Meet the Team | Bigger Life Adventures Yoga & Adventure Retreats

We’re Carrie Hoffman and Zach Minnich, the couple behind Bigger Life Adventures. We share a love of world travel, yoga, conscious living, food, and healing in nature: so in 2018 we started hosting plant-based, alcohol-free yoga retreats around the world. Today, our trips blend trauma-informed yoga, vegan menus, and purposeful adventure in places like Monteverde, Costa Rica and Catalina Island, California. Our retreats welcome people in recovery, the sober-curious, and anyone simply wanting a cleansing yoga retreat, no labels required.

“We’re all each other’s teachers.”
Authentic community is the heart of our work. We learn as much from our guests as they do from us on the mat, around the dinner table, and out on the trail.

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Trauma informed yoga retreat team at Bigger Life Adventures

What We Believe

You don’t have to be “in recovery” to want an alcohol-free space or to feel better in your body. Many guests come because social drinking stopped feeling good, or they just want clarity, deeper sleep, and real connection. Choosing an alcohol free retreat or sober yoga retreat isn’t about a label, it’s about prioritizing your well-being while exploring the world with sober travel groups that get it.

Carrie Hoffman

Trauma-Informed E-RYT500, YACEP, Ayurvedic Health Counselor, WFR

Carrie’s been practicing yoga for 14+ years and teaching for 7+. Yoga helped her quit drinking and reconnect with her higher self, and now she teaches trauma-informed, recovery-aware classes that meet people where they are: on retreat, in treatment facilities, schools, and detention centers. She’s an 800-hour Ayurvedic Health Counselor and offers private consults and workshops. Off the mat she loves: trail running and hiking, potlucks with friends, chocolatey desserts, and petting everyone’s dogs.

Check out Carrie’s Substack

Training highlights:

• Teaching Yin Yoga (Bernie Clark & Diana Batts)
• E-RYT500 (Lakshmi Rising, Dr. Liz Lindh)
• RYT200 (Quantum Yoga, Lara Baumann)
• Trauma-informed trainings (Prison Yoga Project, Yoga Ed.)
• Ayurvedic Health Counselor (800h) – Joyful Belly
• Wilderness First Responder (NOLS)
• Permitted Day-Hiking Guide, Grand Canyon NP

Zach Minnich (aka “Zachalicious”)

Vegan Chef, Holistic Nutritionist, Reiki Master, WFR

Zach is our plant-based chef and Holistic Nutritionist: equally obsessed with from-scratch salsas, authentic Mexican flavors (made vegan), and “fruit hunting” around the world. His first cookbook, Plants on Plates (2024), features the kind of vibrant, approachable meals we serve on retreat. Zach offers Reiki sessions, plays piano/guitar, rock climbs, and is building our sustainable off-grid home base in Northern Arizona. He’s also the master builder and creator of our annual Burning Man camp!

Training highlights:

• Reiki Master
• Holistic Nutrition
• Wilderness First Responder (NOLS)
• Permitted Day-Hiking Guide, Grand Canyon NP

LaTesha Charbonnet, yoga teacher in New Orleans May 2026 yoga retreat Bigger Life Adventures

LaTesha Charbonnet Gonzales

Trauma-Informed RYT200, New Orleans Retreat Host

LaTesha is a certified yoga teacher, retreat host, and proud New Orleans native. A linguist by trade, she’s spent 15+ years curating cultural and language immersion experiences for international visitors. A mother of two and a multi-time alumna of Bigger Life Adventures retreats, LaTesha now brings her heart-centered teaching and soulful roots into wellness spaces. She’s passionate about weaving spirituality, culture, and holistic healing into every retreat she leads.

Trauma informed yoga retreat team member

Selena G. Aragón

Photographer, Plant-Based Food Creator, Herbalist, Costa Rica Retreat Sous Chef

Selena is a photographer, plant-based chef, and herbalist who supports our Costa Rica retreats. Her Mesoamerican herbalism training informs her nourishing meals and drinks, created with empathy and care. As a visual storyteller, her photography captures authentic moments of nature and people with dignity and beauty. A long-time yoga practitioner, Selena finds balance through challenge and presence, and brings that grounded energy into both the kitchen and the retreat community.

We met in Ohio, chased big dreams, and eventually chose a life of adventure over hangovers. After seasons working in the hospitality industry, backpacking Latin America, and studying yoga in Sri Lanka, we hosted our first retreat campout in SoCal (2018). In 2019 we opened Grand Canyon Eco Retreat and kept expanding Bigger Life Adventures to new destinations. Nearly 100 trips later, hundreds of guests have joined us for alcohol free retreats that mix nature, community, and joyful yogic discipline. About 60% of our guests return for another trip with us, proof that community works.

Want the long version? Grab tea and read our full stories below.

• Alcohol-free by design: space to feel everything clearly. No pressure, just presence. Real fun, no hangovers!

• Trauma-informed yoga: accessible, consent-forward, and beginner-friendly.

• Vegan, Ayurvedic menus: vibrant, hearty, and easy to recreate at home.

• Adventure with purpose: hikes, canopy walks, waterfalls, stargazing. We provide adventure retreats that balance play with rest.

• Real community: small groups, circle time, honest conversations, and support that lasts.

See Dates & Availability

Is This Just For “Sober” People?

Nope. We host sober retreats and alcohol free retreats because the setting supports healing, clarity, and connection for everyone. Come as you are: in recovery, curious, or simply ready to travel without alcohol. You’ll find sober travel logistics are simpler, mornings are brighter, and friendships are deeper.

Why Alcohol-Free?
Read more Sober Travel Stories Here

Where We Host

• Monteverde, Costa Rica – cloud forest calm, tree climbing, river plunging,, cacao, wildlifewalks
• Catalina Island, California – a supported backpacking trip challenge on the Trans Catalina Trail
• Chiang Mai, Thailand – meditation class with Thai monks, waterfall hike, Elephant sanctuary, and the most incredible plant-based Thai food
• New Orleans, Louisiana – mocktails, music, art, and culture in the Big Easy
• Lake Atitlan, Guatemala – a recovery-friendly plant medicine retreat with experienced facilitators, volcano vibes, and integration support

Check the Retreats page for current locations and dates.

Looking for a cleansing yoga retreat or vegan yoga retreat in Costa Rica?
Doors to the Wild Self: Monteverde, Costa Rica Yoga Retreat

Travel Booking Assistance

Need help connecting flights or planning pre/post-retreat days? We’ll share routes, shuttles, and trusted local stays so your adventure travel is smooth.

Ask us a Question or book a free discovery call with Carrie.

Podcasts, Press & Features

Catch us on: Yoga Solutions • Alcohol Tipping Point • The Outdoor Entrepreneur • Nature Untold • Guides Gone Wild • Grounded in Maine • Tarin It Up • Beyond Recovery • LoTech & Wild • RePod It!
Read features: Voyage Phoenix • Shoutout Arizona • Hostelling International • SFGate • HuffPost • Matador Network

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If you’re feeling the nudge, join us! You don’t have to be broken to want to heal.

See Upcoming Retreats → Reserve Your Spot Today

Who We Are