Autoethnography: Creating stories that make a difference

In this chapter we show how autoethnography can capture and (re)present experiences in the outdoors. Through our own first-person accounts, we view memories as the essential building blocks of experience and data capture, and explore the importance of holding in creative tension concepts of mind and world. We advocate autoethnography as a maturing area of enquiry useful to outdoor studies because it draws primarily on the powerful direct experiences of its practitioners. Autoethnography is not about personal edification but a means of capturing powerful personal experiences that have the potential to transform self, sub-groups, communities and ultimately society.