Can you believe it’s already that time of year again? Counselors are pulling out their suitcases, polishing their name tags, and preparing to hit the road.
With last year’s recruitment cycle officially in the rearview and move-in days happening all across the country, it’s time to shift gears and look ahead. A new year means new students, new stories, and new opportunities to connect.
Last October, our Mid-Travel Check-In blog pulled back the curtain on the fall travel season—sharing reflections from the road, healthy eating tips, and a few lessons learned from long days spent zigzagging between high schools and college fairs.
This year, we’re sharing insights from both college and high school counselors, Slate tips, and tangible ways to support your mental health on the road.
Advice from Those Who’ve Been There
A single perspective can’t fully capture what it’s like to spend weeks on the road visiting high schools. Factors like your institution’s size, enrollment goals, and travel region all shape how the season unfolds. That’s why, for this blog, we are sharing tips from multiple points of view.
Rylan’s Advice
Here’s what Rylan Good, a former college counselor and now Special Talent Admissions Counselor at Milton Hershey School, had to say:
Hydrate, Hydrate, Hydrate!
When I’m in the office, staying hydrated is easy because I can refill my water bottle at the filtered dispenser throughout the day. But on the road, it’s a different story. Between long drives, back-to-back visits, and hotel check-ins, it’s easy to forget to drink enough water.
Pro tip: Always carry a reusable water bottle. One of the best places to refill is the hotel fitness center. Even if you’re not working out, most gyms have cold, filtered water available to fill up!
Keep a Dedicated Laptop/Cell Phone Charger in Your Travel Bag
Packing and unpacking for every trip can be a hassle, especially when it comes to tech gear. One of the best investments I made was buying a second USB-C laptop and cell phone multi-port charger that stays in my travel bag. It’s my go-to charger on the road, so I never have to worry about forgetting the one from my office or home.
Pro tip: Get a 6-foot phone charger. You never know where the outlets will be.
Jaileen’s Advice
Jaileen Castro, Enrollment Representative and Event Coordinator at Tusculum University, is gearing up to hit the road in East Tennessee this travel season. Here is her number 1 tip!
Keep a Log of Conversations
Visiting 3–5 schools a day, with college fairs in between, can make it hard to remember who you talked to — and about what — by week’s end. Take a few minutes between visits to jot down who you spoke with, key discussion points, and any follow-up needed. Your future self will thank you.
Pro-Tip: Use the backs of your inquiry cards to make notes about students. You can enter this data into Slate later on and use it for more personalized follow up communication.
Wellness on the Road
Last year, we talked about healthy eating, the value of support systems, and making time for yourself. This year, let’s focus on tangible ways to do just that.
Start by taking inventory of the items you’ll want by your side — a journal, your favorite snack, an emotional support water bottle, and maybe even a playlist to keep you energized between visits.
A journal can be more than just notes from the road. It’s a place to slow down, capture moments that stood out, jot down gratitude lists, or reflect on how travel shapes you.
Taking a few minutes each day to put pen to paper can help you savor the journey, not just the destination.
For me, recharging meant quiet time after a day of talking with herds of high schoolers and networking with counselors. My evenings were often spent ordering dinner in, reflecting, and watching something mindless. Over time, I realized that shutting down completely wasn’t great for my mental health. Small changes helped — like going out to eat, even if I was alone. It offered a bit of human connection without draining my energy.
Whether you thrive on interaction or crave solitude, use this travel season to reflect on your habits. Even small tweaks can have a big impact on your mental health.
Mastering Travel with Trips in Slate
We all know the power of Slate — that’s nothing new. But is your institution tapping into its full potential for travel season? One often-overlooked tool is Slate’s Trips feature. Some may think it’s a big undertaking to set up. But Katie Jordan is here to tell you all about the benefits.
“Scrolling through a Trip gives you fast visuals on how many students register and attend each event, helps your supervisor to know where you are on the road, and keeps a clear track in Slate of what schools to visit.
I do have some strong opinions about how to set up travel in Slate! I like to have four templates (In Person Visits, Virtual Visits, College Fairs open to all students in a geographic area, and College Fairs open to students based on the school they attend) for different types of personalized advertising and outreach.
Trips are fantastic for tracking the four visit types, including stops (I always scheduled specific fun activities or particular restaurants in). I loved being able to search for coffee shops near my visits in Slate with the embedded Google search, and keeping track of my hotels in Slate really helped me to manage year-over-year travel.
As a side tip, keeping your travel (trains, planes, and automobiles) in Slate as Stops keeps it private and also links to the travel websites. One time, I got an alert through Slate that my flight was delayed before I heard from the airline!
Pulling in Voyager is a great quick win. You can bring ACS data into Slate with the goal of recruiting target markets, and you can visually display what schools you’ve visited in the past. You can even add in suggestions of schools that send applicants that you have not stopped at before!
I know that we’ve talked about the benefits of Slate.org before and travel is a great way to connect more with school counselors. A small amount of customization in your Slate.org portal will show a counselor when you are visiting their school, who your inquiries are, and how they can sign up to meet with you.
If you’re interested in the next level, I also recorded a webinar with Christopher Kwan from Technolutions to talk all about how to manage receipts within travel!”
Guidance for Those Guiding the Team
For directors, supervisors, and VPs, this season is also a chance to reflect on the ways you can help your team thrive on the road. Support looks different for every institution, but it can start with simple, intentional actions — checking in regularly during travel season, offering flexibility in schedules, and making sure your counselors have the tools they need to stay organized and healthy.
Consider how you can set realistic travel expectations, encourage open communication about challenges, and create space for mental health breaks. Even small gestures — surprising them with a coffee gift card, sending a quick “thinking of you” text, or recognizing their hard work publicly — can go a long way in boosting morale.
Travel season is demanding, but when leadership invests in their team’s well-being, the impact lasts far beyond the miles traveled.
Prepping for Fall Recruitment with The Parish Group
Travel season works best when we don’t navigate it alone. Share this blog with your team and use it as a starting point to talk through expectations, support systems, and the little things that make life on the road easier.
At The Parish Group, we offer counselor training and can help audit your current practices to ensure you’re making the most of your travel season and giving your team the support they need.
Reach out at success@parishgroup.com or call us at 828.505.3000 for more information.
