During her 15 years at the French American School, Natalia was instrumental in the development of international trips that were closely connected to the Middle School curriculum, continuing the tradition of closing the Middle School cycle for the eighth graders with a two week international trip abroad. As a language instructor, Natalia set the important goal of building relationships with schools in Spain as well as Costa Rica, making sure that the trips were enriched by close contact with locals and peers; students spent one week in homestays as family members. Ending their trip visiting cultural treasures on their last week, carefully crafted and led by Natalia around cities that included Barcelona, Oviedo, Madrid, Seville, Valencia in Spain and throughout Costa Rica. In all of her trips, Natalia placed a strong focus on either language and culture or service and culture, always making sure that a holistic approach between travel and education became an integral part of each journey. Natalia has been a pioneer for the service aspect of the international trips, creating the first trips to her native country of Costa Rica, where students spent time working as volunteers on the Pacific Coast with turtle preservation.
In her free time, Natalia travels the world following her passion of learning about cultures, her latest travels have taken her to Cuba, Panama, Turkey, Malta, England, Ireland, Poland, Italy, Morocco, Germany, France.