We were lucky to catch up with Flavia Cornejo recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Flavia thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

Growing up as a Latina in the US, I was expected to get a good job to be set for life. I did not see how it would benefit me in any way to work at one or two companies for the rest of my life and wait until I was 65+ to actually start enjoying life. But no one around me was doing it differently and so for the longest time I thought this was the only way.

Years went on and as social media began to grow and become more mainstream I saw that other people were living the dream I had always wanted. One that included lots of travel and little behind a desk. The majority of the people living this dream life did not look like me. This made me think that maybe this life was attainable, but not for me.

It wasn’t until I forced myself to think that either I allow these thoughts to keep me from living a life I want or I do the scary thing and ideally end up living my dream life.

I did the scary thing.

I pivoted my Instagram account to highlight my travels as a solo female traveler, I created TikTok and YouTube accounts, and I launched my blog. Although I haven’t fully gotten to the point that I envisioned, I am on my way. I help other Latinas daily with questions they have about their first solo trips and even with moving abroad. This entrepreneurial journey has been just that, a journey, and one that I wouldn’t trade for anything else. I can’t wait to see how far this will go.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Flavia Cornejo and I run the travel blog, Latina Traveler. Along with the blog come all of my social media channels bearing the same name where I share travel tips and insight as to what it’s like as a First Gen solo female traveler. So far I have traveled to over 35 countries and have acquired two master’s in the tourism industry: Tourism and Travel Journalism. This past year I started freelance writing for publications such as Fodor’s Travel and Hermosaz USA.

I work with women of color, particularly Latinas, to help them feel comfortable and have the confidence to travel solo. This is achieved through one on one coaching to help plan the whole experience and to be the first point of contact during a trip in case of any needed assistance. My clients end up feeling more confident knowing someone with lots of experience is guiding them through this journey.

The main reason I work with Latinas is because I understand certain situations that others would not, especially when it comes to talking to their family members about their desire to travel solo. Having gone through it myself, I’ve learned how to best guide someone.

In addition to this I have plenty of guides, country maps, and blog posts available so that someone can plan their own trip.

I want potential clients to know that although this space has not historically centered us, it is meant for us. Future generations will not have to think this life isn’t available for them because they will have plenty of examples showing them that it is where they belong.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

More times than I can count did my parents, sister, family members, and friends ask me when I was going to stop traveling and settle down. Even though my dream felt very far away, I knew that what I was doing was possible. Even though I would have loved their support, I knew it was a journey I had gone through alone. Looking back I better understand that they were worried about my future and what could happen, but nothing is a guarantee. Job security is very rare and scarce nowadays that it’s a good idea to have a backup plan regardless of the direction one decides to go in.

I’m glad I stayed the course and didn’t let the naysayers sway my decision otherwise I wouldn’t have accomplished everything I have done so far and wouldn’t get to where I haven’t even arrived yet.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

That it needs to be perfect to start.

I bought my first domain back in 2013 with the idea of becoming a travel blogger. I had heard about it then, but then got scared. I had no one around me doing anything remotely similar and it felt very lonely and impossible. I also had the misconception that my blog had to be perfect from the start.

How I wish I changed that way of thinking in the moment.If I had, I’d be much further along than I currently am right now. I would have made the mistakes and learned from then when I was just getting started instead of doing them now still.

It’s a learning process, no matter what the journey is. None of us is perfect and knows everything about anything. There will always be a learning period and knowing that we’ll make mistakes lets us be easier on ourselves instead of expecting perfection.    

Contact Info:

• Website: latinatraveller.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/latinatraveler
• Facebook: facebook.com/latinatraveller
• Twitter: twitter.com/latinatraveler_
• Youtube: youtube.com/@latinatraveler
• Other: tiktok.com/@latinatraveler