Escaping the Recession by Boat

In the midst of the Great Recession and its bleak job prospects, Alex and Nick Kleeman scraped together enough cash to buy a 32-foot sailboat and plunged into the Pacific for the adventure of their lives. So what if they didn’t know how to sail?

Author: Sarah Rose
Source: Outside
Published: Jul 23, 2013
Length: 22 minutes (5,630 words)

Unprotected

Uncovering a legacy of sex abuse in competitive swimming.

Source: Outside
Published: Nov 13, 2014
Length: 52 minutes (13,166 words)

Life’s Swell

The Outside magazine article that inspired the movie ‘Blue Crush.’

Source: Outside
Published: Sep 1, 1998

The Long Captivity of Michael Scott Moore

How should the media cover hostage situations? Examining the case of journalist Michael Scott Moore.

Source: Outside
Published: Oct 13, 2014
Length: 23 minutes (5,800 words)

The Body Electric

Life after being struck by lightning.

Source: Outside
Published: Sep 22, 2014
Length: 17 minutes (4,373 words)

Reboot or Die Trying

David Roberts, a staff writer at Grist, shares what he learned after a year of digital detox and spending more time outdoors.

Source: Outside
Published: Sep 2, 2014
Length: 19 minutes (4,782 words)

SeaWorld’s Most Rewarding and Traumatic Job

Animal care workers, who tend to the health of mammals at SeaWorld and other marine parks, have unrivaled access to the animals—and the challenges of captivity. They are on the front lines of the debate over marine mammals in captivity, and their stories are fascinating and deeply troubling. Here, three former employees go on the record about their experiences.

Source: Outside
Published: Aug 19, 2014
Length: 34 minutes (8,603 words)

We Don’t Need No Education

Ben Hewitt describes “unschooling” his children Fin and Rye, who do “self-directed, adult-facilitated life learning in the context of their own unique interests” rather than attend public schools or participate in the kind of homeschooling that mirrors a public education.

Author: Ben Hewitt
Source: Outside
Published: Aug 12, 2014
Length: 17 minutes (4,458 words)

The 25-Year-Old at the Helm of Lonely Planet

Last year, a media-shy billionaire bought the flailing Lonely Planet travel-guide empire, then shocked observers by hiring an unknown 24-year-old former wedding photographer to save it.

But when I knock on his hotel room door at 7:30, Houghton, now 25, is chipper. The space is fastidiously organized: bed made, camera gear in one neat pile, North Face and J.Crew clothes in another. Houghton, who is six foot four and 150 pounds, with a long neck and blue eyes, has rewired the sound system in the room to allow him to play M83 and the Lord of the Rings soundtrack from his iPhone. As he waves me in, he’s on the line with his boss, billionaire Brad Kelley, the former tobacco magnate who bought Lonely Planet last year, when the storied company was in the midst of a financial nosedive. Houghton wishes Kelley a happy birthday, then we’re off to ride what’s billed as the steepest tree-to-tree zip-line on earth.

Source: Outside
Published: Mar 27, 2014
Length: 20 minutes (5,000 words)

Can Checks Save Lives?

As a teenager, Jonah Ogles began sponsoring a poverty-stricken boy in the Caribbean. Twelve years and thousands of dollars later he flew down to meet him—and to learn if his efforts did any good at all.

When I started sponsoring Ervenson, I was camping at a Christian alt-music festival in rural Illinois, where bands played concerts for sweaty mosh pits of Jesus-loving teens. Between two of the shows, someone from Compassion International got on stage and talked about how difficult it was to be a child in places like Haiti. They described the lack of clean water, the rampant disease, the voodoo ceremonies on every corner. Even then I was vaguely aware of my privilege as a white American male and felt a little guilty about it. Plus, I had a part-time job at a guitar store, which meant that I had enough spending money that I wouldn’t miss thirty-odd dollars out of my monthly paycheck. I signed up as soon as I got home. All I had to do was get online, do a quick search by age, country, or birthday (in case I wanted someone who shared mine), and then click that I agreed to send the checks.

Source: Outside
Published: Jan 31, 2014
Length: 21 minutes (5,331 words)