Originally from Catalonia, Oriol has been fascinated by the world for as long as he can remember. At the age of 14, he had the opportunity to visit the Soviet Union as part of a youth exchange program, and at 19, a several-month journey through India changed his life forever and made him realize that travel would always be at the center of his life.
India became the starting point of a lifelong journey. He has spent more than three years there in total, before later falling in love with Africa, the Middle East, and the world in general. Having now visited around 155 countries, Oriol has little interest in the recent obsession with counting countries, believing that meaningful travel is measured in experiences rather than statistics.
He began working as a tour leader in Madagascar in 2010 and has been involved in the travel industry on and off ever since. Since joining Against the Compass in 2023, he has found a community that perfectly matches his own philosophy of travel.
Oriol is particularly drawn to places untouched by mass tourism: remote Indian villages, forgotten towns in Russia, isolated African communities, and bustling bazaars. He enjoys being almost invisible in those places, quietly observing without interfering. Yet, he believes that the true beauty of travel lies in connecting with local people and being welcomed into their lives, routines, customs, and relationships.
Like any true traveler, he loves culture shock, local food, discovering different cultural and religious realities, and learning about geopolitics — although recent events have made the latter increasingly disheartening. While he believes almost every destination deserves a second visit, his favorite countries include Iran, Myanmar, India, Ethiopia, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.
What he loves most about his work is witnessing the connections that emerge between people from completely different backgrounds who would probably never meet under normal circumstances. After just ten days together, strangers often end up forming friendships that seem impossible, and for Oriol, that is one of the greatest rewards of leading ATC Expeditions.
