The Great River Journey - Horizon & Co.

These trips are about the perfect combination of calibrated luxury with calculated risk, and thus are moreabout the richness of the experience than the cost of a hotel room, about sleeping under the stars ratherthan slipping between Frette sheets (although we’re not averse to that either). We seek to move beyondmerely seeing the sights or getting away from it all in pursuit of serendipitous moments of personal discoveryand meaning. We make it easy by taking care of all of the details, arranging the necessary props,assembling the local cast of players, and otherwise setting the mise-en-scene for the theatre of travel sothat you can focus on immersing yourself in the moment.Luxury ~ Freedom, Spontaneity & WanderlustLuxury has become an elusive concept, one that has been appropriated by anyone with a marketingdepartment and an eye on higher margins. In our opinion, true luxury lies in creating the space inpeople’s lives where they can experience the joy of a purely spontaneous moment, where the caresof the world slip away and the mind and the body become one. But don’t be fooled into thinking thatwe expect you to rough it - while horsehair shirts may have their place in life, they don’t belong on theroad with us. Upscale accommodation (think “glamping” or the intersection of glamour and camping),accomplished meals (think French chef foraging for wild mushrooms in the forest) and comfortabletravel arrangements (think business class seats transplanted to your private river boat) ensure that youspend your time focusing on the fleeting magic of nature rather than worrying about where your nextmeal is coming from or where you will rest your head.Adventure ~ Risk, Reward & AdrenalinAdventure is another concept that is in serious danger of being cheapened by over-use. In our opinion,adventure is more about challenging people’s internal limits of daring than it is about exposing themto real risks or hardship, and as such it is highly calibrated to the individual. Activities themselves arenot inherently adventurous - they merely provide a catalyst for the true journey that happens within.For some it is the solitude and stillness of dawn on the river as they cast their fly-rod in search of arcticgrayling, for others it is the exhilaration of walking along the knife edge of a soaring cliff as their guidebangs a cow bell to warn off bears, while for others it is the moment of recognition as a First Nationselder embraces them in his gaze and says “ I see you”. Out of your comfort zone, engaged in themoment, looking at the world through a new lens - this is where magic lies and epiphanies occur.Experience ~ Immerse, Engage & Go DeepIn our opinion, the experiences that resonate over time and evolve into lifelong memories are the onesthat are formed through the alchemy of participation and immersion. Thus, we plan our trips on thepremise that the most enjoyable comforts are the ones earned by a little sweat upon the brow, that themost piquant meals are the ones we participated in preparing ourselves, and that the most memorablemoments are the ones preceded by a spontaneous transition from passively observing to actively participating.Whether it’s rolling up your sleeves and massaging flour into bannock cakes over an openfire under the watchful gaze of a First Nations hunter, learning how to pronounce “inye dooch’i” toan elder who cackles with glee at your fumbling, or playing a spirited game of “Indian Bingo” withgiggling teenagers, we guarantee that your senses will be dazzled, your spirit will be moved, andyour mind will be engaged on this unique experiential journey.