FIT
/fit/
adjective
Of a suitable quality, standard, or type to meet the required purpose.
Our goal at FIT treks is to get more people outside, and out of their comfort zones—whether that’s walking around the neighborhood, or summiting Kilimanjaro, and we do this by preparing and supporting our clients to tackle the feats that have been sitting on their bucket lists.
Being “FIT” goes beyond having good physical fitness. This includes having the right gear, knowledge of the area where you are going, awareness of the resources that will or won’t be available to you, and much more.
We offer personal training to anyone who is interested in undertaking a challenging backpacking or trekking trip, and offer this to our FIT Treks guests at a discounted rate along with a complimentary initial consultation.
About Mandy
While FIT Treks has only been registered since 2019, this wasn’t an overnight thing. With over 10+ years in outdoor education, FIT Treks is the product of a vision, a little bit of luck, and a lot of hard work.
I started out of college working for an outdoor education program in North Carolina, then Georgia, and finally went to work at a horticulture therapy program in Hawaii. Working in experiential education taught me that sometimes we grow the most when we’re out of our comfort zones.
And then I applied this to my life. I made it a priority to travel, and took a job in the corporate office of a major airline doing customer service so that I could do just that. I made it my job to travel as much as possible on a shoestring budget. I intentionally traveled to impoverished countries to witness how climate change and globalization were affecting their communities.
I had a friend from Barton Springs (AKA swimmer’s church) who offered me a job at a birdwatching company. I didn’t even know that was a thing, but that opened my eye to a whole new world of what travel can offer people. These weren’t simply “vacations”, on the contrary, people were traveling with purpose and mindfulness. I learned most of what I know about running a travel company from working here.
Then I was offered a job as Director of Travel for a large outdoor retailer. In working here, one of the most common questions people had about doing a long distance trek is how to train for it. And unfortunately, I realized that no trekking company was offering real advice about how to train, other than just hiking a lot. This is like telling someone with alignment issues on their car to just drive it more. We all know, that’s not gonna work.
I have taken people as young as 8 years old all the way to 73 years young, and both are susceptible to joint issues without proper training.
So this is why I’ve made it my mission to offer the best possible training to the people who come on my trips. We all have different bodies with different limitations as well as superpowers. This is why I put together “Yoga for Hikers”. This is a key component of any FIT trek, but also can be taken as a standalone course for anyone who wants to tackle their own trip solo.
While COVID has made things difficult for travel, I believe my mission is stronger than ever— to help people be more mindful in their bodies, and in how they connect to the earth. Thanks for being here, and hope to see you on the trail soon.
Happy Trails,
Mandy Mantzel
Founder of FIT Treks