Ever been tempted to experience life in a desert tent, serenity at the edge of a waterfall, the thrill of dogsledding across the tundra? Whether you want to go on your own, join a group or experience a twosome, Brazilian travel influencers Gabriel Bester and Tati Sisti are experts at bringing such dreams to life.
We all know tourism plays a major role in driving the global economy. But the conversation is shifting — from mass tourism to meaningful experiences, from overcrowded hotspots to hidden gems.
“Cruise ships are a great example,” says Gabriel Bester, travel influencer and co-founder of Trip To Follow with his wife Tati Sisti. “For a certain price, you can spend 10 days on a ship with thousands of others. But how much of that experience actually supports local economies? Not much. And that raises big, complicated questions — especially for those of us working in travel.”
“Visiting Paris for the first time is magical. But what about people who’ve been there many times?” says Tati. “We’re seeing a growing trend. Seasoned globetrotters are actively seeking new destinations that are off the beaten track.”
The couple are part of a quiet movement that’s been brewing since the pandemic. It’s one that invites mass tourism to remain in the mainstream while carving out space for more exclusive, mindful travel. The concept of isolation tourism has surged as people want to get away from the chaos of daily life, not just physically, but mentally.
From corporate to creative
Entrepreneurship, especially in tourism, requires constant creativity. Gabriel and Tati both left behind high-level corporate jobs. Tati spent years at Microsoft and Accenture in São Paulo. Gabriel worked for a packaging company in Qatar.
“I never thought I’d become an entrepreneur, but when Trip To Follow took off, it gave me the courage to leave the traditional path behind,” said Gabriel. “I worked as a motorcycle tour guide for 10 years, and during the pandemic — with travel at a standstill — we decided to take the plunge.”
The couple, who met on Tinder in São Paulo, sold their apartment and used the money to buy land and build cabins in an out of way location. Today, their first cabin, Everest, is thriving, and they are just finishing up construction on the second one.
They now run several businesses. Tati heads up a digital marketing agency for the travel industry, and founded Holmy, a curated lodging platform with 800 locations all over Brazil. Holmy offers lodgings such as tree houses in jungle settings or boathouses on remote lakes, along with local attractions, from jet ski tours to local gourmet experiences. The platform is completely digitalized providing quick service and easy payment options without any bureaucracy.
“There have been challenges along the way, such as getting the right technology in place,” says Tati. “But it’s working really well. May and June were Holmy’s best months in four years.”
Other activities include Trip To Follow, the couple’s Instagram presence and lifestyle brand, and Orbis Expeditions, a product for small group trips to remote, fascinating destinations like Socotra, a Yemeni island in the Indian Ocean. “After we visited, many of our followers went too. That kind of influence is powerful. It’s a big part of what we do,” Tati explained.
The new kind of traveller
According to Gabriel and Tati, today’s travellers are looking for a connection with nature, with the kind of simplicity that’s increasingly hard to find. The demand for slow, isolated, intentional stays is rising. While this trend is huge in countries like Norway, Brazilians are now finally embracing it, bringing a boon to their business.
“We stand out by being different,” said Tati. “We recently went on a cruise — but not your typical mega-ship vacation. It was an expedition cruise in Greenland, on a small vessel that gets you close to nature and local communities.”
When it comes to content, the travel experts know you don’t need over-the-top editing when the setting speaks for itself. A conversation with a Greenlander in a remote fjord is content that resonates deeply. It’s about more than just being seen. It’s about being felt. Unsurprisingly, the couple’s clients seldom post about their travels on social media. “They clearly prefer to keep their favorite destinations a secret,” said Tati with a laugh. “Otherwise, it wouldn’t be exclusive.”
A new twist on the journey was the arrival of their daughter, Isla. “Honestly, I was scared,” Tati explained. “When I found out I was pregnant, I thought it might be the end of our travel brand — that companies wouldn’t work with me anymore. But the opposite happened. People love seeing our baby on trips.”
Creating a lifestyle
“Becoming an influencer stemmed from my need to speak in the first person,” she said. “I was a journalist, and in the newsroom, you can’t do that. On social media, you can. That’s the new connection.”
The couple’s strategy is to deliver quality storytelling and stunning imagery. “Sure, we feel the pressure to follow trends on Instagram and TikTok — the fast cuts, the trending audio,” she said. “But we’ve been told time and again: brands find us because of our beautiful imagery. It’s what makes people stop scrolling.”
Asked to reveal their own favorite places, both confess an addiction to arctic frontiers. Sleeping on a block of ice wrapped in reindeer skins does have a certain appeal for Brazilians, as they have enough endless beaches with stunning sunsets at home. Their latest focus is on following the Northern Lights which are not only highly photogenic, but evoke deep emotional responses that are sometimes described as spiritual or life-changing.
Luckily for them, scientific research is predicting that the Northern Lights may ramp up in intensity for the next 50 years as the sun potentially enters a new long-term phase of heightened activity. “We’re not just building a business,” the couple concludes. “We’re building a lifestyle and a community of people who value meaningful travel and authentic connection.”