Roar! Smash! Whoosh! Just like that—the tornado snatches Dorothy and transports her to the land of Oz. She’s lost. She doesn’t know anyone. Everything and everyone she encounters are equal parts unfamiliar and dazzling. She’s exhilarated and discombobulated, and all she wants to do is go home.
In many ways, Dorothy’s adventure in Oz is the perfect simulacrum of traveling abroad. But for Chris and Jeanne Szczech, co-owners of Meadows and Mountains, Global Hiking Vacations, there’s a much deeper symbolism at play.
Chris explains, “What these trips always remind me of is Joseph Campbell’s hero’s journey concept. I feel like that happens on trips—you start in your normal world, and then you come to a new world. You gain special powers. By the end of these trips, you’ve seen things, you have new insights, new powers—maybe even a couple of words of Spanish or a beautiful alpaca sweater—whatever it is.”
In other words, traveling abroad is all about transformation. By the time the hero returns home, he or she is a different person—stronger, wiser, and better dressed to withstand the elements.
But for many people, coordinating a trip to a foreign country can be extremely daunting. When’s the best time to go? Where should you stay? What should you eat—or avoid?
By providing supported and guided excursions abroad, Chris and Jeanne remove all the guesswork. They send packing lists, detailed itineraries, descriptions of activities, and difficulty ratings for hikes. They’ll explain which converters to bring for electrical devices and whether or not to pack trekking poles. Ninety to ninety-five percent of meals, lodging, gear rentals, and other costs are covered in their adventure package.
And unlike many international tour companies, the Szczechs focus less on glittering metropolises and more on the splendors of natural landscapes. Guests on their trips spend ample time trekking through the wilderness, touring archaeological sites, and learning about a place’s history and culture through its terrain. But it’s not all roughing it in tents, munching trail mix. The Szczechs curate a balance of outdoor adventure and city sightseeing—with real beds to sleep in.
“People have a desire to do the big thing, but it’s either organizing it or the burden of carrying too much,” Jeanne notes. “With the supported treks, it’s just light backpacks—and then you can accomplish something you might not accomplish on your own.”
Like ascending into the Andes to visit Machu Picchu, for example.
At their core, the Szczechs are lifelong educators with a zeal for the outdoors. Both former teachers, Chris and Jeanne often took their students on weekend hiking trips to share the infectious magic of the woods, fields, and fens. For sixteen years, they channeled their passion into Colorado Mountain Expeditions, leading outdoor adventures across Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico. Eager to replicate that success abroad, they launched Meadows and Mountains in 2022.
The Szczechs warmly welcome anyone to try a global hiking adventure with them: couples, singles, families, or groups of lifelong friends. Whether you're an intrepid explorer or a hesitant homebody, you can embark on the hero’s journey of transformative travel. But unlike Dorothy, you can sidestep the cyclone—and travel by plane.
And whether the trip is to Peru, Ireland, Italy, or the Czech Republic, Jeanne offers an important travel advisory: “The goodbyes at the end of these trips are hard. People don’t want that feeling to end. It is such a good feeling.”