In this conversation, Jay Carson, executive director of the Boulder Outdoor Survival School (BOSS) (https://www.boss-inc.com/), describes his transformation from a city dweller and terrified student to a leader who embraces the wilderness. He explains how survival training reshaped his life by teaching him to welcome discomfort, build resilience, and reconnect with nature.
Carson shares personal anecdotes about confronting fear and how the hard lessons of BOSS extend well beyond wilderness skills. Students learn practical survival techniques—fire, shelter, navigation—but more importantly, they learn perspective: what matters, how to rely on community, and how interdependence becomes essential in challenging environments. Facing physical and mental limits brings psychological benefits, including greater confidence, clarity, and appreciation for simple necessities.
The conversation highlights the role of discomfort as a teacher and the way structured hardship can reveal values and priorities. Carson emphasizes that survival skills foster humility and cooperation, creating bonds among participants and a clearer sense of self-sufficiency balanced with reliance on others.
For more from host Stephen Casimiro, get his newsletter at desert-projects.com.
Subscribe to our printed quarterly (stories only in print) at http://www.subscribetoaj.com
FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/adventurejournal/
Facebook — https://www.facebook.com/adventurejournal
Pinterest — https://www.pinterest.com/adventurejournl
