Since then, more than 500,000 people have participated in Outward Bound programs in the United States alone. I knew none of the nine other people in my program when we started our two-week voyage. Outward Bound rarely allows friends to take courses together because it disrupts the bonding of strangers that is considered essential to the experience. And that bonding doesn't come easily. For some of us, it is a time of change.
Personal relationships are in flux, or careers have turned dull.
One student is transferring to a new school. The other says he spends too much time at the computer. Our two instructors, ages 24 and 29, are energetic, encouraging, and unflappable. It has a surprisingly soothing effect. Still, danger is never far from our minds.