Alia Kate
Where did you grow up?
Milwaukee, WI
Where do you call home now?
Los Angeles
Year started at Global Works?
2012
What’s your favorite part about leading trips?
I love the community service days! They’re not only such an important way to give back but also a great opportunity for our students to connect deeper with folks in the community while working up a sweat, getting a little dirty, and hopefully learning to mix cement by hand!
What’s something you can’t live without while you are traveling?
Local music! I love discovering new tunes and using that as a way to plug into the rhythms of the cities and countries I’m visiting. And, maybe also my silk sleeping bag.
Tell us about a favorite memory from a trip you have taken.
I used to take groups to this coffee producing community in southern Costa Rica and towards the end of every homestay we would take the Global Works students on a night hike to the top of the coffee fields, where there is still an indigenous cemetery. We would all do a silent sit and reflect on our time in the community, looking out over the valley below. These moments of solitude and individual reflection, while surrounded by the rest of the group are some of my most cherished memories!
Where is your favorite place you have traveled to?
Morocco! I used to live there and have gone back dozens of times over the last decade and every time my relationship to it changes and I learn something new!
Fun fact, special talent, or favorite memory
In 2016 I rode my motorcycle from Los Angeles to New York in the ultimate travel adventure. It was my first time traveling across the US and it was a very memorable experience.
What do you like to do in your free time?
I like to climb, take my motorcycle out into the canyons, get into large-scale diy home-improvement projects, hike, and get off the grid camping, In my younger, spryer days, I was a huge rugby nut!
What do you do when you are not leading Global Works programs?
I own Kantara, a Los Angeles-based design business that specializes in ethically sourced Moroccan rugs. Since 2008, I have worked directly with the same weaving cooperatives in rural Morocco and I’m committed to fostering economic development of the women artisans through sustainable trade.
What languages do you speak?
French, Spanish, English, Arabic fluently and a little of a lot of other ones
If you had to give one piece of advice or words of encouragement to someone on their first travel experience, what would it be?
That feeling of discomfort is totally normal! Lean into it and recognize that it’s your chance to push yourself gently out of your comfort zone and into your learning zone. That’s where the magic happens!