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About Distant Journeys

When we first started Distant Journeys we were two young Outward Bound instructors eager to share the unique and unlimited possibilities that hiking Europe offered. After spending countless windy, rainy nights on pulling boats when the cook stove wouldn’t light and the tarp leaked and the anchor dragged, or days of hiking through the Maine mountains weighted down with tents, pots, pans and food as we shepherded bands of wilily adolescents, the experience of arriving at a mountain hut after a day of hiking to be greeted by a cold drink, a hot meal, and warm bed was forever captivating.

Twenty years later, the true beauty of hiking in Europe remains. You can still throw a change of clothes, your raingear and lunch in a pack, step out the door and walk anywhere you want go. You are never far from a signpost, a footpath, or a welcoming place to quench your thrust, quell your hunger or rest your head. You are never far from the good, congenial company of fellow hikers. Nowhere else is it so possible to walk from village to village, inn to inn, or hut to hut and barely lay foot to asphalt or pedal to the medal.

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 comfort with 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.

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

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.

Finding out about our trips:

We’ve been guiding challenging hut hikes for all 22 years. We keep our groups small, 12 hikers and 2 guides, in order to deliver on our comments to personal attention and safety. We know the ins and outs of the routes, how to and when to alter an itinerary when the weather is poor. We don’t just work from our office, we guide our trips as well.

Call us so we may talk to you about our itineraries, the differences, and what you can expect. We are happy to send you detailed information and a references of past participants. Not all hut hikes are the same, not all companies are the same. We encourage you to be discerning in your choice.

Who We Are & Why We Do It

Andrea Ellison Mulla and Julie Head, Owners and Guides

2009 marks our 22nd 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.