Ben (Benji) Blumenstock
Course Director & Instructor
Benji grew up scrambling over the colonial stone walls and poison ivy covered trees of Northern Massachusetts. When he wasn’t hunting for frogs or foraging for berries, his nose was deep in an adventure book, developing an early love for travel and exploration. As a teenager, Benji would go on canoe trips with his family in Eastern Ontario, learning at an early age the importance of healthy communication. Family is no exception.
Benji’s first long expedition was a three-week canoe trip he went on through the Voyageur Outward Bound School (VOBS) when he was 18. It was on that trip that Benji discovered a love for challenging himself in the outdoors, and an appreciation for how much there is to learn from other people. He walked away from his VOBS adventure satisfied with what he had learned and content with the role Outward Bound had played in his life. Benji was done with Outward Bound.
It was not until one Bachelor’s of Science in geology, 12 months in early childhood education, and five years of flirting with a comedy career later did Benji feel the undeniable itch for the passion, self-discovery and community he felt as a student at VOBS. Benji was not done with Outward Bound. In 2018 he returned to Outward Bound. He committed to full-time work in 2020, spending summers paddling around the Minnesota Northwoods and falls/winters stomping through the west Texas desert.
Collaboration is a big part of Benji’s educational philosophy, seeing himself as the student as much as the teacher. Expeditions are constant opportunities to learn about yourself, through and with others. Whether he is impulsively redesigning his curriculum, thanks to an acute moment of student wisdom, or encouraging his students to express their feelings through an improvised play, Benji is always seeking to draw on the creativity of others.
When he is not expeditioning you can find Benji practicing his calligraphy, writing poems to his friends, studying a map of the world, and yes… still flirting with comedy.