The Best Outdoor Lessons Aren't Taught

The lessons that stay with us are often discovered through curiosity, mistakes, real problems, and shared adventure.

When people hear that Journeys Of The Crew includes outdoor skills, they sometimes assume the books are meant to teach readers.

That's only partly true.

I don't set out to teach.

I set out to tell a good story.

Because the best outdoor lessons I've ever learned didn't begin with someone saying, "Today we're going to learn..."

They began with a problem.

A wrong turn.

A soaked pair of boots.

A forgotten piece of gear.

A changing sky.

A mistake.

Those moments stayed with me because they mattered.

Not because someone turned them into a lesson.

That's the approach I've tried to take while writing Journeys Of The Crew.

The boys aren't experts.

They're curious.

Sometimes they're prepared.

Sometimes they aren't.

Sometimes they make exactly the decision I would have made at their age.

Sometimes they make one I know I'd regret.

Either way, they learn because they have to.

Not because an adult stops the story to explain something.

I've always believed that stories are one of the most natural ways to learn.

Think back to your favorite childhood books.

You probably don't remember them because they taught a lesson.

You remember them because you cared about the people.

The lesson came along for the ride.

That's what I'm hoping happens here.

If a reader finishes a chapter and thinks,

"I should probably pack less next time."

Or,

"I never thought about paying attention to clouds."

Or,

"Maybe I should learn how to read a map."

Then wonderful.

But those thoughts shouldn't happen because the book preached.

They should happen because the adventure made them curious.

Curiosity is a far better teacher than instruction.

Once someone becomes curious, they start asking questions.

They start observing.

They start trying things for themselves.

That's where real learning begins.

As I continue writing this series, I keep coming back to one simple idea:

Adventure comes first.

Everything else follows.

If the story works, the learning doesn't feel like learning at all.

It simply feels like another part of the adventure.

And I think those are the lessons that last the longest.

Continue the Journey

For a small example of Rusty learning through experience instead of instruction, read Three Wet Matches and a Bad Decision.

For a real outdoor memory that eventually inspired a scene, read The Campfire That Inspired a Scene.