Why sign up for an expedition?

There’s something about going on an expedition that seems to worry people.  

I am certainly among them. In recent years before setting off, I've been troubled by thoughts of the terrain – have I trained enough? Will I be left behind breathless, abandoned and embarrassed? I have fretted about the anticipated hygiene realities of living in intimate proximity with people I know only professionally.  I’ve worried about wildlife – snakes, bears, spiders and bizarrely, wolverines.  I have lain awake at night stewing about the protocol of a "leave no trace wilderness wee”.  

I think this is because expeditions had always seemed to be for a "certain type of person", more outdoorsy, more adventurous, more extroverted than me. Plus the mythology of the expedition conjures risk, hardship and the dangers of the unknown. After all, exploration folklore is rife with heroic expeditions which did not end well – mutiny (Henry Hudson 1611), murder (Captain James Cook 1779) cannibalism (Franklin’s NorthWest Expedition 1848) and hypothermia (Captain Robert Falcon Scott 1912).

Yet coping and performing successfully in unknown environments is a valuable skill for future leaders in a fast changing business world and to acquire this skill means getting comfortable out of your comfort zone

But even academic research of social and behavioural scientists studying human performance in extreme unknown environments such as Isolated and Confined Environments (ICEs) or Extreme and Unusual Environments (EUSs) has been primarily concerned with managing psychological vulnerability. The traditional focus is by two principles – selecting out those deemed unlikely to be successful (i.e. having the wrong rather than “the right stuff”) and should selection fail, planning counter-measures in the form of environmental design, psychological support, medications or other types of intervention. 

This type of psychological and psychiatric approach is primarily about assessing the conditions in which people are performing and anticipating the potential problems which might arise. For example, management of stress arising from discomfort, deprivation and perceived or real danger. Stress has long being recognised as detrimental to performance and undoubtedly many studies taking this approach have yielded valuable results. But there is another way.

Dr. Peter Suedfeld a globally celebrated psychologist, professor emeritus of the University of British Columbia, and scholar of human adaptation to extreme environments argues instead:

“Reactions to stress should be conceived as lying along a dimension from failure (physical and psychological breakdown, PTSD disorders) through resilience (the ability to bounce back after negative reactions) and successful coping (dealing with the stressor without breakdown or damage) right through to salutogenesis”.

Salutogenesis is about focusing attention on the origins of health as opposed to pathogenesis, the origins of disease.  In this case, a salutogenesis approach would consider how experiences in an unknown environment could lead to the enhancement of physical or psychological strengths and well being.  Suedfeld contends psychologists have concentrated too much on the breakdown and coping element of reaction to stress dimension to the detriment of focusing on the benefits that might come from experiencing an extreme environment. 

Further, by adopting the perspective of positive psychology, selection for ICEs or EUEs should not simply attempt to screen out those who might crack up, but instead actively seek to identify those who will flourish and profit – physically, psychologically and spiritually- from such experiences.  These individuals might be identified by measures of optimism, a sense of agency, resilience and hardiness and the ability to understand, withstand and address difficult situations. Optimally functioning ICE and EUE dwellers are recognisable by openness to new experiences and ideas, conscientiousness at work, sociability without intrusiveness and emotional stability. These are desirable and valuable qualities everywhere.

What I’ve learned from my own experience is that joining an expedition has many precious salutogenic features: an opportunity to stretch oneself, to enjoy the close camaraderie of like-minded people, to feel the exhilaration of immersion in a natural environment, to enjoy the novelty and increasing familiarity of a shared experience with new friends, to accomplish something collectively we may never have done alone and to come home with a renewed appreciation of values easily overlooked during busy business as usual. 

Expeditions are for a certain type of person – why not you?