Imagine never leaving Grand Junction, or your neighborhood; even your own yard. Millions of Americans are essentially in that unfortunate situation.
Chad Thatcher, Director of the Outdoor Program at Mesa State, is doing his part to correct this problem.
“We [Americans] are so disconnected from the realities of the world that it is sickening to me. It is my job and my duty to open the eyes of the students. I want our leaders to know that there is a different reality,” Thatcher said.
Each year, the Outdoor Program provides students with the opportunity to participate in two, and sometimes three, international, and serendipitous adventures. Established in 1971, the Outdoor program allows any student, faculty, staff or alumni to join the explorations. The Program is “unlike any other style of travel,” said Nick Moore, a member of the program.
“My research shows that back-packer style makes the trips most worthwhile,” explains Thatcher.
All of the trips taken through the program are done with practicing sustainability. Making as little impact on the communities they visit as possible is very important to Thatcher and his fellow travelers.
“That’s a big part of these trips: to learn how to travel in a manner that gives back to communities, and lessens our impact on their community,” he said.
Preparation for these adventures normally begins eight weeks before the departure date. During this time students meet to talk about culture, language, and the itinerary. Thatcher explains that, “Sometimes we stick to the itinerary ,about 60 percent of the time.” However, this is not uncommon with a group of backpackers. They decide the places to visit during their preparation meetings, such as Victoria Falls when in South Africa. Research in preparartion for the international adventures. “Research from here is fun and all, but as soon as you hit the ground, all the research you’ve done is the lamest stuff you’ve done in your life because the reality is that being over here and being over there are completely different. Once you get there, there are a thousand different opportunities,” Thatcher said.
Americans do not have a reputation for being global travelers. In fact, explains Thatcher, “More people in America have a PhD than the amount of people that do back pack travel. We are afraid, we are fearful. We have this fear of leaving our little safety bubble and going out.”
Thatcher noted that typically, Americans travel by cruise ship or packaged tour groups and they simply do not provide a truly genuine experience of another country.
“They are in a bus somewhere where there are a bunch of people just like them but we put everything we need in our back packs and hit the road and plan along the way,” he said. “When I have students go on trips, I tell the students that when they are asked where they are from say, ‘Guess’ and those asking will go through every other country on the planet before they get to  America, especially with the backpack style travel that we do.”
“One of our favorite things to do is volunteer in schools and tell them what it’s like to live like an American because what they get is not a reality .They think that we live like the sitcoms, like ‘Friends,’ that’s what they think we do, and that’s America to them. That is not us,” explains Thatcher. When people learn that the students are American, people are typically shocked and Thatcher hopes to help  change this through education and experience for students.
Students learn a tremendous amount of life- altering lessons during and after the international explorations. Not only do they learn about money management through being responsible for their own funds, learn new languages, new cultures, and problem solving skills, they come back as better human beings. “Until you live it, breath it, smell it, you don’t get it. These trips are a lot about transformation; students come back as different people. All the things you thought were important in your life, like your Xbox, your cell phone that you use every single day, your car, how you get around, water, all the things you never thought about or take for granted, some of the things you thought were so important, they’re not. You have a whole new focus on life,” said Thatcher.
Joselyn Funez, a member of the Outdoor Program for three years, tells of her transformation as a person through the Outdoor Program’s International trips. While in India she responded to a man’s health crisis after seeing him fall to the ground. After completing a wilderness first responder course through the Outdoor Program, Funez had the confidence to come to a stranger’s aid in a foreign country with confidence. “I think I would have been scared and not taken initiative to help this man if it were not for the Outdoor Program,” she explains, “I don’t care where you come from, what language you speak, or how dirty you may look, but I’m going to help you,” she thought to herself, “and that is something I would have never done if I hadn’t known those skills or been comfortable with my travel environment.”
“The whole idea is to get students outside of their comfort zones. The only way you get students to learn is to put them outside of their comfort zones and to push them,” says Thatcher. Moore adds that “inexperienced people are just as important as experienced people to the Outdoor Program.”  Through the international studies, lives are undoubtedly being changed and Thatcher welcomes anyone from the Mesa State community to come through the Outdoor Program’s Doors.