Purpose Bound is a non-profit ministry, and this allows our trips to remain affordable so that as many people as possible can have this life-changing experience. Please see Overview of All Trips for our trip costs.

It is hard to compare pricing, as there are so many options out there, especially if you are including secular travel. Even within the realm of Christian experiences, there are partial week retreats, mission trips, Christian cruises, Christian tours, and a variety of other experiences with pricing varying widely. This is due to many things, like location, length of trip, time of year, type of accomodations, meals, activities included, program aspects, overall quality of the experience, various intangibles, and the like. 

In looking at any travel experience (including ours), always remember to factor in the cost of airfare and other travel expenses leading to the actual experience you are paying for. In comparing prices, note that Purpose Bound experiences are "all-inclusive". Many other experiences have a base price, with desirable add-ons that increase the overall price of the trip as you actually envision it. You may also want to determine whether the organization offering the experience is a "for profit" company or a non-profit ministry, as this may be a factor in your decision. In the case of Purpose Bound, we essentially act as a "trip co-op" administrator, meaning individual trip participants simply share the estimated costs of the overall trip (including our small administrative fee).

Generally speaking, pure mission trips are the most affordable type of Christian experience (primarily due to location and rustic accomodations), and Christian tours are the most expensive. Christian cruises often offer a wide range of pricing depending on location of the room in the ship, with the less desirable lower floor and windowless smaller rooms being the most affordable, and upper floor larger rooms with ocean balconies being much higher priced. Purpose Bound experiences cost in the middle range of these various options.

People learning about our experiences for the first time are often immediately inspired, and we want to make it easy for you to take that important first step in acting on that inspiration. But we also want to give you time to prayerfully consider the decision. So, the $100 trip reservation deposit is fully refundable until the 10th day after you register for your trip. Simply contact us, and we can generally process the refund within 24-48 hours.

First of all, we cannot offer tax advice, as individual circumstances vary and IRS regulations look at many variables to answer that question. However, generally speaking, we believe you will find the answer on our mission trips to be "probably" or "mostly", and the answer on our core experiences to be "maybe" or "partly". We suggest you speak to a tax advisor with knowledge or experience in this area and who may know of some special tax planning strategies. But for some general background on the issue, you might start with these IRS "Tips for Taxpayers Who Travel for Charity Work",  these articles (not directly on point, but they give you an idea of the concepts involved in the decision), and this detailed information booklet from the IRS. In any event, shortly after year-end, we will mail you a statement showing your trip cost. You should also retain your receipts for airfare and any other costs you incur related to your trip.

You should register as far out as possible so as to assure your spot and to take advantage of advance airline fares, which are often lower. 

Once you register, both Purpose Bound and your fellow trip participants are counting on your attendance. If you have to cancel, you will not be entitled to a refund. However, if we are able to fill your spot (at full price or at a discount), we will give you a credit toward a future trip equal to the amount your substitute has paid. This credit must be used within one year of your original trip end date. Certain types of cancellations would be covered by optional travel insurance, which needs to be purchased separately, so you may wish to consider that.

We can't discern God's will for you, but we can tell you the basic differences.

On our spiritual retreat experiences, you will take part in a sampling of missions work (e.g., during a week, serving 2-3 hours on several days). On our missions focus trips, you will spend most of your service time on a particular need or project (serving half days on about six days of your week). But on both trips, there is more. We also devote time to discussion-based lessons designed to help you understand what you are best called out to do, and we provide important background information about mission trips. In other words, not only will you have the opportunity for hands-on service, you will learn about missions from a broad perspective. All of our trips also specifically include a balance of elements of spiritual retreat, island exploration and fellowship activities. Of course, living on a sailboat for a week makes our experiences unique.

On most pure mission trips, you will dive right in and serve all day, every day for a week doing a particular task, with fellowship, spiritual growth and cultural immersion being ancillary.

If you consider yourself a mature Christian and are already keeenly aware of your life purpose and S.H.A.P.E. for serving, then by all means choose a mission trip consistent with those. But if you are not yet completely sure what God has in mind for you, and are looking for a multi-faceted experience, then a Purpose Bound trip is a great option.

International travel is not as mysterious or difficult as it may seem, especially in the Caribbean. Everything you need to know can be found in the Travel Planner section of our web site. In general terms, you will simply need a passport and want to make sure you've had the appropriate immunizations. But gaining a good understanding of international travel is a part of your Purpose Bound personal growth experience, so we ask that you do take the time to thoroughly read and understand the information provided on our web site, including the various links.

Most of our scheduled trips consist of up to 8 participants per vessel, plus a trip leader and the vessel captain. During certain busier times, we may run simultaneous scheduled trips using separate vessels, but schedule certain activities as a group. (Custom trips can accomodate any size of group.)

When possible, we attempt to group similar people together (singles with singles, families with families, younger with younger, etc.), and we sometimes offer specific trips for distinct groups of people (men's trips, women's trips, young adult trips, couples' trips, etc.). Regardless, all participants are brothers or sisters in Christ, and the diversity of your trip companions should be considered an enhancement of your experience as you connect with people from different walks in life with unique experiences and backgrounds to share.

All of Purpose Bound's experiences involve the adventure of living on a 40-50' sailboat during the course of your trip. Very loosely speaking, sailing is similar to camping in an RV. Our vessels are configured and furnished for overnight sailing voyages with on-board cooking, but everything is packed into a relatively small space. (Check out this link for an example layout of a sailboat's below deck area.) You will be living in close quarters with fellow participants and crew, and sharing a small sleeping cabin with a same-sex fellow participant (except in the case of married couples and families). Bathrooms are very small, and you will hand-pump the water you use. Every boat is different, and they do not always offer air conditioning, but ocean breezes generally make for comfortable sleep. Meals and snacks will be simple, and on missions days, you may be eating a sack lunch. Though it's not a luxury resort experience, virtually everyone finds a sailing voyage to be an incredibly peaceful and relaxing experience, and any inconveniences fade away with each passing day.

Part of the purpose in traveling all the way to the Caribbean is to help separate you from life's day-to-day distractions so that you can focus on spiritual growth, starting with the time you arrive at your departure airport. Thus, we ask that you do not bring portable electronic devices other than your cell phone and a camera, if desired. Once you board the boat, the use of your cell phone will be restricted to emergency situations. You should let your family and friends know in advance that they will be unable to readily reach you, and that you will not be engaging in social conversations with them while you are gone. If you must monitor some important situation back home, you will be able to provide your trip leader's and/or vessel skipper's contact information for emergency purposes. While we are generally close to land and often have access to cell reception and Wi-Fi, understand that service may be spotty and expensive international rates may apply.

We were formed to be a 501(c)(3) organization, and our application with the IRS is pending. We anticipate our approval in Fall, 2013. Contributions made while our application is pending become deductible in the year the application is approved. Even if we are asked to provide supplemental information as a condition to approval of our application, we believe it will be granted in calendar year 2013. There can of course be no legal assurances of that. We refer you to the following IRS article addressing this subject: Contributions to Organization with IRS Application Pending. If this is important to you, we also suggest you speak with your tax advisor. In any event, shortly after year end, we will mail a statement showing your annual giving. However, you should also keep your own records of your giving. 

We can be reached via our Contact Us page, or by phoning 949.478.2816.