Someone has to be the one who's been there
A Trip Captain is on the ground for the whole trip — running the logistics, making the safety calls, and holding the group together so nobody else has to think about it. It is a real job, and it is the reason our trips work.
The job, plainly
Run the day
Wake-ups, departures, stops, meals, check-ins. You hold the schedule so the group can stop thinking about it.
Make the calls
Weather turns, a road closes, someone isn't well. You decide what happens next, and you're trusted to decide it on the spot.
Handle the ground
Drivers, stays, permits, local coordination. You're the one who knows which of those needs chasing before it becomes a problem.
Hold the group
Most people arrive alone. Whether they leave as a group chat that outlives the trip is largely down to you.
The other side of it
- You travel free
- Your travel, stay and food on every trip you lead are covered. That's the baseline, not the perk.
- You're paid for it
- This is work, not a volunteering scheme dressed up as an opportunity. Captains are paid per trip.
- You get trained
- We train and vet every captain before they lead. You won't be handed a group and wished luck.
- You choose your trips
- Lead the routes you actually want to lead, around whatever else your year looks like.
- You learn the ground properly
- Ten trips through Spiti teaches you things no amount of reading does. That knowledge is yours.
- You build a reputation
- Travellers ask for captains by name. Enough of them asking is a career, not a side income.
Is this you?
- You've travelled properly — multi-day, unglamorous, in places where plans change.
- You stay calm when something goes wrong, and people look at you when it does.
- You're comfortable being responsible for strangers' safety and comfort.
- You can give up a week or more at a time, more than once a year.
- You're mainly looking for a free holiday. Leading a trip is not the same as being on one.
- You'd rather not be the person making the decision at 4am on a closed road.
- Your availability is a day here and there — trips need you for the whole run.
Tell us where you've been
We read every application. What we're actually looking for is evidence you've handled a trip when it stopped going to plan — so be specific about that rather than listing destinations.
If you'd rather represent us where you already are — campus or city — without committing whole weeks to being on the road, that's the Ambassador role.
Look at the Ambassador role