About Us

We are Carrie and Zach, a travel-obsessed couple always on the hunt for new adventures! Whether it’s a months-long camping road trip in the American west, riverboat hitchhiking in the Bolivian Amazon, rock climbing the amazing karst cliffs of Thailand, meditating with Buddhist monks, or learning about traditional healing rituals with witch doctors in Tanzania, we are always DOWN for an exciting adventure. If we get to challenge ourselves and learn something new along the way, all the better!

We’ve been traveling as much as possible during our 15+ years together, but life hasn’t always been sunshine and rainbows. We’ve both had our share of struggles with substance abuse and poor coping mechanisms which brought us to some scary places. After deciding enough was enough at different times, we both found new life through sobriety and a spiritual program of recovery which has included the 12 steps, Buddhism, adventure, plant medicine, and yoga. Yoga and outdoor adventures continue to be of huge importance in our healing journeys. We’re dedicated to breaking stigmas against addiction in this world and passing on the hope and freedom of sobriety to others with the same struggle. Thus, Bigger Life Adventures retreats are devoted to serving those in recovery from anything!

Bigger Life Adventures was born from a spark of inspiration to combine all of our passions and share them with our friends — travel, yoga, adventure, recovery “outside the box”, cultural immersion, and to promote sustainability and environmentalism along the way. Doing this work of enabling others to have a life-changing travel experience truly lights OUR souls on fire!

We live in Williams, Arizona and run our retreat property, Grand Canyon Eco Retreat, from May through November. We still travel as much as we can, both while hosting retreats and for our own adventures! We are #vanlifers, campers, backpackers, hikers, trail runners, climbers, aspiring tiny house builders, and storytellers. You can read more about our travels on our blog!

Please, come join us on an adventure and discover for yourself how you can change your story!

Carrie Hoffman

Trauma-Informed E-RYT500, YACEP, Ayurvedic Health Counselor, Wilderness First Responder, Boss-lady

Carrie has been practicing yoga for twelve years, teaching for six, and can personally attest to the transformational power of the practice. She loves enabling students to explore yoga beyond the mat and discover a mind-body-spirit practice that works for them!

In 2018 she obtained her Yoga Alliance RYT 200 from Quantum Yoga School under teacher Lara Baumann and in 2021 her RYT 500 from Lakshmi Rising School of Yoga and Wellness under Dr. Liz Lindh. She’s additionally trained in trauma-informed yoga, yoga for recovery, teaching yoga to teens, and yoga for mental health.

She teaches at several studios in Northern Arizona, in juvenile detention centers and recovery centers, and loves traveling to teach special workshops and teacher trainings. She’s also an 800-hour certified Ayurvedic Health Counselor through Joyful Belly Ayurveda and offers personal Ayurvedic consultations and workshops. Aside from yoga, she loves traveling, trail running, potlucks with friends, chocolate, and petting everyone’s dogs.

Zach Minnich aka “Zach of All Trades” or “Zachalicious”

Vegan Chef, Meditation and Breathwork Guide, Reiki Master, Wilderness First Responder, All-Around Handyman

Zach is a plant-based chef and Holistic Nutritionist with a specialty in creating healthy and delicious vegan eats! His favorite cuisine is Mexican and he’s also a passionate “fruit hunter” so if you come on any of our retreats south of the border you are sure to enjoy his best menus!

He also loves reaching alternate states of consciousness and has been studying various forms of meditation and shamanism for 6+ years. He is also a Reiki Master offering energy healing sessions on many of our retreats. His other passions include rock climbing, playing piano and guitar, hiking, and building our sustainable off-grid kingdom at Grand Canyon Eco Retreat.

Zach is currently building our tiny house and finishing writing his first cookbook! (Pre-order here!)

Astrid Alvarez

Trauma-Informed RYT200, Vibes Director

Born and raised in the beautiful mountains of Northern Arizona, Astrid is a fiery spirit who is always down for an epic adventure! By temperament and personality, a nurturer and educator, she has a great deal of experience working with those with intellectual and physical disabilities, and has always found great joy and fulfillment in helping others gain the skills, self-confidence, and knowledge needed to successfully deal with life’s challenges. These experiences led her to become an Emergency Medical Technician, and she spent more than three years working as an EMT on an ambulance and in the Emergency Department in a hospital.

Astrid’s first-hand knowledge of working with people in crisis has encouraged her to explore more proactive and holistic approaches to maintaining health and well-being. When combined with her commitment to sober living, this search guided her to attend a yoga retreat in Joshua Tree, hosted by Carrie and Zach back in 2020.

Since then, she has participated in a variety of Bigger Life Adventure retreats, which have only deepened her love for yoga, adventure, and
travel. Astrid has found an immense amount of healing and growth on Bigger Life Adventure retreats, and is now excited to support others on their healing journeys. In early 2024, Astrid obtained her Yoga Teacher Training at Lakshmi Rising School of Wellness,under Dr. Liz Lindh and Carrie Hoffman, and is excited to continue to expand her yoga practice by teaching others. Astrid is also an avid athlete who has long played competitive soccer, loves hiking in the mountains with her two pups, and is a bike tourer who has successfully completed the TransAmerica Cross Country Bicycle Trail.

Carrie Hoffman

Trauma-Informed E-RYT500, YACEP, Ayurvedic Health Counselor, Wilderness First Responder, Boss-lady

Zach Minnich aka “Zach of All Trades” or “Zachalicious”

Vegan Chef, Meditation and Breathwork Guide, Reiki Master, Wilderness First Responder, All-Around Handyman

Astrid Alvarez

Trauma-Informed RYT200, Vibes Director

Where else to find us?

Listen to Carrie on these other podcasts:

Find us elsewhere on the web!