“Travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer.”

Who we are

*Mindfulness is presence. Presence brings joy.*

Root Adventures creates transformational group travel experiences thoroughly framed by our Four Pillars of Sustainability, Equity & Inclusion, Mindfulness, and Community. We are the anti-bucket list travel company. We believe the best way to connect to yourself, your community, and the world around you is from a place of vulnerability. Travel provides that opportunity to strip away our preconceived notions of self and others and experience the authenticity of the moment with less distortion from the “lenses” through which we experience our daily lives.

After 15 years in the industry designing the same run-of-the-mill itineraries and satisfying clients’ need to get that “Instagram shot”, our founder, Breanne Kiefner, knew there was greater potential to utilize the magic of travel. In 2018 in the depths of postpartum depression she struck out on her own and created Root Adventures.

By including specially trained Root Adventures’ Mindfulness Tour Leaders on our domestic and international adventure-based trips, in addition to sourcing incredible local guides and operators, our guests are assured a highly personalized and transformative experience as they push their bodies and minds into unfamiliar, yet beautiful and welcoming, environments. We enable our clients to be truly changed by travel.

Our goal is no less than to change the world. As Mahatma Gandhi said, “If you want to change the world, start with yourself.” The entire team at Root Adventures has personally experienced the transformational power of travel and mindfulness, and our mission is to provide the opportunity for our clients to achieve the same through our trips. Ultimately, we are confident our travelers will take their growth home to the betterment of their relationships and communities.

Our Story

Utilizing her decades of experience in the adventure travel and hospitality businesses, Breanne sought to create something fundamentally different. The company has continued to evolve inline with Breanne’s own mental health journey. The COVID travel pause provided the space for her to redefine the company with all that she learned along her own personal journey. Her history of PTSD, Dyslexia, and Depression continues to define her vision and leadership style as company CEO as she infuses vulnerability through all aspects of the company. Now with over two decades of experience in the industry she is confident that this work is exactly what has been missing from adventure travel.

Behind the Scenes

Breanne Kiefner
Founder + Trip Planner

Growing up food insecure in an unstable home with undiagnosed dyslexia laid the foundation for Breanne’s approach to travel, collaboration, and all things learning. With a good sense of curiosity and a bit of luck, Breanne found herself working in hospitality in 2000, starting as a housekeeper, navigating her way to become an event planner for a large hotel. Her introduction to adventure travel came suddenly as she sold all her belongings and took off on her first trip out of North America - 6 months backpacking through Latin America. Through travel, Breanne found healing from communities around the world. Upon returning to the US, she dove into the Adventure Travel industry with hopes of sharing the healing power of travel with the world.

Carisa Banuelos
Director of Travel Experience

Carisa, our Director of Traveler Experience, works closely with Breanne to design our trips and support clients throughout the pretrip and post trip process. Carisa exemplifies our Mindfulness Pillar as she integrates her thousands of hours of training in mindfulness and healing practices into our community with pre/post trip mindfulness guides plus ongoing education for everyone in our community of past, current, future, and hopeful travelers.

Dave Kiefner
Director of Operations

Dave applies his expertise in business operations and continuous improvement to manage the backend of Root. Having previously worked in renewable energy and recycling industries, he now guides our sustainability practices. An adventurer at heart, he has also experienced the transformative nature of mindfulness and is enthusiastic for others to experience transformative travel.