INTOPS stands for International Opportunities for Girl Guides and Scouts. There are various trips ranging from going to an international camp to meet people from all over the world to going out to Africa and doing community work. It gives young people a chance to travel abroad who otherwise might not normally be able to.
Now, I am very involved with Girl Guiding.
I was a Brownie:
I was also a Guide:
I am a Ranger:
And I am also a Young Leader at a Rainbow and a Brownie unit:
As I do all these things with Girl Guiding last summer I selected to try out for a county trip which was going to an international camp. This was quite hard for me as at the time my grandmother had died and her funeral was being held the same weekend,as I then one I was supposed to be going on a selection weekend to try out for the trip. I was also doing my work experience that week.
This meant that my family all flew up to Scotland for the funeral and I stayed at home (I did sleepover at a friends so I wasn't alone in the house at night!!). So as you can imagine I was pretty stressed out. Anywho, I found out a few weeks later that I had been offered a place on the trip! I was so excited!!! But then I had even better news: 3 of us had been selected from that weekend to try out for a South West regional trip.
This meant that my family all flew up to Scotland for the funeral and I stayed at home (I did sleepover at a friends so I wasn't alone in the house at night!!). So as you can imagine I was pretty stressed out. Anywho, I found out a few weeks later that I had been offered a place on the trip! I was so excited!!! But then I had even better news: 3 of us had been selected from that weekend to try out for a South West regional trip.
This included another selection process. 40 people were selected to try out for this from the whole of the South West of England which included the channel islands and I didn't know anyone! But I made friends there and it was such a great experience. Region were running 3 trips: 1 to a camp in Belguim, 1 back packing around Europe and 1 the following year to Mexico. I would have loved to go to Mexico but as it was in 2014 and I would be in the middle of my A Levels I decided to put my name down for the backpacking around Europe one. And guess what!? I GOT SELECTED!
So that means that this summer I will be travelling around Zagreb, Hungary, Bratislava, Austria, Prague, Germany, Holland and London completing different challenges as we go (hence the name EuroQuest) with 9 other girls whom I have only met twice in some cases!
A lot of people think it is very religious based but to be perfectly honest it really doesn't matter what you believe; it is really all about meeting new people and trying new things! If you aren't already part of it have a look in your area to see if their are any Guide units (10-14) Rangers (14-25) or for anyone 18+ you can volunteer to help at a unit and even work towards your leadership qualification! And if you aren't a girl then you can join Scouting. I have to admit my knowledge of this is very little but you can find more about Scouting here. A lot of girls also join Scouting instead of Guiding but we do a lot with the Explores (One of the Scouting equivalents to Rangers) & we do a lot of the same sort of stuff!
Girl Guiding has done so much for me and I'm so grateful for all the opportunities I have been given through it! Thank you for reading!
Girl Guiding has done so much for me and I'm so grateful for all the opportunities I have been given through it! Thank you for reading!
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