Answer the call to adventure! 

Have you ever felt the urge to travel to a new place? Maybe you wanted to learn more about your hometown (how was the city founded?), or perhaps there's a popular nature trail nearby calling your name? There's a merit badge for that! The Exploration merit badge celebrates the spirit of adventure and encourages Scouts to seek the answers to their most pressing questions in the classroom and on the trail. Scouts can earn the Exploration merit badge by understanding and participating in exploration. And even though this badge sounds like you will need to go on an epic, heroic quest, earning it is easier than you think!

• Explain why exploration is important
• Participate in an exploration
• Plan for an expedition

Although technically earning this merit badge won't get you a step closer to Eagle, it's still a fun and easy one to add to your list of accomplishments, and you can wear it on your Scout sash!

Check out the Exploration Merit Pamphlet to help you understand and earn the Exploration Merit Badge Pamphlet! It's got all the requirements you need to be successful. From background research and concept development to safety, project examples, equipment, and supplies, this pamphlet helps you better understand what goes into preparing and completing an expedition. There's lots of cool info on living explorers too!

And after you earn your Exploration merit badge, don't forget your Exploration Merit Badge Emblem! See what it looks like below ↓

The Exploration Merit Badge Emblem

To earn the Exploration merit badge, a Scout must understand the importance of exploration, participate in a real-life exploration, and plan for an expedition. The most time-consuming, but most fun, part of earning this merit badge (in our opinion) will be conducting the expedition. This step may sound like you're going to climb the steepest mountains or travel across the coldest place on Earth, but that's certainly not the case.

Scouts have to plan a trip somewhere of interest to them, but they should always get approval from a parent or guardian first. Luckily, the expedition can be a troop activity or a small-scale excursion on a nearby nature trail. So, the expedition can be close by, like at a State Park, or far away—the decision is entirely up to you!

The Exploration merit badge aims to teach Scouts about the importance of exploration while encouraging them to step out of their comfort zones and realize that planning a trip can be a SUPER fun and easy experience!

The Exploration Merit Badge Pamphlet

To earn this merit badge, you should be learning everything you can about exploration. You will have to explain to your counselor how exploration differs in the ocean, jungle, or space. Eventually, you should be able to define exploration and describe how it's different from hiking or other recreational outdoor adventures like trekking and tour-group trips. Because exploration can be a broad subject matter, you will only have to learn and discuss the history of exploration in one particular subject field, like aerospace or oceanography, and do a short presentation on the life, expedition, and objective of one explorer throughout history.

As you learn more about exploration, it would be helpful to keep in mind a few questions:

• Why is exploration important?
• How does it help us understand the world?
• What do you think it takes to be an explorer?

For this step, you will have to present to your counselor a well-thought course of action for an expedition you’d want to undertake. To help you, here is a sample of what’s inside the Exploration Merit Badge Pamphlet!

• Identify the objectives (establish goals).
• Plan the mission. Create an expedition agenda or schedule. List potential documents or permits needed.
• Budget and plan for adequate financial resources. Estimate costs for travel, equipment, accommodations, meals, permits or licenses, and other expedition expenses.
• Determine equipment and supplies required for personal and mission needs for the length of the expedition.
• Determine communication and transportation needs. Plan how to keep in contact with your base or the outside world and determine how you will communicate with each other on-site.
• Establish safety and first aid procedures (including planning for medical evacuation). Identify the hazards that explorers could encounter on the expedition and establish procedures to prevent or avoid those hazards.
• Determine team selection. Identify who is essential for the expedition to be successful and what skills are required by the expedition leader.
• Establish detailed recordkeeping (documentation) procedures. Plan the interpretation and sharing of information at the conclusion of the expedition.

With permission from your parents and with the supervision of your merit badge counselor or a counselor-approved qualified person, go on an expedition to a place you’ve never explored!

We want to know what cool places you have in mind to explore and help you earn the Exploration merit badge! Share with us the places you’ve been and where you can’t wait to go with us on our social channels using #ScoutShopBSA.

Pick up your Exploration Merit Badge Pamphlet here, and don’t forget to order your emblem once you’ve been approved. For all the exploration gear you will need for camping equipment, uniforms, and more—visit ScoutShop.org!