping such secrets can only lead to problems when we are travelling in remote areas in demanding conditions in a foreign land and culture. So, tune into your own potential problems in this regard and be alert to such issues in your classmates. We need to know!
Guidelines to Ensure Expedition Mentality
I. We expect students to embrace the new and different, to embrace challenges.
Explanation / Examples: This opportunity is beyond a vacation. What does that mean? We are on “expedition,” travelling as a team, and as a family. Different foods, sounds, languages, humidity, bugs, smells; 24-7 close quarters, crazy plants and creatures, new relationships, false assumptions; exploring a Philosophy of Sustainable Lifestyle, limited or no internet or television, very little junk food, no soda, a huge night sky of shooting stars, walking rather than driving, tuning into the mindsets of very different cultures. Appreciate differences. You will meet inspiring and delightful people: dare to reach out and talk to locals, ask questions, and speak up!
II. We expect students to make efforts to extend their own comfort zones.
Explanation / Examples: This obviously relates to physical challenges, but most of the challenges we embrace are more subtle and occur at the social, emotional, and intellectual levels. The success of an Expedition depends on how well group members help one another and tune into the needs of the group. For example, there is little tolerance for complaining and complainers on expedition – we admire those who help us cope, pick us up, and make us laugh when the going gets tough or just irritating … which is, at some point, for all of us, inevitable! Aspire to be one of those who helps others cope. Pitching in and helping someone who is struggling on a hike (or anywhere else!) or who is just a bit off her game that morning is what expedition mentality is all about.
III. We expect students to turn a potential negative (an obstacle) into a positive (an opportunity).
Explanation / Examples: Dare to ask yourself how what you are doing (or are about to do) will affect the rest of your group. All expedition members have valued roles... what will yours be? Will you figure it out? We expect you to! Successful expeditions start long before trekkers arrive “at the foot of the mountain.” You need to think hard now and especially early on in your trip about how you are living up to the expedition mentality and how you can best help your classmates to do the same.
IV. We expect students to figure out what their role is in the process of making this experience the very best possible for everyone involved and contributing to the welfare of the group.
Explanation / Examples:
We have high expectations…but, we will show you the way and support you in your efforts…and we expect that you will deliver! We achieve so much more than just visiting a new place (which is in itself, awesome, of course). We do achieve the expedition mentality on this trip.
V. We expect students to immediately take steps to both stop behavior and make every reasonable effort to remove themselves and their classmates from a situation that is – or potentially could be - counter to the group’s purpose and integrity and which would violate any trip rules or guidelines and/or the spirit of “expedition mentality” that have been established.
Explanation/Examples: Being alert to situations that can possibly go wrong is a critical life skill This is prudent behavior when travelling in any kind of group, in any foreign country. Making smart, thoughtful choices about all kinds of things - the foods you eat and buy; how you are perceived and act towards those you do not know (whether from your school or another country); how to travel; how you live in the framework of global economics and ecology; how you treat your body, and so on - this is a major part of our shared learning experience. So, of course, we expect you to be especially thoughtful and prudent about any choices that could conceivably put you or your classmates or the integrity of the trip in jeopardy. There are always ways out, especially if some forethought has been applied. While your leaders will point out potential problems, it is always prudent to ask questions about what to do if a problem of any sort seems possible, such as getting lost, bitten by an insect or snake, waking up sick in the middle of the night, being approached by strangers to buy drugs, or by a classmate to drink alcohol. Please ask yourself what the safest course of action would be as these situations materialize, take steps to remove yourself from the situation, and get help. Help is always available if you seek it.
The rules and regulations we have set forth are for your and the group’s safety, health and welfare; they add to the quality of life of the expedition. E&E Expeditions reserves the right to decide what the most prudent course of action will be for violators of our expectations, including, but not limited to, sending a participant home at the participant’s expense. Behavior which is neither consistent with our aims nor conducive to maintaining the expedition mentality and the integrity of our trip expectations will not be tolerated.
So, it is essential that each student understand what we expect and how we expect you to influence your peers to deliver upon those expectations. Be sure that you are clear about what your responsibility is to yourself, your peers, your teachers, staff, and guides, your parents, your school, our hosts, and to the culture of the expedition itself.
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