Where Pilgrimage Meets Practice
Journeys rooted in relationship — with land, with culture, and with the deeper currents that shape how we live.
A Different Kind of Journey
Steppe & Soul is a series of immersive journeys designed at the intersection of pilgrimage and practice.
These experiences are not built as tours or itineraries to move through. They are designed as containers — where land, culture, and guided facilitation come together to create space for reflection, clarity, and transformation.
Each journey unfolds through direct encounter: with the landscape, with local traditions, and with the internal terrain each participant brings.
Founder & Story
Steppe & Soul began with a relationship to Mongolia that spans nearly two decades.
In 2006, Brandt first arrived in Mongolia through a study abroad program, drawn by a pull toward remote places, Tibetan Buddhism, and the cultures of the Siberian region. What began as curiosity quickly became something deeper — a sense of familiarity and connection that shaped the course of his work.
Over the years, that connection grew through lived experience: returning on a Fulbright scholarship, working on documentary projects, and forming long-term relationships with local families, guides, and teachers.
Steppe & Soul is a culmination of that relationship — bringing together years of facilitation work, deep connection to place, and a commitment to creating meaningful, shared experiences.
Today, Brandt’s work centers on facilitating immersive group experiences that support nervous system regulation, embodied awareness, and deeper connection—both individually and collectively.
These journeys bring together years of facilitation practice with long-standing relationships in Mongolia, creating experiences that integrate landscape, culture, and lived experience.
Collaborators
Steppe & Soul is made possible through collaboration with a network of local partners in Mongolia.
These include nomadic host families, experienced horse guides, Buddhist teachers, artists, and cultural figures — individuals with deep knowledge of the land and its traditions. Each journey is supported by these relationships, creating a more grounded and authentic experience.
In addition to these collaborations, Steppe & Soul works with select partner organizations internationally to bring small groups into these journeys.
The Work
At its core, this work is about relationship— with self, with place, and with each other.
Drawing from a background in facilitation, somatic work, and group process, each journey is designed as a held space where participants engage directly with both the outer landscape and their own internal experience.
The structure is intentional, but not rigid, allowing space for emergence, reflection, and integration.
The Land as Facilitator
The land is not a backdrop to these journeys — it is an active participant.
Approach & Ethics
This work is grounded in respect, humility, and long-standing relationships.
While Brandt has spent years in Mongolia, he approaches the work with the understanding that he is always a guest in this place. That perspective informs how the journeys are designed and facilitated.
Participants are guided to move through the land with the same orientation — with openness, respect, and a willingness to learn.
The experiences are built in collaboration with local hosts, guides, artists, and teachers, ensuring that the journeys are rooted in real relationships rather than surface-level interaction.
The Experience
Participants often leave with a renewed sense of connection — to the natural world, to themselves, and to what matters most.
There is a simplicity to the experience that creates space for clarity. A sense of vitality that comes from being immersed in landscape and shared experience.
For many, the journey becomes a point of reorientation — a return to something more essential.
Moments from the Field
Explore the Journeys
Each journey is distinct, shaped by place, people, and timing.
