In 1965 Paul Petzolt, founder of the National Outdoor Leadership School in Wyoming used the phrase “Expedition Behaviour” for the first time.
For him it represented a series of principles which guide the decisions and behaviours of an expedition’s members in order to achieve the maximum across the team with the minimum of stress. By 1974 he’d refined the idea enough to write 17 pages on it in his seminal “Wilderness Handbook” and it continues to be at the core of NOLS courses today.
Expedition Behaviour means being prepared, on time, organized, flexible and humble; seeing the humor in everything; exercising a tolerance for adversity, uncertainty and discomfort; and putting the needs of the group and others on the same level or above one’s own needs. Some people do it instinctively, others take a while but eventually, given the reality that wilderness places in front of us, almost everybody gets it.
