Our Beginning
When we were teenagers, she took us with her.
Spain. Italy. Morocco. Amsterdam.
Those trips shaped us in ways we didn’t yet understand.
She showed us how to sit longer at a café. How to wander without agenda. How to pay attention to the market vendor who had been there for decades. How to listen before speaking. How to let a place reveal itself instead of chasing it.
All of that was teaching us how to move through the world. That is where our WNDRLUST began.
Before WNDRLUST had a name, it had Eva. Our grandmother.
She was drawn to beauty in a way that felt instinctive. She noticed light before landmarks. Texture before architecture. The rhythm of a town before its attractions.
In the 90s, she crossed Europe slowly. Monasteries instead of hotels. Long trains instead of rushing. A worn guidebook folded into her bag. She didn’t move through countries to check them off, she chose to live inside them.
The Expansion
When our mother, Estella, became part of Eva’s world, she brought her own way of seeing.
Eva gave us depth. Estella stretched that depth into possibility, she believed travel could be more than a week away. It could be a way of living, so she reimagined it, three months across Italy and Spain. And, no, not as tourists, but as temporary residents. We joined her for weeks at a time. That changed everything.
The moment was at a villa on Lake Como, we felt the difference between visiting and inhabiting. Staff handled what needed handling. And we just lived. We enjoyed long terrace breakfasts, we rented a boat, docking in villages without a plan. It felt like we were living a life out of a novel, time moved differently, we weren’t passing through, we were inside it. We felt that same rhythm again in San Miguel de Allende.
The realization was subtle, but it never left us, it was permanent.
The Continutation
We are three generations of women shaped by the same belief. That beauty is worth lingering for, connection is worth designing for and that travel is not spectacle. It’s presence. It’s witnessing. Eva moved with romance and Estella expanded the horizon, and now we have shaped it into intention.
Jade understands atmosphere instinctively, how a table set with care, with just the right glass of wine, cheese or flowers, changes the energy of an evening. Vanessa understands that connection doesn’t happen by accident. It's invited. Estella brings depth and narrative to every place we enter.
WNDRLUST is not something we built from scratch.It’s something we inherited, refined, and now share. Travel without spectacle. Luxury without excess and connection without performance, the effort concealed and all of that elevates the moment.
And somewhere, always, a long table at dusk.
Meet the Team
Estella Gabriel
Estella is a writer and award-winning screenwriter who lives in story. With over 15 years consulting for companies including Samsung and eBay/PayPal, she later founded 10 Block, a social streaming platform recognized by SXSW. Her work sits at the intersection of narrative, technology, and human connection, bringing a rare blend of creative vision and strategic insight. But her real work has always been about the journey from ego to soul. She's preparing to publish a book rooted in that transformation. Based in New York City, Estella brings depth, reflection, and narrative to every experience we create. She understands that the best trips aren't about where you go, but who you become along the way.
Jade Gabriel
Jade is a designer with an innate gift for hospitality. As a product and UX leader and interior designer, she specializes in experience-driven design that blends digital and physical spaces. Co-founder of Drop Delivery and previously Greenlight, she also built a social streaming app recognized as a SXSW Top 10 Product. But her real talent shows in how she creates environments that feel intentional, warm, and alive. Based in Venice Beach, she opens her cottage to guests where strangers walk in as individuals and leave feeling connected. Jade understands that luxury isn't about opulence, it's about the kind of care that makes you feel instantly at home, even thousands of miles from it.
Vanessa Gabriel
Vanessa is an adventurer and entrepreneur who understands that the best experiences happen when you bring people together. As CEO and co-founder of Drop Delivery, a delivery technology platform, and previously co-founding and exiting Greenlight, she's been recognized by Forbes Next 1000 and the Rolling Stone Culture Council. Based in Lake Tahoe, she built a thriving community of women snowboarders who ride together and form real friendships on the mountain. Vanessa brings operational expertise and a deep understanding of what makes people connect. She knows that travel, like snowboarding, is about the people you meet and the version of yourself you discover along the way.
