As an avid backpacker, I was committed to sharing my love of the trail with my daughter, Ruby, who turns two at the end of May. Our hiking journey began at three weeks old when I carried her on her first hike in the Wissahickon. As the months went on I carried her through snow-covered… READ MORE >
Solo time is a special part of an Outward Bound course. It allows students to spend time away from their crew and process their experience on a more personal level. On expedition students are challenged with initiatives and wilderness skill development, then participate in discussions and debriefs to help extract lessons from the experience. Solo,… READ MORE >
Reflecting on his three years as a field instructor at Philadelphia Outward Bound School, Cole Corrigan shared with us just how transformative this work is. When Cole was 22, he had dropped out of school and was working at a bar, when he decided to go on a soul-searching journey to South America. His sister… READ MORE >
Challenge changes us. It can upend our preconceptions and stir up our insecurities, but if we rise to it, it can strengthen us beyond measure. Outward Bound alumni know this at their core. When reflecting on their expeditions this past summer, here’s what our students had to say about the challenges they experienced on course… READ MORE >
Danina is a student advisor at Vaux Big Picture High School, and each year, she takes her students on a program with Philadelphia Outward Bound School. She has seen first hand how Outward Bound’s curriculum demystifies the experience of learning for the young people in her classroom.
Outward Bound USA has provided programming to thousands of returning service members and recent veterans since 1983. Outward Bound for Veterans was originally designed to serve Vietnam War veterans through collaboration with staff from the Veterans Administration unit for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Colonel Bob Rheault, who served as commander of the U.S… READ MORE >
Exploring nature doesn’t have to stop when children become part of the equation. This week we find ourselves immersed (literally) in Hickory Run State Park, with 14 families and a week of non-stop rain! Hickory Run State Park Once a year Karyn Lyman, our Advancement Director, and her family join a troupe of fourteen families… READ MORE >
This week we share with you how a spontaneous hike in the Pine Barrens blossomed the idea to have a long distance race of the 53-mile Batona Trail … in costume! Follow along this July as we share our staff’s top trail picks. Our faculty instructor, Megan Kietzman-Nicklin, recounts the experience as “never having wanted… READ MORE >