Comfort

Shoes and clothing

We want you to be safe AND comfortable on your trip.

A lot of that will depend on whether or not you have appropriate shoes and clothing.

Here are three basic recommendations:

• Bring two pairs of comfortable, water-resistant shoes, rain gear, and an umbrella;
• Bring clothes that are warm enough for unusually cold and windy weather in case you encounter it on your trip; and
• Don’t be fooled (by unseasonably warm weather at home the day before your trip departs) into bringing only spring or summer clothing.

Three big mistakes

The three biggest mistakes we see kids make are:

• not bringing two pairs of comfortable walking shoes, and
• not bringing rain gear (including an umbrella),
• not bringing clothing that’s warm enough for unusually cold weather.

Please remember that it rains a lot in the spring, when most trips take place, so you stand a very good chance of getting rained on for at least one day during a three-day trip. A few groups have had steady rain for all three days.

Take our word for it, you don’t want to be caught without an umbrella or a rain coat while standing in line for an hour waiting to board the ferry to the Statue of Liberty in New York, or when walking back to your hotel in Québec City, or while waiting for your bus to come back to pick you up at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC, to cite just a few examples.

Remember, every trip includes some outdoor activities and some walking, so you really do need to bring comfortable shoes and a raincoat or an umbrella.