About us
Who we are
Get to know our history better…
The company
TUGA.ME is a company that operates in the field of Travel and Marketing.
Traveling is, for us, the motto to live freely and happily!
We aim to provide that feeling of freedom to our customers and followers, because after all…
… Your journey starts here!
The founders
How it all began
To talk about TUGA.ME, you have to talk about Sara, Pedro and Rafa (our big dog)… and to get to know us better, we’re going to give you a summary of our history, because it’s already big.
It was in 1994, in our naive adolescence, that it all began; with Pedro asking me on a date. There, an adventure was about to begin, we would even say the greatest adventure of our lives, full of love, dreams, common projects and, of course, the typical couple arguments (who never?). But this hustle and bustle has always been witnessed by big dogs, who have accompanied us on each of our trips and adventures.
Among these adventures together we can highlight inline skating and especially mushing… The sled dog races where modesty aside we weren’t bad at Mushing. We have won several competitions both at national and international level, being the ex-libris of our team reached in the year 99 with a second place in the children’s world championship.
During our university years, me in Childhood Education and Pedro in Business Management, we had our first company. Importation and sale of dog food which, together with Mushing, created the perfect opportunity and pretext for us to take advantage of practically every weekend to take a little trip around Portugal or venture into the lands of our brothers. This, of course, not to mention the time of the burning of the tapes that, without exception, we take advantage of every year on our academic journey to go for a few days traveling with the dogs to the snow.
But if you ask me what was the trip that most marked the beginning of my life as a young adult and as a girl in love with a dreamy boy, I have to say without any hesitation that it was the week we spent in Paris. At the age of 21, after carrying and selling a lot of rations between classes and exams, we had our first trip together in an airplane and the beginning of some “more serious” trips.
In 2003 we tied the knot and our ring girl was Gwen, our Scandinavian princess who came from Sweden to Portugal after an interrail through the Nordic countries...
After our honeymoon, we set the goal of visiting at least one country outside Europe every year, since, fortunately, Pedro's work allowed us to visit many European countries.
Since at the beginning of our lives we had a limited budget to travel, but a great eye for the good things, we learned and developed various techniques that allowed us to carry out an endless number of differentiated and dream trips at more affordable prices.
The accumulation of this knowledge meant that, over the years, we became known among friends as the extroverted couple who take different trips and who always have some tips on the best places at the lowest prices, the most appropriate gadgets for travel and that are always aware of the necessary insurance and documents.
At the end of 2017 certain that we wanted to share our knowledge and travel experiences with more people, we embarked on the adventure of opening a Youtube channel and in 2021 the project became our company.
To you, who are here ready to travel with us, our thanks or as we usually say...
kisses, hugs and licks
Sara, Pedro and RAFITA
Fundadores
Como tudo começou
Para se falar da TUGA.ME tem que se falar da Sara, do Pedro e do Rafa (o nosso patudo)… e para nos conheceres melhor vamos fazer-te um resumo da nossa história, porque ela já é grande.
Durante os nossos anos de Universidade, eu em Educação de Infância e o Pedro em Gestão Empresarial, tivemos a nossa primeira empresa. Importação e venda de ração para cães a qual juntamente com o Mushing criava a oportunidade e pretexto perfeito para aproveitarmos praticamente todos os fins de semana para fazermos alguma pequena viagem por Portugal ou nos aventurarmos por terras de nuestros hermanos. Isto claro para não falar na altura da queima das fitas que sem excepção aproveitamos todos os anos do nosso trajeto académico para irmos uns dias viajar com os cães para a neve.
Mas se me perguntares qual foi a viagem que mais marcou o início da minha vida de jovem adulta e de menina apaixonada por um rapaz sonhador, tenho de dizer sem qualquer hesitação que foi a semana que passamos em Paris. Aos 21 anos, após termos carregado e vendido mmmuita ração entre as aulas e exames, tivemos a nossa primeira viagem em conjunto dentro de um avião e o início de umas viagens “mais à séria”.
Em 2003 demos o nó e a nossa menina das alianças foi a Gwen, a nossa princesa escandinava que veio da Suécia para Portugal após um interrail pelos países Nórdicos…
Após a nossa lua de mel, traçamos o objetivo de visitar todos os anos pelo menos um país fora da Europa, já que felizmente o trabalho do Pedro nos permitia ir visitando muitos países Europeus.
Como no início da nossa vida tínhamos um orçamento limitado para viajar, mas um olho grande para as coisas boas, fomos aprendendo e desenvolvendo várias técnicas que nos permitiram realizar um sem fim de viagens diferenciadas e de sonho a preços mais acessíveis.
O acumular destes conhecimentos fez com que, com o passar dos anos ficássemos conhecidos entre os amigos como o casal extrovertido que faz viagens diferentes e que tem sempre alguma dica dos melhores locais a preços mais em conta, dos gadgets mais apropriados para viagem e que estão sempre a par dos seguros e documentos que é necessário.
Em finais de 2017 certos que queríamos partilhar os nossos conhecimentos e experiências de viagem com mais pessoas, embarcámos na aventura de abrir um canal de Youtube e em 2021 o projeto virou a nossa empresa.
A ti, que estás aqui pronto para viajar connosco, o nosso muito obrigado ou como costumamos dizer...
beijinhos, abraços e lambidelas
Sara, Pedro e RAFITA
Our travel expertise
The more than 20 years of experience organizing our trips, and that of friends, has led us to develop various knowledge that has allowed us to carry out an endless number of differentiated and dream trips that we now want to share with you.
Accommodation
From boutique hotels to resorts which one should I choose.
Experiences:
What is the typical food, what is not to be missed in that place: balloon trip, diving, climbing to the top of the mountain, etc.
Documentation and Health
To travel to a certain destination, what documentation is needed: visas, traveler consultation, vaccines, what is the best insurance, etc…
Travel equipment:
Qual a melhor mala para viajar, o que posso levar na bagagem de mão, o que devo vestir para visitar um país Arabe, ou para fazer uma trilha, etc
Petfriendly Travel:
How to travel with my Pet by plane, what documentation is needed, which Pet Friendly hotels, etc.
A nossa expertise em viagens
Os mais de 20 anos de experiência a organizar as nossas viagens, e a de amigos, levou-nos a desenvolver vários conhecimentos que nos permitiram realizar um sem fim de viagens diferenciadas e de sonho que agora queremos partilhar contigo.
Alojamentos e Experiências
Desde boutiques hoteis até aos resorts qual devo escolher.
Qual a comida típica, o que é imperdível de fazer naquele local:viagem de balão, mergulho, subida ao cume da montanha, etc
Documentação e Saúde
Para viajar para determinado destino, qual a documentação necessária: vistos, consulta do viajante, vacinas, qual o melhor seguro etc…
Equipamento de viagem:
Qual a melhor mala para viajar, o que posso levar na bagagem de mão, o que devo vestir para visitar um país Arabe, ou para fazer uma trilha, etc
Viagens Petfriendly:
Como viajar com os meu Pet de avião, qual a documentação necessária, quais os hotéis Pet Friendly, etc
Rafita
RAFA, the “tourist dog”, as TVI has nicknamed him on different occasions… he loves soft toys and balls, but being able to go swimming is the pinnacle of satisfaction for this big dog with inexhaustible energy.
The Rafita came into our lives in 2012, after a lot of planning on our part of the type of dog and breed that best fit our lifestyle. This little ball of fur has brought another joy to our life and the life of our already old Gwen. Literally speaking, Rafa started his life traveling, with 8 weeks we went to pick him up and from then on he never stopped. He made his first plane trip to the Azores in September 2014.
To this day, as far as we know, he is the most traveled dog in the world. He has traveled to many countries on several continents and in an endless number of means of transport… car, plane, boat, train, motorhome… even by camel and paraglider! he has traveled!
Rafa plays a very important role in our lives and we always include him on our trips, (let alone it is very difficult to travel with a pet, but we always manage to do it and as such we can also help you to do the same with your pet ) but recently his role gained a greater dimension.
Rafa is currently Pedro's assistance dog!
After being diagnosed with a heart problem in Pedro and after several episodes of syncope and several emergency visits to the hospital, medical exams, etc... I Sara started to see some behaviors in Rafa before and during the crises that started calling me the attention, and that to Pedro's great fear and even embarrassment I was talking to their doctors... Yes, Rafa can warn and prevent when Pedro is about to have a crisis, just as he manages to help him during seizures.
After talking to the doctors, and with the help of the social DTC trainers, RAFITA gained the status of ESAN and now, more recently, with the help of ÂNIMAS (Portuguese Association for Intervention with Social Help Animals) Rafa passed several exams and achieved the status of assistance dog recognized by Portuguese and International law.
Pedro stopped relying on medication to depend on Rafa… How can you not love these furry angels that appear in our lives!
RAFITA as a PET has always had training for everything and anything, but in our opinion what made Rafa Pedro's Assistance dog was the connection he has with us.
Rafita's voyages in numbers
Rafita hasn’t been to all the countries we’ve been to, but he’s certainly trying to get there… If it wasn’t the goal trying to be the first dog to visit 100 countries and all continents.
The origin of the name
What is the meaning of the word TUGA.ME and why did we choose this name for our project?
In the search for the name of our project, we made a checklist of points that we wanted to be achieved, even knowing that some could make others unfeasible.
- Short name, with only one word.
- Include the domain in the name itself.
- Confirm that the domain, social networks and trademark registration in the categories of products and services we were interested in were free.
- That it had the ability to be used in different types of services and products and that it was not a prison or an obstacle to possible evolutions and changes in the project.
- Self-explanatory name of the type of business/activity (this point has not been reached).
Mas afinal o que quer dizer TUGA.ME:
TUGA é uma abreviatura que nós portugueses usamos com carinho e orgulho para falar de nós próprios… embora que no passado a mesma tenha sido usada como um termo depreciativo para designar os portugueses. Português, Portuga, Tuga...
...ME quer dizer “eu” em Inglês e em português é normalmente usado no fim de algumas palavras, para representar uma acção de “a mim” ou “para mim”
Além disso, o nome TUGA.ME também tem semelhanças e associações a TAG ME. O ato de “tagging” identificar alguém ou ser identificado por alguém num post ou comentário nas redes sociais, algo que está na génese deste projeto.
Our business philosophy
VISION
To be the biggest reference for independent and group travel.
MISSION
Helping you travel more, letting you know new places and ways to venture into this beautiful world.
VALUES
Passionate about different journeys and adventures in Nature, we are known as constant pranksters and eternally dissatisfied in search of novelties.
At Tuga.me we are very picky… We pay a lot of attention to details and we love to make a difference! What we are really averse to is fundamentalism.
Respect for differences and the pursuit of a healthy life is more than a business buzzword for us. We defend that achieving professional success and fulfillment in personal life must go hand in hand to ensure the long-term sustainability of both, and it is with this focus that the company is guided.
VISÃO
Ser a maior referência de viagens independentes e de grupo de Portugal.
MISSÃO
Ajudar-te a viajar mais, dando-te a conhecer novos locais e formas para te aventurares neste lindo mundo.
VALORES
Na Tuga.me somos muito “picuinhas”…Damos mmmuita atenção aos detalhes e adoramos marcar a diferença! Aquilo a que somos mesmo avessos, é a fundamentalismos.
O respeito pelas diferenças e a busca por uma vida saudável para nós é mais do que um chavão empresarial. Defendemos que a conquista do sucesso profissional e a realização na vida pessoal devem andar de mãos dadas para garantir a sustentabilidade a longo prazo de ambas, e é com este foco que a empresa se guia.
Remote First!
Why this philosophy?
- Because we want to be able to choose the time when we are most productive.
- Because we want to be able to live where we've always dreamed of, not where we get a job.
- Because we want to be able to travel without losing our job.
- Because we want to be able to use the hours lost traveling for something more profitable or pleasurable.
- Because we want to be able to reconcile our personal and professional lives and be happy in both.
We believe that having the freedom to choose our working hours and the geographic location of where we work is half the battle to feel heard and relevant in this frenetic world. As such, we want our employees and partners to be able to enjoy this work philosophy that we are creating for ourselves.
R.E.D.
TUGA.ME’s business is governed by three pillars, which for us are inseparable:
-
They can be carried out
remotely from anywhere in the world. -
Have
scalable growth potential. -
Be prepared to be fully or partially
delegated to other enterprising people like us.
RNAVT 9418 | RNAAT 34/2021