Nicaragua, For Big Thinkers and Doers
Move through Granada's colonial streets, the volcanic islands of Lake Nicaragua, and the kind of stillness that gives a bigger idea room to become a real thing.
A Week Off the Grid, On the Idea
Granada's colonial center — courtyards, lake views, streets that empty out once the afternoon heat breaks — has spent decades pulling in people looking to think differently than they do at home. This retreat traces one week inside that rhythm, led personally by Katalina, founder of El Camino Travel, moving from a grounding question about what success actually means to you, through testing an idea, building the business model behind it, and naming what makes your approach different — closing with a commitment made out loud to the group that helped you get there.
About your trip
The retreat is built in Granada to give you real, undistracted time with your idea — mornings that open with a session and nothing else competing for your attention, no inbox, no meetings stacked behind it. Katalina, founder of El Camino Travel, leads the week personally, having facilitated this same work for entrepreneurs before. Each session leaves you with something concrete: a tested idea, a working model, a clearer sense of what makes your approach different — not a notebook of good intentions you'll set aside once you're home.
You're not learning from just one person here, either. You're learning from the small group of dreamers and doers sitting around the table with you, and from Granada's own — a restaurant run by friends who turned their own vision into a business, a local guide and his wife building their own ventures in the community, a collective of women running a printmaking studio. A full day workshopping out on the small islands of Las Isletas, a sunset walk that turns into dinner with a local entrepreneur, a lagoon inside a volcanic crater closing out the week — Granada does some of the work for you too, making you feel inspired but grounded at the same time. You'll be based across Tribal Hotel, Casa Tropical, and Casa Violeta — three design-led properties a few blocks apart in the historic center.
What’s included
A professional photographer documenting the retreat so you can stay present
Round-trip airport transfers
All retreat sessions and facilitation, plus all activities listed in the itinerary
Accommodations across Tribal Hotel, Casa Tropical, and Casa Violeta
4 breakfasts, 3 lunches, and 3 dinners
El Camino's exclusive Eat, Play, Shop Guide
An experienced host with you throughout the retreat
Not included
Airfare in and out of the country
Incidental expenses
Alcohol except where noted
Tourist Visa
Tips for drivers, local hosts, and photographers. We will provide suggested amounts.
Travelers must provide evidence that they have purchased travel insurance for the duration of their journey. If you’d like to upgrade to a single room, you can add this during the booking process. If you need assistance please contact our Customer Success team.
Itinerary
Flight
☞ Please remember to book separately
Day 1
☞ Arrival in Granada (MGA) | Sunset at the Lake | Welcome Dinner: Why We're Here
Day 2
☞ Visions & Values Workshop | Idea Validation | Sunset Walking Tour & Dinner with Our Local Host's Family
Day 3
☞ A Day on Las Isletas | Business Model Workshop | Creative Block Busting
Day 4
☞ Personal Brand & Story Workshop | Journey to Laguna de Apoyo | Goodbye Dinner: Commitment Setting
Day 5
☞ Departure from Granada | Airport Transfer
All trips include a professional photographer, so you can stay fully present. Photos from the journey are shared with the group during and after the trip.
More details in the FAQ below.
Your Itinerary
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Arrival in Granada & Sunset on the Lake
¡Bienvenidos a Nicaragua! Land in Managua and transfer overland to Granada, watching the scenery shift from the capital's sprawl into volcanic hillsides and colonial rooftops as you near the city. The rest of the afternoon is yours to settle in and adjust to the pace of the week ahead.
As the light starts to turn, head to one of Katalina's favorite spots on Lake Nicaragua — no sign out front, plastic chairs, a cold drink in hand — to watch the sunset fall over the water and the fishermen's boats coming in for the evening. It's one of the most beautiful ways to kick off a retreat, and Katalina rarely misses it when she's in town.
Dinner follows at one of our favorite restaurants in the city, run by close friends of ours who turned their own passion into a hospitality business — one of the top dining experiences in the country, built on the same kind of thinking this week is about: a clear vision, carried through in the food, the drinks, and the way the space itself makes you feel. It's the right place to kick off a week built around turning an idea into something real. Over the meal, we'll go around and talk through what each person is here for, what they're hoping to walk away with, and the idea or business each of you is carrying into the week.
Accommodations: Tribal Hotel, Casa Tropical, or Casa Violeta — three design-led properties a few blocks apart in Granada's historic center
Meals Included: Dinner
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Visions & Values Workshop | Idea Validation | Sunset Walking Tour & Dinner with Our Local Host's Family
Start the morning with the Visions & Values Workshop, the session that opens the week's real work. Before anyone maps out a business model or thinks about revenue, this is where you sit with a more basic question: what does success actually mean to you — not the number everyone else is chasing, but the one that's actually yours. Everything the rest of the week builds toward runs back through the answer you land on here.
After lunch, move into the Idea Validation session, the point where you separate what you believe about your idea from what's actually true. Most early businesses don't fail because the execution was weak — they fail because the assumption underneath was never tested. This is where that gets checked.
As the afternoon cools and the light turns gold over the city, set out on a walking tour led by one of our favorite local guides, someone who's led no shortage of El Camino trips through these same streets. Late afternoon is the best time to see Granada — the heat breaks, the color of the buildings deepens, and the city slows into evening around you.
Along the way, stop in at a printmaking studio run by a collective of young female artists working in engraving and screen printing. Spend time with the women themselves and hear how their work took shape.
From there, head to your guide's home for dinner, cooked by him and his wife, who are entrepreneurs in their own right. Over the meal, hear more about what the two of them have built — both in their own work and in their community here in Granada.
Accommodations: Tribal Hotel, Casa Tropical, or Casa Violeta — three design-led properties a few blocks apart in Granada's historic center
Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner
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A Day on Las Isletas | Business Model Workshop | Creative Block Busting
After breakfast, head out onto Lake Nicaragua for the day, to Las Isletas — some 350 small islands scattered just off Granada's shore, formed centuries ago by an eruption of the nearby Mombacho Volcano. Some islands are barely large enough for a single house; others hold nothing but egrets, mangrove roots, and the occasional howler monkey. The whole day happens out here, on and around the water.
Settle in for the Business Model Workshop. An idea isn't a business until you can answer three questions: who pays you, for what, and why. This session builds that model from scratch, in plain terms — no frameworks borrowed from companies ten times your size. You leave with a working draft, not a worksheet you'll set aside once you're home.
Lunch is out on the islands, in the middle of the workshopping — no need to break for a transfer back to the city.
In the afternoon, move into Creative Block Busting. The thing keeping most people from their next move usually isn't a strategy problem — it's the overthinking, the self-doubt, the perfectionism that keeps a good idea stuck in a notebook instead of out in the world. This session treats that resistance as something to work through directly, not white-knuckle past.
A sound bath follows, giving the day's work somewhere to settle before you head back to Granada for the evening. Dinner is on your own — your Eat, Play, Shop Guide has our favorite recommendations around the city.
Accommodations: Tribal Hotel, Casa Tropical, or Casa Violeta — three design-led properties a few blocks apart in Granada's historic center
Meals Included: Breakfast and Lunch
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Personal Brand & Story | Journey to Laguna de Apoyo | Goodbye Dinner: Commitment Setting
Start the morning with an optional yoga session, easing into the day before the week's final working session begins.
Move into Personal Brand & Story. Before you can sell anything, you have to be able to say — clearly, out loud — why you're building it and what makes your approach different. Most early entrepreneurs have never had to put that into words for anyone outside their own head. This is where you get there.
By late morning, travel out to Laguna de Apoyo, an azure lagoon formed inside a volcanic crater, ringed by green hills and open sky. Lunch is served lakeside, with the rest of the afternoon open to swim, float, or simply sit with the water before the week closes.
As evening falls, gather for the Goodbye Dinner: Commitment Setting — the retreat's final session, and the one that turns a week of reflection into forward motion. Everyone at the table names one concrete next step they're taking home, spoken aloud, in front of the group that just spent the week helping them think it through.
Accommodations: Tribal Hotel, Casa Tropical, or Casa Violeta — three design-led properties a few blocks apart in Granada's historic center
Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner
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There's no session this morning — just breakfast, and whatever time you need before your transfer to the airport in Managua.
Carry with you the idea you arrived with, sharper now, and the commitment you said out loud at the table last night.
Meals Included: Breakfast
Accommodations
Please be aware that while we have reserved these hotels, there may be rare instances where changes are required due to unforeseen circumstances. In such cases, we will do our best to secure comparable accommodations, but due to timing, availability, and local infrastructure, options may be limited. Rest assured, we’ll do everything possible to ensure you have a comfortable and enjoyable stay.
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A seven-room boutique hotel built around a lush courtyard and pool, where mid-century furniture designed by the owners sits alongside handcrafted Nicaraguan tile and textiles, steps from Granada's historic center. The hotel has appeared on the cover of Condé Nast Traveller (UK).
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A four-bedroom private house with its own pool, built by the same team behind Tribal Hotel, a few blocks away in the historic center.
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A three-bedroom private home with its own pool, owned by Katalina herself, a few blocks from Tribal Hotel in the heart of Granada. The house has been featured in Architectural Digest Latin America, Architectural Digest US, Vogue, and Condé Nast Traveler.
Important Notes
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Our style of travel is adventurous and a little unpredictable, and it isn't for everyone. All of this works best when everyone starts from the same page. That's why we ask every traveler to read through the following and sign off on it before the trip — less fine print, more a shared understanding of what we're all showing up for. Travel like this is a shared experience, built together with your fellow travelers, your local hosts, and our team, and it works best when everyone shows up ready to be part of it.
Here's what that readiness sounds like, in your own words:
I am open minded, inherently curious, and enjoy indulging in the moment.
I find joy in stepping outside of my comfort zone, love trying new things, and am excited to explore a culture completely different from my own.
I have read the full itinerary and looked at the style of accommodations. All looks good to me.
I understand that I am visiting a culture different from my own, and that things may run differently than they do at home. I'll meet these moments with patience and curiosity rather than frustration.
I understand that last-minute changes to the itinerary or accommodations are always possible, and that the El Camino team will communicate changes as soon as they can.
I understand that flights get delayed and weather doesn't cooperate. I'm ready to roll with it, the same as I would on any trip. Some of the best memories come from things not going as planned.
I understand that I can opt out of any activity on the itinerary, whenever I want. (I'll just let my guide know when I do.)
If an issue comes up on the trip, I'll bring it to my local host directly, so the El Camino team can address it and make things right.
I am excited to meet travelers from all walks of life. Inclusivity is the name of the game here, and everyone has a seat at the table.
I'm ready to meet adventurous, thoughtful travelers like myself, and to lift them up as we make memories in this destination together.
Thank you for taking the time to read this closely. Please read more about our Traveler Values and how to be a good trip mate here: elcamino.travel/traveler-values
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Most business retreats are either a vacation with a workshop bolted on, or a conference room moved somewhere warm. Neither actually does what a week away is supposed to do. We built this one differently — five days in one place, with sessions that build directly on each other rather than a loose stack of talks, and a city that's doing real work alongside the facilitation rather than just sitting in the background of it.
We also didn't design this to be efficient. A full day of business model workshopping happens out on the water at Las Isletas, not in a hotel conference room. A session on creative resistance is followed by a sound bath, not a coffee break. The pacing is slower than a typical retreat on purpose — depth over density, the same instinct that shapes every El Camino trip.
Groups stay small, Katalina leads every session herself, and the week closes with each person naming one concrete thing they're taking home — not just a folder of notes, but a next step said out loud to the group who helped them get there.
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Katalina Mayorga, founder and CEO of El Camino Travel, leads every session of this retreat personally. Before starting El Camino, she worked with social entrepreneurs and enterprises building products and services at the base of their communities, helping them think more strategically about their businesses so they could grow their impact. Since founding El Camino, she's been tapped by the U.S. Department of Commerce to lead workshops across Central Asia for emerging women entrepreneurs in the region — work she's carried directly into this retreat.
Katalina has built El Camino into one of the most recognized consumer brands for women travelers and was named one of the 15 most influential women in travel by Condé Nast Traveler. She serves on the Advisory Board to the President of the Tory Burch Foundation, helping ensure women entrepreneurs in its network have the resources and capital to grow; sits on Global Glimpse's Board of Champions, supporting youth leadership and global education; is a Committee Member for Soho House & Co's Cities Without Houses initiative in the Northeast region. She's a regular voice in publications like the New York Times, Vogue, and the Washington Post on rethinking the consumer travel experience. Before El Camino, she built a career in foreign policy and as a union organizer — a background that still shows up in how she thinks about access, community, and what it means to build something with intention, not just scale.
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All our small group trips include a professional photographer. This isn't about content creation or social media — it's about presence. Having a photographer allows travelers to fully experience a place and the people they meet, without feeling pressure to document every moment themselves.
The photographers we work with are highly respected professionals who know how to move quietly, capture real moments, and tell the story of a journey with sensitivity and care.
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Fly into and out of Augusto C. Sandino International Airport (MGA) in Managua.
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Arrival: We encourage travelers to arrive no later than 3pm. This gives you enough time to settle in before the welcome drinks.
Departure: You're free to book your departure flight from Managua at any time on the final day. There's no group activity scheduled on Day 5, so your morning is flexible right up until your transfer to the airport.
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This retreat is designed for the entrepreneur who's ready to give a big idea real, focused time — whether that idea is still pre-launch, an early-stage business finding its footing, or an existing business you're rethinking from the ground up.
If you're drawn to structured reflection, honest feedback, and time away from the noise of daily work to actually think through what you're building, this is the right week.
This retreat is ideal if you:
Have an idea you haven't been able to execute on and want real time to work through it
Are running an early-stage business and want to pressure-test the model behind it
Are rethinking an existing business and need space to reconsider its direction
Appreciate structure — sessions that build on each other — over a loose, unstructured week away
Want honest input from a small group of other founders, not just solo reflection
Are comfortable being direct about where your idea or business actually stands
Value substance over polish, and are looking for real output, not just inspiration
These sessions are built to flex across different stages of a business, though we'll be direct about it: this week works best for people early enough in the process that a week of focused reflection can genuinely shift the shape of what they're building.
This retreat is also well suited for solo travelers — most attendees come alone, and the small group format means real relationships form quickly.
If you're looking for a passive, sightseeing-first trip, or a retreat that's mostly R&R with a workshop label on it, this isn't that. This is a working week.
Please review our Traveler Values before booking.
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We are not a luxury travel company, but we're far from budget. In Nicaragua, "high–low" becomes a working session on the water and a home-cooked meal at your local host's table.
We believe the richest understanding of a place comes from contrasts:
A full day of business model workshopping out on Las Isletas, and a home-cooked dinner in a local family's kitchen
A sound bath after a session on creative resistance, and cocktails at a hole-in-the-wall spot on the lake
A polished dinner at one of the country's top restaurants, and a printmaking studio run by a women's collective
Structured, facilitator-led sessions, and long stretches of unscheduled time to actually sit with what came up in them
In Nicaragua, the work isn't a highlight of the trip — it's the lens through which everything else, from the lake to the volcano to the people you meet along the way, is understood.
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Every traveler on this retreat has their own room. You'll be spread across three properties, all within a block of each other in Granada's historic center:
Tribal Hotel — a seven-room boutique hotel built around a lush courtyard and pool, with mid-century furniture designed by the owners alongside handcrafted Nicaraguan tile
Casa Tropical — a four-bedroom private house with its own pool, built by the same team behind Tribal Hotel
Casa Violeta — a three-bedroom private home with its own pool, owned by Katalina herself
Each property has its own pool, and daily housekeeping and breakfast are included at all three — private homes included, not just the hotel.
Being spread across a block rather than one single property doesn't change how connected the week feels — sessions, meals, and activities happen together regardless of where you're sleeping that night.
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No more than 14 travelers, 1 ECT host, and 1 photographer.
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A 30% deposit is due at booking. The remaining balance is due 90 days before departure. Please read our Booking Terms and Conditions for more information about our cancellation policy.
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Our Nicaragua retreat is lightly active, with most of the week's structure built around sessions rather than physical activity. Still, there's movement built into most days:
Walking up to 2–3 miles on Granada's cobblestone streets, including the sunset walking tour
Getting in and out of boats for the Las Isletas excursion and the trip out to Laguna de Apoyo
Standing or sitting for extended periods during workshop sessions
Optional yoga and a sound bath, both low-impact and entirely opt-in
Swimming or floating at the laguna, if you choose to get in the water
This is not a physically demanding retreat, but it does involve a full, structured week — long working sessions paired with time outdoors rather than downtime built around rest.
If you have concerns about the activity level, recent surgeries, or mobility issues, please reach out to us at info@elcamino.travel before booking so we can ensure the retreat is a good fit.