About Vagabonda
OUR TEAM & TRAVEL STYLE
Why Would You Travel With Us?
We like to go slower, dive deeper, have fun...
Vagabonda is a new agency, going into our 4th year of existence, but our small team has so much experience in the travel industry! Combined, the 3 of us, have approximately 50 years of experience with planning and booking trips for individuals and for groups. You can read more about our team below, but we all agree on one - we like to show the world to our guests slower, deeper, and more authentic! Whether you are looking to travel independently, solo, with friends or family, or to join one of our small group tours, you can always expect to see the destinations in the most balanced possible way, at a slower travel pace that includes always free time, but also with authentic experiences that deepen your connection with the local community and life. We always aim to touch your hearts, change your lives, and enrich them with those unforgettable travel moments.
Planning Travel
GUIDELINES WE FOLLOW FOR
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Love to stay a bit longer in each location
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Always visit the main sites but also go a bit off the beaten path to see life that is untouched by mass tourism
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Plan free time in each location we visit, time to relax and enjoy, and wander around without a plan
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Love to stay at smaller, locally owned, and managed hotels with outstanding service and great locations (we avoid big chain hotels whenever we can...)
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Love to support smaller local businesses for any tours, services, or experiences we book
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Are passionate about exploring all the local cuisine, and all the authentic restaurants
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Love to include some fun experiences but always in a leisurely way! You can expect boat tours, cable car rides, and hot air balloon flights (It is always possible to opt out from those!)
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Love to hang out with the local communities and learn about local life through the different experiences we set up
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Always work with people we know and love - local licensed guides, drivers, and other amazing local service providers
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More than anything else, we love to share all of the above with like-minded travelers.
Meet The Team
I am Croatian, but I was born and raised in Italy. My parents moved back home to Croatia when I was 10 years old, and that's where I grew up and started my travel industry career. In 2016 a job offer led me to move to Florida, US where I lived and worked for 5 years. Since 2021 my family and I have lived as digital nomads. I am happily married and have an 11-year-old son. I love my family, I would not be able to accomplish any of this without my husband and son. We work a lot, and travel a lot, As a family, we love to explore new places, and meet and hang out with interesting people.
During the pandemic, I lost everything I had created till then. My job, my career. But I didn't give up, I started to post videos on TikTok, and with the help and support of my husband, we founded Vagabonda Travel.
Now, here we are... Vagabonda Travel, our agency - is thriving!
We love to show our guests the best of the best destinations, at a slower pace, with deep immersion in the culture. I believe Vagabonda is here to change lives through travel.
Alida Paljevic
FOUNDER & PRESIDENT
Alida's Career
My first job was "as a front desk clerk" at a hotel on the island of Hvar, I was only 18 years old!
At 20 I got my first job as a travel Advisor with a small travel agency in Zagreb, Croatia, and started to brush up my skills as a tour manager. I have led groups to many different destinations over the years and worked as a product manager for several tour companies.
In 2008 I got a job with a big and powerful Croatian travel company called Atlas. I started as a travel advisor in one of their branch offices and worked my way up slowly to the middle and executive management. In 2016 They chose me, among many other candidates to move to the US - to run their US-based office. It was a life-changing year for me and my family.
At that moment all my hard work through the years was materialized and rewarded. Unfortunately, in companies as big as Atlas things tend to change, and unfortunately, I did not like some of the changes that happened through 2018/19 which led me to seek another opportunity.
In 2020, I joined IWorld of Travel - a US-based tour operator and wholesaler that only works with travel advisors. I moved to Croatia and started their European Head office, so working from Croatia, I held 2 positions with this company. I was the president of the branch in Croatia and the Vice President of the Product Development department for the US-based wholesaler.
But I felt with all my heart, that after so many years of dreaming about it, it was time to launch my own travel agency, and it was a very tough decision to leave my “secure job” and do this leap of faith. But I had an amazing person in my corner, my husband, who believed in me often more than I believed in myself. With his love and support, together we launched Vagabonda Travel.
Vagabonda – is the Italian word for a woman who has the need to wonder and explore. To me, Vagabonda means to always seek new experiences, preferring the windy seas over a peaceful harbor. It embodies me personally, I am never happy in one place, even though I have places where I will always go back <3
25 YEARS EXPERIENCE AS A TRAVEL INDUSTRY PROFESSIONAL
Born and raised in Zagreb, Croatia.
I live my life near Zagreb in a house surrounded by nature with my husband and two children, an 11-years-old daughter and a 6-years-old son (with a cat and a dog too 😊)
I love my family and living outside the crowded city, I love to travel and explore new destinations, good music, and hang out with my friends and family.
I love spending time in nature, especially by the sea, it really fulfills me!
Working in tourism is something I truly enjoy; my father spent his entire life working in the travel industry so I fell in love with travel and tourism as a little girl, and ever since, I knew that would be my career path too.
Mirna Mrvica
OPERATIONS MANAGER
Mirna's Career
Graduated from the Faculty of Hotel and Tourism Management in Croatia.
My first job was in the booking department in Croatian tour operator company Atlas where I gained a lot of experience. Through the years I had the opportunity to work in different departments, from booking operations, sales, production, finance...
During my time working at Atlas, I met Alida. We worked closely together for a period of time.
In 2020 Atlas unfortunately closed its doors due to the pandemic. So I was forced to take another path and left the travel industry for a while. I worked shortly for a bank and real estate agency, but nothing could replace the travel industry.
I was thrilled to reconnect with Alida and join Vagabonda as the Operation Manager.
It really makes me happy to be a part of Vagabonda as we absolutely share the same vision of providing our clients with unforgettable travel experiences.
20 YEARS EXPERIENCE AS A TRAVEL INDUSTRY PROFESSIONAL
I was born and raised in Zagreb, Croatia, and I never thought that I would be working in travel.
I'm a Professor of Kinesiology and my whole life I have been in Martial arts and Fitness. I worked for years as a personal trainer and martial arts instructor. I still believe there will be a time in life when I will go back to that! For now, I enjoy our travel-filled life and being part of Vagabonda Travel.
When Alida decided to start this travel agency, I knew it was the right thing to do for her and us as a family, so the only smart thing I could do was to help as much as I could.
I am the support team of Vagabonda, I help with everything and anything that needs to be done. I take care of the website content, act as IT support and operations support, I help prepare proposals for our clients and am always there to plan our next moves and strategic decisions.
More than anything I enjoy my quality control role, as I am a perfectionist and I can spot any imperfection and fix it before it becomes a problem.
I strive to make Vagabonda Travel the best it can be and love every moment of this journey.
Matija Paljevic
FOUNDER & VICE PRESIDENT
Matija's Career
Graduated from University of Zagreb Faculty of Kinesiology with a title; Professor of Kinesiology.
In my field, I worked as a martial arts instructor for kids and personal trainer in fitness industry.
A little of my previous travel industry experience was when I worked as a river guide for rafting and kayaking in Croatia with groups of travelers from all over the world.
Later in Fort Lauderdale, FL, I worked as a local guide hosting segway tours as well as jet ski and speedboat tours through out Fort Lauderdale's canals.
I worked as a personal fitness instructor for 4 years at a gym in Pompano Beach. I enjoyed working with people and helping them get healthier and stronger. In the pandemic this gym closed down, so I had to find a new job, but at that time my wife was also experiencing challenges in her line of work.
I invested some time in learning about website creation and learned as much as I could, so as soon as we started Vagabonda Travel, I was in charge of the website and keeping the content aesthetically pleasing and the information user-friendly
Today I am happy to help with anything to support our endeavors and to help our guests travel all around Europe
FROM FITNESS TO TOURISM
Happy Clients
- The Coscia-Mancuso Family, White Plains, NY
We cannot thank Vagabonda Travel enough for custom-designing our family trip to Italy. Memories to last a lifetime. Every detail of our trip was perfectly curated and exceptional. We would have never been able to plan this adventure on our own. Communication with the staff is excellent and we felt secure knowing we had contact number while we were traveling. Cannot wait to book our next trip with you soon!
Trip of a lifetime.
Happy Clients
- Megan and Jerry, Los Angeles, California
We have never used a travel service before, and Vagabonda absolutely blew us away! From their hotel bookings, to the day-by-day itinerary, to hidden gems we definitely would have never found on our own, we can't thank their team enough! Highly recommend for anyone who wants an authentic experience in Europe!
BEST TRIP EVER! We'll remember this for the rest of our lives!
Happy Clients
- Pete and Paula, Lindenhurst, New York
When my husband and I started planning our 30th Anniversary trip to Italy we had no idea where to even begin. That’s when I stumbled across Alida’s TikTok videos. I absolutely LOVED her content. To be honest, at first I was skeptical about planning a trip like this off of someone I saw in a TikTok video, but after meeting with her we knew we picked the right travel agency. Our 17-day trip was absolutely incredible. Alida and Vagabonda Travel made our lifetime dream of touring Italy one we will never forget!
Happy 30th Anniversary to Us! A TRIP OF A LIFETIME!
