SanPietro Summer Travel Prize

San Pietro Summer Travel Prize

*More info to come in January 2026*

Application Deadline: March 10, 2026

Application Items:

Information and Application Directions
SanPietro Application Checklist
Proposal Cover Page
Application Form
Reference Form
Budget Form
Itemized Budget Worksheet (MS Excel, .xlsx format)
Peer Reference Form (optional)

Additional Guides & Resources

2025 SanPietro Presentation
SanPietro Budget Workshop Presentation (PDF)
Student Presentation on SanPietro Experience
Winning proposal examples located in FASA office library
FASA Recommended Travel Resources

About the Prize

Craig SanPietro (Caltech Class of 1969) has generously endowed a summer travel prize for rising juniors, seniors, and continuing or graduating seniors. Inspired by his own extensive travels, Mr. SanPietro hopes to give Caltech students the chance to broaden their horizons through meaningful and adventurous travel. As he reflects, travel immersed him in unfamiliar cultural and physical environments that challenged him and made him feel more alive—an experience he wishes to share with others.

The SanPietro Travel Prize supports summer travel in the U.S. or abroad for two weeks to three months, beginning after the end of spring term and concluding before fall term. Students must spend at least 14 days on the ground, excluding travel days. The prize is intended for fun, exploration, and personal growth, whether as a standalone summer experience, a follow-up to summer research, or preparation for fall study abroad. There is no academic component, no language requirement, and no limit on the number of countries visited.

Students may travel solo or as a pair. Pair proposals are permitted provided both applicants are eligible Caltech students. While pairs submit a joint proposal, each student must complete an individual application and letter of recommendation. Applicants should clearly explain how the experience will challenge them and expand their understanding of the world.

Adventurous travel does not have to be extreme. It may include experiences such as a road trip along the Mississippi River, a canoe journey in Vermont, exploring family heritage abroad, or immersing oneself in a culture far from home.

Application Requirements

There is NO GPA REQUIREMENT and NO CITIZENSHIP REQUIREMENT, but students must be in good disciplinary standing and enrolled during the term in which they apply. All students must be enrolled at Caltech as a current sophomore, junior or senior. Freshmen are not eligible for the SanPietro. Exchange or visiting students are not eligible. All applicants must be 18 or older by application deadline. All students applying must be fully vaccinated with a WHO approved vaccine. (No religious or medical exceptions.) Winners will be required to receive a booster at least one month before departure if they have previously not received one yet. No exceptions to any requirements.

Prize History

Below is an overview of Mr. SanPietro's own travel and his comments on why he has endowed this exciting prize:

1971: Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama; 1972: Peru, Bolivia; 1974: Antigua, Guadeloupe, Dominica; 1975: Canada; 1976: Japan; 1977: Egypt; 1978: Kenya, Tanzania; 1981: Holland, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Nepal; 1983: England; 1984: Australia, New Zealand, Tahiti; 1986: Venezuela, Brazil, Paraguay; 1991: Portugal, Spain; 1994: Jamaica, 1995: Italy; 2000: Israel, Jordan; 2005: Ireland; 2007: Argentina, Turkey; 2008: Thailand, Cambodia; 2009: Czech Republic, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary; 2010: Colombia; 2011: Dominican Republic, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan; 2012: Cuba

"Award decisions should be based more upon the potential for broadening the students' cultural experiences than relevance to academic coursework, and some preference should be given to cultures more different from America's. Since leaving Caltech in 1969, I have traveled through 50 countries, mostly in the third world. This travel has greatly enriched my life and I want to make similar experiences available to Caltech students. Hopefully, this travel can immerse you in unusual cultural and physical situations that challenge you and make you feel more alive.

I've driven to Panama, been held up in Mexico City, had a bus driver handcuffed and arrested in the Yucatan, driven through rivers in Honduras, been married in Peru, fixed dead-in-the-water steamship engines on the Amazon, been arrested myself at gunpoint in Brazil, gambled in Paraguay, blown out 2 tires in a dry river bed in Kenya and been charged by an elephant later the same day, body surfed in Indonesia, bent fenders in Dominica and Italy, guided lost taxi drivers in Japan and Uzbekistan, walked across fields of compressed human feces in Nepal, locked myself out of my car in Sri Lanka, been stranded in the Delhi airport, capsized a raft in New Zealand white water, temporarily lost my daughter in Spain, slept in a Turkish hotel carved out of rock, broke Ramadan fasting with Kurdish dissidents who had guided me past army tanks, almost flooded a Guatemalan village while working with Caltech students, picked the liquor cabinet lock on a Danube river boat, and attended Jewish Sabbath services in Uzbekistan."

Summer 2022 Winners Julia & Isabella

With our San Pietro travel prize, we spent a month traveling around Spain in the summer of 2022, visiting Barcelona, Valencia, Alicante, Granada, Malaga, Madrid, San Sebastian, Pamplona, and Bilbao. Looking back, our San Pietro trip was one of our most treasured parts of our time at Caltech. This is an incredible opportunity and we strongly encourage anyone considering it to put together an application!