This post was originally published on July 11, 2017, and updated on June 14, 2021.  Unplug. Recalibrate. Make learning real (fun) again. Gain perspective. Do hard stuff. Learn to say yes. Live your values. Increase people skills. Discover your strength.... READ MORE

 Are you ready to dive into backcountry travel this year? From long-distance backpacking to mountaineering, from dog sledding to climbing, these outdoor activities all have something in common: they’re physically demanding backcountry exercises. When you embark on an outdoor... READ MORE

 Did you know that your favorite outdoor activity is not a coincidence – it actually can say a lot about the type of person you are. Do you love planning? Are you calm under pressure? A risk-taker? Do you... READ MORE

 Since I’ve been involved in outdoor pursuits like rock climbing, mountain biking, skiing and mountaineering—my adventure buddies have, for the most part, been kind, intelligent folks that I really enjoy spending time in the outdoors with.  And they’ve also... READ MORE

The excerpt below has been reprinted with permission from the book, Outward Bound Lessons to Live a Life of Leadership: To Serve, to Strive, and Not to Yield by Mark Brown, Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc. 2019. *** As a participant on... READ MORE

On day one, students, tense and apprehensive, load their belongings into my van at the airport, unsuspecting of the magnitude of the experience they are about to have. When we unload at the trailhead, they grip their trekking poles and... READ MORE

Three weeks before I was supposed to leave for my Outdoor Educator expedition, I typed up an email saying I couldn’t commit to 50 days in the wilderness and would need to unenroll. I left it in my drafts folder... READ MORE

When I was 22, I was really confused. I’ve never been good at planning—mostly because I never knew what I should be planning for. During my freshman year of college, I was completely overwhelmed by how many people seemed like... READ MORE

Outward Bound Instructors are students, too. Not just in a ‘good teachers are also always learning from their students’ kind of way. We actively place ourselves in a learning role where we can be students. It’s not always easy. But,... READ MORE

That evening we had decided to turn back. “We” consisted of myself, two other co-Instructors and nine high school students on a 22-day rafting and mountaineering expedition on the Deschutes River and in the Three Sisters Wilderness of Central Oregon.... READ MORE