Take your pick of highlights during a trip itinerary by Amazon Andes Sky, a tour operator that specializes in travel to Ecuador. Guests can hike up one of the worlds highest active volcanoes, Cotopaxi, explore the capital city OF Quito, a UNESCO World Heritage site, and stand in both the Northern and Southern hemispheres at the same time.

- Jen Hoddevik, The Travel Yogi

But its even more memorable when you experience those spots while doing a yoga pose like Warrior II or downward dog even on a horseback ride while wearing chaps made of llama wool.

Our guests are learning how to use any space, anywhere, to allow their practice to flow into their daily lives, Nicole Will, a travel specialist and spokeswoman for Amazon Andes Sky, told FoxNews.com. They want to be active on vacation, to live an adventure, but also deepen their connection to their practice.

Indeed, the companys Yoga+Adventure trips demonstrate a growing trend in both travel and yoga circles: Sojourns that feature yoga prominently but stretch far beyond the traditional ashram retreat, spa stay, or beach escape to Bali, Hawaii or the Caribbean. Some tour operators are incorporating both yoga and adrenaline-pumping activities, including horseback riding, ziplining, and paddleboarding, into their itineraries, encouraging guests to venture off the mat and into the local culture and adventure offerings.

Theres this idea of a yoga retreat, where you spend some time on the beach, you do some yoga, and you go home, said Jen Hoddevik, also known as The Travel Yogi, who runs yoga-centric trips to destinations that include Santorini, Greece, and Ecuadors Galapagos Islands. And if thats what you want, its great. But the next step for yoga travel is doing things that are outside the yoga retreat box, like the Galapagos, like the Dolomites, like Patagonia. We call those yoga adventures.

Hoddeviks company offers both retreat and adventure trips, noting that the original destinations were more typical Mexico-ish locations before adding New Zealand, the Galapagos, and Santorini to the mix in her companys second year of operation. Currently, she offers guided trips to 11 destinations across the world, and the company is scheduled to lead its first trip to Iceland in September. Travelers crave yoga and yogis want to travel, so why not open the map when looking for a retreat? Hoddevik said.

At the same time, some tour operators that dont specifically focus on yoga have expanded their offerings to include wellness-style trips. One of those is Africa Adventure Consultants, an award-winning tour company based in Denver, which will introduce its new Tanzania Wellness Safari trips this year, with departures in June and September.

The companys president, Kent Redding, brought in Boulder-based yoga instructor Shannon Paige to help develop the itinerary, which will include daily yoga practices in Tanzanias spectacular Serengeti National Park, as well as the exotic spice island of Zanzibar. Other highlights on the 10-day itinerary are workshops with local experts in education, cooking, art and culture, plus meditation and massage/spa treatments.

An experience like a safari can be so overwhelming, and you come home and wish you had been more reflective, Paige said.

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