Arrival day is Sunday June 24. Departure day is Sunday July 22.
Everyone must provide us a travel itinerary by email as explained at the bottom of this page.
For MathPath 2012 at Mount Holyoke College, there are 3 recommended ways to travel: car, train, and plane.
Travel by Car
We recommend that anyone living from New York City through New England come by car (and then maybe parents will want to stay a day or two to see what camp is like). Families from as far south as Washington DC or west into New York State should consider driving as well.
People coming by car
on June 24 should arrive between 11am and 5pm.
We recommend arrival in the early afternoon.
Arrival before supper is important for social reasons.
The residence halls will be announced later and a campus map will be linked here, with driving instructions.
People departing by car on July 22 may do so
any time between 8am and noon.
We expect that breakfast will be the last meal on the contract that day.
Travel by Train
Recommending train travel is an experiment this year. Camp is 20 minutes from Amtrak's Springfield MA station, where it is easy to find people and there are no security lines. Springfield has about 8 daily north-south trains each way (from Washington, New York and New Haven) and one east-west train each way (from Boston on the east and Chicago, Cleveland, and upstate New York on the west).
Like the airlines, Amtrak runs an Unaccompanied Minors (UM) program. Unlike with airlines it is free, but it is also restrictive. For details, click here. In particular, any UM 14 or under must participate in it, cannot change trains, and must travel entirely between 6am and 9pm. You also cannot buy UM tickets online.
Caution: Several of the scheduled trains to Springfield from the south involve a change to a shuttle train at New Haven. You cannot book these as a UM. You must travel on one of the occasional Northeast Regional trains that go to Springfield, or the Vermonter.
However, up to 2 kids traveling with an adult travel for half price, so the price of 2 kids and an adult is the same as the price of 2 kids, and then the UM restrictions don't apply. Furthermore, train prices are much lower than airfare (if bought well in advance) and travel is much more comfortable. Check out Amtrak's website.
Please schedule to arrive in Springfield on June 24 between 10am and 6pm, and to depart on July 22 between 8am and noon.
We will pick up campers at the station on June 24 and take them there on July 22, at no cost.
Travel by Plane
The camp airport is Bradley International (flight code BDL) in
Windsor Locks CT, halfway between Springfield and Hartford. This is the closest big airport to camp, 45 minutes away.
Do not schedule flights to any other airport.
Only schedule flights that arrive at Bradley on June 24
between 10am and 6pm.
Those who arrive by 4pm will get to camp in time for dinner.
We allow arrivals as late at 6pm because, with time zone changes, flights from the west coast rarely arrive before 4pm. We will have box dinners for those who arrive between 4pm and 6pm.
If you absolutely cannot schedule an arrival between 10am and 6pm on Sunday June 24, then do not schedule anything but instead consult
the Camp Director, Kip Sumner, at
sumnerkip@gmail.com and explain your problem.
Departures on Sunday July 22:
Please schedule departures between 8am and noon, from Bradley.
Again, if this is absolutely impossible, then do not schedule anything but instead consult
Kip Sumner at
sumnerkip@gmail.com and explain your problem.
It is always best to book nonstop flights if you can. However, there are no nonstops to Bradley from the west coast or from any international cities except Toronto and Montreal. So, west coast and international families, please please read this special information about booking connecting flights to Bradley.
For reasons we explain under Unaccompanied Minors, we highly recommend flying on Southwest Airlines and warn you to avoid US Airways unless you can fly them nonstop.
Safe and Easy Travel
It is not necessary for parents to spend money to accompany their children.
Parents are welcome to travel along, if they want to make a holiday out of a visit to western Massachusetts, or if they wish to attend camp for a day or two – short visits at the start or end of camp are welcome. Any parent wishing to accompany his or her child from Bradley to camp on the MathPath bus may do so, room permitting, with prior notification, at a cost of $30 each way. Likewise, parents who want to accompany campers on our van from Amtrak's Springfield Station may do so, room permitting, with prior notification, for $15 each way.
The first reason campers may travel alone is the proven efficiency of our greeting procedure.
More information about how we safely collect all the campers on arrival day and send them off on departure day, even if there are delays or cancellations, are in the 2012 Precamp Briefing.
The second reason is the special supervision that airlines provide to youngsters when you have them travel with Unaccompanied Minor Status.
For details about this,
click here.
Reporting the Itinerary to Camp
Once your itinerary is settled, including any consultations with Kip Sumner,
please email the itinerary to
arrival@mathpath.org, not to Prof Maurer. The subject line of the email should say "travel/(name of student)".
Please send us this information by May 31.
Your email will be acknowledged within 2 days.
If it isn't, there may have been a glitch, so please submit again.
Here are two examples of how you should report the information.
In each case do arrival first, beginning with mode of travel and whether the student has UM status.
Example 1:
Arrival June 24 by plane, UM
O'Hare 9:22 -> Bradley 13:27 (note use of 24 hour clock)
American #2392
Departure, July 22, UM
BDL 8:40 -> 10:21 LAS 12:15 -> LAX 14:30
Southwest #493 -> #236
student cell: 123 456-7890
This example is unusual in that the student leaves for a different city than s/he arrives from, but it illustrates both nonstops and change of plane.
It also illustrates use of the 3-letter airport codes.
On July 22, the student arrives at LAS (Las Vegas) at 10:21am, changes planes, and departs at 12:15pm for Los Angeles.
Note: a cell phone is not required, but if the student is already used to using one and not losing it, it can be handy, especially since there will be no land lines to student dorm rooms.
Second example, with mix modes and a parent coming along.
Arrival June 24, by train, not UM
Wash DC 8:23 -> Springfield 16:23
Amtrak #172
1 parent, wants ride to camp
No student cell. Parent cell: 213-456-7654
Departure July 22 by car, 2 parents, 1 sister
time uncertain
