How Amiga Airlines Took Off: From Burnout to Backpacking to Building Something Bigger
It started like so many good things do:
with burnout, a backpack, and an intense desire for more.
Back in Culver City, I was living with my amiga Kim and her cat Miklo. We were working too much, vibing too little, and low-key falling apart from the inside out. Life felt too loud, too fast, too disconnected. It was the kind of burnout that lived in your body. Where getting out of bed felt like dragging yourself out of a dark hole. There were mornings I’d lay there, staring at the ceiling, wondering how I was supposed to keep going like this.
One day, Kim mentioned getting SCUBA certified locally y se me ocurrio preguntarle a Kim, “What if we did it abroad?”
“What if we did it abroad?”
One thing led to another, and we did what any millennial baddie would do when capitalism hits too hard: packed up our cosas, left them with our parents, and booked one-way tickets to Central America.
No itinerary, just intuition.
We met up in Belize and earned our PADI Open Water SCUBA certifications through Amigos Del Mar, a local dive shop.
There was joy and soulful healing learning to dive juntas—we transformed into sirenitas morenitas. That trip opened up a whole new world.
Not long after, our amiga Carol—who had also quit her job—flew in to meet us in Honduras, already dive-certified and ready to flip her fins.
Together, we dove into the Mesoamerican Reef, the largest barrier reef in the Western Hemisphere. Ahí estábamos: three brown girls underwater, reclaiming space as brown girls do.
We shared air.
We shared awe.
And we shared a sadness:
Why didn’t we have access to this growing up?
Why weren’t our tias, our primas, our homegirls out here too?
We kept adventuring—to El Salvador, where Kim and I took our very first surf lessons.
Yes, two Cali girls learning to surf not in SoCal—but in Central America.
Wild, right?
But honestly, everything feels better in tropical waters 😉
We met so many incredible salvadoreñxs—both locals and locos—who showed us their version of El Salvador:
not the touristy basics, but the real gems. Their favorite spots. Their homes. Their stories.
That sealed the deal.
We knew exactly how we wanted our international adventures to feel:
Rooted. Real. Full of joy and connection.
That’s when the vision for Amiga Airlines truly took off.
Once we knew we wanted to recreate our experience for other amigas, we went all in.
🎥 Inspired by Karol G
Inspired by Karol G’s KG0516 music video, we started imagining:
If we had our own airline, what would it look like?
We knew the vibes.
So we gave it structure and gave it flight.
And just like that, Amiga Airlines was born.
Amiga Airlines is the international travel branch of Adventure Amigas.
Not a literal airline (obvi), but a ✈️-themed experience rooted in cariño, cultura, y comunidad.
We don’t just take trips.
We curate experiences with soul—guided by love, local knowledge, and a whole lot of desmadre.
What Makes Each Trip Special:
Every trip has:
✈️ Pilotas — that’s us, your co-creators and adventure facilitators
🌎 Capitans — our trusted local guides and homegrown homies who steer the route
Each trip is named like a flight:
ES 0424 = El Salvador, April 2024
SCUBA 0825 = Puerto Morelos, Mexico, August 2025
🌱 Rooted in Reciprocity
And just so we're clear, our trips are never cookie-cutter or extractive.
Every experience is vetted and approved by local partners: where we stay, where we eat, and the experiences we include are all intentionally chosen to uplift local businesses and support the communities we visit.
Many of our amigas have raíces across Latinoamérica, and giving back—whether through time, donations, or community support—is part of how we show up with respeto and reciprocity.
💖 Why We Built This
We didn’t build Amiga Airlines just to have cute trips.
We built it because we want more mujeres of color underwater, on mountaintops, and in every sacred place we were never invited into—but always meant to be in.
We built it because joy is sacred.
Adventure is healing.
And doing it together? That’s the kind of magic that shifts culture.
So yeah, it started with a dive.
But now?
We’re flying.
And you’re invited.
