As a travel sales pro and photographer, Ally Pintucci has spent the better part of the last 15 years in airports escaping to destinations that fuelled her curiosity to explore incredible parts of the world. In fact, by 24 years of age, she’d been to 30 countries, with friends, for work and solo. And, on social media, she found that the more she shared her love for travel with her community, the more women would reach out asking how they could recreate her experiences for themselves. Now, she’s launched The Girls Trip Series, creating curated experiences around the globe for passionate women like herself. We chatted with Ally to learn more. —Vita Daily
Hi Ally! Please tell us a bit about yourself to start.
I’m a commercial photographer based out of Vancouver, Canada. I specialize in working with people, brands and businesses to capture moments that best tell their story and sell their brand and products. On the side, I am a lifestyle creator over on Instagram and podcast host. I have kind of just existed in the space sharing authentic stories and experiences about travel, dating, hormone/skin and my health journey; you know, basically what it’s like being a 30-something-year-old navigating adulthood and trying to live life to the fullest.
When and why did you launch your new Girls Trip Series? When niche are you aiming to fill?
Influencer trips aren’t a new thing. They’ve been around for a while and have been a cool way for creators to connect with their community in a unique and intimate way. That being said, they usually come in two common forms: a specific retreat that focuses on a niche (e.g., a photography workshop, yoga retreat, etc.) or are existing tours through travel companies being white-labelled as the influencer trip. Neither are wrong, but they never really called to me as something I wanted to do or offer. Before I started working in photography, social media and creative services, I worked in group travel for almost 10 years. Pairing my experience in group travel operations around the world with 15 years of solo travel, I had a list of things that I loved and hated about both group tours and solo travel. My community sees me travelling around the world a lot; 90 per cent of that is solo. On every trip I take I always get the same questions and comments from women:
- I want to travel alone but I’m too afraid to do it.
- I don’t want to book a tour that’s too structured or with a large group of people.
- I don’t have girlfriends that want to do the same kind of trips as me.
- The older I get, the harder I find it to make new friends, find sisterhood, and connect with like-minded women.
I was also constantly being told that my trips were being added to bucket lists, being saved for upcoming trips, or inspiring women to book the same trip for themselves. I felt that the market for 25-to-40-year-old women didn’t really have a lot of options. I also know that many women hadn’t travelled solo already were too afraid to take the leap to start doing so. And so, it was time for me to put together something that my community was craving: @TheGirlsTripSeries. Small and curated experiences around the world for women who hate tours. Designed to get them out of their head, into their body, and out in the world. They are truly made for women craving to live.
What services do you currently offer, what’s included, and what makes them unique?
The trips are small group (10-15 women max) and are based on some of my favourite experiences that I’ve done around the globe. There is a small structure to make sure there are some inclusions on the trip—they are also great ways for the women to connect and bond with each other—but the trip is also designed to have a lot of down time. In that downtime, I really encourage the women to reconnect with themselves, try something they’ve always been to afraid to do alone, start working on a project they’ve been putting off—you know, just really start to prioritize connection, happiness and self. There’s also a component of “play”. I personally feel that the older we get, we don’t intentionally carve out time to play. We’re afraid of who’s watching, what we look like, what other people think of us, etc. On these trips I’ve included actives that hold space for that. There are literally 10 girls coming surfing with me in Portugal and some of them have never seen a surf board in real life; I think that’s the f*cking coolest thing ever. None of us can surf, we all suck, and we’re going to have such a blast.
What makes you a unique travel pro/expert?
I mentioned it above, but I worked in group travel for almost 10 years. I have experience working with three different travel companies that specifically focused on building group itineraries and taking travellers that were 16 to 35 all over the world. On the other had, I’ve been travelling since I was 18 for both work and pleasure. I’ve been so fortunate to experience over 40 countries and I’m confident the girls who travel with me are going to have a great time.
When and what will the first trip be? What can participants expect to gain from it?
The first trip is travelling this September to Portugal. I’m so excited to be hanging out with 10 women as we mix pleasure, surf lessons, spirituality, sightseeing, food and sisterhood in Europe.
What locations do you plan on travelling to in the future?
The second trip (which you can still sign up for!) is travelling to Central America this November. We have space for 15 women in El Salvador, which was such an incredible and special experience for me when I travelled there myself. This will be such an amazing escape for downtime, wellness, surf lessons, volcanoes, waterfalls, city tours, intuitive readings/energy sessions, cold plunges, massages … this one is truly going to be magical.
If someone wants to join a future trip, how can they go about doing that?
Please visit us over at @TheGirlsTripSeries. We announce all of our trips there and you’ll be able to see how women are enjoying the trips that are running! You can also get on the mailing list for future trip updates! We’ll also give $150 OFF to all Vita Daily readers who are interested in joining me in Central America. Just use the code VITA150 at checkout
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