Andrea Deaton Christensen/Jon Christensen
Thailand: Culture, Coral and Cooking
SUMMARY OF TRIP INFORMATION
Thailand: Culture, Coral and Cooking
Leader Andrea Deaton Christensen
Co-leader Jon Christensen
Thailand
12/27/2014 – 1/19/2015
Total # of days 15
Backpacking
Bicycling-Mountain
Bicycling-Road
Title of trip
Leadership
Location(s)
Dates
Type of trip
check all that apply
Camping
Cultural
Family
Hiking
Paddling-Canoeing
Paddling-Sea-Kayaking
Skiing-CrossCountry (Nordic)
Trekking (e.g., hutto-hut)
Hiking
Minimum 10
Primary type of trip
Number of participants
(excluding leaders)
Advertised cost
Airfare range if not included
When should the trip notice be
published in AMC Outdoors?
Do you wish to have your trip
listed online before it is
published in AMC Outdoors?
Smaller trips and leader
subsidization
Skiing-Downhill
Snorkeling
(Alpine)
Walking
Other – please describe
Select one of those checked above.
Maximum 16
$ 2950
Does it include airfare? Yes
No
$ approx. 2000Will leaders assist participants with flights? Yes
No
2500 from JFK or
LAX plus approx.
$250 r/t to
departure airport
from other east
coast cities
First Appearance: Month Jan
Year 2014
Last Appearance: Month Nov
Year 2014
Note: AMC Outdoors is only published in Jan., March, May, July, Sept., Nov.
Yes
No If yes, please list the approximate month and year when it should
be posted on line. October 2013
Is this proposal for a small group trip – i.e., less than 14 participants and 2
leaders or 7 participants and 1 leader? Yes
No
If yes, why is a small group proposed?
If a participant fee increase of more than 15% is proposed, please explain why?
LEADER AND CO-LEADER INFORMATION
Leader name
Leader address
Leader email
Leader phone
Wilderness first aid
training
CPR training
Prior leading experience
Form Revised July 2013
Andrea Deaton Christensen
PO Box 458, Moose, WY 83012
andrea.deaton@gmail.com
Home 307-201-5912
Work 307-733-9417
Cell 267-738-8048
WFA
AWFA
WFR
Expiration: 5/14 will renew before trip
CPR
BLS
Expiration: 7/15
If this is your first Adventure Travel trip as a Leader you must be present at the AMCATC meeting at which the trip proposal is considered.
Please list the last three longer (5+ day) trips you have led for the AMC including
destination, type of trip, dates and number of participants. Feel free to list additional
Adventure Travel Trip Proposal Form, page 1 of 6
Andrea Deaton Christensen/Jon Christensen
Thailand: Culture, Coral and Cooking
Trip one
Trip two
Trip three
Other related trip
experience
trips you have led, particularly if they demonstrate experience related to the trip you are
proposing.
Annapurna Base Camp Trek, 15 days, Nov. 2011, 13 participants
Costa Rica, hiking,15 days, April 2011, 9 participants
Hawai'i Backpacking, 17 days, Dec 2010-Jan 2011, 8 participants
other trips led: Patagonia backpacking Dec/Jan 2008-09, New Zealand backpacking
Dec/Jan 2007-08; Yosemite NP backpacking August 2007; Kilimanjaro summit & safari
Dec/Jan 2006-07; Colorado Maroon Bells backpack Aug 2006; Belize Multi-Sport March
2006; Wyoming (Grand Teton/Y;stone) backpacking August 2005; Tuscany cycling Sept
2004
Co-leader name
Co-leader address
Co-leader email
Co-leader phone
Wilderness first aid training
CPR training*
Prior leading experience
Trip one
Trip two
Trip three
Other related trip experience
Scouting
Have either of you led this trip
before or traveled to this area?
Languages
Does either the co-leader or
leader speak the local language?
Couples
Do the leader and co-leader
have a significant personal
relationship?
Private trips Do either of you
lead trips that are private - not
sponsored by the AMC?
Jon Christensen
PO Box 458, Moose, WY 83012
jlcnpsla@netscape.net
Home 307-201-5912
Work
Cell 307-690-1869
WFA
AWFA
WFR
Expiration: 5/15
CPR
BLS
Expiration: 5/15
If you are a new co-leader you must submit an application to be an Adventure Travel
leader or co-leader prior to submitting this application. Also, it is strongly
recommended that you be present at the AMC-ATC meeting at which the trip proposal
is considered.
Please list the last three longer (5+ day) trips you have led for the AMC including
destination, type of trip, dates and number of participants. Please indicate if you were
the leader or co-leader.
White Mountain Hut to Hut trip June 2012, 15 participants, co-leader with Andrea
Yellowstone trip, August 2012, helped with trip leading for 3 days with Roger Scholl
and Barb Dyer who were trip leaders. 16 participants
Grand Teton family trip, July 2012, helped with trip leading for 3 days with Heather &
Steve DePaola; 12 Adult plus Child participants
Graduate of AMC Mountain Leadership School June 2012
Yes
No
If yes, please describe below:
Yes, we spent one week in Thailand on a personal trip after our Nepal trip in Dec
2011. We have not been to Chiang Mai nor the Similan Islands, but have been to
Bangkok and other islands in the Andaman Sea.
Co-leader: Yes
No
Leader: Yes
No
Not applicable:
Yes
No
If yes, please list who has agreed to be your back-up in case one or
both of you need to drop out. This is required for approval!
Sam Jamke, Marianne Page as well as Merri Fox have all offered to serve as a backup
leader. I'm not sure if we would need 2 back up leaders, but there would be at least 2,
if needed.
Yes
No
If yes, please note that you cannot advertise AMC and private
trips together unless there is a clear distinction between the two in any materials
you send out.
LOGISTICAL DETAILS OF TRIP
Summary
Please provide a description
of the trip and the activities
planned. If available, please
include or attach an itinerary.
Accommodations
Form Revised July 2013
See attached itinerary
We will stay in 3-star hotels for 8 nights, in sleeping bags on the floor of bamboo huts
Adventure Travel Trip Proposal Form, page 2 of 6
Thailand: Culture, Coral and Cooking
Please describe your plans for
accommodation(s)
Meals: Please describe your
plans for providing meals. If
the budget includes any funds
for leader meals not shared
with the group please justify.
Local Transportation
Please describe your plans for
local transportation
Will leaders or participants be
drivers of motor vehicles?
Permits or permissions
Does the trip require special
permits or permissions?
(required on many U.S.
federal lands and national
parks)
Special equipment
Does the trip require special
equipment?
Andrea Deaton Christensen/Jon Christensen
for 2 nights, in a/c national park beach bungalows for 2 nights, on a sleeper car train for
1 night.
Most of our meals will be as a group. Breakfasts will primarily be hotel buffets or at the
natioanl park food facility. We will have home hosts provide our meals for 2 days of our
hill tribe trek, and take a cooking class one night for dinner. The remainder of the meals
will be at restaurants. There will be 1 breakfast, 5 lunches and 2 dinners (1 on train, 1 in
Chiang Mai where participants are encouraged to explore the night market) that
participants will be expected to seek out and pay for on their own, not including meals on
the first and last travel days. Accommodating vegetarians, vegans and some dietary
restrictions such as dairy or gluten are relatively easily to accommodate since quite a bit
of the diet consists of rice and vegetables. Other dietary restrictions will be harder to
accommodate.
The majority of our transportation will be a minibus (with a local driver) and usually
seats between 12 – 18. The will have a/c and the luggage will be inside or in a following
vehicle (minivan). We will also have two internal flights and one overnight sleeper car
train with a restaurant car.
Will leaders be drivers?
Will volunteer participants be drivers?
If so, MVR checks will be needed. See Appendix S1.
Yes
No
If yes, please describe below what you will need to do to obtain them:
Just entrance fees to the national parks we will visit. The outfitter will handle covering
those fees.
If no, please describe the process you went through to find out that they were not
required:
Yes
No
If yes, please describe below what type of equipment and how you
will ensure that people know how to use it:
No special equipment is needed other than sleeping bags for the trek and the outfitter is
provided those. Snorkel equipment will also be provided by the outfitter.
Yes
No
If yes, please describe below what type of experience? Also describe
how you will ensure that the participant has this experience?
Trekking with a small backpack with toiletries and change of clothes, and if the
participant wants to snorkel then swimming ability is required.
Yes
No
If yes, please describe below what you will do:
Highly unlikedly, but it is possible we could get together for a one day outing or social
gathering on a weekend in Fall 2014.
Special experience
Does the trip require special
skills on the part of the
participant?
Pre-trip activities
Do you plan to get your group
together before the trip for an
activity or social event?
Conservation, education and
recreation
How will this AMC-AT trip meet the
mission of the AMC?
www.outdoors.org/about/mission.cfm
We will be recreating in two national parks and will be discussing the importance
of conservation of these parks and learning about the differences in conservation
and management strategies of these parks vs. those in the U.S. We will also be
visiting an elephant sanctuary and learning about protection of this species which
is such an important part of Thai culture. Through these experiences we will
provide opportunities for education and potentially enhance the conservation
ethic of the participants.
TOUR OPERATOR AND GUIDE SERVICE INFORMATION
This section should be completed if the trip will be using a tour operator, outfitter, guide service, travel agency or
other such company or person(s) for a significant part of the trip or for the entire trip. Any person(s) or companies
that are handling a significant portion of trip funds or arrangements need to be vetted. If there is more than one
tour operator please provide this information about each such entity.
Will this trip require a tour
Yes
No
operator or guide service
Please describe their services. If you are using a tour operator for the entire trip,
during part of or for the
please describe why you will be using them rather than doing this trip on your own:
They will book all the reservations for us as well as provide one English speaking guide
entire trip?
for the majority of the trip. Language skills are probably one of the most important
Form Revised July 2013
Adventure Travel Trip Proposal Form, page 3 of 6
Thailand: Culture, Coral and Cooking
Name of tour operator/guide
service
Tour operator website
Safety record
Please provide information
about their safety record.
Insurance
Do they have liability
insurance?
Emergency response
Please describe the outfitters’
response plan in the case of an
emergency.
Andrea Deaton Christensen/Jon Christensen
reasons we will use a guide, but since a great deal of the trip is learning about the Thai
culture, having an expert along is also important.
Intrepid Travel
www.intrepidtravel.com
Intrepid Travel has over 103,000 clients a year without any major incident. 99% of our
travelers say they would travel with us again and almost all of our incidents on trips have
to do with pre-existing conditions, food illness, or accidental injuries. Their parent
company is TUI travel PLC and they have an extremely strict safety policy and protocol.
Liability? Yes
No
Maximum amt: $ $40 million
Are they willing to list AMC as an
Yes
No
additional insured?
Intrepid has a strict Incident Management Plan where the incident is assessed by degree
of severity.
All leaders, destination management company staff, salesman, operational
managers, general managers, and the Managing Director are trained on how to handle
incidents on ground: who to call first, course of action, etc.
RISK ASSESSMENT
Please assess the risks and hazards of your trip. Carefully consider each area of risk and how it may affect your trip.
Devise a plan to prevent each hazard and to respond to it if it becomes necessary. Please be very specific for each section
if applicable.
Trail conditions, river crossings, weather, wildlife (bears, snakes, etc.)
Climate/terrain
Potential hazards
Muddy/slippery trails, heat and humidity, ocean conditions (wind/waves) during
snorkelling/kayaking
Response
Before the trip we will provide a checklist of recommended gear and clothing (boots,
hats, light loose clothing). We will talk about safety before each outing and will be
roving through the group during hikes to check on status and ensure proper pace &
hydration. We will carry at least one first aid kit. We will keep abreast of weather
conditions and forecasts and adjust itinerary accordingly. Participants will required to
wear a personal floatation device while boating.
Political concerns, crime, language translation, terrorism
Foreign Country
Potential hazards
Language barriers. Evacuation. Theft (large cities) Foreign Disease.
Response
We will be accompanied by a local Thai & English speaking guide during the entire time
in country. Thailand has a robust tourism industry with many people speaking English in
the areas where we will be travelling. As a backup Jon knows how to ask in Thai for
someone who speaks English. We will encourage participants to carry their own trip
insurance in addition to that provided by the AMC. We will encourage the use of money
belts and zippered pockets for carrying valuables, hotel safes for storing valuables not
needed during outings. We will encourage each participant to visit a travel medicine
doctor and carry their own prescriptions for potential common maladies (e.g.,
antibiotics),
Road conditions, drivers, insurance
Transportation
Potential hazards
Rough roads/motion sickness, vehicle breakdowns. Staying together in Bangkok while
walking
Response
We will carry dramamine. We will work with the guide and the tour company to secure
backup transportation in case of a breakdown.
Level of fitness, screening concerns, experience with equipment or activity
Participants
Potential hazards
Lack of participant stamina
Response
We will generally be hiking at low elevations and not engaging in strenuous activities on
this trip. We will screen participants to ensure that they can successfully participate in
the itinerary. If we have doubts we will seek evaluations from other AMC leaders,
Form Revised July 2013
Adventure Travel Trip Proposal Form, page 4 of 6
Andrea Deaton Christensen/Jon Christensen
Thailand: Culture, Coral and Cooking
Other
Potential hazards
Response
potentially requiring that candidates participate in another AMC trip so that we can
receive feedback from that leader.
Conditions unique to this type of trip
Cooking class (knives, burns)
We will have a safety talk before the class and will have first aid kit (including burn
care) in the event of an incident. The class is in an urban location that is not far from
more advanced medical care.
EMERGENCY ACTION PLAN
Please describe your plans for dealing with emergencies. Give as much detail as possible and list any special
communications equipment you may need to ensure the safety of your participants. DO NOT LEAVE THIS BLANK
We will collect and carry emergency contact information and medical information for all
Emergency communication
Phone contacts, language,
participants. This information will also be provided to the outfitter for use by the guide
documentation, distance from
and/or the office to iniate and follow-up on emergency contacts. We will carry
emergency services
Thai/English dictionary to aid in emergency communications.
We will carry at least one first aid kit consisting of supplies for wound, burn and illness
Emergency equipment
What sort of emergency first
care in addition to that provided by the guide. We will activate an international calling
aid or communication
plan on Andrea's cell phone so that it may be used for emergency communications.
equipment (satellite phone,
two-way radios) do you plan
to use, if any?
We will be travelling near to roadways during the trip except on the Similan islands. We
Evacuation
Please describe your plan for
will secure an ambulance via roadway if necessary. We will coordinate with the guide
evacuation from the
and work with other participants to transport to the nearest roadway if necessary. On the
backcountry location if
islands we will work with the guide and national park service or independently if
applicable?
necessary to secure speed boat or helicopter travel to the mainland.
Bangkok: Bangkok Christian Hospital 0 2235 1000-07
Medical care
Please describe the medical
http://www.bangkokchristianhospital.org/
care available in the area(s)
Chiang Mai: Chiang mai Ram Hospital 0 5322 4861 www.chiangmairam.com
where you will be traveling
Similan Islands: Patong Hospital (mainland) (66) 076.342.633 #8211;4
and list names and telephone
http://www.patonghospital.com
numbers for these facilities.
COST AND BUDGET DETAILS
The trip fees will be paid in US Dollars to Intrepid Travel; however, the
price quote that they have given us is based on an exchange rate of
1Thai Bhat=.0323 dollars.The trip price has been quoted for 2014 prices
and is not estimated to change. Since we do not plan to be able to
submit deposist until spring 2014, there is a small chance that some
prices might have gone up, and if so, there would be a slight increase in
price. However, the tour company has estimated higher than their 2013
prices.
Intrepid requires $250/pp deposit to book the trip. We have set an approximate date of
late spring (May) 2014 as the timeframe we will provide a $250/pp deposit. We can
add additional spots at a later time, but once we provide the $250/pp deposit, it in not
refundable.The final remaining fee for the trip is due 60 days prior to the trip (or
October 26, 2014).
Once we have received the minimum number of trip participants who have been
accepted (10), we will then send Intrepid the deposit of $2,500 (or $250/pp). Two
leaders are free. If we do not receive 10 participants by spring, then we will have to
inquire about an extension and whether the reservations (hotels, etc,) that Intrepid is
booking could wait a little longer until we reach 10. There is a strong chance that they
will be able to extend if necessary.
A deposit of $1,000 is required with the application. The second installment of $1,000
Foreign currencies
For int’l trips list each foreign currency, the
current $US dollar exchange rate and what
contingencies you have if that rate changes. If
a tour operator or agent is being used, what
currency is the agent to be paid in?
Group Trip Deposits
What deposits will be required
from you by airlines, hotels, tour
operators, etc., and when?
Group Trip Refunds
What is the latest date you can
cancel and still receive a full
refund of any deposits?
Participant deposits
Form Revised July 2013
Adventure Travel Trip Proposal Form, page 5 of 6
Thailand: Culture, Coral and Cooking
What are the initial deposit and
your schedule of payments by
participants to you?
Cancellation policy
What will be your cancellation
policy for the participants?
will be due August 1, 2014. The final payment will be due October 1.
Minimum numbers
Will you still run the trip if you
do not get the minimum number?
Reference web links:
AMC-ATC Home Page:
Forms:
Deadlines:
E-Mail Addresses:
Club House:
AMC-ATC Chair:
Form Revised July 2013
Andrea Deaton Christensen/Jon Christensen
If a replacement participant is found after a participant cancels, the cancelling
partcipant will be refunded their full amount paid minus $25 administration fee. If no
replacement is found, the participant will be expected to pay all costs/ fees that would
be required to not raise the cost of the trip for the other participants. Participants will
be encouraged to take our trip insurance to cover cancellations due to emergencies
Yes
No
If yes, please describe conditions:
Our minimum number of 10 already requires the leaders to pay a portion of the trip.
We will run it if there are 10 participants, but nothing smaller.
http://snebulos.mit.edu/orgs/amc/
http://snebulos.mit.edu/orgs/amc/application/
http://snebulos.mit.edu/orgs/amc/committee/proposals/
nholland@outdoors.org
amcatchair@comcast.net
Adventure Travel Trip Proposal Form, page 6 of 6