FAQ

All youth aged 15 to 19 can come on Illuminate Trips! Invite your friends, coworkers, neighbors, cousins…anyone!

If you are a previous Illuminator, you will receive $200 off of your trip price.
If you sign up before September 1, 2024, you will receive $200 off of your trip price.
If you are paid in full by September 1, 2024, you will receive $100 off of your trip price.
Further, for each person you refer to join us on an Illuminate Trip, you will receive $50 off.

These discounts are stackable for up to $500+ off your trip price!

Please fill out the application form under the REGISTER tab in the navigation bar, pay the $500 non-refundable deposit, sign your waiver, and send in your passport (if international). Your application is complete at that point, and we will contact you with more information!

We will be in touch with you via email within three business days after you fill out the application form. Your spot will not be held until we receive your $500 non-refundable deposit. Once we receive your online application, your deposit, and your signed waiver, your spot will be held and you will receive a contract and further instructions pertinent to your specific trip.

In order to be placed on the waitlist for a certain trip, you must pay the $500 deposit. If you do not get on the trip that you are hoping for, you can put your deposit toward another Illuminate Youth Trip or receive a full refund. If you choose the refund, your refund will be returned July 1, 2025. This only applies to applicants on a waitlist, not applicants who are signed up for a trip.

Each trip has different needs. Some we invite parents to attend and others we do not for a variety of reasons. For Church History trips, our space is very limited and we reserve all seats for youth except for one other couple in addition to Justin and Lindsay. As a parent, if you are interested in attending any trip, please let us know and we will tell you which trips parents are invited to attend. Be comforted in knowing that every trip has a minimum of 10:1 youth to adult ratio and all adults have been hand-selected by Justin and Lindsay. If you would like an Illuminate experience for yourself or for your family, we would love to have you join us on a ROAM Humanitarian Expedition.

Although Justin and Lindsay are not on every Illuminate Youth Trip, all trips leaders and chaperones are hand-selected by the Illuminate team.

Yes and no. In general, no we do not hire trip counselors at this time. Depending on need, we do offer discounted travel to chaperones who have been interviewed or personally recommended to us who hold responsibilities set forth by Illuminate Youth Trips. If you are interested in this, please email us directly.

It is very important that you apply for your passport as soon as you commit to international travel. In the past, passports have taken 4-6 weeks. This is a serious part of signing up for a trip and is your responsibility to apply for and follow through with. You will not be allowed to travel out of the country without a valid passport. In addition, many countries require a passport that is valid for at least six months after travel dates, so visually checking your expiration date is always a good idea.

Because it is impossible to plan trips of these magnitudes without placing deposits and purchasing non-transferrable flights and excursions in your name, the $500 deposit will remain non-refundable. However, if Illuminate Youth Trips cancels your designated trip, you will be able to use your $500 deposit on any trip the same year or the year following cancellation. All fees are refundable less your deposit up until February 1, 2025.

Deposit: $500 non-refundable

February 1, 2025: Half of the trip fees due

March 1, 2025: International Trips Only – $1,500 airfare payment

April 1, 2025: Remaining balance of trip fees due

There is no exact payment schedule. Half trip fees are due by February 1, and the remaining balance is due April 1. You may pay any amount or increments that work for you so long as these deadlines are met. Before February 1, all trip fees less the $500 deposit are refundable. Between February 1 and April 1, any amount paid over half the balance is refundable. After April 1, the entire trip fees paid are non-refundable. This schedule only applies to participants who cancel for their own reasons.

We often have participants with dietary or other medical needs successfully attend Illuminate Youth Trips. It is important that you look at the itinerary and decide if your desired trip is right for you and your health. We are happy to accommodate your special needs, but the participant needs to be well prepared to care for their own needs as much as possible. You are the expert and advocate for your own health, but we will always do our best to make each trip safe for everyone and your varying needs.

Yes! We’d love to have you. You will need to read through For Strength of Youth on www.churchofjesuschrist.org. and agree to follow all of the rules set forth by Illuminate Youth Trips listed in the contract. We have successfully had members of other faiths travel with us and have appreciated the diversity and what their life experience adds to our travels. It is important to understand that we adhere firmly and strictly to our rules and require participants to agree to abide by them before travel.

Every trip is different, and many are limited by seatbelts and spaces on boats. For this reason, we cannot add anyone after a trip is full. We value the culture set forth by Illuminate Youth Trips and part of that culture is creating an intimate setting and cultivating lifelong friendships. We intentionally keep our groups relatively small to ensure an environment of inclusivity and a family-like culture.

One of the best parts of traveling with Illuminate Youth Trips is that we do not have hardly any downtime. We hit the ground running from the minute the trip begins. For this reason, we cannot commit to meeting with participant’s friends and family while traveling. There are so many moving parts in traveling with a group, it is not feasible to add stops or stray from our itinerary. Occasionally, if a family member can work out with the participant (not Justin or Lindsay directly) of a location that we will be we can make an exception so long as the group is not affected. In general, meeting up with loved ones is not recommended while traveling with Illuminate Youth Trips.

Yes. We do offer a group travel option, however, if you are comfortable flying on your own you may book your own travel. You MUST be in the desired city by a certain date and time to meet up with the group. It is not possible for Illuminate Youth Trips to meet participants who arrive later than the group or at other airports as oftentimes we board another plane or have other transportation lined up for the group. The group itinerary must not be affected by your travel itinerary.

Each year we guarantee at least two Church History trips. International trips change each year. We are constantly scouting new areas and will rotate some trips while others we only run once. If you see a location you’ve been dreaming of, it may or may not be offered the following year, so keep that in mind when planning. New international destinations are announced in July.

As of right now, we are not. If you are interested in participating in our 501c3 non-profit organization, ROAM Humanitarian, please visit us here. ROAM Humanitarian trips are geared toward adults and families 8 years and older. All teenagers on these trips must have an adult guardian in participation with them.

As long as we have your travel itinerary, have approval from your parent/guardian, and you are in the desired city to meet the group by a certain time and date, yes you can extend your trip or arrive earlier. Your personal travel must not affect the group itinerary.

We encourage you to be PRESENT! Why pay to travel when you are stuck at home through your electronic device? We do have rules and guidelines that we expect youth to follow, but in general, we do not take your electronics away unless there is abuse in this area or parents have requested us to do so. We also encourage parents and family to wait for the participant to reach out to them for communication as not to miss out on any activities or hold the group back.

Yes. Participants who break substantial rules will be sent home with no refund of trip fees and at their own expense. It is not fair to other participants on the trip to spend their sacred travel time feeling uncomfortable or find themselves in situations that do not align with our values. Most of the time we can privately work out situations that arise, however the rules are in place so that there is clear communication of our expectations from each individual. If you can not or do not want to comply, then this trip is not for you.

We do not have a specific modesty policy, rather follow the suggestions from www.churchofjesuschrist.org. “Modesty is an attitude of propriety and decency in dress, grooming, language, and behavior. If we are modest, we do not draw undue attention to ourselves. Instead, we seek to “glorify God in [our] body, and in [our] spirit.”