We’re finally on our way to California this week! It seems like yesterday that we were joking about leaving in 2016 after arriving home last year, but we’re here!

We’ve got a smaller crowd this year, but as with anything, it allows for a more intentional experience for the kids that are coming and I’m sure we’ll all love having this smaller group. I believe we’ve set our final number down to 93 plus staff. I can’t wait to get there and show these kids around LA and San Diego!

If anyone doesn’t really know what Calbreak is, basically, it’s a week of camp, but we’re in California enjoying theme parks and beaches instead of back in Saskatchewan enjoying lakes and mosquitoes. We provide what we call a 5 Star Experience focusing on giving kids the chance to experience, Great Friends, Amazing Staff, California Beach Life, Thrilling Theme Parks and “Aha” Moments. They meet other students from all over the province of Saskatchewan building life-long friendships. Considered “California Fun Experts,” we as staff, are quite experienced on this trip and can show students the ins and outs of everywhere we travel to. We visit the best beaches and ride the craziest roller coasters, enabling everyone to both relax and experience something outside their comfort zones. Lastly, we focus on bringing something different to kids’ lives; giving them the chance to have a moment of inspiration or clarity in which they can remember forever. We’ve provided this experience for 38 years and it has become an amazingly, well-oiled machine. It’s also a pretty fun thing to do for a job.

In my 5 years, I’ve had the opportunity to go on this trip with a lot of people, and have had some really amazing relationships built out of it. There are a lot of students I’ve gotten to see grow up and change as they get encouragement through the amazing community that gets built on Calbreak. I’ve seen terrified kids bring up the courage to go on crazy rides (hating every second of it, but still listing it as an achievement), kids find perspective serving homeless people in downtown LA, and gotten to smile at sharing the ability to travel with guys I’ve grown to love deeply over the years.

The guys in this picture (the two guys on my left) hadn’t travelled farther than Edmonton before this trip. Two foster kids I had known for years, and after watching them grow up, I got the chance to share California with them. I kind of get how parents feel when they take their kids on trips now! You just want to see their faces light up as they experience some of the coolest, most fun things in the world! I kinda hope now that this will give them a desire and passion to provide the same thing for the ones they love. Some people just don't know what they're missing. When you give them a taste they suddenly want more, and they want to share it with everyone they care about!

Going to Cali with Charlie and Lorne was one of my major joyful moments and I cherish those memories greatly. It wasn't just a trip to California, it was a life changing experience.

If you’re the praying type, safety as we travel is always a big one. We also would like to see the community of Calbreak come together as the kids get to know us staff and each other. Also, most of the kids we go with come from zero spiritual/church background experience. What we want them to know is that they’re here on this planet for a reason. At some point of the trip, we want them to contemplate their existence and the concept of a God that might not just exist, but actually loves them. Maybe, it can be a thing that changes who they are and how they relate to the world.

We’re not just a bunch of chemicals, we are beings created for a purpose.

We just want them to live in that truth!

Thanks y’all!

Off to California!