Sacred Learning Journeys:

Intergenerational Trips

When you travel, you find yourself

Alone in a different way,

More attentive now

To the self you bring along,

Your more subtle eye watching

You abroad; and how what meets you

Touches that part of the heart

That lies low at home:

How you unexpectedly attune

To the timbre in some voice,

Opening in conversation

You want to take in

To where your longing

Has pressed hard enough

Inward, on some unsaid dark,

To create a crystal of insight

You could not have known.

John O’Donohue

Springhouse is an intergenerational learning community where people of all ages come together to learn how to live more fully and to create the conditions for all life to thrive.

Learning is always an adventure at Springhouse, especially when we go on trips together. Almost since the very beginning, adults and teens have been going on school trips at Springhouse. No matter what we do – building and then sailing a 22-foot sailboat in the Chesapeake Bay, hiking Cloudland Canyon in Chattanooga, visiting the Legacy Museum in Montgomery, or traveling to Wisconsin to visit a high school started by teens – we learn so much from each other.

We learn, not just from the wonderful places we visit, but also from being a part of a long-term intergenerational community. We all carry a certain kind of wisdom given our unique stage of life, and these trips give us all an opportunity to share our gifts and learn from each other.

We are excited to invite adults on our school trips to learn with us and become a part of a long-term global community committed to cultural renewal.

The Trips

The purpose of our school trips is to learn from other people and places we visit while also supporting development across several stages of life.

On these trips, teens have the opportunity to leave home and gain some independence, have exposure to new experiences and places, build resiliency, and have an intentional break from technology. The Springhouse staff, adults who vary in age, have always attended these trips as both stewards of the trip and as learners. Now, adults have the opportunity to join us and be a part of an intergenerational model of education.

Informed by Sourced Education, our trips are an opportunity to come alive in a long-term community committed to a vision of a thriving world.

We take three trips each school year and do our best to visit geographically and ecologically diverse locations that include wild and urban places. We visit local sites, contribute to the renewal of the places we visit, and connect with members of the local community. Learners, no matter their age, interact with their peers as well in larger mixed-aged groups when appropriate. We regularly engage in practices that foster a sense of community such as singing, dancing, creative projects, and playing games together.

Since its founding, these trips have been an integral part of our program, and they are full of magic and vitality.

Trip Dates & Locations

September 16th-20th, 2024: Philadelphia, PA

January 27th-31st, 2025: Western North Carolina (Relief & Service Work)

April 28th-May 2nd, 2025: Floyd to Roanoke Walk

Is This Program For You?

To determine whether or not this program might be for you, please consider these questions:

  • Do you like adventure and want to be with people of different ages?

  • Are you flexible and open to change and surprise?

  • Do you want to engage in conversations about important cultural challenges with people of all ages?

  • Do you want to have meaningful travel experiences in a community of others who orient around practices and conversations that deepen connection?

If you answered yes to all these questions, review the next steps below.

Next Steps

If you are interested in joining us for Sacred Learning Journeys, please complete this short form and you will be contacted to schedule a brief interview.

Program Cost

This program has varying costs associated with each school trip. We will be determining rates based on location and food costs. Fees do not include travel to and from the trip location.Tiered rates are listed below.

  • Pay-it-Forward Rate: $1,500 / trip

  • Sustained Rate: $1,000 / trip

  • Supported Rate: A supported rate is determined after a conversation with Chris Wolf, Springhouse’s finance Manager. We remain committed to accessibility, and no one is turned away due to lack of funds (learn more about our economic approach).

Sacred Learning Journeys

Program Facilitator

Carolyn Reilly (she/her)

Development Director

Carolyn is a courageous lifelong learner, wife, and mother of four who has worked in the nonprofit arena for over two decades. Her work has spanned church communications and worship design, teaching step aerobics and pilates at the YMCA, as well as community organizing to protect the natural environment. Carolyn also has experience in co-creating an intergenerational family farm focused on regenerative practices and connecting people to nourishing, whole food. On staff at Springhouse since August 2019, she serves full-time, showing up wholeheartedly in the growth and development of the organization. Carolyn has a huge heart for community, specifically in connecting and empowering people to cultivate wholeness and deepen their relationships - with themselves, each other, the earth, and the divine.