I Probably Should’’ve Brought a Tent: Misadventures of an Outward Bound Instructor

The author once fell backwards, on skis, at night, into a latrine during a snowstorm in the Rocky Mountains. That’s just one of the stories in this 20-year tale of wilderness education. I Probably Should’ve Brought a Tent aims to entertain and edify, captivate and compel. It’s also laugh-out-loud funny, with echoes of Patrick F. McManus and Bill Heavey.

Erik Shonstrom is the author of Wild Curiosity, The Indoor Epidemic, and The Wisdom of the Body (all published by R&L). He has worked in education for over two decades. He has taught students while clinging to cliffs in Joshua Tree National Park; swimming frigid rivers in the High Sierra; snorkeling jellyfish infested waters off Mexico; paddling tippy kayaks amid the orcas of Puget Sound; trudging up narrow trails in the Adirondacks; and, occasionally, in the classroom. He has worked for charter, independent, public, and experiential education-based schools. Currently, Erik is a professor of interdisciplinary studies at Champlain College. He has published a number of articles on education, learning, and the outdoors, as well as lectured on topics ranging from curiosity to the connection between reading novels and imagination. He lives in South Burlington, Vermont.