From blogger to tour guide

Nice to meet you, I'm Thaís Carneiro.

In January 2016, I started sharing my experiences as a female traveler on the blog Cafezim e Prosa. A dear friend pointed out to me that there was some confusion regarding names and how people might remember me, since the blog had one name and there was the column Mulheres Viajantes.

The story of Mulheres Viajantes began as a hobby of a history teacher, who shared her stories and travel tips outside the classroom, as well as compiling around 300 stories from women traveling alone and/or among women.

These 300 women confided in me their stories, their loves and frustrations, their adventures and misadventures in Brazil and abroad, challenging themselves and putting themselves out there in the world. We have stories of different styles, from the story of a Brazilian woman on a 5-month backpacking trip through Southeast Asia, to the story of an Italian woman living in São Paulo, to a Brazilian woman going on a 10-day silent retreat.

In 2019, I felt the need to transition careers, so I left the classroom and went back to being a student to become a tour guide. This process was valuable for me to think about the work I offered for free to my audience and how I could make it profitable so I could dedicate myself professionally.

As an experiment, the first Mulheres Viajantes itinerary was born, as an experience agency: The Center Through the Eyes of Women. With little money in my pocket and ideas in my head, I decided to explore my backyard, the República neighborhood. From this impetus, I created an itinerary that reflects the trajectory of modernist women from the first half of the 20th century.

On this walk, we passed by places such as COPAN, Theatro Municipal, Praça Roosevelt and Biblioteca Mário de Andrade. With this itinerary, I had the opportunity to be included in the Heritage Journey for four consecutive years, with the last edition in 2023 having interpretation in libras. I also had the pleasure of carrying it out for undergraduates of the Leisure and Tourism course and members of USP 60+.

In this column, I will share in the next articles the challenges and possibilities of creating experiences for tourists in the capital of São Paulo.