The Chaski Story
A journey of discovery that began in the heart of the Andes, where we found our calling to share the soul of Peru with the world.
Cara
Hi, I'm Cara, the founder of Chaski Travel.
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I grew up in Brooklyn, New York, and moved to Connecticut during high school. I then went to college in Boston but, it was a semester living in London during college that gave me the travel bug, and I've been chasing the next destination ever since.
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I'm also a teacher. I started my career teaching kindergarten, and for the last 20 years I've worked with gifted students in elementary school. My husband, Peter, is a teacher too, and after 32 years of marriage, we still plan our lives around the next trip. Every school vacation is a chance to explore someplace new, and we've now been to more than 50 countries and 45 states.
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When our kids, Cailey and Garrett, were in middle school, our family moved to Peru, where Peter and I taught at an American school. We spent two years living there, and I fell in love with South America. That experience opened the door to adventure and off-the-beaten-path travel, and it changed the way I see the world.
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Today, I'm bringing together my love of travel and my teacher's instinct for planning, curiosity, and making things click. Whether you're dreaming of a relaxing cruise or a once-in-a-lifetime adventure in a place most people never think to visit, I'll help you plan a vacation that fits you perfectly.
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Let's get you somewhere amazing.
Cailey
Hi, I'm Cailey, I am a cofounder of Chaski for Travel and adventure has been part of my story for as long as I can remember.
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I grew up in Connecticut, and my first real taste of adventure came from a family trip to Costa Rica — followed shortly after by a month-long backpacking trip in third grade to visit my friend Sofia and her family. That trip planted something in me that never went away.
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From there, I lived in Peru for two years with my family, studied abroad in Spain in high school, spent time in China, went back to Spain for college. I've stayed in nitty-gritty hostels with a backpack and camped under the stars, and I've also sipped mint tea in a 5-star riad in Morocco and explored the palaces of India. I love it all.
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Living in Peru was transformative. It's where I found my voice, developed a deep appreciation for people, culture, and language, and fell in love with authentic, local experiences. It inspired me to learn Spanish — and later, Mandarin.
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Professionally, I've built a career in corporate event planning and experiential marketing, which means I think about travel the same way I think about great events: every detail matters, and the best experiences are the ones that feel effortless but are anything but.
At Chaski, I'm here to help you find your version of that — wherever in the world it takes us.
Chaski for travel
The name
High in the Andes, the Inca Empire was held together by a road nearly 40,000 kilometers long, and by the people who ran it.
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They were called chaskis. These young relay runners were posted every few kilometers along the Qhapaq Ñan, the great Inca road. Each one knew his stretch of mountain trail completely: every turn, every climb, every safe crossing. When the next runner came into view, he sounded a conch-shell horn, ran alongside, and handed over his message word for word. Then the next runner carried it on.
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Running in relays, the chaskis could carry a message about 240 km in a day. Nothing was lost along the way.  In Quechua, the root of their name, chaskiy, means "to receive."
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What it means for your trip
We built Chaski on the same idea: a journey goes best when every part of it is in expert hands.
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Local knowledge at every stage. We work with guides, hotels and partners who know their ground the way a chaski knew his stretch of road.
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Seamless handoffs. Flights, transfers, check-ins and experiences connect without gaps, so you're never left wondering what comes next.
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Care from start to finish. From the first conversation to the moment you're home, someone is looking after your trip.
Our Philosophy
We, Cara and Cailey, founded Chaski after years of planning trips for friends, family and now, clients who wanted more than a standard itinerary. Every trip we plan is personal. We take the time to understand how you like to travel. Then we design something that feels like yours, not a package. We can not wait to get started on your next great adventure