[Jon Stratis]

Check with your school. A lot of schools have a set of rules or guidelines for student travel that can give you a big starting point.

Personally, I think having a reasonable curfew is a must for trips like this. This helps ensure your students aren't disturbing other guests, and helps get them down to the lobby for breakfast on time. Besides, if they aren't exhausted after a full day at a robotics competition, they're doing something wrong!

We always eat as a team during competition. When we travel, this includes breakfast, lunch, and dinner. When we're going to a competition in town, it's generally only lunch, as students will do breakfast/dinner with their family, and we aren't responsible for them during those hours. This gives us a chance to hold team meetings while we eat, promote team bonding, and ensure no one is getting in trouble.

When we're at the competition venue, the general rule is no student leaves. Obviously, this doesn't apply if a parent picks up their kid.

All of this is designed for the student's safety AND the mentor/chaperone's peace of mind. After all, the last thing you want is for student to get hit by a car when you let them leave the venue to get food unsupervised!

In addition to all of this, there is a general "behave well" rule - We don't want hotel guests, other teams at competition, or patrons at restaurants complaining about us!