By Holly Cambruzzi
Photos © Courtesy of Kind Traveler
But for Huertas, storytelling has never been confined to what happens on a set. It is a way of orienting himself—of paying attention, noticing what others miss, and resisting the urge to look away. Over time, that instinct has widened beyond the work itself, shaping how he moves through communities: with humility, curiosity, and a belief that the most meaningful stories centre on humanity.
Kind Traveler
It is that same attentiveness that makes Huertas a natural ambassador for Kind Traveler, a women- and veteran-owned public benefit corporation dedicated to making tourism more reciprocal.
In recent years, something has shifted in how people think about travel. Increasingly, travellers want to support the communities that welcome them and leave places strengthened, not strained. What holds many back is not a lack of care, but a lack of clarity: how do you give back in a way that is real, local, and accountable?
Kind Traveler transforms good intentions into measurable local impact. Through its Every Stay Gives Back and Every Adventure Gives Back programs, each guest stay or tour experience automatically funds a vetted local charity in the destination being visited. With giving embedded directly into the travel experience—regardless of where or how a booking is made—travel becomes a simple, transparent way to support communities, wildlife, and the environment in meaningful, lasting ways.
As CEO and co-founder, Jessica Blotter explains, “Kind Traveler was born from a simple but profound realization: travel can be a force for kindness when it’s designed to benefit the places and people who make our experiences possible.” The aim, she adds, is not to demand perfection, but to offer travellers a clear, practical starting point. “You don’t have to be perfect, you just have to be intentional,” Blotter says. “Start small, stay open, and let respect be your compass.”
Beyond the Screen
As a celebrity ambassador, Huertas helps amplify Kind Traveler’s mission by encouraging travellers to support local impact through the choices they make while away—and by using his platform to spotlight the charities and communities behind those efforts.
For Blotter, that fit is essential: “We look for ambassadors and partners who don’t just ‘like’ the idea of giving back, but who live it—people who show up with humility, curiosity, and a genuine desire to learn from local communities,” she explains. “Importantly, those who are willing to use their platforms to amplify local impact stories rather than centre themselves.”
In Huertas, she saw exactly that alignment. “Jon Huertas is a perfect example,” Blotter says. “He wasn’t brought in for his celebrity alone—he was brought in because he genuinely connected with our mission and experienced it firsthand through travel.”
“Kind Traveler lined up with how I already move in the world,” Huertas shares. “I didn’t grow up seeing travel as luxury. It was survival, opportunity, curiosity. So once I got the chance to see the world, I wasn’t trying to be that guy who shows up, snaps a pic, and dips.”
“If you’re going to touch a place, touch it with intention. Be useful. Be decent.”
Blotter believes Huertas resonates because he makes the concept feel both human and achievable. “What I love most is that he doesn’t preach. He invites,” she says. “He uses his platform to say, in effect: ‘Here’s what I did. Here’s what I learned. And here’s how easy it can be to turn a vacation into a positive impact.’”
From Visitor to Neighbour
Huertas’ journey in Belize carried particular resonance for Kind Traveler. “Belize was a full-circle moment for us—Belize is where the original idea for Kind Traveler was born,” Blotter says. “And his experience there reflects exactly what we stand for: immersive travel paired with tangible, local benefit.”
She credits him with bringing the message to life in a way that feels lived-in rather than staged. “Jon amplifies Kind Traveler’s message because he tells the story the way real travellers experience it—through emotion, curiosity, and genuine human connection,” Blotter explains. “His Belize trip wasn’t a promotional highlight reel; it was a grounded travel story that showed how giving back can seamlessly live inside a vacation. He shared his stay, his on-the-ground impressions, and the nonprofit visit in a way that made people think: ‘Oh—I can do that too.’”
For Huertas, Belize began as a trip rooted in wonder: world-class scuba diving and the pull of a place he had long wanted to experience. What he found, however, shifted the centre of the journey. “Belize opened me up in a way I didn’t expect,” he recalls. He arrived thinking, “Cool, some of the best scuba in the Caribbean.” What he encountered instead was “a whole education.”
“We started on the jungle side and learned about local communities, their history, conservation work, and even the dog rescue efforts trying to protect and care for animals that a lot of people overlook,” he says. What stayed with him most was meeting Maya people and hearing how they are living in modern Belize while still carrying the weight of colonization on their culture—an experience that resonated with “my own Afro Indigenous roots from Borikén.”
“Travel stopped being just about seeing beautiful places. It became about honouring the people who’ve been caretakers of those places long before I ever showed up.”
That shift became even clearer later, when travel intersected with hands-on conservation. “And it wasn’t just Belize that connected those dots for me,” he adds. “Later, I travelled in partnership with Kind Traveler, the Hurawalhi Marine Biology Centre, and PADI to the Maldives, where we took part in shark conservation dives, reef restoration, and learning how tourism, when done right, can actually fuel conservation instead of hurting it.”
He points to what he saw on the ground—marine biology centres, coral nurseries, and citizen science programs that invite guests into the work—proof that protecting reefs and wildlife can be woven into tourism in a way that strengthens local pride and long-term stewardship.
Seeing that up close, in both Belize and the Maldives, clarified what he now believes travellers must hold as true. “Travellers aren’t just visitors. We’re part of the story the moment we land,” Huertas says. “Our responsibility is to choose the kind of story we’re going to help write: one that extracts, or one that protects, supports, and gives back. Once you see the impact of the second option, you can’t go back to just being a spectator.”
Service, Struggle, and a Mindset of Showing Up
That sense of responsibility, Huertas says, was shaped by service as much as travel. “The Air Force was my rite of passage,” he explains. “It gave me a north star, discipline, and the drive behind every win I’ve had. Service isn’t a slogan. It’s a mindset. Show up. Do the work.”
It was also shaped by uncertainty. Early in his acting career, he briefly lived out of his truck with two dogs—an experience that made him cautious about assumptions and quick judgements. “People love easy labels, but real life is complicated,” he says.
He remembers the moment pride gave way to honesty—and kindness met him there. “When I finally told a friend what my situation was, he immediately offered me a warm bed to sleep in for me and my dogs. An act of kindness,” he recalls. “At that point, I understood that sometimes ‘kindness’ can also be asked for, not just given… it’s a two-way road.”
The lesson lasted. “That understanding made me move with more empathy,” he says. “It made me pay closer attention.”
Kindness as Practice
For Huertas, kindness is not passive; it is a practice. “Kindness is work,” he says. “It’s harder than being selfish, and humans aren’t usually fans of ‘hard.’ But everything hard pays you back twice over.”
He recalls a conversation that still shapes how he moves through the world. “A woman on the street once told me the worst part of being homeless wasn’t hunger or safety,” he says. “It was feeling invisible. People acted like she wasn’t human.” Since then, he has adopted a simple rule: “Always say hi. Always acknowledge the person in front of you, especially if they’re unhoused.”
His definition of kindness is direct. “Kindness is presence. It’s paying attention,” Huertas says. “Engage, don’t just observe. Leave people feeling seen. That’s the kind of kindness that actually heals.”
Legacy in the Human Sense
When asked what legacy means to him, Huertas turns the focus outward. “Legacy isn’t something I chase. I don’t need my name carved anywhere. For me, legacy is something countries, corporations, and institutions should be focused on. If you’re going to talk legacy, leave the world better than you found it.”
And if anything endures, he hopes it is measurable in how he lived. “If I leave anything behind,” he adds, “I want it to be impact, not applause. More giving than taking. More care than consumption.”
In that sense, the story Huertas is most invested in now is not only the one unfolding on screen. It is the one written in the quieter choices—how we enter a community, what we take, what we return, and whether we leave a place strengthened by our presence.
Learn more about Kind Traveler and how every stay and adventure helps care for the communities and causes behind the places we love at kindtraveler.com
