Achieving your Award is an adventure from beginning to end and this section can give you some of your most memorable experiences!
From sailing along the Norfolk Broads to walking in Canada or horse riding in the Brecon Beacons, it can as far-flung or as close to home as you want it to be. You can also choose how you want to travel – it doesn’t just have to be on foot! You could choose to do your expedition by bike, by canoe, by kayak, by wheelchair, by sailing boat or even on a horse or llama!
“…We depended solely on everyone working as one. We had very low points, but when we had highs, they were exceptionally high…I still keep in touch with my team… this has to be one of the best things I have done…” Tim, Silver Award holder
There’ll need to be between four and seven of you in an expedition team (eight if you’ve chosen to travel by tandem canoe or bike). With your team, you’ll plan an aim for your expedition, decide on your location and do lots of fun training to make sure you’re fully prepared and know what you’re doing! Your Leader will arrange a Supervisor to work with your team to organise all of this and help you plan your expedition. Once you’ve done the preparation the fun starts when you go out and do a practice and a qualifying expedition. Once you’ve completed your final expedition you’ll give a presentation about your experiences and your achievements to your Supervisor, Assessor or another adult.
The whole experience will give you laughs, arguments, joy and frustration along the way. But, by the end, you’ll have better team and leadership skills, not to mention bags more confidence and a rucksack full of great memories!
The DofE is working in partnership with ipadio, the company that gives every telephone user a voice to the internet. iPadio offers you the opportunity to keep a voice record of your or your team’s activity, otherwise known as phlogging.
Phlogging, or ‘blogging by phone’, will allow you to record live audio directly onto the web from a telephone, giving you the freedom to broadcast on the road, in a canoe, or even on a horse!
This will allow you to get your friends, parents and other relatives really involved in your DofE experience. Each time you phone the service, you will be able to record a new episode. Telling people about this and providing them with the link, will allow them to listen online to what you have recorded as soon as you have recorded it.
Calls to ipadio are either freephone or a local rate number depending on your location. (In the UK calls are local rate, so will be included in your call package).