An interview with Knowmad Adventures co-founder Tara Harvey.

by Kaylen Ralph

This Sunday, I flipped through the New York Times Style Magazine with an eye more watchful than usual. In anticipation of this interview with Knowmad Adventures co-founder Tara Harvey, this week’s travel theme inspired me to take the thick bi-weekly to bed and give it a thorough flipping-through. Perusing the different features reinforced what originally excited me about this Minneapolis-based travel agency. Knowmad Adventures celebrates active adventure without putting travel on a pedestal that is accessible only to the young or athletic, the insanely wealthy or commitment free vagabonds.

Whereas the excursions celebrated in style magazines and glossy travel brochures often rely on the romanticized appeal of leisure travel, Knowmad Adventures specializes in active, authentic and sustainable travel (specifically in South America). This alone piqued my interest in the company. On top of that, the husband-and-wife business partnership seemed like its own brand of adventure. Tara recently gave birth to her first child with her husband Jordan, so I also had some questions for Tara about what it’s been like for the business (and life) partners to swap one red-eye lifestyle for another.

Their home base of Minneapolis is fitting for a company that emphasizes active adventure and constant engagement with one’s surroundings. Whether they’re horseback riding in the Patagonias or paddle-boarding around one of Minneapolis’ many lakes during a lunch break, enthusiasm for the outdoors is a consistent theme in the couple’s lives and in the trips they facilitate. Founded in 2010, Knowmad Adventures has been deigned one of the best tour operators by Frommer’s, and the company has earned the designation as “Top Travel Advisors” in both 2013 and 2014 by Travel + Leisure Magazine. The company was featured in the October 2014 issue of Travel + Liesure when Jordan was asked to weigh in on the Patagonia experience, deigned one of the “world’s greatest dream trips” (there were 50 total). 

Kaylen Ralph: I’m struck by the emphasis that Knowmad places on the “active” aspect of the excursions that it offers; why is this such an important part of your travel philosophy?

Tara Harvey: The word “active” has a multi-faceted meaning for Knowmad Adventures actually. Sure, a lot of the trips we build with travelers are more physically active than others. In the Peru Active Explorer trip idea you can explore Cusco, the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding and even whitewater rafting. But to be an “active” traveler doesn’t mean that you have to hang glide in the morning and surf in the afternoon either. We create a lot of trips for people that are looking for a physically light trip, but still want to be active in a cultural sense. What the Knowmad travel philosophy does not embrace is the armchair tourist mentality. Travelers that come to us to help plan their trips really want to find those unique local experiences, get their hands a little dirty and go on a journey!

KR: You also place quite an emphasis on the familial aspect of traveling, which is kind of unique when combined with the active component; do you think that the travel industry is leery of how families might take to this type of travel (active)?

TH: I was fortunate enough to grow up traveling a lot with my family and not only were a lot of memories created that still keep us laughing together today, but I feel like I owe a lot of who I am to those experiences. So no doubt, I think both culturally and physically family travel is amazing and that translates into the trips we build with travelers at Knowmad, but I think you’re right–the mainstream travel industry does seem to be leery of this style of travel. My guess is that it’s for two reasons. We recently had our first bebito and life has gotten a lot more complicated! We’re not there yet, but when we start planning our own international adventures as a family I can already foresee that it’ll be a challenge to coordinate the vacation schedules, the varying interests and physical abilities. Knowmad’s proven it can be done and is well worth it, but I can see why a large part of the industry sees it as too little of a market to cater to.

Also, planning active family travel has a lot of moving parts. It sure is easier to sell a week on a beach in Mexico. I’m not at all opposed to soaking in the sun and, in fact, I think there is a time and place for lots of different types of trips–at a resort your family will miss out on the widened perspective gained through cultural interaction, but you’ll probably get more of that much-needed rest and relaxation! Bottom-line, I think many travel companies shy away from active family travel because they simply don’t have the breadth of knowledge of their destinations to make it happen. 

KR: How do you ensure that the trips you plan offer an authentic perspective on South American culture and lifestyle?

TH: Because we do them. This sounds like such a given, but this was the biggest shocker for me when I got into the industry–many trip planners have not even been to the destinations that they’re selling. It still blows me away. My husband and business partner Jordan and I have spent years exploring South America. We’ve made it our job to try that savory ceviche we’d been hearing about in Lima, sleep at the newly renovated monastery, or to hike into that valley mentioned by a local gaucho (horseman) for its turquoise rivers.

KR: What’s it like being in business with your significant other? How does it make your business better and what challenges does it offer?

TH: Loaded question! Only kidding, but I think I’ll start with the positives. Our strengths really compliment each other in the work place and in life. If I’m getting stuck in the details, Jordan will be driving towards the bigger picture. Or if Jordan comes home stressed about one thing or another, I can help put things in perspective. It’s like a team-building workshop everyday. We’ve also been able to share so much–all of Knowmad’s mistakes and successes are ours as a couple as well.

For me the biggest challenge is not having a clear division between work life and home life. And maybe it’s unrealistic to think that anyone has that division, but ours is utterly muddled. We spent the first couple of years sharing a desk that doubled as our dining room table! Even though our business is grown from a passion, you need a break sometimes. It’s gotten so we talk about Knowmad so much at times that I had to instate a rule: no business in bed! 

KR: What does a typical work day look like for you?

TH: Work, admittedly, is less of a priority for me these days now that baby Trey’s come along, and my schedule reflects it. We have a nanny from 9 to 2, Monday through Thursday and that’s my chance to fit in some me-time and kill it in the office. Although I wouldn’t have it any other way right now, I do miss working with deadlines and pulling the occasional all-nighter. There’s something about seeing a project come together in the wee hours of the morning that is truly thrilling for me.

That just isn’t what works for us (both Knowmad and my family) right now. So my weeks have become much steadier and a typical workday looks like this:

7am – Trey wakes up and Jordan feeds him a bottle while I shower. Then we switch and Jordan showers while I make us lattes and eggs.

9am – Finally out the door. Our office is only 10 blocks away and I’ve been biking when weather permits, usually taking a spin around Lake Harriet before hunkering down at my desk.

10am to 2pm – Putting in my desk time. At this point in Knowmad’s growth my job consists of managing our marketing strategy with Lisa (Knowmad’s media manager and Tara’s sister), working with trip specialists Renee, Jack, and my husband Jordan on the behind-the-scenes trip operations and the not-so-glamorous accounting.

2pm to 7pm – I bike home and depending on Trey’s nap schedule I might squeeze in some emails or we go on a walk and stop at the park, coffee shop, hardware store or something. It’s wonderful to be able to spend so much of my day with my good-natured, clever little boy. He’s constantly amazing me and making me laugh. He’s also a pro at wearing us out and Jordan and I can’t wait to enjoy a glass of wine over dinner after his head hits the pillow.

KR: How much of the year do you spend traveling? 

TH: Well, I used to spend two or three months out of the year traveling. Since the little one has come along, motherhood has been my big adventure and international travel has been put on hold. Time has flown though, and now that Trey is almost a year the wheels are in action to plan an exploratory trip to Argentina this spring. Then it won’t be long before he’s coming with us!

KR: What region of the world would you like to expand Knowmad Adventures into?

TH: Presently, as South American trip planners we operate in Chile, Argentina, parts of Uruguay, Ecuador, Peru and parts of Bolivia as well. Right now we’ve got our eyes on Columbia to explore and eventually Brazil as well. We’ve toyed around with the idea of expanding our offerings outside of South America and keep concluding that that would be stretching our company too thin. We always want to stay small so we can be really involved in our trips. 

KR: What does Minneapolis offer you as far as a base camp for your business?

TH: Jordan jokes that I’m Little Miss Minneapolis because of how I rave about this town and it’s true, I just love living here. The people are warm, the lakes are salutary, and the creative scene is rich. Sure, the winters are long, but that’s why you travel! It’s for those same reasons that basing Knowmad here has been a great thing. There’s a big outdoors contingency here that’s been nothing but supportive and we take advantage in our daily work lives, too–sneaking in some stand up paddle boarding or cross-country skiing on our lunch breaks.

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Tara is the Co-Founder, Marketing and Operations Manager at Knowmad Adventures, a company dedicated to creating unique, private and custom trips in South America. She first traveled to South America in college and is endlessly inspired by the cultures, food, colors and idiosyncrasies she discovers there. Read Tara’s biography and more about the Knowmad team.

Kaylen is one of The Riveter’s co-founders and editors. She moved to Minneapolis, MN after graduating from the Missouri School of Journalism in August 2013. In addition to her editorial duties at The Riveter, Kaylen also works as a freelance researcher for The Sager Group. You can follow her on Instagram and Twitter at @kaylenralph.