DofE Bronze involves completing four sections: skill, physical, volunteering and expedition. In the final section, the expedition, you are expected to camp for a night and spend two days navigating in a small group. Each day you walk a route that you and your team have plotted beforehand. The only equipment permitted for the navigation is a compass and an ordnance survey map try to find your way to the allocated checkpoints.
For me, the expedition was a new experience. I had only ever slept in a tent once and prior to this weekend I had never learnt orienteering skills such as map reading and using a compass. As well as this, there are none of the usual home comforts, like somewhere to wash or a fully equipped kitchen to make whatever you want. You have just the basic necessities and in this way the experience toughens you up as you have to make do with what you do have, making the best of it. Living without these home comforts also makes you realise how ordinary things like a warm place to sleep at night is taken for granted.
I was slightly apprehensive beforehand, as it was the first expedition I had completed, and wasn’t sure how I would find camping in the cold, walking in the countryside on my own and not having access to a toilet at all times! However, by the end I gained more confidence in myself as I realised that I was able to persevere when things were a bit out of my comfort zone and as a result successfully complete the weekend. The confidence that the expedition gives you to step out of your comfort zone and try new things is an important life skill and in this way I think DofE is a great thing to do.
Having completed the expedition, I can see that the experience provides a chance to learn many useful skills and some which may be underappreciated today, such as how to navigate using just a map. From my experience of the expedition, I think it gives participants a lot more independence as we carried out nearly every aspect of the weekend on our own in our groups: walking and navigating during the day, putting up the tent, and planning beforehand what meals we would need to prepare.
I would thoroughly recommend that if given the opportunity to do DofE that you give it a go, as it is a great experience and the skills gained from the experience, particularly from the expedition section, are invaluable.
