Gustavo Burnier, 29, serves as chief marketing officer for Miami-based Despegar.com, which offers travel services, including flight and hotel reservations, car rentals and tourist packages, to travelers from Spanish-speaking and Latin American countries. Since starting at the company earlier this year, Burnier, who is originally from Brazil, has traveled to Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, Venezuela and other countries with Despegar.com offices.

Monster.com: Have you gotten to know Miami since you moved there?

Gustavo Burnier: I've been traveling so much, I've actually spent more time abroad, than physically in Miami. I established myself there, with Despegar, about two months ago. Because we've been launching the site in different countries -- we're now in nine -- I've been to all of them.

Mc: Had you lived in the US before coming to work for Despegar?

GB: I came to the US when I was in college. I went to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and then moved to Greensboro, where I worked for about eight months. Then I moved to New York, where I lived for about four and a half years. I moved to Argentina for about two years, and now I'm back in the US.

Mc: Was there any culture shock for you when you first came to the US?

GB: The first, obviously, was the language. I had to go from textbook English to college, or real, English. I had to take all the exams right away, and there was no time to warm up. The language was definitely a big barrier in terms of learning what I had to learn and being able to communicate. I think it helped me become adaptable. I was the one from the outside, so I had to adapt to the local environment. I think that helps me now when we are adapting our specific features to local markets. I definitely draw on my earlier experience.

Mc: Had you always planned to have a career spanning so many countries?

GB: I've always been interested in traveling. When I was about 17, I moved with my parents from Brazil to Argentina. That really started me on this path to international work. When I came here, I decided I wanted to keep traveling and keep learning more about different places, languages and cultures.

Mc: What are some of the chief rewards of traveling?

GB: The biggest reward is the learning. For instance, when we launch our site in Colombia, we have to be extremely sensitive to the local issues and cultures. I have had to go to each country prior to launching the site and learn as much as I could about the nuances, in terms of languages and habits of travel and tourism.

Mc: What are some of the challenges in dealing with the different cultures and traveling between them?

GB: There are lots, from spending months on the road to not knowing which hotel you're going to sleep in each night. Our business is more a network of local sites than a regional site. We have offices in each of the countries, and we have to adapt our product to each one. The biggest challenge has been the recruiting part of it, finding the right people and understanding that each place you go to has a different culture.