Travel Opportunities
For boys to be truly ready for the world, they need to experience the world.
In addition to the array of trips offered as part of the Weekend Activities program, McCallie offers a wide variety of trips both around the country and around the world throughout the year and during school breaks. These range from intense outdoor excursions to service learning and mission trips to traditional study abroad immersion opportunities.
The trips range from days to weeks, and are chaperoned by McCallie faculty with an interest in and expertise in the topic area of the trip. All are designed to provide boys with experiences that will stay with them for the rest of their lives.
McCallie-Sponsored Trips for 2022-23
Winter Break 2023
Experience the AT
February 16 - 19, 2023
Chaperones: Jake Altemus, Jesse Teague, Luis Rodriguez, Michael Lowry
Cost: $350
Middle and Upper School students will experience different routes through the Appalachian Trail while learning how to successfully winter camp, learn navigation skills, how to work as a team, and leadership. They are encouraged to keep a journal about their experience. Areas to be explored include Big South Fork National Recreation Area, the AT in Tennessee, North Carolina or Georgia. Exact location will be decided prior to the trip and communicated to students and parents.
Summer 2023
Surfing and Community Service in El Salvador – Trip is FULL
May 26 - June 2, 2023
Chaperones: Will Honeycutt, Keith Chapin
Cost: $2600.00
Students will stay in El Tunco, host to the 2021 International Surf Association World Surfing Games and 2022 Junior World Surfing Championships. They will have private surfing lessons in the mornings and work with a local orphanage providing activities involving sports and English language instruction in the afternoons. They will also have ample time to practice their Spanish with the local citizens. They will participate in a Pupusa Cooking class, hike to the Santa Ana Volcano. Because they are staying in the same town and working with the same folks, they will have the opportunity to know a local community and give back to the town by investing in the youth.
Where There Be Dragons Trip to Taiwan - Trip is FULL
Late May- Early June for 12-14 days.
Chaperones: Carson Murphy, Yuemei Wu
Cost: $5942
In a modern environment of economic growth and general political stability, Taiwanese people have continued to negotiate their country’s past and present as they reinvent their political and cultural identities. This program offers a unique window into the cultural fusions of Taiwanese identity via the delectable medium of food, exploring culinary processes of production, distribution, consumption, and meaning-making in rural and urban settings. Throughout this 12-day program, McCallie students practice language skills and explore the cultural lifeways of Taiwanese peoples through conversations with farmers, activists, and NGO leaders. Living and working with these farmers, students learn about the processes of food production and the continuing struggle to ensure that those processes are fair and sustainable.
This program is a holistic cultural immersion with a strong focus on conversational Mandarin Language, Taiwanese food systems, their sustainability, and their cultural significance. During the course, McCallie students should expect to be deeply engaged with the people and environment that surround them. Open and curious interaction with a carefully guided host of activities will provide students with opportunities for profound cultural and language immersion while simultaneously encouraging heightened capacity for personal leadership, a deepened sense of self, and a more developed understanding of their own place in a global community.
Mission Trip to Kenya with Love Without Reason-Trip is FULL
June 13 - 26, 2023
Chaperones: Josh Deitrick, Bryon McCague
Cost: $4800.00
Students will travel to Nairobi to volunteer with a Cleft Screening Camp and surgeries. Opportunities include information technology and data entry, surgery observations, photography, worship and music, ushers and runners, patient outreach and comfort. They will also go on a safari through the Great Rift Valley to the Masai Mara National Reserve in the Kenya National Park, which is famously known for its spectacular great wildebeest’s migration.
Band/Orchestra Trip to Festival Disney
May 26 - 31, 2023
Chaperones: Michael Ake, Nichole Pitts
Cost: $950.00
Members of the US/MS Bands and orchestras will travel to Disney World to participate in the Music Fundamentals and Instrumental workshops offer through Festival Disney programs. The workshops focus on improving sight reading and concert performance while providing an opportunity for students to work with professional musicians and conductors. They will also visit Epcot, Animal Kingdom, Disney Springs, Hollywood Studios, and Magic Kingdom. They will experience the Medieval Times Dinner Show & Tournament, Rainforest Cafe, Planet Hollywood, Fantasmic, the Festival of Fantasy Parade on Main Street USA, and the Disney Enchantment Fireworks show.
Antigua, Guatemala, C.A.
June 17 - 24, 2023
Chaperones: Will Honeycutt and Jesse Teague
Cost: $2,881
On this McCallie students will be hosted by The God’s Child Project https://godschild.org/ which seeks to “break the bitter chains of poverty through education, housing and healthcare”. We will build a house in three days, while working alongside the family who will live in it. We will also take part in working with food distribution, tutoring, and caring for malnourished babies. Lodging and meals are with a local family in a safe, homestay experience with other McCallie students and faculty. As well as enjoying the beautiful people of Antigua, we will experience Guatemalan culture and nature with a variety of activities such as a cooking class, making chocolate from cacao, zip-lining, and exploring local craft markets. Students will have ample opportunities to practice their Spanish but Spanish is not required for the trip.
EF Tour STEM Trip to Japan - Trip is FULL
Early to Mid July for 9 days
Chaperones: Jessica Dobrin, Caleb Bagby
Cost: $5691
This trip is led by EF and is geared for cultural exchange and an understanding of the STEM initiatives taking place in Japan. Students will sightsee with a local STEM expert through the Shibuya District and witness the infamous “Shibuya Scramble'' intersection. They will ascend the Tokyo Skytree (Japan’s tallest building) and visit the Miraikan Science Museum where they will engage with talking humanoid robots, play games to learn about sustainability, and interact with exhibits on the advancement in stem cell research. Students will visit the Rinkai Disaster Prevention Park and experience an earthquake simulation while learning how to prepare and survive natural disasters. They will also visit the Nissan Crossing Showroom to see the latest concept cars, check out the driving seat of a GT-R and learn about the Intelligent Mobility vision. Additional visits include the Sony Showroom, an authentic Japanese cooking class, Japan’s “Science City”-Tsukuba, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology that includes a hands-on workshop at one of Tsukuba’s premier research organizations. They will travel to Akihabara Electric Town to participate in a scavenger hunt, Hamarikyu Japanese Gardens, tour of JAXA and Cyberdyne Studios to learn about Hybrid Assistive Limb technology, the world’s first cyborg-type robot suit, Mt. Fuji, Maglev Exhibition Center.