Back in the summer of 2024 I completed my explorer belt with some friends from Worcestershire. The explorer belt is a 10 day expedition outside of the UK with a minimum of 50 hours travel time. During these days you must complete 10 minor projects and 1 major project. Then on return to the UK complete a presentation on the journey.
For our explorer belt, we chose to walk around lake constance in the hopes of travelling through 4 different countries. Below is a map of our final route.
During our award we had different challenges to complete. Our main project was to compare and contrast the communities around Lake Contance. We discovered that there were more similariries than expected in the communities. They all had good infrastructure, free transport and a strong environmental focus.
Our 10 minor challenges were:
- Meet as many Scouts from different countries as you can
- Eat a traditional local meal
- Cross as many international borders as you can in a single day
- Cook a meal from foraged food
- Collect the letters of BUSAG in different spots as many times as possible
- Do a tiktok trend
- Create a piece of artwork using natural materials
- Record the most interesting pieces of foreign language we encounter
- Create a where’s wally style photo to spot members of the team
- Take a photo of blimpy everyday until the end of the expedition
After completing the expedition we came up with our top tips:
- Make sure to find ways to keep yourself motivated e.g. bakery aisle at aldi or a fun cold drink in the afternoon
- Keep an eye out for special occasions and dates whilst on the trip e.g. we voted in the 2024 general election
- Make sure to have contingency plans and be adaptable e.g. we bought the wrong gas and we kept changing our route as the weather was a lot hotter than we planned for
- Bring a litter picker!!
It was a fantastic award to complete and many stories have come out of the adventure. For a detailed day to day recap, check out instagram.