THIS IS HOW A FEW BRILLIANTLY WILD HUMANS NAVIGATED THE PAVED WORLD TO FIND EACH OTHER
LUMINARIA'S TIMELINE
Nikki van Schyndel hears the call of the wild from a backyard Rowan tree. The unbelievable experience compels her to eventually walk away from the American dream life and begin her naturalist and survival training.
Nikki becomes a program designer and lead instructor for Wolf Camp and the School of Natural Science, inspiring the next generation of earth skills educators.
The idea of LUMINARIA is born after Nikki watches the first episode of the reality show Survivor.
Nikki abandons herself in the wilderness and survives off the land and sea with stone-tools and primitive technology for nearly 2 years. Her feral cat Scout traded her mice for clams until she learned how to thrive in ways she had never felt in life before. >>> 13 year-old Patrick arrives at Wolf Camp and attends “Secrets of the Ancient Scout,” a program promising to teach the art of invisibility. He can’t wait to bring this promise back to his hometown where he imagines dominating paintball matches.
Patrick approaches Wolf Camp’s Director and inquires about the possibility of becoming a Youth Mentor. He is told he will “never be mature enough, let alone become an instructor.”
Nikki returns to Wolf Camp (camp name Wren Faerie Foxglove) and meets Patrick (camp name Sasquatch) and immediately thinks, “Here’s a brilliant kid smarter than me, he’s going to put me to the test, this is gonna be great.” Patrick becomes the school’s most exceptional student, especially after surviving her horrid seaweed pudding debacle with hours of laughter.
Nikki officially moves to the wilderness community of Echo Bay and starts building her off-grid log cabin. >>> After two years defying the odds as a Youth Mentor and not yet a legal adult, Patrick completes the Teaching Apprenticeship and becomes the youngest Lead Instructor in Wolf Camp’s history.
Patrick takes a leave from college and moves into a tent in the woods. His goal is to become a “Professional Tracker.” He realizes he is limited by ignorance and needs a mentor. As his frustration builds, a friend asks if he wants to see his childhood idol, Eminem. Patrick drives from the forest to a music festival of 50,000+ people. He’s in the second row. Culture shock.
Nikki starts Echo Bay EcoVentures. Her 4-hour speed boat tours are embraced by the yachting community. “We had a life experience spending an afternoon with Echo Bay EcoVentures. Very few mini adventures could impart the fondness and knowledge of ancient culture, survival skills and plant life Nikki shared.” – Ric Forest (first guest and now longtime friend) >>> Patrick’s Wolf Camp ascension continues, his role expands to include Health and Logistics Coordinator and Staff Facilitator.
Nikki is booked for speaking events, documentaries, private trips and becomes a requested guide for adventure companies and luxury resorts. Her trips are written about in GQ India by Bollywood’s biggest star. >>> Patrick’s role with Wolf Camp further expands and he takes over training and mentoring of all new and returning staff members from Wolf Camp’s executive director.
Nikki runs overnight adventures to test her ideas and learns not everyone has owl-like night vision in order to hike in the dark without a flashlight.
Nikki knew LUMINARIA needed to find a survival spiderman for the team and it wouldn’t be easy. With feelers out, Patrick eventually meets Don Nguyen, a talented mountaineer, hunting guide and survival bushcrafter with inspiring stories to share. He even ate grubs like Pumbaa and Timon in the Disney’s Lion King while surviving in Namibia on the show Naked and Afraid. Hakuna Matata!
Permitting and community pressures shut down Echo Bay EcoVentures forever and halt the vision of LUMINARIA.
After saying, “No thank you,” for 5 years, Nikki agrees to participate on History Channel’s survival series Alone when she finally finds out she could win $500 000. >>>
After completing a graduate degree in Conflict and Dispute Resolution, Patrick becomes the Director of Overnight and Adult Programs for Wolf Camp for 1000 students.
Patrick sees Nikki on TV and reaches her on a horrible antenna and car battery phone system she set up in the wilderness. After hours of laughing, brainstorming and sharing where they were at with their skills, they realized they had a similar idea for a transformative new business.
As the entire world grinds to a halt in the midst of the crippling anxiety of a global pandemic, Patrick and his girlfriend move onto an overgrown, 15-acre property with no house. Fueled by adventure, exploration, and LUMINARIA ideals, Patrick spends the next two-years pushing the limits of human-nature connection while living full-time in a canvas tent. It’s incredible. >>> Nikki rents an apartment in the city for the first time and after numerous failed attempts she finally finds her birth family and learns about her Anishinaabe heritage.
The pandemic dramatically increased an awareness of the deep human need for nature connection and all we have lost. Ancient skills, mindsets and abilities are once again necessary and relevant for modern life.
The adventure travel company, LUMINARIA Wilderness Ventures is incorporated at the perfect time in history on Turtle Island.
Nikki meets Terry Burns while working as a survival consultant for ALONE. As they measured out Terry’s colored parachord for the show, Nikki knew immediately that Terry was one of the most extraordinary and humble hidden outdoorsman and “water whisperer” she had ever met.
Wanting to find another woman to work with, Nikki comes across a random quote about “being wild” by Laura Zerra. “This is her!” Not wanting to read about her on the internet or stalk her on social media, Nikki learns nothing more about her and decides if she’s meant to find her to join LUMINARIA, only an authentic meet-up will do.
Patrick and Nikki are hired by a production company to interview potential cast members for a new survival series and meet Herman Brar. No words can describe the magical moment when they all realized they spoke the same ancient language. The recording button was stopped while they shared sacred stories few ears can hear.
After 3 near misses, Nikki finally connects with Laura Zerra, who turns out is a good friend of Herman’s. She’s as cool as Nikki felt she would be. Lost in time, they share an instant and rare understanding and connection for the beauty and freedom of the wild within.
The Team meets together for the first time and LUMINARIA is finally launched to the world.
Launch was delayed to raise more money. Nikki and Patrick got jobs. Nikki became the Survival Producer for TV shows like Outlast on Netflix and Extracted on FOX and Patrick changed the lives of incarcerated young men as a mental health therapist.
