What is Strive?

High School Programs and College Internships

Strive is a unique international service-learning program specifically designed for the student-athlete. We have carefully constructed a safe, fun, and rewarding program that allows our participants to travel internationally and learn about and undertake community service without sacrificing their desire to be active.

Each day in a Strive program is a mix of service-learning, athletic training, and adventure. Students spend 3-5 hours daily working on community service projects or learning about service in discussions and workshops; in addition, each day features blocks of time set aside in the morning and afternoon for athletics – running, swimming, lifting, sport-specific drills, or rest and recovery for the next day. Programs are located in high altitude environments and feature impressive arrays of training facilities available for students including: running tracks and miles of dirt roads, pools, weight rooms, basketball courts, tennis courts (in Peru only) and soccer/football fields.

On weekends, groups explore the surrounding area (from Inca ruins to giraffe parks) and each program culminates with a multi-day adventure highlighting the country’s natural beauty. In Kenya, students travel through the Masai Mara on safari and in Peru students hike for three days through the Andes to the incomparable Machu Picchu.

Adult Programs

Strive’s trips for adults are unique opportunities for those active travelers who want to see the world as more than a tourist. Just as with Strive’s student programs, our adult trips feature a balance of learning through visits to local areas and sightseeing, cultural immersion with help from our experienced staff, and daily options for athletic training, active exploration, and even racing.

Every day is packed full of opportunities for new experiences, from zip-lining down Andean cliff-sides to exploring ancient cathedrals, but with plenty of time to get in the daily run, hike, or biking session. With guidance from our staff, you’ll have all the resources you need to get the most out of your trip (plus have all the logistical needs covered) and still have some free time to explore on your own. Finish up with a visit to Machu Picchu or a multi-day Safari.

Not a runner? No problem! You’re welcome to bike or walk along the same routes as the runners or simply use the time to rest or to explore the towns we visit.

At Strive, we have many different passions, from service to athletics to travel. We encourage our participants to explore these in addition to their own unique passions. Let us know if you have any questions. We love to talk about our programs!

Rob Martin

Director/Owner
Rob@Strivetrips.org

Rob was a high school runner but eventually found himself on the coaching side of things once he reached college. His itch to get out of the Midwest eventually got the best of him. Soon after graduating from Purdue University, Rob’s first trip outside the US landed him in Ntchisi, Malawi where he spent three years teaching high school students, training mathematics teachers, and coaching cross country runners through the Peace Corps. He fell in love with the Warm Heart of Africa, learning to speak Chichewa and greetings in many other Bantu languages. Rob eventually settled in The Big Apple soon after his return from Malawi. He feels that New York brings the world to him everyday he walks out the door.

In his 20 years of teaching and coaching, Rob has been lucky enough to coach many state and nationally ranked runners.  In 2010, he found a unique opportunity to combine his travel and coaching experience, being Strive’s first group leader at it’s inaugural session in Kenya. In 2016-17, Rob accepted a call to be part of a Peace Corps Response group to help reopen Sierra Leone’s schools post-Ebola. He trained mathematics and science teachers at a Sierra Leonean university. Currently, he coaches all three seasons XC, Indoor and Outdoor Track, at state-ranked Xavier High School in Manhattan. Xavier has finished in the top five at NY Federations in XC in five of the last 7 years while he’s been coaching. Despite his love of coaching runners and teaching mathematics in New York, nothing compares with the joy he feels seeing Strivers engulfed in the songs, smiles, and hospitality of the peoples of sub-saharan Africa, hiking an Inca Trail to Maccu Piccu in Peru, or cresting a hill one more time on a brutal hill repeat workout in Flagstaff.