By Program Type

Rites of Passage has been sponsoring women's vision quests for over 10 years, offering a safe, powerful, wild and beautiful way for women to discover themselves, their inner callings, and their relations to the natural world of beauty and wonder.  For more information, see our article on Women's Vision Quest.

UPDATE 5/12/12:  This program is full.  Email us if you want to be put on a waiting list. 

Co-leaders:  Linda Sartor holds a Ph.D. in Integral Studies and an M.S. in environmental education, and is a faculty member at two graduate institutions. She has been leading wilderness trips for more than 15 years and has led Vision Quest programs for 10 years, having trained with Rites of Passage and the School of Lost Borders. When she is not in the wilderness, Linda is teaching research methods and supervises thesis/dissertation work. Linda has also been spending about half of her time in Sri Lanka as part of the Nonviolent Peace Force, a group of 18 internationals chosen to provide a protective presence to support civil society and to establish and maintain peace and justice. With a passion for collaboration, Linda works toward facilitating groups with the intention that each individual member bring forth his/her own contribution in service of the group's purpose as well as having the group support its individuals in their unique purposes.

Kaysie Dannemiller, M.S. began working in the wilderness nearly 20 years ago after a river trip in the Grand Canyon that transformed her life. She began by taking a group of troubled youth from Detroit to Northern Michigan and Canada for backpacking, climbing, canoeing, and therapy. She has since worked with a variety of adventure and wilderness based programs. She has apprenticed with Outdoor Leadership Training Seminars, earned a Masters degree in Ecopsychology where she focused on nature as a place of healing for people with life-threatening illness, and trained as a guide with the School of Lost Borders . She has worked extensively with programs that bring women and girls into the wilderness, including work with GirlVentures, Women’s Wilderness Institute, and the School of the Living Springs. She is also certified as a Wilderness First Responder. Kaysie believes that Nature is the place where we deeply connect with our essential selves and from this we find purpose and joy.

Tuition: $400 (vs. our normal tuition of $1,245), includes food (except 2-3 restaurant meals), follow-up individual and group contacts. We are offering this program based on the idea of a "Gift Economy." We wish to use this program to practice giving and receiving from the heart, with no set obligation. With this approach, reciprocity is a key element. We will charge only $400 upfront, just to cover our basic costs. At the end of the program, we'll invite members of the quest group to consider their ability to pay, value received, and willingness to support our work in the world, and to offer a reciprocal gift for what has been received. This will be an opportunity to give without any coercion or expectation.