We created Capsule Adventures to curate exciting itineraries in bucket list destinations for the (aspiring) adventurer who’s ready to ditch distractions and say yes to their most present trip ever.
Curated Itineraries
Bucket-list Destinations
Alcohol & Distraction Free
Who would have thought a trainwreck of a hike would inspire an entire company?
Literally any entrepreneur who’s ever been hiking.
Hear me out (it’s Ryan, the founder). 8-day hike through the Svaneti region of Georgia. I was taking an adventurous break from my cushy corporate job on what I thought would be the hike I tell my kids about. Make it older teens, because with alcohol at the center of the hike, there was a foiled sexual assault, the guide was fired, and the group dynamic got weeirrrdddd.
Day 3, the dynamic healed and I was looking at the stunning mountainscape feeling so much joy, courage, and creativity flow into me. Capsule Adventures. Intentional trips to make vivid memories. No alcohol. No drugs. No distractions. No BS.
F*ck it. Corporate America will be fine without me. I have a plan to get people out of the mundane and into the trip they’ve always dreamed of in a safe, present, and intentional way. There’s no way I’m not doing it.
When I decided to create distraction-free travel, I didn’t see it as a restriction. Putting away the numbing agents creates a 4K experience in a sea of sameness. When you look back on the carousel of life, I want you to see your Capsule Adventure as an interruptor of the mundane. One that makes you think, that was the trip.
Hi, I’m Ryan
Founder | Trip Leader | No-Holds-Barred Conversationalist
March 16th, 2021.
That’s the date I got sober. 2 days prior I had called 911 on myself. 22 days before that, I had been doing hard drugs all day, every day leading up to that call. Do I call this ambulance for this heart attack or save myself the embarrassment and just die? No, we can’t die alone in an Airbnb in New Orleans.
It ended up not being a heart attack and I got the super helpful, top tier medical advice to ‘not push myself so hard next time.’
And while I was waiting for that Uber outside the hospital, it hit– no one's going to help me. I need to save me.
The dark secret is out
I started telling my friends what had been going on. March 16th, I was on a plane back home to Brooklyn.
I called my old therapist. He reopened his outpatient rehab center for me. I quit my job. I had 90 days of meditation, yoga, and intensive therapy. My loved ones rallied to support me. I relearned how to live in a world without the crutch of drugs and alcohol.
I was a lucky one.
So I created Capsule Adventures as a love letter to my sober community.
The magic of ‘replacement’
Alcohol and drugs were euphoric. They made life thrilling. I thought when I stopped, joy was over. But then I replaced those old habits with better ones. First hiking. Then travel. It was on a trip in Colombia with 18 other people, hanging onto mototaxis for dear life as they flew on winding mountain roads– that I remember laughing at the absurdity of everything. In this bizarre moment, I also realized after 11 months of sobriety– that what I was feeling was joy.
And joy only continued to return. Through the clouds in Machu Picchu, revealing the ruins. On the glacier in Torres Del Paine. Making friction fire. Being 20 feet from an elephant.
4 years sober now. Adventurous travel used to be my bandaid. Now, it’s what adds color to my life.
When we share surreal, sublime, and brutal moments with each other, we share them more deeply within ourselves. They become more alive because they exist in multiple memories. We’re not being present on these adventures to reach some sort of meditative bliss. We’re doing it as a commitment to live life in 4K– no greyscale in sight.
Break old patterns. Awaken your joy.
Find incredible people. Book the trip.