• Group travel can take you from natural wonders to rebuilding communities.Grand Canyon image by Scott Latham from Fotolia.com
  
  There's adventure in numbers. Group tours in the U.S. can be forays into a different world where travelers collaborate on scientific research, experiencing natural and man-made wonders, and community building. Museums, tour companies, and philanthropic organizations offer group trips that let travelers visit the past, savor the present, or help construct the future.
  
  

Research Scientist for a Week

• The American Museum of Natural History runs a group travel program with educational trips all over the world. One U.S. tour takes travelers to the museum's Arizona research station, with an animal behaviorist and a biologist as guides. The Southwestern Research Station is located between two mountain canyons and provides researchers the opportunity to study desert ecosystems, indigenous and migratory species, and the astonishing geologic formations of a once-active volcanic range that is millions of years old. Become a scientist as you hike out to observe and record hummingbird behavior, collect and study desert lizards, catch and identify bats, conduct an experimental study of desert harvester ants, or visit the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, zoo, and botanical garden. Daily lectures from the scientists complete the educational adventure. This AMNH tour begins at $1,850.00 (rate as of June 2010) and includes cabin accommodations at the research station, a week of several miles of leisurely hiking each day and elevations of nearly 9,000 feet. AMNH Expeditions, 1920 N. Street, N.W., Suite 200 Washington, D.C. 20036, 800-462-8687, amnhexpeditions.org
  
  

Adventure in the American West

• Trek America runs tours for the adventurous in suggested age ranges. Their Gold Rush tour—ages 18 to 38 based on degree of physical activity—is twelve days of camping with a departure from San Francisco, travel through the Sierra Nevada Mountains, hiking in Zion and Bryce Canyon, Yosemite, and Monument Valley, with a grand finale in Las Vegas. Highlights include treks over the Golden Gate Bridge and through a Giant Sequoia forest, sunrise or sunset in the Grand Canyon, a jeep ride through Navajo lands with a native guide and optional kayaking, horseback riding, and flights over the Grand Canyon for an additional fee. Adventure vehicles, guide, and camping gear are included. Price is $1,269.00 fee US (as of June 2010) but bring your own sleeping bag. TrekAmerica Travel Limited 16/17 Grange Mills Weir Road, London SW12 0NE United Kingdom, 800-873-5872, trekamerica.com
  
  

Habitat for Humanity Collegiate Challenge

• Habitat for Humanity sponsors the annual Collegiate Challenge that offers students age 16 and up the chance to work on a home-building project to help eliminate poverty in an economically challenged community. For high school-age groups, an accompanying adult is required for every five students. College students, youth groups, church groups, and other organizations of young people may send groups of at least five workers for a week-long work break during the academic year, or summer break volunteer commitments of a week or longer. Typically, volunteers work daily from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. helping to build or finish houses or doing other related work. Group members pay for the program and for their own transportation. The weekly fee covers housing and a modest donation to the program. All local transportation, food and other expenses are paid for by participants. Call 1-800-HABITAT, or check habitat.org.