Finding Her Calling: Crafting Personalized Dream Experiences in Argentina’s Lesser-Known Places
- Kirsten Gardner
- Mar 28
- 5 min read
To celebrate Women's History Month, we're profiling some of the incredible women entrepreneurs in hospitality and tourism who we have the pleasure of collaborating with regularly. Vanesa Bremer is one of our partners in Argentina and Kirsten has worked with Vanesa for over a decade to design off-the-beaten-path trips to the far corners of the country. All profiles in this series are written by Tami Fairweather.
When Vanesa Bremer began her career as a tour operator, booking accommodations at remote Argentinian estancias often required fax correspondence. “You had to send the fax to the gas station on the main road, and the estancia would pick up faxes once a week. Then, another week would pass before you received confirmation,” she recalls. “It wasn’t like today, where you can make or change a reservation instantly,” she laughs. “No way–once you made the reservation, that was it.”
These days, Vanesa and her co-founder, co-owner and co-managing partner Veronica Crespi—the namesakes of V&V Experience DMC—use WhatsApp and email just like everyone else. And while they rely on technology to maintain constant communication with their guests and guide team, their specialty is sending guests to remote locations in Argentina, Chile, and Bolivia that aren’t easy to find, but they know like the back of their hand.
“There is so much more to see beyond Patagonia, and different experiences possible in every season of the year.” Like a river delta north of Buenos Aires, where her guide can navigate up the smaller rivers where locals live. “There's a grocery boat that delivers once a week, and they have to wait for it,” she explains. Even children take a boat to school. “It’s just a different way of living.” She emphasizes that there are countless unique experiences like this, and working with smaller boutique international trip designers like Outlier Journeys is the key to discovering them. “They truly listen to their travelers and understand their client’s interests and tastes. That’s when I can really share my ideas. We've worked together a long time and they trust my recommendations."
(Kirsten's note: This is true. While I travel to Argentina personally about every 2 years, I rely on Vanesa's presence in the country and her deep connections to make our traveler's trips truly special. Case in point? On a two-week hiking trip through the Patagonia must-sees of Torres del Paine, El Calafate and El Chalten, the standout moment for recent clients was a guided hike they took through a petrified forest, led by a local farmer. Time spent on a little dot on the map that 99% of travelers to the area breeze right by.)
Vanesa has spent her entire adult life working in the travel industry. After graduating high school, she didn’t find any of the usual fields of college study–like medicine, architecture, or accounting–appealing. Instead, she asked herself, “What do I like?” She realized her interests lie in art, history, and geography. While she wasn't focused on becoming a millionaire, she understood that making a living was important, and tourism seemed like a viable enough option.
She pursued a master's degree in tourism, even though it wasn't offered at an affordable public university. Although her family couldn't cover the costs of a private school, they were very supportive. "My mom said, 'Do what you have to do,'" Vanesa recalls. With determination, she secured a scholarship and found a job at a local travel agency to help pay for her education.
After graduating, she worked at another travel agency for 13 more years, where she met Veronica. They collaborated so effectively as the agency's main representatives that they felt they had to give starting their own company a try. “So we took a chance, opened our own business, and the last 15 years have been great so far. I think we are the perfect duet.”
The pandemic-forced travel shutdown revealed to Vanesa that travel was truly her calling. “People were exploring hobbies or finding other activities that they loved, but I had no other interests.” Although she felt confident she could find a job in another industry, she knew deep down it wouldn’t be her passion. “That was hard,” she says. “Because I truly love what I do; I love to show my country.”
V&V is intentionally a small company. The travel companies and trip designers that they work with primarily come from word of mouth and specialize in travelers who have been everywhere. What they provide is like having a personal concierge with all the right local connections. Instead of just any lunch, a well-known chef might demonstrate how to fold the edges of an empanada (“repulgue” in Spanish) or pick up a guitar and start singing. “Maybe it's a honeymoon, and we have a picnic with someone playing a violin, or at night we take them to see the stars.” When travelers arrive late at a remote destination after restaurants are closed, they arrange wine and a picada (an Argentinian meat and cheese plate) in the room for welcome sustenance. “Our really good guides make experiences even better,” Vanesa says, by keeping everything on track and making recommendations, from restaurants to local artisans for gift purchases.
“We always say that we sell dreams, which aren’t tangible,” she says. A person can see something in a photograph, but it's another thing altogether to be in a place and take it in with one’s senses.
“The best thing about our job is getting good feedback when people are happy and congratulate you, and they say this was the best time and I loved this and this and this,” she smiles. “It’s what fills our hearts.”
“We always say that we sell dreams, which aren’t tangible,” she says. A person can see something in a photograph, but it's another thing altogether to be in a place and take it in with one’s senses.
“The best thing about our job is receiving good feedback when people are happy and they say this was the best time and I loved this and this and this,” she smiles. “It’s what fills our hearts.”
The travel industry is one of relationships. The only reason we excel at what we do is because of our strong partnerships on the ground, in the destinations where you, our travelers, are visiting. While we spend considerable time and resources every year exploring the countries where we design trips, we can't be everywhere all of the time. But because of the trust we have in individuals like Vanesa, Nanami and P.S., and our shared values and tastes, we can design your trip with confidence, knowing that you are in excellent hands once you touch down. We hope you've enjoyed this look behind the scenes, highlighting some of our favorite partners for Women's History Month. As always, please connect with Kirsten or Jeff to begin discussion on your own travels.
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