Meet Our Team
Our Administrative Team
Jorge
FOUNDER & PRESIDENT
Jorge founded Vámonos in 2002 after years of taking his students annually to Puerto Rico on immersion trips.
He used to be a French & Spanish teacher for middle and high school and loves German Shepherds and finding cool non-touristy places in his travels.
Hobbies: Hiking, traveling, looking for wolves and wildlife in Yellowstone, watching Portlandia
Bernardo
VP OPERATIONS MANAGER
Bernardo runs the land tour operations in Puerto Rico. He loves to share his Puerto Rico with travelers and his passion for off the beaten path spots (and knows where to find the best desserts in the most common but also oddest restaurants).
He speaks Spanish, English, Italian, and a bit of German as well and has lived in at least three continents.
Hobbies: Biking, hiking, going to the beach, reading about other cultures, photography
Michael
VP OF SALES & MARKETING
Michael is in charge of our Spanish-speaking destinations outside of Puerto Rico. He is our Cuba expert and one who always goes out of his way to make sure travelers are fully satisfied.
Michael is a world traveler and has visited more than 30 countries all over the world.
Hobbies: Watching sports and movies, reading, walking, and finding new and true cultural immersion experiences for visitors in all of our Spanish-speaking destinations.
Kim
ACCOUNT MANAGER
Description: Kim is in charge of walking group leaders through the tour planning process. She joined the Vamonos team after spending 30 years as the Director of a successful After School Program in which she oversaw children from preschool through 6th grade. In addition, she has vast experience within the legal space having worked as a legal administrative assistant. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with family, attending concerts and Broadway plays, relaxing on the beach, and teaching English as a second language to adults.
Hobbies: fitness, traveling, photography, reading and listening to audiobooks.
Carrie
ADMINISTRATIVE & FINANCE MANAGER
Before joining Vámonos in 2013, Carrie taught both public and private elementary school for years. She currently volunteers tutoring underprivileged children.
She loves to learn new things, hike, and to travel to Puerto Rico.
Hobbies: Knitting, baking gluten free goodies, bird-watching, photographing nature.
Julie
TOUR COORDINATOR & PROJECT MANAGER
Julie’s extensive professional career goes from being an elementary school Support Staff, to being Regional Director & Event Coordinator for Impact World Tour in Scotland and New Zealand; she’s also worked at hotels and been an Optometric Assistant and a missionary.
Hobbies: Hiking, pottery, skiing, wedding event coordinating, creating music with family & friends
Louise-Hélène
MARTINIQUE OPERATIONS MANAGER
Louise-Hélène was born and raised in Le François, Martinique. She recently joined Vamonos’ team after spending many years working for the hotel and tourism industry in Martinique. Fluent in French, Spanish, and English, Louise-Hélène loves to share her lovely culture, creole world, and island with student and adult travelers. Currently, she lives part of the year in Martinique with her family, and part of the year in Puerto Rico.
Hobbies: Taking people to eat and chat with locals at a neighborhood event called Chez l’Habitant; she also loves hiking, swimming, and spending time with family and friends in Martinique.
Our Performance Team
Michael
PERFORMANCE TOUR COORDINATOR
Michael is our performance group expert with many years of experience in the music industry. His goal is to make sure this process is enjoyable, well-structured, and rewarding for our travelers.
Michael is a world traveler and has visited more than 30 countries all over the world. He’s run performance group tours in the US, Puerto Rico, Latin America, and Europe.
Hobbies: Watching sports and movies, reading, walking, and finding new and true cultural immersion experiences for visitors in all of our Spanish-speaking destinations.
Kevin
PERFORMANCE TOUR CONSULTANT
Kevin is our choir and band performance guru, conductor, and consultant. His international and local experience directing groups and playing even before the Pope has been invaluable to the success of our performance tours.
Kevin enjoys travel, writing choral music, working with wood, and gardening. He is a very experienced choir director who teaches master classes in conducting around the world. He loves to create experiences that are life-enhancing connecting people of different cultures (especially through music and the arts)…but most of all building bridges of friendship and understanding through international and domestic exchange opportunities.
Our Puerto Rico Team
Francheska
LAND TOUR OPERATIONS ASSISTANT MANAGER
Francheska is the assistant of our VP of Operations and oversees our service-learning efforts. She enjoys learning about growing food and farming, reading and dancing. She also loves going to the beach with her kids. Being from southwestern Puerto Rico, she has beautiful beaches to choose from! Francheska loves to be able to help people visit new places so they can learn about the diversity and culture of each destination.
Wilfredo
SERVICE LEARNING MANAGER
Wilfredo is Vamonos’ expert in the area of service. He secures our groups’ service learning activities with schools and orphanages and assists with our tours there. He aims to make each group’s service event as memorable and meaningful as possible. He especially loves touring in El Yunque and La Parguera.
When Wilfredo was a 12 year old student he helped his baseball team with the Championship by having the honor of pitching the final game!
Hobbies: Restoring old cars, going to the beach, watching action-superhero movies, spending time in nature and with family.
Samantha
SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER
Samantha is our talented and artistic social media expert. She enjoys editing, creating, and posting amazing pictures of all of our locations. She’s loves to travel along our team to the most fascinating parts of the world and share them with our followers and clients.
Her hobbies are producing videos, traveling, and exploring different vegan restaurants. Samantha is an experienced cook who enjoys getting creative with her recipes. Her native Puerto Rico is where her heart is but she also loves visiting Madrid, Spain.
Nery
TOUR ASSISTANT
Nery leads all of our safety/ security initiatives. A retired police sergeant, Nery is the most sociable and talkative member of our staff with connections and friends everywhere. Nery’s colloquial and facial expressions are famous and hard to decipher even for Puerto Ricans.
He is an avid baseball fan and player who fears nothing and loves to help anyone in need.
Hobbies: Baseball, fishing, traveling, speaking English, touring Puerto Rico and the U.S.
Wendi
TOUR ASSISTANT
A handyman by profession, Wendi is also our assistant wilderness specialist. His consistent smile and hardworking skills constantly amaze our travelers.
Wendi loves to spend time with his kids and family; he is fearless when it comes to fixing practically anything.
Hobbies: Fixing things, fishing, traveling through Puerto Rico, watching sports.
Iolda
TOUR DIRECTOR
Iolda has been working with Vámonos as a guide since 2016.
In her free time she enjoys art, culture, attending festivals, films, dancing, coffee and travel! When she is not giving tours she can often be found traveling solo to remote places on earth to learn about other cultures and enjoy nature.
She has a deep love for Puerto Rico and promises that once you step on her bus she will take you on a grand adventure and show you the most beautiful things she has ever seen on her island!