Hola, familia — it’s Joana.
I don’t know if you’ve missed me, but I’ve missed this. I’ve missed writing. I’ve missed reflecting. I’ve missed this little rincón of the internet that started it all.
Blogging was something I did for so long because it allowed me to relive my travels — to experience them twice. First in the moment, and then again through storytelling. Through fashion, adventure, culture, language, and food. Through my lens. Through my corazón.
But as life does, things shift. Siempre cambian. And this time, they shifted in the best possible way.
Traveling in Spanglish became something more.
It slowly evolved into designing small group tours in Italy rooted in connection, culture, and community.
It stopped being just about trips for me and my family. It became about curating experiences for the people I love. Planning them. Designing them. Creating something intentional — something especial — and then inviting others to come along. Not metaphorically.
Physically.
Somewhere along the way, Traveling in Spanglish went from blogging about boarding flights… to actually leading them.
From writing about travel… to guiding it. De verdad.
Let me take you on the journey that made that shift real — the experiences over the past three years that pushed me to launch Traveling in Spanglish Tours in full force.
“We travel, some of us forever, to seek other state, other lives, other souls.”
Anaïs Nin
Trip One: Adventure in Rome and Abruzzo
My first real tour guide experience wasn’t planned.
It was 2022. October. Fall in Italy — perfecto. I had just set up Casa Querencia, and my sister Alex was visiting for her first time. Rome and Abruzzo were our itinerary. Funny enough, that would later become the blueprint.
In Rome, we did the classics — the Spanish Steps, the Colosseum, piazzas at sunset. Carbonara. Amatriciana. Aperol spritzes. But we also wandered. Made random friends. Stayed out too late in Trastevere. Rode scooters past midnight. It was chaotic and magical and a little improvisado.
Then we headed to Abruzzo.
I wanted to show her what I loved. Instead, Abruzzo showed us something else.
We hiked to Rocca Calascio and got lost. An hour turned into three and a half. No food. No water. Completely exhausted. And somehow, it became one of the most extraordinary days I’d ever experienced there.
Strangers offered us rides. Fall foliage blazed around us. We shared impromptu dinners with villagers, learned recipes, made new friends in Lanciano, and ended nights overlooking the Val di Sangro from the Belvedere in Colledimezzo.
Somewhere in that whirlwind, I learned something:
Travel needs space for adventure.
For detours. For getting lost. For saying yes.
Because the unplanned moments are often the ones that stay with you the longest.
“It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.”
Ursula K. Le Guin
Trip Two: Learning to Tailor Travel
Trip two.
Same destinations. Fall again. This time with my best friend, Jenny — a first-timer to Europe.
That’s when I started noticing something: maybe my people were the ones who had always dreamed of going… but hadn’t yet.
This trip was shorter. I could have packed it full. But that’s not Jenny’s vibe. And because I knew her — de verdad — I didn’t.
Instead, I chose a few meaningful experiences that would let her feel Rome, not just see it.
The Vatican was one of them.
When she stepped into St. Peter’s Basilica, she cried. That was it. That was enough. We didn’t need eighteen other landmarks. We needed space for awe.
Jenny also has allergies, and eating abroad made her nervous. So every meal was intentional — honoring her needs while preserving the culture. And you should have seen her face. The smiles. The qué rico. The joy.
Rome was fast, but it was personal.
Then we headed to Casa Querencia. Jenny was also coming with a purpose. She offered her photography services in exchange for the experience — to capture Casa Querencia through her lens. It felt like a collaboration. A little intercambio of gifts.
This time, I didn’t take her hiking. I wanted her to feel village life. We arrived during the annual Castagna e vino festival — chestnuts roasting, wine flowing, music in the piazza. The whole village gathered. Community, with a capital C.
We didn’t see all of Abruzzo. We didn’t need to.
She felt its soul.
And that’s when I learned something else:
Sometimes, experiencing the soul of a place matters more than checking off the sites.
“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.”
Marcel Proust
Trip Three: Building Community Through Small Group Tours in Italy
Trip three changed everything.
The first two trips had been personal — beautiful and meaningful — but still within my own circle. This time, I invited five moms from my homeschool co-op and asked:
“Would you let me plan your trip to Italy?”
I shared the vibe. I asked for their dreams. I promised to curate something intentional. And four women said yes to small group tour idea.
After the initial ¿qué estoy haciendo? wore off, I got to work.
This time, I wasn’t just wandering. I was designing.
We partnered with the Pro Loco in Colledimezzo and created experience from scratch — the kind that don’t show up on a Google search.
Yoga at sunrise on the Belvedere, overlooking the Val di Sangro. Quiet tea afterward. Stillness you can feel in your bones.
A day along the Trabocchi Coast, walking the Adriatic and learning why those wooden fishing structures matter so deeply to Abruzzese culture.
And then cooking with the nonnas — aprons on, hands in flour, pasta made from scratch, recipes translated with care. We ended that day eating together outdoors, overlooking vineyards. Laughter. Wine. Flour on our sleeves. Puro corazón.
It was in those moments I understood something:
This wasn’t just about taking people to Italy.
It was about partnering with the people who live there. Letting them tell their stories. Creating experiences that felt rooted, not performed.
And then, of course, there was the flat tire.
A rural road in Abruzzo. A van full of women. A plan suddenly interrupted. In another life, that might have been a disaster. But it wasn’t. Calls were made. The village showed up. Help arrived. Plans shifted.
We pivoted — together. And that was the real lesson.
Community isn’t a cute add-on to an itinerary.
It’s the foundation.
That was the moment I stopped seeing this as “a fun trip I planned” and started recognizing what it actually was:
A business built on connection.
“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.”
Helen Keller
How Traveling in Spanglish Became a Small Group Tour in Italy
And that brings us to now.
To this version of Joana — certified Seller of Travel. CTA-trained professional. Founder of an LLC built with intention.
I did it.
What started as a blog became boarding flights. What began as personal trips became curated experiences. What started as storytelling has become curated small group tours in Italy that bring readers into real-life experiences. It’s official.
My first professional Rome + Abruzzo tour launches in two months. And it’s sold out. Me oiste? Sold OUT!
Nine incredible guests will be joining me.
I can’t fully describe the pride I feel — not just in myself, but in what we’ve created together. The partnerships. The details. The intention behind every piece of this itinerary.
We’ll be staying in Rome in carefully selected accommodations. Experiencing the Vatican through LivTours. Attending open-air opera under the Roman sky. Walking neighborhoods that feel lived in, not just photographed.
In Abruzzo, we’re partnering again with the Pro Loco of Colledimezzo. We’ve added sunset e-bike rides through Cantina Frentana’s vineyards. Chef Gabriele Bagni will host intimate chef-to-table dinners. We’re collaborating with Abruzzo Puro and Italian Hideaway — alongside Casa Querencia — to create a layered, rooted stay in the village.
None of this happened alone.
It happened because of relationships. Because of community. Because I chose to build something con otros, not by myself.
And what excites me most isn’t just that I launched a business.
It’s that I’m building a travel community.
Readers becoming travelers. Followers becoming friends. Guests becoming part of something bigger.
This is no longer just a blog.
It’s a doorway.
So if you’ve been here since the beginning — gracias. And if you’re new — beinvenidos!
Stay close. There’s another tour coming soon.
And if you’ve ever wondered whether you should just go for it… this might be your sign.
Come with me.
