We were first introduced to Sara by Ben, a long-time friend of TC. Ben’s been a member of our Collective since the early days and lives in our hometown of Vancouver, Canada. We chatted to Ben after he returned home from a four-week trip exploring several countries in Central America and, aside from making sure we knew how great the surfing was, Ben was excited to share that he had met someone during his travels who he thought would be a great candidate for GT 002.
Having just wrapped GT 001, the timing couldn’t have been better. Ben told us he’d met a woman, Sara, who worked at the small resort in Tesoro, Nicaragua where he stayed while in Central America. Sara had gotten to know travelers from all around the world while working at the resort but had only left her home country once to study in neighboring Guatemala. Sara explained to Ben that with every guest she got to know, she became increasingly interested in seeing what life was like outside of Nicaragua. We were intrigued and wanted to find out if Sara was a good fit for Gifting Travel, so we gave her a shout.
When we contacted Sara and asked where in the world she’d like to travel, she was quick to say: Spain! So we asked, Why Spain?
As someone who has spent much of her life in a smaller city, Sara was keen to explore a diverse metropolis very different from Granada. However, the many historical and cultural ties between Granada and Southern Spain (not to mention the common language!) were of serious interest to her as well! At home, Sara works 21 days straight and gets 6 days off at the end of the month. The resort in Tesoro is a five-hour bus ride away from Granada so that doesn’t leave much time for her to spend with friends and family—as such, it was important to Sara that her mother Maria could come on the trip so they could share the experience. Religion is a major part of Sara’s mom’s life, so Spain was a win-win destination that would allow Maria to visit the churches and cathedrals at the heart of the Catholic world while Sara explored the theatres, restaurants, and bookstores in each city.
We were SO on board with helping Sara and Maria fulfil their travel dream! Plans were made, flights were booked, and Graham and Stew from TC flew down to Nicaragua to pick up Sara and Maria in March 2019.