There are many different skills that your girls will develop as they travel. Handling time is one skill your girls should work on before you go on a trip. They should learn about Budgeting Time and how to Meet at a Certain Time.

Budgeting Time  means learning  ‘how long will it take us to do this?’ Agreeing to spend more time on something if you’re having fun. Figuring out ‘how long will it take to get there?’ What are the hours of the place we’re visiting? When will we get back?

You can practice this during troop meetings. Ask the girls to estimate how much time to budget for some part of the meeting. Planning an itinerary uses this skill. Will visiting a museum take 1 hour or 4? How could you find out? Many museum websites will tell you how much time to estimate for a visit. Other places will tell you what to see if you just have 2 hours so that you don’t miss the highlights. It’s helpful to know how long it will take to eat lunch and how long it takes you to pack up. Being able to estimate will help you get to the airport on time, to get home before dark and to make the most of your travel time.

You can look at google maps together and see how long google estimates it will take to walk from one place to another or to drive from one town to another. This will help you plan rest stops and look ahead to figure out where to stop for lunch. Thinking ahead can really help you avoid having to drive for hours looking for a place to go to the bathroom or wasting a lot of time getting off and back on the freeway looking for a place to eat.

As the girl research they’ll want to see what the hours are for the sites you’re planning to visit. You’ll help them think about planning time to eat and time to travel along with estimating how long to spend at each place. 

I think it’s great to build into the itinerary time to relax at the hostel and time to people watch and time to wander. Being good at estimating doesn’t mean that you need to pack an activity into each minute but that you are efficient with your plan.

Meeting at a Certain Time  is something you can practice by “pick up trash in the school yard with your buddy and meet back here in 10 minutes, for Brownies – visit the zoo and see the reptiles and meet back here in 20 minutes.” This is best if everyone has a watch, access to a clock or phone so that they can check the time. 

When girls are old enough and responsible enough to have some freedom, post adults in strategic spots but don’t hover or follow each group. This keeps girls safe while giving them the freedom to spend time looking at museum exhibits or around a part of the zoo with a buddy. 

Being responsible about meeting at a certain time will allow you to give the girls a little more freedom and keep the troop from wasting time. This is great to practice when you’re shopping for souvenirs so that the whole group isn’t waiting for one girl to make up her mind and check out.

Reward girls who are on time with a little treat, like a candy from your pocket. You’ll find that encourages the rest to make the effort to be on time at the next stop. As the whole troop becomes more responsible you can reward them with more freedom.