Meet El Camino, The Travel Brand for Bold Women

"El Camino is a travel platform for the bold, modern woman traveler. We don’t just preach off-the-beaten-path, we live it, we breathe it, we reimagine it," says El Camino co-founder Katalina Mayorga. Photo by Jennifer Chase.

Dispatch Firozah Najmi

El Camino is a travel company designed with the bold woman traveler in mind. We chatted with co-founders Justin Bridges and Katalina Mayorga about the brand, their small group trips, and new subscription service.

What inspired you to create El Camino, the brand?

Mayorga: As a woman traveler, we saw that there was no travel company that had a profound understanding of the needs of women travelers when it came to safety. Safety is one of the biggest pain points when it comes to travel. We knew we could address many of these issues by empowering our travelers.

Empowerment isn’t about alleviating all safety concerns, instead, it’s about being better informed, providing strong connections, and truly being there when we’re needed.

El Camino has led small group trips to Oaxaca, Cuba, Colombia, and more. Photo by Jennifer Chase.

"We are giving women the best alternative to traditional travel offerings, making sure they don’t have to sacrifice quality simply because of gender," says Mayorga. Photo by Jacki Potorke.

What makes El Camino different from other travel brands?

We are building the best, most inclusive brand and community for women travelers. We’ve started with small group travel experiences—creating off-the-beaten path itineraries, taking women to destinations where they can get culturally immersed and have life-changing moments. The trips are our lifeblood because they illustrate what El Camino is all about: providing women with connection, fun, and purpose. One of the cool things about most of our trips is that we provide a photographer so you can focus more on being present and less about recording every moment of the journey for Instagram.

When you travel with El Camino, you'll get off-the-beaten path experiences, tailor-made by local experts to avoid tourist traps. Photo by Jennifer Chase.

What’s the best feedback you’ve ever received about your trips?

Our travelers have created meaningful friendships with each other, both online and offline. They’ve been inspired to leave dead end jobs, and pursue lifelong dreams often left indefinitely on the back burner. We get so excited when we hear that being part of our community allows women to be fully immersed in a destination, unlike any other journeys before.

How do you want to grow El Camino in the future?

We are looking to expand our brand by listening to our customers, and eventually meeting them everywhere they’d like to be. We’re starting with small group travel experiences, premium content, and an inclusive community of like-minded women.

"We believe that the future is slow and regenerative travel, truly honoring the places you choose to visit and experience," says Mayorga. Photo by Jess Onesto.

The El Camino Travel Clubhouse, the brand's new premium service, gives travelers a "one-stop digital shop of unparalleled community, experiences, and travel resources that they cannot find anywhere else." Photo by Jess Onesto.

Tell me more about El Camino’s new subscription service.

The El Camino Clubhouse comes with thoughtful travel guides revealing the hidden gems of our favorite destinations, access to a community platform where you can connect with the world’s best destination experts and like-minded travelers, and exclusive travel opportunities.