Outlook Expeditions Reviews 13

My son has just returned from an expedition to Malaysia, and is brimming with stories and confidence. He’s a naturally very introverted boy, with an intense dislike for insects and has never been “out-doorsy” so I was amazed when he told me about the expedition and that he and some friends from school wanted to go, to mark the end of GCSE’s.

I am so happy he went, and has had such an exciting but also challenging time. It wasn’t an easy trip, with intense heat and a lot of physical discomfort, but he was expertly looked after by the team and has had experiences that most people can only dream of- baby turtles hatching out of their eggs in his hands, swimming over fabulous coral reefs with kaleidoscopic fish and learning to use a blow pipe in one of the world’s oldest rain forests! Navigating Kuala Lumpor and making new friends on all night turtle watches, seeing shooting stars that he thought were misiles! The list goes on….

He’s seen more of the world, and learnt more about himself on this trip. He’s also now truly grateful for his comfortable home and bed, which is another plus!

I can whole heartily recommend this company, who not only expertly shepherded the kids, but also completely reassured the parents with excellent communications and care and understanding.
A fantastic experience, for all of us!

This was an exceptional experience for the students. They were given enough leadership experience and challenge to stretch them in a safe way. Every student returned having grown and developed in their own ways. They will remember this formative journey for the rest of their lives.

This is the second time my family has had the opportunity to use Outlook Expeditions for their school trips. Unfortunately my daughters trip did not go ahead because of Covid. I'd like to add that throughout the pandemic Outlook liaised with the school and as soon as the decision was made not to go ahead with the trip to Mongolia we received a full refund without delay!
However, a few years on and my son has just returned from a once in a lifetime trip to Borneo with the group.
From the onset I believe Outlook has tried to support the children and parents through online seminars and self lead learning programmes. They have regularly been in touch with the children and even have a parent portal where we could find all the necessary information about the trips and copies of some of the documents.
Before the trip took place my son met his expedition leader on several occasions and even spent a weekend away getting to know him and the other members of his group. One evening he came into school to discuss with the parents what equipment was needed. What I felt was nice...he came into school with his actual bag of equipment that he was going to travel with. He gave advise on must have items and suggested things that might help if we had them lying around the house. What he did stress was that there was no need to go out and buy expensive , all singing/dancing equipment for the trip as it wasn't necessary!
The trip was self lead and the group had to manage a very large budget, book accommodation, excursions, buy food, exchange money and arrange transport . Each child had leader days ,so the responsibility was not solely on one person for the duration of the trip. But they were fully supported by the expedition leader and school teachers if they needed it.
My son is keen to go off and explore the world so I believe Outlook has given him a taste of what it can be like! He has been to the other side of the world without his family and been given the independence to book things for himself, experience minor problems and solve them without a parent wading in and taking over (but someone was there to offer support if need be).
He came back full of life saying 'it has been the most amazing experience of my life. I'm not going to lie I'm shattered and it was hard work! It was especially hard trying to keep 16 people happy when we all want to do different things or when some are tired and others aren't. I've certainly learnt a lot about myself and how to adapt '.

Whilst out there my son developed a chest infection and the expedition leader immediately took care of the situation and he was soon on antibiotics. Unfortunately it took a little longer for him to recover so soon as it was possible he was taken for further tests at a local hospital and further medication was prescribe to help clear his airways. The action and care given by his Outlook leader was exemplary!!
Would I recommend Outlook Expeditions?
Without a doubt!
As a parent it's always scary letting your child go of into the unknown for the first time but I felt we had plenty information about the trip and had the security that someone was always at the end of the phone/email!
Thank you to each and everyone one of the team that helped my son on his journey!

Really fab company. Safe, innovative, ethical and environmentally conscious. Our college has used them for 4 expeditions so far and we are planning more. All our students have benefitted massively from their experiences in the planning, abroad and future lives.

Our school has been working with Outlook Expeditions for approx 12 years now. I have organised 5 different Expeditions (Namibia, Rwanda, Peru and Bolivia, Borneo and Madagascar) and I have been overly impressed with the service provided.

You will not find a better company in the industry. They are not a package holiday company and they are leaders in their field. They are an ethical company who are very transparent on how they operate.

I have always felt supported by this company and when we hit a few bumps in the road on Expedition (which will happen in a foreign country) they have always impressed.

Now that we are 'getting back to normal' we have booked our 2024 Expedition. If anyone ever wants to discuss the process or are interested in learning more about an expedition please feel free to get in touch.

Along with a fellow staff member, I took eighteen Year 12 students to Southern India. The students had a delightful, worthwhile and memorable cultural experience. They really did get the most they possibly could out of it thanks to the way that Outlook Expeditions worked with us.

Outlook prioritise safety and going out of their way to get to know you as shown by their visits to our school and concise communication. Properly organised materials, superb presentations and student engagement were on show. They clearly wanted everyone to be safe, prepared, know what to expect and ultimately get the most from their experience. They left you with no doubt that the expedition would be safe and expertly managed from start to end. Plenty of carefully considered time was allowed for each element of the expedition - e.g. even before we left for the airport there were adequate checks to make sure we had everything.

The way they build relationships with the school and get the best from students ensure they remain our preferred expeditions provider.

Outlook provided staff and students with solid documentation, safety briefings and training (I had to complete their online training which was well designed and informative). The online portal helped to keep everything organised and encourage students with fundraising ideas. Our Outlook Expedition leader was experienced and superb with our students - guiding them, taking expert decisions when needed and getting students to take the lead (E.g. booking accommodation, planning activities etc). They really do seem to employ the best people who "know their stuff" and know how to get the best from students.

Going back to safety - it was reassuring to see this had priority. Whilst expeditions involve an element of risk, everything you could think of was in place to remove or reduce the risks. Outlook were more than familiar with each destination and how to travel most safely. We had access to satellite phones, a UK control centre, advanced first aid and more. And of course suitable insurance was also in place should anything untoward happen.

Over the 14 days we had a great time visiting schools, trekking in Munnar, and relaxing in Cochin. We had a lot of varied and amazing cultural experiences within a relatively short period of time. Students developed competencies and had their eyes opened to different ways of life. Everything that needed to be planned beforehand was, resulting in us having warm welcomes at our intended destinations. I could write extensively about the expedition itself but that might spoil the magic of the experience for others!

Owing to their expertise and investment in people, I'd definitely be happy to work with Outlook Expeditions again in the future.

Outlook are a brilliant company to use for overseas expeditions.
I have personally been on 2 expeditions with Outlook, one of which I was the lead teacher for and they couldn’t have made it easier. They came to school and launched to parents, worked well with the students in all aspects of the build up, and their leaders who lead us in country were knowledgeable and organised.
I would fully recommend Outlook Expeditions.

Superb company. My last trip to Costa Rica was amazing. Highly recommended! Great leaders and backup in the UK. Looking forward to our next trip to Cambodia and Vietnam.

I've taken Royal Latin School groups away with Outlook Expeditions now for approximately 10 years. We normally run two per year. The company are incredibly professional with safety at the forefront of everything they do. We are incredibly proud of the expeditions we have led and Outlook have the ability to tailor their adventurous expeditions to our needs - a bespoke service no less! We have had some superb outdoor leaders and the facility to vet/approve them before expedition is a real bonus. As with all expeditions there are times when things don't go to plan but Outlook have never failed to disappoint me with swift and thoughtful action when needed.

Over lockdown they helped manage to ensure our students were given a complete refund.

I recommend them without reservation or hesitation to any school.

My daughter had two planned trips with Outlook Expeditions cancelled purely down to COVID. Outlook kept us fully informed and arranged the refunds in a timely manner. I’d also add that they were 100% professional throughout the whole journey - including the expedition pre-planning with the students and engagement with the parents. I’d have absolutely zero issue in my daughter arranging a future expedition with them. Top company, great employees and they care passionately about all stakeholders.

The company's communication was nil throughout the whole pandemic. When we asked for a refund they retained 20% of the whole amount we paid. We lost £800 hard working money while they stayed at home twiddling their thumbs and being paid for it throughout pandemic and lockdown. I wouldn't recommend them to anyone.

A ruthless commercial company - hell bent on getting as much money from your children as possible. Be VERY careful if you are considering using them. There are other providers with better morals. I along with 38 other parents took most of last year to get some of our money back after they initially refused to return a penny, keeping over £140,000 from our school children. In the end they refunded part of the money and the school had to met the rest. The Outlook director is an ex cocca cola manager - BEWARE they act with little morals and exist only to line the directors pockets. Our kids trip was cancelled due to COVID. According to other PTAs Outlook have acted in a similar way all over the UK.
15 7 22 - Thankyou Outlook for responding - my initial thoughts still stand - the proof was in the pudding. If you truly were a company with only kids development in mind you would not have withheld their hard earned money for a year and only parted with some of it after a fight including legal team involvement. DofE guidance did not include any mention to withhold funds for services not delivered and some other providers following the DofE rules did not act like Outlook did.
Lets be clear the delay WAS entirely down to the part of Outlook and their directors decision. It was not the DfE or your insurance - how could it be - you hadnt provided the service or spent the money given to you.
You admitted at the time to us that your expenditure at that time was limited to a few hundred pounds for a practice day and some admin. You were still holding the thousands of pounds and could have simply done the right thing and returned it. but Outlook chose not to.
Don't use marketing mis truths to deceive the public.
I need to also add that as a direct result of the school insurance having to make up the large shortfall for Outlook not returning the full kids money - school trips abroad are no longer happening this year.

Really disappointed with this company. They were delivering a school trip and without consultation with parents agreed with the school to postpone the trip due to Covid 19. Because the trip was postponed by a year my son will have finished school meaning he will not be allowed to go on the trip under any circumstances and yet they still charged us £440 cancellation fees. Despicable given that the kids raised this money themselves doing fundraising and odd jobs