Meet The Founder Behind the Brand
Katalina Mayorga, Founder of El Camino
Hi, I’m Katalina — lovely to meet you over the internet.
I’m the Colombian American Founder of El Camino Travel, and I never set out to start a travel company. But a conversation with a taxi driver in Guatemala—about the drug violence shaping his community—changed the course of my life.
I was born and raised in Washington State to Colombian parents and spent most of my adult life in Washington, D.C. At 20, I took a six-month break from university to backpack solo across South America. When I ran out of money, I spent six unforgettable weeks working at a hostel in Buenos Aires—trading room and board for boxed wine and empanadas. Don’t worry, I still graduated on time—with a B.A. in International Studies and Human Rights and later an M.A. in Global Environmental Policy.
Before launching El Camino, I worked alongside incredible innovators in Brazil, Peru, Uganda, Sudan, and Haiti—people fighting every day to build a more equitable world. They taught me to think boldly, dream audaciously, and anchor everything in purpose—values that continue to shape my work at El Camino.
Because of the brand we’ve built and my deep ties across the travel, hospitality, and creative industries, I’m often invited to the world’s leading conferences and behind closed doors with extraordinary individuals doing remarkable things. Those experiences, insights, and connections directly inform every trip we design—ensuring that El Camino travelers gain rare access to the people and places shaping culture around the world.
When I’m not on the road, you’ll probably find me in a hot-yoga class, writing to clear my head, or watching cute animal videos with my husband on Sunday mornings. I was recently named one of Condé Nast Traveler’s 15 Most Influential Women in Travel and have been featured in Marie Claire, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Skift for my work at the intersection of travel and entrepreneurship.
I currently sit on the Advisory Board for the Tory Burch Foundation, the Soho House City Without Houses Committee, and the Board of Champions for Global Glimpse, a nonprofit ensuring students from all economic backgrounds experience the life-changing power of travel.
One of the greatest joys of building El Camino has been meeting the extraordinary travelers who join our journeys—and often becoming lifelong friends along the way. I hope our paths cross in some far-flung corner of the world soon.