Our Story

We Travel So We
Can Understand

VelmoraGuide was founded on a simple belief: that the best travel experience begins long before you board the plane.

How It Began

Born From
Honest Wandering

VelmoraGuide began in 2019 as a private travel journal — notes collected across 40 countries by our founder, Lena Voss. Not for publication. Not for followers. Just to remember what mattered.

The journals became a community. Friends asked for copies. Strangers on the road asked how to reach us. By 2021, what started as honest notes had grown into something larger than any single voice — a platform where thoughtful travel writing could live and be shared.

Today, VelmoraGuide is a small team of twelve writers, researchers, and editors spread across nine countries. Every one of us has a passport that's well-loved and a deep respect for the places we describe.

VelmoraGuide founder writing travel notes at a wooden table in a sunlit cafe
Lena Voss, Founder — Lisbon, 2021
Our Guiding Principles

The Philosophy Behind
Every Guide We Write

Slow Down

We don't write guides for travelers trying to see twelve cities in ten days. We write for people who want to know one place at a depth that lingers.

Look Closer

The most interesting things in any city are rarely on the tourist maps. We train our attention on the edges, the margins, the overlooked corners.

Do No Harm

Travel should enrich a place, not extract from it. We always consider the impact of our recommendations on local communities and ecosystems.

Write Honestly

We accept no sponsored placements, no partner links, no paid inclusions. Our only loyalty is to the traveler reading the guide.

The Humans Behind the Guides

Meet the Team

Twelve writers. Nine countries. One shared obsession with understanding the world.

Portrait of Lena Voss founder and lead writer of VelmoraGuide

Lena Voss

Founder & Lead Writer

40 countries. Zero regrets. Lena writes about Europe and Asia with a poet's eye and a journalist's rigor.

Portrait of Carlos Mena senior writer covering Latin America for VelmoraGuide

Carlos Mena

Latin America Editor

Born in Guadalajara, raised between continents. Carlos knows Latin America the way you know a childhood friend — deeply, honestly.

Portrait of Aiko Tanaka Asia Pacific editor for VelmoraGuide

Aiko Tanaka

Asia Pacific Editor

Aiko has spent twelve years documenting the living traditions of Asia from Kyoto teahouses to Himalayan guesthouses.

Portrait of Ibrahim Khalil editor covering Africa and the Middle East for VelmoraGuide

Ibrahim Khalil

Africa & Middle East

Ibrahim translates complex cultural landscapes into guides that educate without oversimplifying — always with great warmth.

"The world doesn't need more tourists. It needs more travelers — people who arrive prepared to listen, to learn, and to leave things better than they found them."