Did you know that Outward Bound has over 500,000 alumni worldwide? And each one of them has a unique story from the expedition or expeditions they went on. The stories we have collected here are from alumni and Outward Bound staff that felt inspired to share with us what Outward Bound meant to them or how it impacted their life after the course. Some of the entries are from their journals. Some are letters written after the fact. There are even poems that students composed on solo.
If you take the time to read some of these stories, you'll realize that Outward Bound is truly the first step of a journey that you will continue for the rest of your life. We hope your course is an amazing, life-changing experience, but we also hope that what you learn about yourself and others on your expedition will inspire you return to your life ready to make a difference in your world. Just reading these stories is a great way to begin feeling inspired.
If you are an alumni or staff member who would like to share your story with Outward Bound, we'd love to hear it. Click here to share your experience.
Tim Zegel - 6/27/09
I'm a 47 year old man. When I went to outward bound, I was a fifteen year old boy. It was on hurricane island that I spent thirty days with bunch people I did not know. We climbed the wall the rope course, sailed all over the bay...
Rose Caiazzo - 6/19/09
Sharing my story!
When I was 31, I went through a very difficult relationship breakup. My friends all knew I was extremely sad and lonely. One day, my best friend (who I used to wilderness camp with as a kid)...
Kelly Fritz - 6/16/09
Letter to my group, written on solo:
When asked about their friends people will often say...oh, we've been friends since we were born, or I'm practically part of their family....
Christin E - 6/02/09
I sat in the field picking beans. I was so tired and exhausted and really only wanted to sit down instead of crouching in this uncomfortable position while I picked each bean, one by one, and placed it in the basket. The sun beat down on my back...
Sara Knight - 5/26/09
I bet I was dreaming about a bed…or a steak. Either one would have been glorious. But when my alarm went off at 5:15 a.m., whatever luxury I was subconsciously indulging in evaporated in the cold, dry mountain air of the Colorado wilderness...
Michael Lothrop - 5/23/09
Hi! In the spring of 1997 (I think) I was an eighth grade student from Rockland Maine. Our class went on an Outward Bound trip hiking from Newry,Maine on the AT down to about Chatham, New Hamsphire. It was only about a five day program, but...
Annie Gardner - 4/24/09
This is an abstract story I wrote just this fall (2008), two years after my course in the summer of 2006. It is not all true, some parts exadgerated, and some I imagined. It is very abstract, but it is based on my experience and i believe...
Katlin Farrell - 4/09/09
Summer of 2008 was a turning point in my life, greatly in part to my experience backpacking in Sequoa National Park and Forest and Kings Canyon with the Aardvarks and our instructors, Denise Park and Matt Sperry. I was pushed far beyond my...
Jack Liebl - 4/07/09
Colorado Outward Bound - San Jaun Mountains - Summer 1969
My mother 'suggested' I do this; it was Outward Bound or a military academy to get me back on track. I had made a few questionable decisions during my 15th and 16th...
Christian Pfeiffer - 4/01/09
I recently went on a school outward bound excursion, and upon my return, I was requested to write an article on the trip. This is that article:
