Digital Platforms with Human Power: Life and Work as a Destination Expert on Rokit
In October 2025, almost exactly one year after joining Rokitplace as a travel advisor, also known as a Destination Expert (DE), I stepped into a cozy restaurant in Panama City’s colonial old town to meet my colleagues and kick off the Global Rokit Festival.
In many ways, my arrival at the festival mirrored my introduction to Rokitplace itself: Warm, energizing, and invigorating. Reggaeton was on the speakers, my colleagues (whom up until now I had only met virtually) greeted me as a long-time friend, and the dance-party that ensued had even the staff at the restaurant singing and dancing along.
The festival, held this year in Panama City and Boquete, was like a vivid, living expression of what Rokit has always felt like to me – an intercontinental, intercultural community with a shared passion for thoughtful travel and deep curiosity about the world.
Over the course of five days, through networking sessions, keynote discussions, and coffee farm tours, I swapped stories and strategies with my fellow Destination Experts and created meaningful connections (and friendships) with DMCs from around the world. I was able to see a real-life version of the global travel ecosystem that I’m a part of.
Me with the team, heading off to our first adventure: Isla Parida!
As well as our love for travel and reggaeton, there’s another thing that brings this diverse and talented group of people to Panama: Rokit – the platform that allows us to do what we love, and do it really well.
How Rokit Simplifies the Complex
When I first worked in the tourism industry in Asia, it was thrilling, but also chaotic. I loved the personal connections, but behind the scenes, things could be messy. Scattered communication and last-minute scrambling was part of the routine. So when I began working remotely as a DE, I was apprehensive. How would I manage travel logistics in Asia from my home office in Northern Canada?
Tuning into a presentation on how Rokit helps build the future of travel.
Through my training in Rokitplace, and an in-depth introduction to Rokit, I began to see the bigger picture. Rokit is a centralized platform that connects DEs directly to DMCs, giving us access to a library of vetted services, real-time rates, proposal templates, and communication tools.
Everything is connected, making it easy to build a trip that combines the experience and expertise of myself and my colleagues, and the unique interests of the client. The result is always something to be proud of (there’s a point during each booking where I wish I was going on the trip too…).
This means I get to spend less time deciphering excel spreadsheets, and more time doing the fun part: listening to someone’s dream trip and figuring out how to make it real.
Rokitplace in one room.
Through Rokit, I was immediately introduced to our incredible local partners, some of whom I later got to meet at the festival. I also joined a global network of other DEs who I could learn from, collaborate with, and lean on.
One of the most empowering aspects of Rokit is that we’re not only subscribers; we’re participants in its evolution. As a Southeast Asia Specialist, I’ve been able to collaborate with our DMCs to suggest new tours, develop custom itineraries, and respond to shifting travel trends in real time. Every traveler’s motivation is different, and no two itineraries are exactly the same. Having the support of a system that understands this is invaluable.
Expanding Reach Without Losing Authenticity
For me, Thailand (and later the rest of Southeast Asia) was my first love. It can be easy to look at tourism in 2025 and see it as passive consumption, but the three years I spent living in and travelling through the region showed me that thoughtful travel can be an active connection.
Still, when I first joined Rokit, I wasn’t sure how my expertise could extend beyond Asia. South America, for example, felt vast and intimidating – there were so many cultures, landscapes, and stories I hadn’t yet touched.
I began to see the world through the eyes of my international colleagues in Rokitplace. Through photos and stories, they introduced me to the magnetic beauty of Peru’s Sacred Valley, the volcanoes of Ecuador, and the lush jungles of Colombia.
DMC showing us what Ecuador is all about.
The way I light up talking about the Khao Soi in Chiang Mai or the mountains in Ha Giang is the same way my colleagues talk about their homes, and homes away from home. That kind of shared obsession keeps this job fun.
Rokit helps all of us grow without losing what makes this work personal for us. As a result, our expertise, personal experience, and thoughtfulness are reflected in each itinerary we create.
The Perks of Being a Rokit Subscriber
It’s clear that the benefits of being a Rokit subscriber go far beyond access to rates and DMCs.
It’s not just a platform; it’s the group chat that saves the day when your client’s flight changes at the last minute. Rokit is modelled from decades of combined expertise and is constantly evolving based on our feedback – that’s what really sets it apart.
Similarly, the one thing that’s impacted my growth as a DE the most is my peers and colleagues. There’s simply no substitute for collective experience (not even ChatGPT). Whether it’s simply getting a second pair of eyes on an itinerary, or a deeper discussion about ethics in tourism, their insight has shaped the way I work and the way I look at travel. With one year under my belt as a DE, I know enough to realize that everything about this job is better when it’s done collaboratively.
The Real Takeaway
The final night party begins!
By the time the festival had drawn to a close, I had mentally planned about seven completely different expeditions all over the world: eating my way through India, chasing the wildebeest migration in Tanzania and Kenya, spending a week cruising down the Nile River, and finally making it to Machu Picchu.
This is a familiar side effect of being surrounded by people who live and breathe travel; every conversation brings a previously unknown destination to life, and suddenly your bucket list is a little longer.
Luckily, we have the tools and partnerships that can turn a moment of curiosity into an actual adventure. As a client once told me, “Every great trip starts with daydreaming in your car”.
Even though we work remotely from all corners of the world, it’s hard to feel alone in this work.
The Rokit community thrives online, but the Global Rokit Festival brought that energy to life. Meeting our DMC partners face-to-face reminded me that behind every tour is a colleague; someone who loves their corner of the world as much as I love mine.
On the last night of the Rokitfest, I was chatting with some of my colleagues from Peru and Ecuador. After swapping stories from home and the road, we decided that you have to leave your home in order to truly appreciate it. This idea that travel helps us both connect outward and look inward is exactly what the Rokit network facilitates.
