In 2013 I took a trip to New Zealand for 6 months. I was 17 years old and I went to do a semester of the last year of high school. I had never left Colombia alone, my country, but I felt very excited and with high expectations. Since I had already finished school in Rionegro, my city, there I only took cool subjects: photography, cooking, carpentry, English and one called Outdoor education. This last one was the best; it was not only “a note” but it showed me things that I had no idea I could like so much. I learned to rock climb, river kayak, hike, and survival camp. It is as if I have opened my eyes and my vision has become wider. Since then I realized that I loved nature and being in close contact with it, and that I wanted to spend as much time doing activities like these as much as possible. So I thought, this country is very organized in tourism and they are doing very well. It has 10 times less population than Colombia and its entire territory fits more than 4 times in that of Colombia. Why aren't we working on tourism?
We are the second most biodiverse country in the world, we have the greatest diversity of birds on the planet, an unexplored territory due to decades of violence, and every day we are closer to peace.
3 years later
After the trip to New Zealand I discovered a passion but I didn't know how to link it to my daily life and even to my work. In 2016 I began to study how tourism was developing and I found very good things but also a lot of informality, low-quality services and above all everyone doing exactly the same. I also found that the growth of tourism in Colombia was almost 3 times above the world average and that of any other country. That year I developed an academic project at the university to see if it was viable to create a tourism company. The answer? Absolutely! However, that year I was concentrating on finishing my degree so I didn't think about starting a business, but I knew I wanted to.
2 years later
I have a friend who has built many companies and is always looking for new opportunities. He had known for a long time about my idea of creating a company to provide cool experiences and he shared the perception that it could work. In March 2018 I called him to see if he had a project in mind to develop. I had almost finished university and was looking to start a business, because I knew I didn't want to work in a traditional company. That day we talked again about the idea of tourism and decided to investigate and make a decision. After a week I said yes and he said yes so we started working. Before our first formal meeting I knew who I wanted the third partner to be. He was a lifelong friend with whom he shared a passion for traveling, nature and entrepreneurship. He said yes immediately. To make a long story short, we worked together for 3 months but then we decided that the partnership was not working as expected and that it was best to separate and for me to continue with the project since it had been the idea. I got really stressed trying to make that decision because we are really good friends and I didn't want to hurt our friendship. The best thing is that in the end the two took things very well and we maintain our friendship.
6 months later
Nomad is successfully delivering experiences, growing and reinventing itself every day. I work every day with a motivation that I have never felt. I am absolutely happy with this project and wanted to share this story with my guests and anyone who might be interested.
What is the purpose of Nomad?
It was very difficult for me to decide what to study. I really liked business but I also felt very good and even had an obligation to help people who didn't have the same opportunities as I did. In the tourism sector I found a way to mix the two things. By taking people to places I make vulnerable communities visible, I promote their social development by making it possible for them to interact with people from all over the world, I offer a new source of income in a fun way and I also promote the creation of micro-economies within each destination.
Again, what is the purpose of Nomad?
Generate progress in each community we visit. I firmly believe that tourism can literally lift people out of poverty, improve their quality of life and offer new perspectives on reality. All this while my guests live an unforgettable experience and are part of the transformation that I want to achieve.
