Do I Need Expedition Training?

When heading out on any kind remote travel or a journey that takes you away from the normal safety net provided by a country’s emergency services it is vital that a member of the group, or every one, has had adequate expedition training.

Expedition training can vary on length and severity of issues covered depending on the areas (geographically) you wish to visit. For example, expedition training for you to be comfortable and safe during time spent in the British lakes district is going to be hugely different in length, topics covered and the depth compared to a team who wants expedition training for a two month study project in the Amazon Basin.

The team here at S2Si have all undergone various forms of expedition training to begin their careers….. but they say the best way to learn is to teach so now many of our staff are qualified and experienced enough to take groups into every environment we have on our planet and provide them with professional expedition training.

However…. expedition training is not just about joining a group of like minded individuals and heading out into the trees with an instructor, you can start the ball rolling yourself! Here are a few examples of how you can help train yourself ready for your adventure:

• The Discovery Channel – the comfiest and easiest way to have Bruce Parry, Tribes, come into your house and provide you with expedition training for travel to areas with an indigenous population. Or the late, great Steve Irwin, on how spot dangerous animals in the wild!
• Do a first aid course – if your adventures take you into areas where you have a fairly good chance of contact with local emergency services then a simple first aid course will help save lives until help arrives. Or, one step better, a more advanced course like the one provided by Wilderness Medical.
• Read, read, read – luckily for us most great explorers love to tell of their tales, also survivors have books written of their escapes from the clutches of doom and I can’t even begin to tell you how much information is available on the internet (from sites like ours) on the various topics needed for your expedition training.
• Try and get yourself into any environment similar to where you are going – if you have never camped out but want to visit the Amazon your own personal expedition training will start by finding some trees and sleeping amongst them, sounds silly but a tree is a tree in UK, USA and the Amazon, get used to seeing them (or snow, rocks, rivers etc, where ever you’re going!).

Here is some more expedition training advice.

Tags: Expedition Training, Health and safety on expedition, Is expedition training important, Where can I get expedition training