Packraft Trips with Land Water Adventures
6-minute read
Land Water Adventures is a Germany-based outfitter that provides single-day and multi-day land-water packrafting expeditions and trainings. They’ve successfully carved out a niche serving beginning to advanced paddlers across Europe and into Canada.
Land Water Adventures (LWA) is a passion company founded and owned by Sebastian Schmidt. As an avid outdoorsman, he finds great personal satisfaction in helping others discover the love of wilderness travel through packrafting.
LWA specializes in providing courses, tours and expeditions suitable for advanced whitewater paddlers down to novices who’ve never slept outside before. Their team helps everyone feel welcome, have fun, learn new skills and enjoy nature.
Even while in Slovenia guiding a whitewater trip, Sebastian took the time for an interview with us. Here’s our conversation with him:
AQUA BOUND: What prompted you to start Land Water Adventures?
SEBASTIAN: The idea has been in me since about 2010. I have done sports, expeditions and generally trying to find my mental and physical limits in the outdoors for most of my life. Paddling was part of this, both on calm and wild waters.
While following quite a straight path professionally through school, university, PhD and then taking up a research position leading a small team in flow simulation—life has its funny twists. But this was just not quite me and so I started taking people with me on outdoor adventures. And I loved it.
Enabling someone to do something they wouldn't have dared themselves to do and bringing them places they would have never thought they could get to is a very strong, almost addictive thing.
So I said farewell to the professional life as a researcher in 2012 and founded Land Water Adventures while being formally educated as a wilderness guide and whitewater trip leader.
Sebastian Schmidt, founder and owner of Land Water Adventures
AQUA BOUND: Have you always focused on packrafting?
SEBASTIAN: Initially my focus was on the outdoors in general. I am a passionate biker, paddler, skier and trail runner. Anything that allows me to be independent of external logistics fascinates me. In 2012 I accidentally stumbled upon packrafts—then still very unknown in Europe. Camping at a European whitewater river, retrospectively saying, changed my life.
After 12 years of mostly being in packrafts, I am still blown away by the possibilities and freedom they allow. So very early I decided to focus on packrafting only. Since 2014 we have been 100% packrafting and having a blast.
AQUA BOUND: Do you serve mostly beginning or advanced paddlers on your trips?
SEBASTIAN: That is ever-changing. In the beginning, we had mostly people who were very experienced in sports and outdoors but not in paddling, because kayaking and packrafting were still separate worlds.
Also, we had then only offered the upper range (regarding difficulty) of our trips: Iceland, Norway, multi-day and whitewater. When we extended this down to much more accessible day trips and beginner courses, people who had never even touched a paddle before started joining our trips.
Some of those have now been paddling intensively with us for years and have grown into experienced paddlers. One thing we are all very honoured by is how often people return. The majority of people who paddle with us each year are returning guests. Some have been on trips with us 10, 20, 30 and even 40 times. That is when guests turn into friends.
AQUA BOUND: Where do your guests come from?
SEBASTIAN: Mostly from Germany and German-speaking countries as well as the neighbouring European countries (Belgium, France, Poland, Netherlands, et cetera). Before the pandemic, we had a rise in international guests and fortunately, starting middle of last year, we are seeing that again. We have even had a few people from the US joining us in Norway, in the Alps etc. while combining it with larger trips to Europe.
We received a testimonial in the summer of 2024 from US participant Wesley and his mom on a mother-son trip on our 9-day Whitewater Packrafting Training Alpenreise. They flew all the way from the US to join our training and we had a great time with the two of them, on the water and in camps. Right after their trip, Wesley's feedback reached us via Google:
"My experience with Land-Water Adventures was better than words could describe. We flew from the USA to do a 9-day course in the German/Austrian Alps. You really feel that the guides work hard and we always felt taken care of. The landscape was amazing and beautiful. We shared meals and laughs as a group.
"On top of it all, with the structure and guidance from Land Water Adventures, I saw significant progression in my pack rafting skills! Exactly what I was looking to build with the added-on bonus of great company that has created stories and experiences I will share and cherish for the rest of my life!"
AQUA BOUND: What trips do you recommend for English-speaking participants?
SEBASTIAN: All our guides are fluent in English and all courses and trainings, except the day trainings, can be held in dual languages. Especially on the whitewater trainings in the Alps and in Slovenia, this is not unusual.
Whenever a non-German speaker joins a training we'll carry it out dual language. So I would recommend picking the location and course that you desire: Be it alpine whitewater, multi-day training or expedition to Albania, Norway, Iceland or Canada.
AQUA BOUND: How popular is packrafting in your part of Europe?
SEBASTIAN: This is always hard to judge. One might tend to overestimate the popularity of a niche when you are part of the niche. But I think it is safe to say that it has seen a rise we haven't expected within the outdoor sector of life.
The fact that paddle manufacturers have started to visually include packrafts in their marketing over the last few years. The fact that 4-piece paddles have moved from kayak-spare to packraft paddles. And the fact that we are being asked less about the rafts alongside rivers—they all speak to its growing popularity.
AQUA BOUND: How did you get connected with Aqua Bound?
SEBASTIAN: Well, without Susie [Susie Kadlec, our International Sales & Marketing Manager] it wouldn't exist. I stumbled upon the Whiskey paddle a few years ago and thought this could be our perfect non-whitewater expedition paddle. I reached out for information. From the beginning, the exchange was very kind, very human and just felt good. It was Susie who initially answered my emails and it is still Susie who I write to first for anything.
But it didn't stop there. I found all the people from Aqua Bound whom I met to be kind and open. It feels like you are communicating with your friend who happens to build world-class paddles. And now after years of bugging from my side, I can go on expedition with a 4-piece bent shaft paddle. Bam! So I am hoping for many more years of this great collaboration.
Learn More about Land Water Adventures
We’re thrilled Sebastian is helping spread the word about Aqua Bound to paddlers in Europe. And we couldn’t be happier to be part of him and his team at LWA giving their guests these memorable outdoor experiences.
Learn more about Land Water Adventures and all the opportunities they offer packraft enthusiasts and adventure lovers on their website, Facebook and Instagram.
All photos courtesy of Land Water Adventures.
What paddling questions can our friendly Customer Service team help you with? Contact us here: 715-755-3405 or [email protected]
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