Batemans Bay Scout Joshua Schuster will celebrate his 15th Birthday en route to The World Scout Jamboree.
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He is one of 692 Scouts from around Australia who will take up almost three entire planes as they cross the Pacific Ocean for the biggest Scout gathering in the world.
The jamboree, running in West Virginia, US, is an entirely youth-led, adult-supported event.
As he gets ready to board his plane on Wednesday, July 17, Joshua said he will be sure to make the most of his trip.
"I feel pretty calm in general leading up to my departure, but I do believe I will experience a lot of things we don't have here in Australia," he said.
"I can't put a finger on what these might be but I am keeping an open mind to trying something new and will bookmark these to share when I get back.
"I think the Americans will put on a good show, seeing previews of some of the activities is getting me more excited leading up to the departure."
This year's jamboree theme is unlock a new world. Joshua can't wait to see what challenges are ahead over the next 12 days with 47,000 other Scouts from 170 different countries around the world.
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"I hope to expand my cultural and social understanding of myself and those from other countries and apply this to my daily life in order to make myself a better person," he said.
"There's going to be a lot of things to experience and I will try and take in as much as possible because this is going to be the trip and opportunity of a lifetime."
At 1st Batemans Bay Scout Group, Joshua is the third scout to attain his Australian Scout Medallion - the highest award in his scout section. He has racked up over 300km hiking and has camped over 100 nights during his time in scouting.
"Apart from all of the amazing adventures we have had over that time, my favourite aspects of scouting these days are the social ones; sitting around with my friends what we like to call "very large cooking fires"," he said.