Consulting Services
Transform your trip into the journey of a lifetime
Are you tired of taking trips that feel empty and leave you more weary than you were when you left? By journeying with a purpose and practicing a pilgrim's pace, travelers can return home renewed and reconnected to their place within their communities.
Transformative Travel experiences provide critical exposure and experience with practices that awaken the traveler from the state of a self-focused consumer and invite her into holistic community—providing postures that create connections to the natural world, other cultures, and sacred sites. The inherent soul-work that Transformative Travel invites has both immediate and long-lasting effects on personal well-being, and intentionally develops capacities to become more engaged citizens on behalf of humanity and the collective future of the planet.
Mary DeJong has led groups on pilgrimage and transformational travel experiences for nearly 20 years. Through her role as an Inspired Guide, Mary extends her insights and practices to individuals, small groups, and tours to reimagine the art of travel.
Contact Mary about transforming your trip into a journey of a lifetime.
Transforming spaces into powerful places
Do you have an idea for transforming a space in your neighborhood on behalf of the common good? Has your project stalled or become stuck in cogs of status quo systems? Do you need help creating a stellar grant proposal or identifying project partners?
Based on ten years of co-leading a neighborhood effort to restore and revitalize an urban forested parkland in Seattle's most dense and diverse neighborhood, Mary has developed an authentic practice of Placemaking and understanding of neighborhood economics. She links Placemaking frameworks, eco-theology and land ethics with stewardship models, global environmentalism and long-term sustainability. Mary can help people perceive the potential of a place with a posture that honors the past, embraces the present, and sets forward a profound imagination for the future.
Mary has partnered with REI, The Mountaineers, Washington Trails Association, Refugee Women's Alliance, BikeWorks, Seattle University and many more. She has written numerous grant proposals and been awarded over $420k in grant funding for the Cheasty Greenspace Trails & Bike Park project.
“To get to an unknown land by unknown roads, a traveler cannot allow himself to be guided by his old experience. He has to doubt himself and seek the guidance of others. There is no way he can reach the new territory and know it truly unless he abandons familiar roads.”