Katya Payne

IMPACT JOURNEY SPECIALIST

Katya comes from a photography and film making background which is where her love of travel began.

With a love of visual anthropology she sought to capture images of people immersed in their natural environment. Taking every opportunity to travel, she spent time working and living in the cloud forest of Ecuador before travelling extensively through South America and Asia and studying film at Manchester and Melbourne universities. Moving back to London she started a career in furniture design, becoming a director of a contemporary furniture company in London for 12 years. Now happily ensconced in the Cotswolds with her family, she joined Journeys With Purpose in 2022 as Impact Journey Specialist and delights in connecting guests with remarkable people, places and projects across the Nordics and Asia.

OVERVIEW

Katya's countries of expertise

Asia

North America

South America

Europe

Oceania

Africa

Katya Peru

Peru

I love how rich it is in cultural heritage, mind-blowing scenery, wonderful people, and fantastic food. It’s the country that I first explored on my own when I was 18 and keep returning to as so many different biomes to discover from the Peruvian Amazon where I swam with pink river dolphins, the Colca canyon hiking under the beady eyes of condors, sand boarding in Huacachina desert and horse riding along the Urubamba river in the sacred valley – then of course hiking for 4 days to the sungate for that iconic view of machu picchu as the cherry on the cake!
Katya Payne - Travels

Norway

An adventurers playground – all my bucket list experiences can be had in this one country from swimming with orca whales, husky sledding in the wilderness and spotting moose, meeting and learning more about the same people and their intrinsic connection to nature and sitting in a beautiful igloo next to a pristine fjord watching the dancing northern lights overhead! Unbeatable!

A JOURNEY WITH PURPOSE IS AN UNPARALLELED LEARNING EXPERIENCE IN THE WORLD'S MOST EXCITING CONSERVATION PROJECTS, HOSTED BY THE PIONEERS BEHIND THEM.

At a Glance: Fundación
Rewilding Argentina

1,850,000

…acres (or 750,000 hectares) of land protected.

264,000,000

…metric tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent sequestered.

370,658

…acres donated for new parkland creation.

OUR FOCUS - THE IBERÁ NATIONAL PARK:

This extraordinary wetland, the largest in Argentina, is home to 30% of the biodiversity in the country including endangered species such as the pampas and marsh deer, the maned wolf and grassland birds like the strange-tailed tyrant.

In 2005, what was to become one of the largest rewilding programs in the Americas was started, with the goal of restoring keystone species that had been extirpated from Iberá through hunting and habitat loss and were extinct in the region, the Province or, in some cases, the country. 

As the rewilding program developed, the cultural identity of Iberá began to recover alongside the ecosystems and natural processes, impacting a total population of 100,000 people who surround the park.

Today, Iberá stands as one of the world’s most successful ongoing conservation missions.

A snow leopard expedition in Ladakh with Mattias Klum

Exclusive access to the world’s top snow leopard trackers combined with an intimate photography masterclass by distinguished photographer, filmmaker and conservationist, Mattias Klum.

3rd – 14th December, 2025

Limited spots – secure your adventure today!