Tara Harvey – Knowmad Adventures

Knowmad Adventures Tara Harvey

“Having been born with a substantial wanderlust tick, I’ve been perpetually focused on the next great adventure. Hopping a flight to some far-flung destination doesn’t have me skipping a beat – I’m endlessly inspired by the cultures, food, colors, and idiosyncrasies I discover. Ironically though, part of what I take away from travel is a deeper sense and appreciation of home. Gaining new perspectives abroad gives me a fresh outlook on my day to day. Here in Minneapolis, I strive to live locally, while thinking globally. I feel so lucky that Knowmad has enabled me to be a part of people’s life journeys.”
– Tara Harvey, Co-Founder & Operations

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Lisa Kellenberger – Knowmad Adventures

Knowmad Adventures - Lisa Kellenberger

“I am an outdoor-loving, food-enthusing Minnesotan. Attracted to the culture, language and mystery of South America, I chose to study abroad in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 2012. After living with a family and traveling in my spare time, I can safely say I feel a sense of home in South America. I am a graduate of University of Colorado – Boulder with a degree in Anthropology and certificates in Technology, Arts, & Media, and Entrepreneurial Business. I believe that life is a rhythm and development, and travel has encouraged me to expand my perspective and grow. My passion for culture and exploration was only strengthened while living abroad and today I continue to live my next adventure.”
– Lisa Kellenberger, Media Manager

A dynamic photographer, Lisa focuses on food, lifestyle, outdoor experiences and landscape photography. Her passion for the visual world has encouraged her to explore places all over the globe in search of new experiences. For her, photography serves as a way of organizing her thoughts, preserving memories and sharing stories. Lisa currently lives in Bend, Oregon where she works remotely for Knowmad Adventures managing the blog, newsletter and social media platforms among other marketing initiatives. Her work is primarily featured on the Knowmad blog and has also been in Pregnancy & Newborn Magazine, Design Mom and more. See a sample of her work below:

Lisa Kellenberger - Lifestyle Photography Argentine Empanada Recipe Lisa Kellenberger Lifestyle Photography Machu Picchu Travel Knowmad Adventures World Cup Brazil

Photographs also published in:

If you’re interested in collaborating with Lisa and Knowmad please don’t hesitate to reach out! You can e-mail Lisa at [email protected].

*To Note: Lisa will be traveling to Chile in March, if you’d like to work with her in conjunction with her trip, please contact her before February 29th.

 

EXPLORE THE KNOWMAD BLOG

Chimichurri Recipe Knowmad Adventures

ARGENTINE CHIMICHURRI RECIPE
It doesn’t take much to recognize that Argentina is famous for their steak. We’ve heard the locals boast about it, the magazines talk about, and the travelers rave about it. Even more delicious is Argentine steak paired with a savory chimichurri sauce. For our Argentine Chimichurri Steak Sauce Recipe click here…

. Conde Naste Traveler - Knowmad Adventures

CONDÉ NAST TRAVELER EXPERIENCE MAKERS AWARDThey call us The Experience Makers; a compilation of travel experts from all across the world organized into four glossy pages of Condé Nast Traveler’s December issue. We’re honored to be a part of this list, named for “custom trips to Patagonia’s most far-flung corners.” Find out why here…

Torres del Paine National Park Knowmad Adventures

24 HOURS IN PATAGONIA 6:30am – “We awoke to a red glow seeping through our cabaña’s windows and rolled over to a sunrise like no other…” Knowmad founders Tara and Jordan Harvey give an in-depth account of 24 hours in Patagonia for Artful Living Magazine from their latest trip to the Southern Hemisphere.

Gift Guide for the Explorer

GIFT GUIDE FOR THE EXPLORERAn inspirational gift guide for the explorer in your life, whether they are globe trotting the world or forging new paths around town, we’ve got gift ideas for the ones in your life that motivate you to push the boundaries…

 

La Navidad – Christmas in Chile

Our first Christmas as a married couple was spent here on the farm. Just as back in the suburbs of Minnesota, Christmas preparations start early. Senora Berta – once a neighbor and increasingly a surrogate mother to us here on the farm – was frantically baking cookies and breads weeks ahead of time. The hour was surely upon us when we were butchering and salting a choice lamb for a typical holiday barbeque. There isn’t anything quite like fresh, farm-raised lamb roasted for hours on a spit.

On Christmas Eve watched little Thomas open his imported Legos. I couldn’t help but draw comparisons; our customs different in that Chileans for the most part exchange gifts on the eve, but similar in that men feign mild excitement over new underwear while boys beam over their new toys.

We missed all our family and friends greatly and are reminded, both by the weight of their absence and the sincere care of others, what a powerful holiday Christmas can be. 

El Cliente: South America Travel

South America Travel
We recently said goodbye to our first client. Christopher hails from the sweltering bayous of Alabama, proudly wielding the moniker ‘Bama’, but he will forever go down in the halls of Knowmad Adventures as ‘el cliente’. His journey was an unforgettable one for him and monumental for us. After trying his hardest to miss a bus or plane, he’s already planning the return.

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Valley of the Gods – Chile

Chile

It’s not dumb luck or simple coincidence that we live in this precise point of Chile, with her supermodel measurements. Glacial lakes are warmed by towering, crotchety volcanoes and feed raging rivers—offering a plethora of activities for the outdoor enthusiast. An almost overwhelming array of options really. And after what seems like months of getting “settled” we’re faced with the not-so-little task of choosing the best of the best, and then linking them together. We set up meeting after meeting, we scour the internet, leaf through the guidebooks. The brochures pile up along with our nerves.

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November 19th – Reflections

Reflections
Reluctantly rolling out of bed, chilled feet are delighted to find slippers in an increasingly familiar spot. Wood gently creaks under foot and there is a steady patter of rain on tin. Crossing the small living room out to the porch, I’m joined by Boni and her I’ve-had-a-long-life tits. We fetch some wood together. The fire roars in the wood-burning stove, strong coffee brews on the old but firm German stove.

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November 15th – The Promised Land: Northern Patagonia

Northern Patagonia
Never in my life have I been so preoccupied by the various rattles, clicks and pings that a car makes while in transit, but having dumped a significant chunk of our operating capital into our Hyundai Galloper, we’re on pistons and needles every inch of the journey. She doesn’t fail us and it seems will be worth every peso. The landscape slowly transforms from a warm, dry Mediterranean climate akin to Napa Valley, into sweeping lush hills. We joke, but not without a hint of believing that we’re headed into the Promised Land.

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October 26th – Keeping up with the Jones’

 

Keeping Up With The JonesThe perils of moving to foreign countries for extended periods of time are many. What in more geographically and culturally familiar locales would be straight-forward, simple, and free of pain, suddenly become as probable and enjoyable as juggling eggs while running on a beach ball down a New York city street during rush hour. Neither this fact or experience is new to me, but setting up a business elevates the stakes even further.

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October 17th – Chile

Chile TravelSitting next to Geoff, one of my longest and best friends, we bound along up and out of Santiago, into the exhilarating switchbacks that ascend so rapidly they might as well be an elevator. Santiago sits near sea level and snow-capped Andean peaks loom as high as 18,000 feet not far from the capital.

Geoff and his wife Jess are on their honeymoon and have backpacked for the past month in Peru and Bolivia before coming to Chile. Their timing is less than desirable, our feet still burning from hitting the ground and having more unfinished business than a wartime president, but we’re happy to see them and suck in some adventure.
Cajon Del Maipo, or the Maipo Canyon lies just east of the city towards the Argentine border. It’s pretty and convenient for getting out of the Santiago bustle. After a nice evening barbeque in a cozy cabin we’re ready for some adventure and opt for a horseback ride. Rather than pay the entrance fee for a on-the-map nature reserve and an overpriced ride I get a contact from the cabin owner for a campesino, a true caballero that does horseback rides in the next town. We call Juan Pablo and he’ll be ready with the horses in an hour.

A bit lucky, in a matter of minutes a bus passes on the little-used mountain road and brings us to San Gabriel, which turns out to be one hundred percent off the map and looks to have no facilities.

Juan Pablo meets us at the police check point – think old west border town – and leads us to his humble but picturesque cabin at the foot of the mountains. He and his wife Carol are heading for Santiago to buy supplies so we’ll go with his good friend Luis. We make small talk about Chile, cowboys and what we’re doing at Knowmad. He realizes, as I had with a bit of trepidation upon arriving, that we’re going to ride until near nightfall if we climb to the mesa and will have no way out of San Gabriel, buses running only during the day.

“Donde van a alojar para la noche?” he asks.

I tell him I really have no idea where we’ll spend the night, this is an exploratory adventure and we’re prepared to roll with the punches. He doesn’t hesitate and offers us his cabin for the night with no mention of money. I immediately accept and am relieved to not have to tell the group we’re between a rock and a cold place and that’s how we’re going to pass the night.

Mounting up with Luis we climb thousands of feet to a mesa overlooking the valley. The air is crisp, the sky clear, the horizon vast. Returning just before dusk, Luis’s eight-year-old son unpacks the horses.

“Mi hijo te acompana al mercado,” says Luis.

“No need,” I reply. It’s a small town and I’m sure we’ll find the market.

“Es major que te acompane,” he replies without being pushy, but leaving no room for disagreement.

So we’re led through the pueblo, which is really just a collection of small dwellings and a liquor store that doubles as the town watering hole, a pinto and a buckskin reined outside. We grab some wine and beer before being led on by our young companion.

He leads us through a gate and I notice a small, hand-painted sign lying on the ground shyly announcing that this house is the town market. I smile understanding Luis’s persistence – we never would have found this.

Over candle light we sip wine from the valley just south of us and devour grilled pork ribs, good friends recounting past adventures and reveling in how the day has played out. I recall my frustration at the automotriz and throughout the week, reminding myself that as in any great adventure, there will be broken toilets and radiators, but there will also be moments like this.

   

How To Travel Like A Knowmad: Stories From Kayli’s Trip + Things To Do in Argentina + Chile

Things to do in Argentina and Chile

Kayli, an Operations Specialist at Knowmad Adventures, and her partner Evan followed the path of one of our favorite Chile and Argentina combination itineraries. They began in Argentina’s colorful capital city, Buenos Aires, traveled south to the glaciers and mountains on both the Argentine and Chilean side of expansive Patagonia, and topped it off with a quick stop in the Lakes District before departing via Santiago in Chile. Read on for their best-loved moments, dramatic photographs, what they learned, and more.

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2017 Travel + Leisure A-List Winner: Jordan Harvey is the Best Trip Planner for Argentina + Chile!

Best Trip Planners South America

The results are in and Knowmad’s Co-Founder, Jordan Harvey, has won the 2017 Travel + Leisure’s A-List Best Trip Planner for Argentina + Chile! The A-List is Travel + Leisure’s annual selection of the world’s best travel agents and destination specialists, and we’re honored to be recognized on this list for the 5th year in a row.

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