Running and operating an adventure travel company teaches you how to deal with challenging and unforeseen situations. Being part of the adventure travel experience teaches you a lot about yourself.

First you understand that risk by definition is not measurable. You learn very quickly to accept the future as an unknown and to understand that one can plan for the future but the outcome is fuzzy at best.  Future-proofing is a myth. There is only evolution based in orderly chaos. You learn to lay down a strong foundation and to rely on others. You set up your base camp equipped with the tools you need to support your journey, whatever that journey may be and wherever it takes you. A strong base camp is the foundation of a successful summit attempt.  You learn that that challenging situations are part of life not a fluke of destiny.

 It’s true that the recession has hit most of us across the world. We are in unchartered waters. That is the present situation, not the future as we see it. The future is an outcome that can be shaped by the decisions we make now. However, the current economic environment makes it difficult for us to make the right decision.  We are in unexplored territory. The sense of permanence has been broken forcing us to redraw the path we’ve grown accustomed to follow .

We face challenges like these every single time we run a class V river in the Amazon Jungle. Every day we attempt to conquer a summit or climb a strenuous rock. Adventure travel has the power to break the status quo by putting you in an environment where you can let your inner strength shine the sense of reliance in your team members grow stronger. It allows you to build a bond with those around you.  But this is not only about physical strength. Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will (Ghandi). Indomitable will is what will help you and your company ride out the recession and come out of the other end stronger.

In no other environment this is more necessary than in a raft with a team of six people running a class IV-V river. The river requires quick response times to sort through challenging rapids and to avoid massive obstacles along the way.

Communication among team members is crucial because the team needs to be in sync to make it possible for the raft to continue to move forward in a orderly fashion. Without teamwork, the raft continues to move downriver with no clear direction. Bouncing against rocks and facing the possibility of flipping over. Going underwater. Without leadership the momentum created by fast running water becomes a danger rather than a challenging and fun activity. The leader in a raft needs to be ready to recover the raft and the passengers if the raft flips over.

The lead guide climbs on top of the raft using his hands, clips on the flip line to the rope that goes around the raft and jumps into the water pulling the raft back into the right position. Then the lead guide paddles and often jumps into the water again to save the rest of the team. The lead guide uses only what is necessary to make the situation manageable again. The situation requires a simple flip line  some courage and a lot of training and practice. Often times I see companies that can be saved with out of the box thinking and the existing resources.  A company that lacks the communication and the resourcefulness to make it through the downturn becomes a danger not only to itself but to the ecosystem. However, many times the decisions taken by the leadership are flawed. If the boat flips, leadership decides to have a brand new boat trucked in to the shore rather than using the flip line. That is the problem plaguing American companies and leaders nowadays. They are used to having enough money to fail miserably.

We all need a dose of confidence  during tough times. Adventure travel and the practice of extreme sports teaches valuable lessons on resourcefulness, self-confidence and reliance on others. After all, if you do a class IV-V run in the Amazon Jungle you will be able to face the real problems in your company  from a different and better perspective.