We wanted to build a better way to travel. Almost twenty years later, we're still figuring out just how far that idea can go.
This is our story ↓We started CarpeDM in Quito in 2007 with a simple idea: travel could be about more than moving people from one attraction to the next.
It could create connection. Opportunity. Curiosity. It could protect places worth protecting and strengthen the communities that make travel meaningful.
And maybe, if we slowed down enough to actually pay attention, travel could change the traveler too.
· · ·Create experiences that connect travelers more deeply with Ecuador.
We want more of tourism's value to reach the people and places that make those experiences possible, while creating journeys that leave both destination and traveler better than we found them.
Not by how much you see, but by how deeply you connect.
A world where tourism evolves from consuming places, to protecting them, to contributing to them and ultimately transforming the way we see ourselves and the world.
There was no master plan. Which, in hindsight, might explain quite a lot.
Prepping for English class in Quito. Dead Poets Society on in the background. Robin Williams as Professor Keating: "Carpe diem. Make your life extraordinary."
The line landed. The name shifted. Not simply seize the day. Doing More.
Months later, a chance encounter with the Secret Garden manager led to a meeting with the owners. A handshake. A spare room.
CarpeDM was in business.
The first free walking tour. A coffee thermos, a few backpackers and an Old Town route we figured out as we walked.
Word spread fast.
G Adventures, one of the world's most respected small group travel brands, named us their Preferred Daytour Supplier for Quito, Ecuador.
That partnership still runs today.
We left Secret Garden on good terms, passing on the blueprint that helped them launch their own agency. For the first time in years, CarpeDM had to find its own way.
The future wasn't certain. Family priorities came first. The pandemic had changed tourism forever. There were moments when closing the doors felt like the easier path.
But something remarkable happened.
Lonely Planet. Rough Guides. Petit Futé. G Adventures. They didn't believe in us because we were the biggest. They believed in us because of how we did business.
Soon after, Kagumu Adventures entrusted CarpeDM as its official Destination Management Company for Ecuador, recognizing our commitment to educational and sustainability driven travel.
What once felt like a leap into the unknown slowly became something else: proof that purpose can outlast certainty.
On August 4, 2026, after nearly a year of preparation, governance reforms, supplier engagement, legal amendments and rigorous verification, CarpeDM became a Certified B Corporation.
In many ways, it felt less like reaching a destination and more like finally finding the words for something that had always been there.
Since the beginning, we've believed business can be a force for good. Not because a certification says so, but because every decision, partnership, traveler and community brings us back to the same question:
How can we leave this place a little better than we found it?
We've served more than 35,000 travelers across day tours, the Amazon and Galapagos.
We're investors in two Cuyabeno lodges, Caiman and Piranha, helping us take greater responsibility for the Amazon experience from beginning to end.
We contribute to the Planeterra Fund for every G Adventures guest and support the Nunkui Project working alongside Indigenous Amazon communities.
We didn't discover our purpose in a strategy meeting. We noticed we'd been living it for years.
The question stopped being
"Where should people travel?"
It became
"What should travel actually do?"
Four stages. Four different relationships with travel. Click through the journey.
Take memories.
Leave no trace.
Leave the place better.
Leave yourself better.
We don't believe one form of travel needs to disappear for another to exist.
We simply believe tourism can keep asking more of itself.These three ideas guide how we think about the experiences we create, the partners we work with and the impact tourism leaves behind.
Nature isn't scenery around the experience. It's part of the experience. Tourism should protect, restore and respect the ecosystems it depends on.
The best experiences happen when travelers move beyond simply observing and begin listening, learning, participating and connecting with the people around them.
Travel should create meaningful economic opportunity for the communities, guides, families and local businesses that make the journey possible.
Different stories. Different passions. One shared obsession with showing people Ecuador properly.
Cookie crawled out from underneath a car and directly into CarpeDM.
Frankly, it was an aggressive takeover.
One night with the team became another. Then another. Eventually it became obvious she possessed all the qualities required of senior management: relentless optimism, questionable boundaries, excellent people skills and absolutely no understanding of budgets.
Today she is our ambassador for resilience, curiosity and the occasional reminder that sometimes the best things in life weren't part of the itinerary.
Management style: Razzle dazzle.
Office policy: More snacks.
Pablo started CarpeDM in Quito in 2007 after a line from Dead Poets Society got stuck in his head: make your life extraordinary.
Almost twenty years later, he's still curious about the same thing: how travel can leave people and places a little better than it found them.
Ask him about Coconomics 101 🥥, mandatory training for anyone working at CarpeDM. Developed in Quito. Field tested by Cookie. Still awaiting academic recognition...
Dorian has called Ecuador home for almost twelve years and has spent most of that time working with CarpeDM.
His first love is the Amazon, where he has his own reforestation project restoring and protecting 20 hectares of previously deforested forest while working to improve opportunities for Indigenous communities.
His second love is the mountains. With years of experience exploring Ecuador, he's usually the person you want nearby when turning an idea into the trip of a lifetime.
Saraí is a National Tour Guide whose love of history, languages and music naturally found a home in tourism.
When she isn't helping travelers connect more deeply with Ecuador, you'll find her exploring the mountains, journaling or practicing Wushu, a traditional Chinese martial art.
She believes slow travel creates the space to notice more, connect more and make every journey more meaningful.
Alejo first joined CarpeDM as an intern from the Instituto Superior Tecnológico de Turismo y Patrimonio Yavirac.
Outgoing, enthusiastic and a natural problem solver, he loves exploring the Andes and sharing that enthusiasm with travelers.
If he's not guiding Cotopaxi, Quilotoa, Mindo, Otavalo or Quito, you'll probably find him in the CarpeDM office with a smile and plenty of advice about where to go next.
Katie hosts CarpeDM's Mental Hygiene Mondays, a simple weekly initiative built around practical ideas to help you clear some mental clutter, reset, perform at our best and remember to be at your best.
Her responsibilities also include creative strategy, digital wizardry and asking inconveniently useful questions.
She works unusual hours, has never requested vacation and, according to company records, has never eaten lunch.
Except GO F.A.R. Chocolate.
We're still learning. Still changing. Still asking how travel can do more.
And still convinced that sometimes the best way to see more of the world...
is to slow down.
Come see Ecuador. Just don't be surprised if Ecuador shows you something about yourself.