Marie Isabel Portilla
Maria Isabel Portilla is the CEO and Managing Director of All Expeditions Travel, a boutique company dedicated to creating private, immersive, and life-changing journeys across more than 20 destinations worldwide. Travel is in her blood—her grandfather brought the first travelers to the Galapagos Islands, and her family has been involved in the industry for generations. With over a decade of experience in content creation, branding, and interactive marketing, Maria Isabel blends storytelling, design, and digital strategy to craft experiences that are culturally authentic, emotionally resonant, and transformative.
Her professional journey is defined by intentional travel as a tool for personal and collective transformation. Seven years ago, a formative moment in Nepal, standing before the Himalayas, inspired the foundation of All Expeditions. That experience illuminated the power of travel to open perspectives, break personal barriers, and invite deeper presence. Today, Maria Isabel curates small, conscious groups of travelers, guiding them through uncurated experiences that move from traditional travel to lived, transformative journeys. Her vision continues to expand into destinations such as Africa and Central Asia, always with the goal of fostering authenticity, sustainability, and human connection.
Beyond entrepreneurship, Maria Isabel’s work emphasizes resilience, trust, and purpose. During the challenges of COVID, she strengthened her skills, maintained global partnerships, and evolved her approach to travel and leadership. Under her guidance, All Expeditions has not only grown in reach but in depth, intention, and impact, building a global community of travelers and partners committed to meaningful, conscious travel. Her bilingual expertise and global perspective position her as a thought leader in the luxury travel industry, blending strategy, cultural insight, and human-centered experiences to transform the way people travel and experience the world.
• Instituto Superior de Nuevas Profesiones - ISNP - BA, Travel & Tourism
• Invited Delegate to World Travel Market Africa
What do you attribute your success to?
For me, success is more like alignment. It's when what you do, how you live, and how you are, and everything feels true and authentic. If we can live in presence and create meaningful impact and stay connected with purpose, that's success for me. I strongly believe that if you are true to yourself, you can be true to anything that surrounds you, emotionally, in every way. I don't see influence as something external, as something beautiful, or just so much fun. It's about how deeply we can impact someone's inner world. I believe in something deeper. We live in a time where everything moves very fast, we're constantly connected, yet often disconnected from ourselves. For me, the true influence is to remind people of the power of magic, of presence. We have to be fully here to feel and to experience life without filters. Travel, in its deepest form, is one of the most powerful ways to return to that state. That's what I'm standing for right now. My main mentor has been my grandfather. Beyond that, it's the people, it's social media, it's what I see around the world. The most important thing is that beyond what I do, I believe that the true influence today is to remind people of the power of magic, of presence, to be fully here to feel and to experience life without filters.
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
My advice to other women and to everybody is to trust their inner voice, because there will always be noise, expectations, and uncertainty, but your truth is your compass. When you align with it, everything begins to flow differently.
What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
One of the biggest challenges we have been navigating in the travel industry was during COVID, when everything paused. But instead of stopping, I went inward, strengthened my skills, returned briefly to corporate marketing, and most importantly, I stayed connected with our partners around the world. That time taught me resilience, agility, and trust. It showed me that even in uncertainty, there's a space to evolve, and that challenges are often preparing us for the next level of purpose. Right now, what's happening in the Middle East is affecting us so much. I work in the travel business, and I'm leaving for Africa tomorrow. Qatar has been rescheduling my flight like four times, with travelers coming with me. It has been a little bit challenging. We are living in the most important time of our lives, I believe, because so many things are happening and so many things are changing.
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
The most important thing for me is humanism. I pick travelers based on their humanness, because I don't want to bring an influencer or someone that is really interested just to experience travel, but someone that is struggling in life, someone that is maybe going through a hard time, or maybe a person that has everything but needs to have another perception. Being humble for me is very important. If I can share my life and my experience with anyone, I'd be very happy. I believe in something deeper. We live in a time where everything moves very fast, we're constantly connected, yet often disconnected from ourselves. For me, the true influence is to remind people of the power of magic, of presence, to be fully here to feel and to experience life without filters. My family is my top priority. I have two kids, I am a widow, so I had to fight a lot for myself and for my family, but I love being with them. Now I am a grandmother, so I enjoy my granddaughter, which is the food of my soul. Every time that she comes and visits, they don't live here, I put everything apart and I really enjoy spending time with her. I prefer to just follow my intuition, which is my advice to other women and to everybody, to trust their inner voice, because there will always be noise, expectations, and uncertainty, but your truth is your compass.