Ashely Gavilanes | Digital Marketing Specialist

I caught the travel bug early, thanks to family vacations. Although my travel style changed over the years, those trips to Mexico (my Grandpa's favorite place) sparked my love for travel. While I had some memorable high school trips, such as my first time visiting Europe (Spain) and London during college, it wasn't until after college that I focused on more long-term adventures. I was curious about how other cultures lived, what they valued, and how they went about their day-to-day lives. My first solo adventure and longer trip than one week was to Bali, where I taught, and then to Thailand and Singapore. Upon returning, I worked in NYC but quickly realized I wanted to go overseas again.

I moved to Chile for a year to teach English and continued to work as an ESL teacher for about a year and a half after that experience. During my time online teaching, my passion for creating content and desire to share my experiences as a Latina traveler in the travel space took off. Later, I decided to focus more on travel and content creation, so I moved again to Barcelona. There, I pursued my master's in travel journalism at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and started a passion project, a podcast about people's experiences navigating life abroad. Now I'm here at ITA, combining all the things I love!

I’m from New York and I went to school in Buffalo, NY, and studied at the University of Buffalo. 

Spain, Germany, Croatia, Italy, Vatican City, England, Ireland, France, Andorra, Mexico, Chile, Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Uruguay, Bolivia, Canada, Kenya, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia (Bali), Dominican Republic, Aruba, Bahamas, and Barbados.   

I’ve taught in Bali and Chile and studied in Barcelona. 

I can't remember my first experience abroad since I was young, but I remember my first solo trip to Bali, where I volunteered as an ESL teacher. Although I was no stranger to traveling, solo travel was a new experience for me, and I felt every emotion possible, but honestly, I mainly felt nervous, partially due to my 10-hour layover at the Singapore airport that gave me too much time to think (Tip: If there is any airport where you want to have a long layover, it's the Changi Airport. There is so much to do; the butterfly garden was my favorite). While I had doubts about whether I was making the right decision, I knew it was a once-in-a-lifetime adventure, and it was. On this trip, I fell in love with teaching, met incredible travelers from around the world, visited a medicine man like Elizabeth Gilbert in Eat, Pray, Love, and even experienced bed bugs. It was all for the plot, and I loved every second!  

I can’t pick one but these are my top 3: Thai, Italian, and Mexican. 

Getting TEFL certified was my ticket to traveling the world, and because of it, I've had some of my most transformative experiences from teaching and living abroad. I am excited to have the opportunity to inspire others to have their own meaningful travel experiences abroad through teaching.