Wilderness Expedition for Youth entering or in High School (Ages 14-18)

July 7-25, 2019

Adventure is Medicine.

Wilderness is an extraordinary playground and a wonderful teacher. As one ventures into pristine places untouched by roads, power lines, and electronics, old patterns fall away.

We partner with wilderness and what's emerging in the moment, operating from a place of curiosity, providing personalized support by asking questions to help people explore and discover what has been there all along - their own inner guidance.

We draw from The Work of Byron Katie, Non-Violent Communication (NVC), Rumi, Hafiz and other poets and teachers that point us inward to find our deepest truths.

Join Inner Guide Expeditions, Co-founder, Thomas Shelstad and Certified Facilitator, Susan V, for this exhilarating adventure of a lifetime!

GET OUT. GO WITHIN.

• • • 

TOUR DU MONT BLANC

This is a hut-to-hut journey where we'll be hiking with daypacks. Breakfast and dinner are provided in the refugios(mountain hostels), and a packed lunch sending us on our way each morning.

The rocky trail ascends from the Charmonix valley. On this trek we will hike through three countries: France, Italy, and Switzerland.

Join us for what Forbes named as "one of the world's most luxurious hiking trips"
Join Inner Guide Expeditions Co-founder, Thomas Shelstad and Certified Facilitator, Susan V, for this exhilarating adventure of a lifetime!

$6500 ALL INCLUSIVE
TUITION INCLUDES:
​
• All food and group gear
• Roundtrip flights to Geneva, Switzerland from Portland, Oregon (option to book your own flights and save $1000 from total trip cost)
• Accommodations in Chamonix
• Ground Transportation (Shuttles, Rental Vehicles)
• 13 Days hiking the Tour du Mont Blanc through France, Italy, and Switzerland
• A combination of camping and staying in refugios (alpine hostels)
• Rest days in Chamonix, France and Courmeyer, Italy
• Ascending up to the Aguille du Midi in Chamonix
• Specialized facilitation and mentoring

​Have Questions?
​Inner Guide Expeditions
541-261-4959
[email protected]
Picture
For Tom, adventure is a way of life. He grew up in the land of 10,000 lakes, where his family’s cabin was host to the water sports, campfires and wooded hikes that nurtured his love of the outdoors and passion for exploration.  In middle and high school he got his start in the wilderness pursuits on paddling trips with his dad into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area in Northern Minnesota.  Ralf Waldo Emerson said: “The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn”.  These seeds sprouted into a life of exploration.  His extensive outdoor experience has brought him backpacking in many of the most beautiful places on the planet and continues to find adventures this amazing life has to offer. He has sailed 1000 miles from Fiji to New Zealand, climbed 1400ft granite walls in Yosemite, and scaled some the highest mountains in the US. Tom believes that life is richest at the edge of your unfolding, at the intersection of awareness, presence, and engagement.
​VIEW TOM'S RÉSUMÉ (PDF)
​
Tom co-founded Inner Guide Expeditions knowing the intrinsic richness in the exploration of both the inner and outer worlds.   Wilderness adventures are the perfect place to grow.  When people are a little outside of their comfort zone, they are more open to experience life in new ways and see from different perspectives.  “Comfort and growth…”, he says, “…rarely take up the same time and place.”  Add “play” into the mix, along with the depth of connection, and you have a winning combination reflecting both the breadth and the richness of the human experience.
 
When people feel truly seen, accepted, and appreciated for the individual they are, their confidence grows and they develop freedom to move through life in an engaged and inspired way.  One of Tom’s gifts is creating and developing tight-knit, high-trust relationships.  He builds communities through adventures that bring out the best in people while helping them to find confidence on their most inspired path.
 
Tom draws his passion from a rich background in leadership and education. He has taught in both public and private schools, as well as at the college level, and has significant experience in the field of wilderness therapy, working with at-risk youth, mentoring teens, parent coaching, life coaching, and athletic coaching. He spent years facilitating on challenge courses in addition to building and inspecting them, and training others how to safely get the most out of them. He runs leadership development programs for teens, and develops & facilitates rites of passage. Tom holds a B.S. in Speech Communications and International Relations and a Master’s in Experiential Education,
 
When he is not facilitating or teaching, Tom spends his time playing on adventures and enriching his life by attending workshops for personal growth, backpacking or hiking with his dogs, skiing, mountaineering, traveling, or taking long, multi-week motorcycle rides, alone or with the best of friends.
Picture
Susan brings a rich background in facilitation, a playful nature, and a deep sense of presence to the lives she touches.  People naturally feel at ease around her as they drop deeper into their own awareness and wonder of life.
 
Susan is a Certified Facilitator of The Work of Byron Katie and has been supporting individuals and groups in North America, Europe, Africa, and Vietnam since 2012. Part of her magic and expertise lies in the deep exploration of the inner landscapes of the mind, addressing limiting beliefs through this mindful approach. Through her ongoing personal and professional practice she's discovered that any challenging experience can be met, understood and integrated into a fulfilling life.

An avid traveler, Susan is drawn to explore and discover the world. Regardless of where she's found herself, whether zip-lining between treehouses in Laos, trekking to Machu Picchu or backpacking in India, both traveling and time spent in nature have been vital in cultivating personal growth and self-understanding. 

​Susan enjoys writing, painting, salsa dancing, singing, and messing around with her ukulele.
©THE WORK WITH SUSAN. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.