Heart of Travel: Building a global community with local impact

Photo courtesy of Heart of Travel

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Chelsea Glass started Heart of Travel in 2017 with the guidance of her late mentor, Carlos Armas, and her friend, Ana “Chiva” Castillo. She did not want to start a simple tour company. She realized that tourism could be used to build bridges between cultures, support local communities, and develop lasting relationships. 

Today, eight years later, Heart of Travel has become a team of 14 people who demonstrate the potential for travel to have a positive impact. Currently, the company has expanded its portfolio to include Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, Peru, and Spain. Chile and Uruguay will be the new destinations starting next year. 

Heart of Travel was recognized as Sacramento’s Best Travel Agency in 2023 and 2024. It deals mainly with multi-day trips for small groups of eight to twelve people, which is in line with the company’s vision of uniting travelers with the local people. 

The impact on travelers

The demographic of the company has changed, according to the founder, Chelsea Glass. First, the group tours were mainly for travelers in their 50s, 60s, and 70s, but now the company is attracting more women in their 30s and 40s, who are embracing new ways of traveling and interacting with local cultures.

For Glass, this means transitioning from a “company you travel with once a year” to a company that provides “many doses of Heart of Travel experiences in a digital format” throughout the year. The company’s upcoming membership club is part of this vision. The objective is to maintain traveler engagement between trips with an online community, virtual cultural events, customized itineraries, and early access to tours. Glass expects this to extend the community-building experience of the group tour by creating ongoing community connections between tours. “We want people to feel like they’re part of something bigger,” Glass says.

Heart of Travel’s influence extends beyond just its travelers. In its eight years, the company has been committed to supporting small businesses and artisans in each of the regions it visits. For example, Heart of Travel works with Casa Flor Ixcaco, a textile cooperative in Guatemala. “We pay them for their time and incorporate lunch together into our visits,” Glass explains, “creating more economic opportunities for the cooperative. Clients typically spend hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars when they visit.”

In Cuba, local enterprises supported by Heart of Travel’s tours include a recycling business and a privately owned goat cheese producer in Viñales. For Paloma Perez, one of the local tour leaders in Cuba, the company’s tours have made it possible to purchase a home in Havana, Glass shares.

The team that makes it possible

A female-owned company designed to empower women through travel, Heart of Travel prioritizes empowering its female-led team. For the five women on the team who are mothers, Heart of Travel provides scheduling flexibility with company processes and protocols that support working mothers. “If your kid shows up in the background of a Zoom call,” Glass notes, “that’s fine. We’re very results-driven, and kids are always a priority.”

The team has grown to 14 members and now includes three men, which has brought new perspectives and opportunities to the company. According to Glass, Heart of Travel has fostered a workplace where men and women collaborate effectively, offering a different dynamic.

Whether within its team, with its clientele, or in the communities its tours visit, Heart of Travel follows the belief that good business should align with social impact. As Glass puts it, “As a company, we’re focused on creating meaningful connections, not just trips.”To learn more about Heart of Travel or to see what trips are coming up in 2025, visit their website or join their community by following them on Instagram.