In the Overland office, May 1^st is something to celebrate and fear. Yes, it marks the beginning of spring weather in Williamstown, Massachusetts, but it is also a strong reminder that summer is almost here. Since September, the office has been preparing for the summer—scouting new programs, reserving campsites and hostels, planning service projects, hiring writing teachers, scouting new bike routes, cataloging gear, updating trip notes—to name a few tasks. Of course, we are excited for the arrival of summer, but there is still a lot of work to do before the first day of leader training when 154 leaders gather in Williamstown for 10 days of preparation before the first trip start on June 20^th. On May 1^st, the deadline is in sight: 42 days.

In May, Alec, Gary and Blake spend many hours at Overland storage prepping the gear for each trip. Although they log many storage hours in May, Alec – our Gear Manager – has been working on gear since the end of the previous summer. At leader closing, leaders sort through their gear and get rid of anything that is too worn for use during the next summer. The leaders are the first line of quality control. Also in August, we hold our bike sale during which we sell bikes that have been used for three summers.

In the fall, Alec takes a rough inventory, checks through gear from the previous summer and begins to order new items. In March and April, he looks at trip numbers (how many sections there are of each trip, how many total Overland students), and he orders more gear—bikes, panniers, bear-bagging materials, camping equipment (pots, pans, stoves) and bike maintenance kits.

Since the last week of April, Alec, Gary and Blake have been logging many hours at Overland storage organizing the equipment as it comes in. They have also been building bikes—each bike takes anywhere from 25 minutes to an hour to build. They have built 52 and have eight more to go. Mostly, the bikes are for our New England trips, but a few are for our leaders.

In early June, Alec builds specific gear bags for each trip and moves the bags from storage to our summer headquarters. As part of the leader training rotations, leaders spend two hours with an itemized list of the contents of their gear bag. They double check the list, familiarize themselves with the gear and make sure that everything works. They set up tents, test stoves and perform safety checks on bikes. After this final check, gear bags are ready to go, and Alec focuses on other tasks until September when he will inventory the gear again.

Overland students often say that their favorite part of the New England Service program is the Reading & Recreation Summer Program at the Williamstown Elementary School. Every morning for two weeks, Overland students serve as mentors and reading tutors for local six to eight year-olds.  The program’s goal is to enhance reading skills and boost self-confidence while having fun in a supportive setting. A 2011 Overland student, Lindsay Buff wrote, “I loved facilitating the reading and games with our reading buddies.”

During the Reading & Recreation Summer Program, Carolyn Agostini, Title 1 Coordinator at Williamstown Elementary School, and Lisa Shannon, Fourth Grade teacher at Williamstown Elementary School, provide direct discrete engaging reading instruction, and the R&R students practice those skills with the guidance from an Overland reading tutor. Before the camp begins, the tutors meet with Carolyn and Lisa to review the schedule, goals, expectations and general background about reading instruction. Carolyn meets with each tutor individually in order to relay useful information about the learning needs of the child whom he or she will tutor.

The R&R Summer Program takes thirteen students for each session. Twelve Overland students and one of the Overland leaders serve as tutors. From 9:00 am-9:15 am, students arrive and do quiet activities with their tutors. From 9:15 am-9:45 am, Carolyn and Lisa provide the skill lesson. The tutors learn the nitty-gritty about the day’s reading skills instruction at the morning skill lesson along with the students. From 9:45 am-10:15 am, R&R students do drills and read aloud to their tutors. At 10:15 am, everyone breaks for snack outside in the gazebo. The recreation is just as important as the reading instruction. Overland leaders and students run outdoor games and crafts from 10:30 am-11:30 am every day. Camp ends with a half hour of tutors reading to their reading buddies; from 11:30 am-12:00 pm, the pairs are spread out on the elementary school grounds in the shade of the trees.

Carolyn hears from tutors and students from long ago who are still in touch with each other. She explained, “Realistically, reading doesn’t change over night, but attitude and confidence toward learning can change during the two weeks of the program.  We have heard from a few parents who swear that the camp was the spark that unlocked reading skills. The kids make new friends and love camp.” At the end of two weeks, Carolyn and Lisa see happy, confident kids; their goals are realized. New England Service students are positive academic and social role models for the Reading & Recreation students.

A senior at Sacred Heart Academy in Louisville, Kentucky, Maggie Young is a member of the National Honors Society and a co-president of both the Diversity Leadership Team and the S.A.D.D. Club (Students Against Destructive Decisions). She plans to attend the University of Dayton in Ohio as a member of the honors college next fall. In 2010, Maggie went on Overland’s European Explorer, and this fall, she wrote one of her college application essays about her growth on the program. 

I felt a sudden wave of panic race through my body while I looked back hoping for one last glance of my parents—the last glance I would get for the next four weeks. All of the excitement and motivation I had felt building up to this day were gone, and I was left sitting alone in a foreign airport replaying my mother’s parting words in my head as if those words could bring her back to me and help guide me while I ventured out on my own. A caring voice interrupted my silent panic asking what magazine I wanted to read first on the plane—the voice of a girl I had met just seconds before, a girl with whom I had pledged to travel and live. I hurriedly collected myself as she approached and worked to avert my thoughts to petty small talk as we discussed our worries and expectations for what I knew was sure to be the scariest and most demanding experience of my life. I felt the faith I had in my decision to leave home drain from my pores in an excruciating nervous sweat. I had willingly subjected myself to living out of a backpack for four weeks with thirteen strangers in Europe while hiking a demanding hiking route in what turned out to be the most challenging and best month of my life.

The considerable growth I made as a person during that month would have been impossible if I had not chosen to take a chance and press my boundaries. The teamwork it took to get twelve inexperienced teenagers through the challenging backcountry terrain was greater than what I had witnessed in any previous sport or activity. Simple acts, like offering to carry heavier loads for seemingly endless miles of uphill climbing or pushing through painful foot blisters and demoralizing falls for the success of the group, instilled in me a sense of selflessness. Immature classifications and differences that once seemed crucial in my teenage mindset had no place in this new family. With the demanding mileage and conditions, disagreements had no place in the dynamic of our group. The idea of “next play,” simply choosing to move on after a dispute, became our motto for succeeding as a unified family. I brought this idea home with me, and I have become a more mature and well-rounded person because of it.

I am proud of myself for having completed this trip and letting its implications show in my everyday life. The nervousness I felt in the airport prior to that month was well worth what I got from the trip. It would be hard for me to imagine how different my life would be if I had just chosen to have a summer similar to every other one of my life. I know that this experience has positively changed me, and I would not trade it for the world.

Maggie in the French Alps

Alec and Emily just spent one week re-scouting a section of the American Challenge through Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi. The two logistics coordinators have both biked across the country as Overland leaders. They returned recently in search of quiet roads and friendly small-town characters in preparation for summer 2012. Here, Alec writes about true southern comfort and the joy of riding freshly paved roads.

There is something special about experiencing a new area by bicycle. There’s the obvious: you’re going at a slower pace so you see more. But there’s something else. You earn every single mile. Every pedal stroke brings a new patch of road, a new view and a slightly different perspective. Of course while biking over 3000 miles you’re going to ride on a lot of pavement and come across a lot of fantastic views. But you will never find yourself in that exact place at that exact time with the exact same group of people. That’s what makes experiencing the country by bicycle – and the American Challenge – so special.

Along the way our groups meet a handful of memorable locals. These individuals are intrigued and impressed by what our groups are undertaking, so they’re looking to contribute. And in doing so they add to the experience; they share their stories of being raised in Little Rock, Arkansas, or Jackson, Georgia, and let us in on their knowledge and love for the surrounding areas. They help provide a context to what we’re seeing. These are the people we search for when scouting – they may or may not be cyclists. But they love what we’re doing and want to help.

So when you arrive in an unfamiliar town, expecting little, you often come away with a lot. Take Jacksonville, Alabama, for example. It’s a small university town tucked into the western edge of Talledega National Forest. At first glance there’s not much going on here: a lazy Saturday morning reveals a congregation of a half dozen people gathered at the town square for singing and a few more residents at a local coffee shop. But in Jacksonville we meet a local bike shop owner – a fifty something year-old man who has called Jacksonville home for over two decades. In between assisting customers he spares a half-hour to sit down at a café and pore over maps of the area. This conversation evolves into an invitation for an afternoon ride and before we know it we’re heading west on a freshly paved bike path, toward the foothills of the Talledega Mountains and over tributaries of Terrapin Creek. It’s a hidden gem: 33 miles of beautiful riding on smooth pavement, uninterrupted by traffic, right on the border of Georgia and Alabama. It’s perfect for our groups. And something that one can only experience on a bike.

These are the routes we look for when mapping (or re-mapping) a bike trip. We’re searching for the best available roads and paths that can accommodate our groups. They’re freshly paved or at least in good condition. Maybe they’re hilly – this is, after all, unavoidable in some cases – or wind through rolling pastures. But they don’t have dead ends or insurmountable grades. Finding this sought after road isn’t always easy. It takes backtracking and re-routing. But at the end of a scouting trip, we’ve found a route that we’re excited about. Because these routes are not just about getting the group from point A to point B. They’re part of making the experience memorable.

Locals and back roads – that’s what we look for when scouting. They add depth to the experience. Swapping stories with a fifty year-old resident of a small town in rural Alabama can’t be beat. But beyond that these locals are key to making our trip a success. Without the local knowledge we don’t find the bike path. Sure, there are faster, easier and more direct routes cross-country. But we’re not aiming for fast and easy; if we were we’d be in a car or plane. We’re looking for beautiful roads through small towns and expansive forests. For fun and memorable routes. And we’re looking for experiences that will be recalled 10 years down the road: “remember that time we rode through that Alabama forest on our way cross-country….”

A four-time Overland student, Everett Wolf is an Overland all-star. In 2008, he participated in Nova Scotia and Acadia; in 2009, he took on the European Challenge; in 2010, he went on Field Studies Tanzania; and in 2011, he tackled the American Challenge. Everett lives in Austin, Texas, and is a senior at St. Andrew’s Episcopal School.

Tom Costley: How did you first learn about Overland?

Everett Wolf: In the fall of 2007, my family and I received the Overland catalog in the mail, and I was looking for something to do over the summer. We went to the open house for Overland in Austin, Texas, and the next week I signed up for my first trip, biking in Nova Scotia and Acadia.

Tom Costley: If you had to choose a favorite Overland summer, what would it be?

Everett Wolf: This question is really hard! If I had to pick a summer, it would be last summer when I did the American Challenge. The American Challenge was a once in a lifetime experience. I would not have changed the people I was with, the adventures we went on or the things we saw for anything in the entire world.

Tom Costley: Describe a challenge that one of your Overland groups overcame together.

Everett Wolf: On the American Challenge, there is a day infamously known as Kayenta Day. On Kayenta Day, you bike for 120 miles from Cortez, Colorado, to Kayenta, Arizona; it is one of the hardest days on the AC. On this day, we encountered temperatures of over 100 degrees, head winds that repeatedly blew us off our bikes and a sandstorm only to be followed up by, of course, a rainstorm! With about three miles left, my group, Team Cupcake, was pushed to our limit. Together as a team we were able to ride through the head winds, motivate each other with singing and stay hydrated by repeatedly yelling, “Drink water!” We finished the 120-mile day at Burger King where we ate mountains of burgers, fries and milkshakes.

Tom Costley: What makes a good Overland leader?

Everett Wolf: Throughout my four summers of doing Overland trips, my leaders have been outgoing, fun and responsible. Overland leaders strive to be the best leaders, and their number one goal for the summer is to make it the best summer the students have ever had. Overland leaders will not settle for anything less than the best.

Tom Costley:  Your leader on both the EC and the AC, Emily Ferrell, shared with me that you rode for a cause on these two bike trips. How did you decide to ride for a cause? How was the experience?

Everett Wolf: When I signed up for both the EC and the AC, I went in knowing that both of these trips would be a great way to raise awareness for a cause. I chose to raise money and awareness for Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) because I have friends with diabetes, and I see them struggle with this on a daily basis. Not only did I want to have a great summer, make lifelong friends on my trips and see things that you can see only from the handlebars of your bike, but I wanted to make a difference. When I would get updates of how much money I had raised while I was on these trips, it would motivate me even more. Knowing that I was making a difference and raising awareness through the EC and AC made the trips that much better for me.

Tom Costley: Let’s end with your top three Overland moments.

Everett Wolf:I can honestly say that I do not have three top Overland moments. I began to make a list, and I tried to pick my top three. However, after staring blankly at the list, I was unable to narrow it down to just three moments from my four summers with Overland. Whether it was biking up Cadillac Mountain on Nova Scotia and Acadia, spotting our first lion on safari on Field Studies Tanzania, descending the Swiss Alps during the European Challenge, completing desert day on the American Challenge, biting into that warm chocolate croissant at 7 am in France, or playing soccer, and losing quite badly, to smiling, screaming kids in Tanzania, I cannot pick my favorite moments. Every moment has made me realize how much Overland has meant to me. Overland’s amazing staff in Williamstown, the INCREDIBLE leaders that I have had and the lifelong friends I have gained during these adventures have given me the best summers of my life.

Hailing from New Hampton, New Hampshire, Tom Crocker graduated in February 2012 from Middlebury College. At Middlebury, he completed an undergraduate thesis for his major in Environmental Studies and Geology in which he reconstructed the history of a glacier in Glacier National Park, Montana, where he spent three weeks during the summer of 2010. Tom was a member of the Middlebury Snow Bowl Ski Patrol, a freshman orientation leader, an executive member of the college activities board at Middlebury, and a Teacher’s Assistant for the geology and geography departments. Having completed minors in sociology and Spanish, Tom has pursued his passions by backpacking extensively throughout South America including Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina and Uruguay. In 2011, he led Language & Exploration Spain, and on March 5, 2012, Tom joined Overland’s year-round staff as a logistics coordinator and a member of the leader recruiting team.

Tom Costley: How did you first learn about Overland, and why did you choose to apply to lead?

Tom Crocker: I first heard about Overland from former Overland rockstar leaders and Middlebury ski patrollers, RD Jenkinson, Dave Clark-Barol and Liana Sideli. In the fall of 2010, I attended an Overland slideshow at Middlebury. I knew right away that I wanted to lead a language program. There is an abundance of knowledge that one can gain through travel, and I thought that Overland was a great opportunity for students to find out just how much promise truly exists in the world.

Tom Costley: How did you become interested in working full-time as an Overland logistics coordinator?

Tom Crocker: I had a great time leading Language & Exploration Spain, and I believe in Overland’s mission to open the world to students. I have also enjoyed and been successful in planning my own travels so I was confident in my abilities to plan excellent trips for Overland groups. As a February admit at Middlebury, I had a semester or my “Febmester” to plan before I started my freshman year. After high school graduation, I ran an interior painting business with five friends during the summer, and I planned my own five-week trip to Chile. I found a great host family—a mom and her daughter—and in the mornings, I took classes at a language school, where I was one of four students. In the afternoons, a teacher would take a group of 12 students to explore different parts of Santiago. On the weekends, I traveled on my own to the remote island of Chiloe, the incredibly diverse coastal port cities of Valparaíso and Viña del Mar and to Valle Nevado to go skiing in the Andes. Five weeks was the perfect amount of time. It was short enough that I didn’t get homesick, but it was long enough that I got to know South America. I was bitten by the South American bug, and I knew that I would return. During my junior year at Middlebury—after traveling over land from northern Ecuador, through Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay—I studied for a semester in Argentina’s largest and capital city of Buenos Aires.

Tom Costley: What was a highlight from Language & Exploration Spain 2011?

Tom Crocker: After the first week, my co-leader Carla and I wanted to bump up the Spanish a bit so we asked our group what they wanted to do to speak more Spanish. They had been speaking Spanish on the walk to school, on public transportation, during class and lunch and for an hour or two after class. During a blind vote of our 16 to 18-year-old students, the group made the unanimous decision that they would speak only Spanish when they were outside the apartment building, which was most of the time. They really wanted Spanish immersion. Carla and I were psyched. When we returned to our apartment or when we were at the beach, they spoke English which allowed the group to bond. Whenever you’re learning to speak in a foreign language, you are not fully yourself in conversation; your energy is directed at translating and choosing the correct words. Conversations jump around a lot, and often, you talk about superficial things. For example: “What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?” or “It’s really hot today.” As a result, it can be challenging to develop strong relationships with other people. In the apartment and at the beach, they were able to express their ideas freely in English and strengthen our group bond.

Tom Costley: Tell me about one of your favorite travel experiences.

Tom Crocker: A week after returning from Spain with Overland last summer, I was exploring the Sacred Valley of Peru prior to a geologic research trip in the south Peruvian desert. It was really fun roaming the same streets, ruins and trails that Overland’s Field Studies Peru trip had navigated just a few weeks earlier. Inspired by these thoughts, I decided to wake up before sunrise one morning and climb the steep trail to Machu Picchu from Aguas Calientes instead of riding up on the switch-backing road packed with tourist buses. I was able to convince a few other travelers my age to forego the bus as well and instead join me on the hour-long trek to one of the modern natural wonders of the world. Our hike was filled with incredible views of the rising sun and flowing Urubamba River far below. We enjoyed our climb together so much that the three of us spent the entire day exploring the quietest corners of the ruins and sharing lunch at the Sun Gate. We later descended back to Aguas Calientes as the sun was setting and relaxed in the hot springs on the north side of town. The day felt like it was straight out of an Overland trip: great hikes, cultural exploration, delicious food and hot springs all shared by a fun group of people. Now that I’m planning Overland’s Field Studies Peru trip, I realize the group follows this itinerary almost exactly on Day 25 of their trip.

Tom Costley: What do you like about living in Williamstown, Massachusetts?

Tom Crocker: Williamstown is very similar to Middlebury so I was comfortable immediately. I love it so far. It’s so nice to have the mountains right here—Pine Cobble is a mile from my house and the Appalachian Trail is just beyond that. It’s also great to work with people who enjoy being outside. Within an hour of arriving in Williamstown on March 2nd, I was skiing at Jiminy Peak with Overland staffers. My first time on a road bike was a week and a half ago. Alec let me borrow his bike, and on my second ride, I rode up Mt. Greylock with another group of co-workers. Outside of the office, I have met a bunch of people, and Overland has a great reputation in town. It’s great to be a part of it. I am enjoying living with the people I work with, cooking dinner together and hanging out at night. It’s a great set up.

Recently, Kathleen Igoe sat down with Tom Costley to discuss the history and use of poetry during an Overland summer. Here’s their conversation:

Kathleen Igoe: What inspired the Overland poetry book?

Tom Costley: Overland is a chance for students to take the world into their arms—to see—and know—how beautiful and exciting, how full of promise the world is. Similarly, literature, especially poetry, has the ability to open the world to its readers. My wife Liz and I wanted to provide an easy entry to poetry for our Overland students. Five years ago, we created the Overland poetry book full of poems and quotations to enrich leaders’ and students’ lives, to frame their day, to help them to see something in a new way.

Kathleen Igoe: How has the Overland poetry book changed over the years?

Tom Costley: In its first version, we introduced the poems and quotations with a sentence. We provided the context. Now, the poems and quotations stand on their own, and the mix is more eclectic. One of Liz’s favorite poems, “Ordinary Life” by Barbara Crooker was in the first compilation; it is a beautiful poem, but it speaks to parents more than teenagers. Since then, we have focused on including poems and quotations that resonate with students. As Overland has evolved, our selections have changed based on the work that we do in our programs. For example, we added Emily Dickinson’s poem “If I can stop one Heart from breaking” as it speaks to students in our service programs.

If I can stop one Heart from breaking,
I shall not live in vain;
If I can ease one Life the Aching,
Or cool one Pain,
Or help one fainting Robin
Unto his Nest again,
I shall not live in Vain.

Kathleen Igoe: How do you decide what to include in the poetry book?

Tom Costley: Each spring, we ask Overland’s full-time employees, leaders and alumni for suggestions for the book. The response is always great to see… the newest book includes selections from Yoda, Emily Dickinson, Yogi Berra, Rudyard Kipling, Mary Oliver and Gilda Radner. We are not an English class, and we don’t pretend to be. For example, although Emily Dickinson’s poems are untitled, we give them titles to provide an easy entry into her writing.

Kathleen Igoe: How is the poetry book used on Overland programs?

Tom Costley: It depends on the leaders and the group. At leader training, we present it as one of Overland’s routines and rituals—part of the nighttime routine, winding down before sleep. My vision is that at the beginning of the program, leaders model selecting a poem or a quotation to share at dessert circle (our nightly, end of the day gathering for each of our groups). Then, it becomes part of the leader of the day’s responsibilities. Before dessert circle, the leader of the day has a chance to look through the book and choose a poem or quotation that speaks to him or her that day. He or she shares it with the rest of the group at dessert circle, and anyone who wants to responds. I don’t want the poetry book to be forced on a group, but I want it to be available.

Kathleen Igoe: What poem speaks to you?

Tom Costley: It depends on the day. Poetry is all about context. For instance, while I walked to the final dinner of Leader Closing last summer, I looked through the poetry book for something that spoke to me at that moment that I could share with Overland’s 150 leaders. After seven weeks of pushing the leaders and asking them to be their best for 24 hours a day, seven days a week, I paused at:

A Time to Talk

When a friend calls to me from the road
And slows his horse to a meaning walk,
I don’t stand still and look around
On all the hills I haven’t hoed,
And shout from where I am, What is it?
No, not as there is a time to talk.
I thrust my hoe in the mellow ground,
Blade-end up and five feet tall,
And plod: I go up to the stone wall
For a friendly visit.

~ Robert Frost

Leader Closing is a time to slow down and talk. It is the first time that the whole summer staff is together since Leader Training, which happens six weeks earlier. Everyone has worked hard and has overcome physical and mental challenges with their co-leader and their Overland students. Their groups have become their families. Leader Closing is a time to gather and celebrate the families, the hard work and the accomplishments. It is “a time to talk.” Perfect.

Do you have a favorite poem or quote that you would like included in the Overland poetry book this summer? If so, email your ideas to kathleen@overlandsummers.com.

Keep an eye out for your submitted poem or quote during your dessert circle this summer!