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About Distant Journeys

Adventure implies the yearning for something more, something fresh, and something that will stir our minds and raise our spirits. On all of our trips we are treated to variety as only European hiking can offer: high mountain passes, lush alpine meadows, history, spectacular mountain scenery, forested paths, quiet villages, historic cities and always the satisfaction of arriving on foot.

Our Mission:

The key for us is simplicity and balance. Our aim is to travel well, but without excess, to travel in a way that is sensitive to and respectful of the traditions that exist, to balance and comfort and experience. We stay in small inns and hotels, or mountain huts. We carry our own packs and use local transportation, lifts and trams. We keep our groups small to minimize impact on our surroundings, and assure quality, flexibility and personal attention.

Our personalized service means that when you call our office chances are that you’ll talk to one of us, an owner, and when you sign up for a trip with us you will probably have one of us as a guide. We know our hiking areas, the hotels and the refuge owners, and by the time you show up in Europe, we’ll know you. It means we’re hiking right along with you, introducing you to areas and people we’ve been excited about for a long time.

All this, we feel, brings us closer to the heart of a place and helps deliver on the promises of true adventure.

About our hut hikes:

We’ve been guiding challenging hut hikes for all 21 years. We keep our groups small, 12 hikers and 2 guides. Not only does this offer more personal attention we consider it a safety consideration. We know the ins and outs of the routes, how to and when to alter the itinerary when the weather is poor. We don’t just sell you our trips we guide them as well. Call us so we may talk to you about our trips, the differences, what you can expect and send you a detailed itinerary and list of past participants. Not all hut hikes are the same, not all companies are the same, we encourage you to look around and ask questions.

Who We Are & Why We Do It

Andrea Ellison Mulla and Julie Head, Owners and Guides

2008 marks our 21st year as Distant Journeys. Oddly enough, after all the miles we’ve logged and the people we’ve traveled with, when asked why we continue to do it, ready answers sound too much like trade buzz-phrases, real answers too abstract.

If we told you it was because of the sound of rustling plastic bags being stuffed into packs early, too early, on a mountain morning, would you understand it? If we told you it was because of the taste of green salad, wienerschnitzel and french fries, accompanied by easy laughter, after a day of hiking over a pass in the wind and rain and snow, would it make it any clearer?

Is it something about a group of strangers that converge in a far, or not so far-off place, an unfamiliar place travel together; share the experience of new vistas, different foods, fine wines and sore muscles; and depart friends that makes us go out again and again? Definitely.