We’re five people who probably shouldn’t travel together, but somehow it always works out. Different backgrounds, different obsessions, different opinions on what counts as “a reasonable walking distance.”
Here’s who we are.
Anica aka The Snacks & Discounts Queen
Anica grew up in Lyon, France, where she developed two lifelong passions: good food and not overpaying for anything. She speaks French, English, and Spanish, and has a habit of switching languages mid-sentence when she gets excited about a deal she just found. Outside of travel, she’s an amateur pastry chef, a devoted yoga practitioner, and the kind of person who reads the terms and conditions of loyalty programs for fun.
Her superpower is making a trip feel premium on a budget that would make most people nervous. She knows which credit cards to stack, which booking windows to hit, and exactly how many snacks fit into a carry-on without triggering a weight check. Traveling with Anica means you arrive well-fed, well-rested, and about 20% richer than you expected.
Anica’s mantra: “The best trip is the one you didn’t overpay for.”
Marko aka Tech-Savvy Comedian
Marko is from Belgrade, Serbia, speaks Serbian, English, and just enough German to order coffee and apologize. He studied electrical engineering, never really used it professionally, but never stopped being fascinated by how things work. His hobbies include tinkering with gadgets, watching stand-up comedy, and convincing the rest of the team to try apps they’ve never heard of, some of which turn out to be genuinely brilliant.
He is constitutionally incapable of taking an early flight but becomes extremely useful once the sun is up. If a piece of travel technology exists, Marko has either already tested it or has an opinion on why it’s overhyped. His recommendations come with real-world context, the occasional sarcastic footnote, and a surprisingly high success rate.
Role model: Nikola Tesla, a visionary who saw the future of technology decades before anyone else was ready for it, and never stopped experimenting regardless. Marko sees him as proof that curiosity is always worth following.
Marko’s mantra: “If there’s a smarter way to do it, find it. If there isn’t, build it.”
Marta – Our Planner
Marta is Portuguese, based in Lisbon, and speaks Portuguese, English, French, and conversational Italian, which comes in very handy given how much time she spends in Italian restaurants. She studied hospitality management, which explains the spreadsheets, and fell into food writing almost by accident after a travel blog she started for friends unexpectedly took off.
Her hobbies are eating, reading cookbooks, hiking, and eating again. With over 3,000 restaurant check-ins and 1,700 reviews logged across four continents, she has developed a near-clinical ability to assess a menu in thirty seconds and identify whether a place is worth sitting down for. She also plans every group itinerary, which she considers a form of self-care.
Role model: Julia Child, the woman who made French cuisine accessible to everyone and turned cooking into something joyful rather than intimidating. Marta loves that she approached food with warmth, humor, and zero snobbery.
Marta’s mantra: “A good meal doesn’t need a fancy restaurant. It just needs the right table.”
Stefan, The Walking Encyclopedia
Stefan is Croatian, based in Zagreb, and speaks Croatian, English, Italian, and enough Latin to impress people at dinner parties. He studied history and archaeology, which led to a career in academia that he eventually traded for a backpack and a one-way ticket. He has since visited 41 countries, with a particular focus on places that have complicated, layered, or completely forgotten pasts.
His hobbies include reading obscure historical texts, visiting ruins that aren’t in any guidebook, and getting into long conversations with locals about things that happened several centuries ago. His sense of direction is notoriously unreliable, which he blames on “always looking up at the architecture.” What he lacks in navigation he more than makes up for in context, traveling with Stefan means you never just see a place, you understand it.
Role model: Herodotus, the father of history, who traveled the ancient world specifically to document the stories, cultures, and events that would otherwise be forgotten – the original travel writer.
Stefan’s mantra: “Every place has a story. Most of them just aren’t on the signs.”
Alex The Fitness Freak
Alex is Dutch, based in Amsterdam, and speaks Dutch, English, German, and French. He trained as a physiotherapist, which means he knows exactly which muscles you’ve pulled after a long hiking day and has very little sympathy about it. His hobbies are trail running, cold water swimming, cycling, and planning routes that the rest of the team only partially complete.
In the past five years he has walked over 20,000 kilometers across Europe, Asia, Africa, and South America, a number he mentions only when directly asked, which is often, because someone always asks. He sets a pace that is technically achievable for everyone and genuinely comfortable for no one, but the views at the end of it are always worth it.
Role model: Ernest Shackleton, the explorer who led his entire crew to safety across some of the most brutal terrain on earth through sheer endurance and refusal to quit. Alex considers his Antarctic expedition the greatest physical and mental achievement in exploration history.
Alex’ mantra: “Your legs will catch up. They always do.”
Want to get in touch with the team or share your own travel story? We’d love to hear from you at support@reward.land