Muna is a powerful maker of change in the world of travel and someone I admire deeply. She is the founder of Baraka Destinations, an organization creating tourism experiences in Jordan’s secondary, forgotten locations that center local narratives and give power back to where it belongs: local communities.

Muna spent nearly two decades working in sustainable tourism. She founded the Jordan Trail Association, which promotes the 400-mile hiking trail that runs across the country, and helped create the Meaningful Travel Map of Jordan.

This season, we want to hear from you!

Send us a short note with your name, where you’re calling in from, and an answer to two questions:

1. What gives YOU hope in this moment in time
2. Which place you are going to next

We’ll run your answers at the end of the season in our Community Voices episode! To participate, fill out this form OR send us a short audio clip (an iPhone voice recording is just fine!) to hello@goingplacesmedia.com by Monday, April 27.

Going Places is an audience-supported platform. Today, I want to invite you to become a paid member, so that we can continue doing this work in the months to come.

Join us for as little as $6 a month and get access to our membership perks. We just added a new one: now everyone, even at our lowest membership level, can tune into regular, quarterly Zoom check-ins with me. Our first one is in April.

Visit us at goingplacesmedia.com to learn more.

Thanks to our Founding Members:

• RISE Travel Institute, a nonprofit with a mission to create a more just and equitable world through travel education
• Radostina Boseva, a film wedding photographer with an editorial flair based in San Francisco

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• How a trip to Cambodia led Muna down this path
• Asking 'who benefits?' and 'who gets to tell the story of a place?'
• How Baraka's work transformed the village of Umm Qais in northern Jordan
• Why the model Muna started is a revolution needed everywhere in travel
• What makes Baraka's new tour in Amman extraordinary
• Words matter: why terms 'Middle East' and 'Levant' are a colonial legacy
• Unpacking Orientalism

Featured on the show:

• Follow Muna on Instagram: @munahaddad
• Follow Baraka Destinations on Instagram: @barakadestinations
• Learn more about Baraka Destinations
• Check out the newly-launched Amman City Tour by Baraka
• Read about Muna in the 2026 Power List by Condé Nast Traveler
• Learn more about Edward Said and his seminal work, Orientalism

Going Places is a reader-supported platform. Get membership perks like a monthly group call with Yulia at goingplacesmedia.com!

For more BTS of this podcast follow @goingplacesmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on YouTube!

Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don’t forget to tag us @goingplacesmedia!

And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Going Places or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You’ll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!

Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk is a show that sparks a better understanding of people and places near and far by fostering a space for real conversations to occur. Each week, we sit down with travelers, journalists, creators, and people living and working in destinations around the world. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer who's worked with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

Lale has been working as Condé Nast Traveler editor for the past ten years, and her reporting has taken her from horseback riding in Patagonia and hiking in the Andes to sailing down the Amazon River, chasing the Iditarod in Alaska, and clubbing in Kosovo.

If you’re interested in working with Condé Nast, don’t miss this episode: Lale gives tips on how to pitch her, what she looks for in the pitch, and how the current moment informs the types of stories she’s looking to champion at the magazine.

This season, we want to hear from you!

Send us a short note with your name, where you’re calling in from, and an answer to two questions:

1. What gives YOU hope in this moment in time
2. Which place you are going to next

We’ll run your answers at the end of the season in our Community Voices episode! To participate, fill out this form OR send us a short audio clip (an iPhone voice recording is just fine!) to hello@goingplacesmedia.com by Monday, April 27.

Going Places is an audience-supported platform. Today, I want to invite you to become a paid member, so that we can continue doing this work in the months to come.

Join us for as little as $6 a month and get the perks like getting on a group call with Yulia every month to ask questions, get advice, and be in community with each other.

Visit us at goingplacesmedia.com to learn more.

Thanks to our Founding Members:

1. RISE Travel Institute, a nonprofit with a mission to create a more just and equitable world through travel education
2. Radostina Boseva, a film wedding photographer with an editorial flair based in San Francisco

What you’ll learn in this episode:

1. What fuels Lale's reporting right now
2. What it was like for Lale crossing borders with her Turkish father
3. What our show’s concept (travel through a decolonial lens) means to Lale
4. Discussions inside the editors' room: borders, visa equity, and the privilege of travel
5. What Lale learned from interviewing women like Tracee Ellis Ross & Brooke Shields
6. Lale's tips on how to pitch Condé Nast Traveler
7. Lale answers our listeners' questions

Featured on the show:

1. Follow Lale on Instagram: @lalehannah
2. Read Lale's Istanbul article, In Charismatic Istanbul, the Past Still Shapes the Present
3. Read Yulia's article edited by Lale, In Okinawa, the Enduring Legacy of Bingata Textiles
4. Listen to the Women Who Travel podcast
5. Check out this Brooke Shields episode, this Antarctica episode with Preet Chandhi, and this episode where Lale interviewed Yulia
6. Check out CNT pitching guidelines

Going Places is a reader-supported platform. Get membership perks like a monthly group call with Yulia at goingplacesmedia.com!

For more BTS of this podcast follow @goingplacesmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on YouTube!

Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don’t forget to tag us @goingplacesmedia!

And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Going Places or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You’ll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!

Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk is a show that sparks a better understanding of people and places near and far by fostering a space for real conversations to occur. Each week, we sit down with travelers, journalists, creators, and people living and working in destinations around the world. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer who's worked with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

This season of Going Places is all about changing narratives. From who gets to tell the story of a place to revealing the hidden history of Muslim Europe and elevating the people who serve as the backbone of the trekking industry, you'll hear voices, perspectives, and stories that will provide a deeper understanding of places and cultures around the world.

Here's a preview of who you're going to meet:

1. Muna Haddad, founder and CEO of Baraka Destinations in Jordan
2. Lale Arikoglu, a longtime editor at Condé Nast Traveler and host of the Women Who Travel podcast
3. Marinel de Jesus, advocate for porters in the trekking industry and the founder of the Porter Voice Collective
4. and many more

This season, we want to hear from you!

Send us a short note with your name, where you’re calling in from, and an answer to two questions:

1. What gives YOU hope in this moment in time
2. Which place you are going to next

We’ll run your answers at the end of the season in our Community Voices episode! To participate, fill out this form OR send us a short audio clip (an iPhone voice recording is just fine!) to hello@goingplacesmedia.com by Monday, April 27.

Going Places is an audience-supported platform. Today, I want to invite you to become a paid member, so that we can continue doing this work in the months to come.

Join us for as little as $6 a month and get the perks like getting on a group call with Yulia every month to ask questions, get advice, and be in community with each other.

Visit us at goingplacesmedia.com to learn more.

Thanks to our Founding Members:

1. RISE Travel Institute, a nonprofit with a mission to create a more just and equitable world through travel education
2. Radostina Boseva, a film wedding photographer with an editorial flair based in San Francisco

Going Places is a reader-supported platform. Get membership perks like a monthly group call with Yulia at goingplacesmedia.com!

For more BTS of this podcast follow @goingplacesmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on YouTube!

Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don’t forget to tag us @goingplacesmedia!

And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Going Places or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You’ll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!

Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk is a show that sparks a better understanding of people and places near and far by fostering a space for real conversations to occur. Each week, we sit down with travelers, journalists, creators, and people living and working in destinations around the world. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer who's worked with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

Today, we're speaking with Dr. Anu Taranath, a speaker, facilitator, and faculty member at the University of Washington in Seattle, where she teaches about global literature, race, and equity, and directs study abroad programs on human rights.

Anu is the author of Beyond Guilt Trips: Mindful Travel in an Unequal World, a book that puts our movement across the world in a larger context of systems of power. She also writes a column for AFAR Magazine.

We're closing the year with a conversation that's full of lightness, joy, and delight. I hope you enjoy it!

Reminder:

We are running a 10-day trip to Jordan from June 5-14, 2026. We'll visit the Dead Sea, Petra, Wadi Rum, Amman, and many off-beaten spots in between. We'll meet a renowned artist who designed the country's newest currency, spend time with the Bedouins in the desert, and more.

Go to https://goingplacesmedia.com/jordan for details on early-bird booking, which ends on Jan 4, 2026.

Going Places is an audience-supported platform. You can become a member for as little as $6 a month. Visit us at goingplacesmedia.com to learn more.

Thanks to our Founding Members:

1. RISE Travel Institute, a nonprofit with a mission to create a more just and equitable world through travel education
2. Radostina Boseva, a film wedding photographer with an editorial flair based in San Francisco

Today is the last episode of the season! Thank you so much for listening. We’re taking a break and will be back with new episodes this Spring.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

1. The origins of Anu's justice work: too foreign to be an American
2. Growing up in a South Asian family in Texas
3. How Anu creates spaces of belonging from New York to New Delhi
4. What the hyper-individualistic U.S. culture teaches us about community
5. The politics of travel: how power structures shape the way we travel
6. Anu reads an excerpt from her book
7. Helmet-to-cheek: looking for sweetness, lightness, and joy wherever we go

Featured on the show:

1. Follow Anu on Instagram: @dr.anutaranath
2. Read Anu's book, Beyond Guilt Trips: Mindful Travel In an Unequal World
3. Check out Anu's column at AFAR Magazine
4. Watch our panel with Anu: Travel, Power, and the Role of Creators in a World on Fire
5. Join me in Jordan next June

Going Places is a reader-supported platform. Get membership perks like a monthly group call with Yulia at goingplacesmedia.com!

For more BTS of this podcast follow @goingplacesmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on YouTube!

Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don’t forget to tag us @goingplacesmedia!

And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Going Places or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You’ll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!

Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk is a show that sparks a better understanding of people and places near and far by fostering a space for real conversations to occur. Each week, we sit down with travelers, journalists, creators, and people living and working in destinations around the world. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer who's worked with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

Today, we're going to find out.

We're speaking with Sibu Szymanowska and Hira Aftab, co-founders of The Hybrid Tours, a travel company that uses the power of travel and storytelling to challenge stereotypes and foster connections with activists, refugees, and changemakers worldwide.

Use code GOINGPLACES to receive $100 off any of The Hybrid Tours' upcoming trips.

Reminder:

We are running a 10-day trip to Jordan from June 5-14, 2026. We'll visit the Dead Sea, Petra, Wadi Rum, Amman, and many off-beaten spots in between. We'll meet a renowned artist who designed the country's newest currency, spend time with the Bedouins in the desert, and more.

Go to https://goingplacesmedia.com/jordan for details on early-bird booking, which ends on Jan 4, 2026.

Going Places is an audience-supported platform. You can become a member for as little as $6 a month. Visit us at goingplacesmedia.com to learn more.

Thanks to our Founding Members:

• RISE Travel Institute, a nonprofit with a mission to create a more just and equitable world through travel education
• Radostina Boseva, a film wedding photographer with an editorial flair based in San Francisco

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• Hira and Sibu’s origins in the human rights work
• How a trip to the Azraq refugee camp in Jordan started it all
• Traveling as a visibly Muslim woman
• Meeting survivors of partition in Pakistan
• What decolonizing travel really is
• Creating travel content with a human rights lens
• Sibu's lessons from 5+ years of full-time travel
• Traveling overland from the West to North Africa
• Hira and Sibu dream of starting the world from scratch

Featured on the show:

• Follow The Hybrid Tours on Instagram: @thehybridtours
• Check out upcoming trips with The Hybrid Tours
• Join The Hybrid Tours newsletter
• Watch Sibu's Instagram series on traveling from West to North Africa overland
• Check out Hira's Instagram post on misconceptions about Muslim women
• Check out Hira's organization, Our World Too, and listen to their podcast
• Check out Baraka Destinations
• Read about U.S. wheat flooding Jordan's markets
• Join me in Jordan next June

Going Places is a reader-supported platform. Get membership perks like a monthly group call with Yulia at goingplacesmedia.com!

For more BTS of this podcast follow @goingplacesmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on YouTube!

Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don’t forget to tag us @goingplacesmedia!

And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Going Places or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You’ll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!

Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk is a show that sparks a better understanding of people and places near and far by fostering a space for real conversations to occur. Each week, we sit down with travelers, journalists, creators, and people living and working in destinations around the world. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer who's worked with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

Travel to Jordan has dropped 90% in some cases in the last two years.

In this conversation, I wanted to hear Vanessa's take on what it’s like to travel to Jordan for someone who’s never been, as we experienced the country largely empty of tourists together. 

We are running a 10-day trip to Jordan from June 5-14, 2026. We'll visit the Dead Sea, Petra, Wadi Rum, Amman, and many off-beaten spots in between. We'll meet a renowned artist who designed the country's newest currency, spend time with the Bedouins in the desert, and more.

Go to https://goingplacesmedia.com/jordan for details on early-bird booking, which ends on Jan 4, 2026.

Going Places is an audience-supported platform. You can become a member for as little as $6 a month. Visit us at goingplacesmedia.com to learn more.

Thanks to our Founding Members:

• RISE Travel Institute, a nonprofit with a mission to create a more just and equitable world through travel education
• Radostina Boseva, a film wedding photographer with an editorial flair based in San Francisco

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• Is it safe to travel to Jordan?
• The impact of tourism cancellations on Jordan's tourism community
• What it was like for Vanessa to travel in proximity to Palestine
• Meeting the people of Jordan: an Ammani photographer, a sustainable farmer in Madaba, the Bedouins of Wadi Rum
• Vanessa's top experiences in Jordan
• Considering going to Jordan? Vanessa has this to say

Featured on the show:

• Join me in Jordan next June
• Follow Vanessa on Instagram: @adventures_vkabbe

Original Air Date: Feb 25, 2025.

Going Places is a reader-supported platform. Get membership perks like a monthly group call with Yulia at goingplacesmedia.com!

For more BTS of this podcast follow @goingplacesmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on YouTube!

Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don’t forget to tag us @goingplacesmedia!

And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Going Places or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You’ll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!

Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk is a show that sparks a better understanding of people and places near and far by fostering a space for real conversations to occur. Each week, we sit down with travelers, journalists, creators, and people living and working in destinations around the world. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer who's worked with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

We are returning to Jordan next June!

Join us June 5-14, 2026 on a 10-day trip to this country we love so much. We'll visit the Dead Sea, Petra, Wadi Rum, Amman, and many off-beaten spots in between. And yes, we will also stay with Ahmad at Rum Planet Camp in the desert.

Go to https://goingplacesmedia.com/jordan for details on early-bird booking, which ends on Jan 4, 2026.

Going Places is an audience-supported platform. You can become a member for as little as $6 a month. Visit us at goingplacesmedia.com to learn more.

Thanks to our Founding Members:

• RISE Travel Institute, a nonprofit with a mission to create a more just and equitable world through travel education
• Radostina Boseva, a film wedding photographer with an editorial flair based in San Francisco

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• What it's like growing up in the desert
• What is Bedouin culture?
• What Bedouin hospitality looks like
• How tourism impacted Bedouin communities
• The disappearance of traditional Bedouin lifestyle
• What it was like for Ahmad to meet Matt Damon during the actor's "Martian" filming
• How Ahmad thinks about some of the stereotypes about Arabs and Muslims
• Women in Bedouin culture
• What Ahmad is doing to make his eco-camp truly sustainable
• Rum Panet Camp’s efforts to showcase the real Bedouin identity

Featured on the show:

• Join me in Jordan next June
• Follow Rum Planet Camp on Instagram @rum.planet.camp
• Read my article in AFAR Magazine, Heading to Jordan? Skip the Bubble Tent and Stay Here Instead.

Original Air Date: Oct 3, 2023.

Going Places is a reader-supported platform. Get membership perks like a monthly group call with Yulia at goingplacesmedia.com!

For more BTS of this podcast follow @goingplacesmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on YouTube!

Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don’t forget to tag us @goingplacesmedia!

And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Going Places or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You’ll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!

Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk is a show that sparks a better understanding of people and places near and far by fostering a space for real conversations to occur. Each week, we sit down with travelers, journalists, creators, and people living and working in destinations around the world. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer who's worked with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

We're speaking with Megan Ryder-Burbidge, a global advocate for women’s equality and the co-founder and CEO of Sororal, a feminist travel company and advocacy brand reshaping how women experience the world.

Megan's company is addressing violence against women by partnering with anti-violence organizations in the places they take travelers to, such as India, Morocco, and Kenya.

Book your 2026 trips with Sororal and use code GOINGPLACES to receive $250 CAD off your booking (~$175 USD).

Going Places is an audience-supported platform. You can become our member for as little as $6 a month. Visit us at goingplacesmedia.com to learn more.

Thanks to our Founding Members:

• RISE Travel Institute, a nonprofit with a mission to create a more just and equitable world through travel education
• Radostina Boseva, a film wedding photographer with an editorial flair based in San Francisco

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• Megan’s childhood in the Middle East and North Africa
• Why we don't talk about the widespread issue of violence against women
• What Sororal is doing to contribute to the anti-violence campaign
• What it's like being a woman in the modern world 
• Sororal trips to India, Morocco, and Kenya
• Performative advocacy in the travel space
• Are women traveling solo safe?
• How Megan is raising a feminist daughter
• What if women ruled the world?

Featured on the show:

• Follow @sororal on Instagram and TikTok
• Read Megan's Substack
• Connect with Megan on LinkedIn
• Learn more about Sororal on its website
• Read Sororal's Motherhood & Travel post

Going Places is a reader-supported platform. Get membership perks like a monthly group call with Yulia at goingplacesmedia.com!

For more BTS of this podcast follow @goingplacesmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on YouTube!

Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don’t forget to tag us @goingplacesmedia!

And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Going Places or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You’ll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!

Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk is a show that sparks a better understanding of people and places near and far by fostering a space for real conversations to occur. Each week, we sit down with travelers, journalists, creators, and people living and working in destinations around the world. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer who's worked with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

Today, we're speaking with Hadar Cohen, an Arab Jewish scholar, mystic, and artist whose work focuses on multi-religious spirituality, politics, social issues, and community building. Hadar comes from a 10th-generation Jerusalem family with lineage roots in Syria, Kurdistan, Iraq, and Iran.

Hadar's story is one that we don’t often hear in the mainstream conversations in the Global North, because she comes from the Sephardic Jewish lineage: the branch of Judaism that originated in Spain at the time of Moorish Al Andalus, more closely related to the traditions of the Near East, rather than Europe.

Going Places is an audience-supported platform. You can become our member for as little as $6 a month. Visit us at goingplacesmedia.com to learn more.

Thanks to our Founding Members:

• RISE Travel Institute, a nonprofit with a mission to create a more just and equitable world through travel education
• Radostina Boseva, a film wedding photographer with an editorial flair based in San Francisco

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• The Jewish mystical concept of tikkun olam, repairing the world
• How Judaism is rooted in social justice
• What it means to be an Arab Jew
• How spirituality gives us the courage to face injustice
• What Sephardic Jews have in common with their Muslim peers
• Differences between Ashkenazi, Sephardic, and Mizrahi Jews
• The erasure of Arab Jews from the region's history
• What is Jewish anti-Zionism
• Debunking the myth of 'Arabs versus Jews'
• How Hadar uses her platform to heal the world
• Hadar's research in Andalusia and Morocco
• What it was like growing up Syrian Arab Jew in Jerusalem

Featured on the show:

• Follow @hadarcohen32 on Instagram
• Listen to Hadar's podcast, Hadar's Web
• Learn more about Hadar's work on her website
• Read Hadar's writing on Substack
• Check out the Tikkun Olam episode on the On Being show
• Watch Edward Said's 1991 interview

Going Places is a reader-supported platform. Get membership perks like a monthly group call with Yulia at goingplacesmedia.com!

For more BTS of this podcast follow @goingplacesmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on YouTube!

Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don’t forget to tag us @goingplacesmedia!

And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Going Places or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You’ll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!

Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk is a show that sparks a better understanding of people and places near and far by fostering a space for real conversations to occur. Each week, we sit down with travelers, journalists, creators, and people living and working in destinations around the world. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer who's worked with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

You’ll hear from our paid members Dr. Anu Taranath, a University of Washington professor and lecturer on human rights, who wrote a book called Beyond Guilt Trips: Mindful Travel in an Unequal World, and Dee Flower, a former park ranger and author of Where the Wind Wills, an adventure-driven travel memoir.

Our paid members come from all walks of life, but what unites them is a shared passion for travel, equality, and moving through the world as aware and engaged citizens of it. At the beginning of every month, we get together to discuss the projects we’re working on, get support with personal or professional challenges, and simply be in community with one another, an act we do not take lightly in our increasingly isolated world.

Going Places is an audience-supported platform.

Become a member for as little as $6 a month and get the perks like getting on a group call with Yulia every month to ask questions, get advice, and be in community with each other.

Visit us at goingplacesmedia.com to learn more.

Thanks to our Founding Members:

• RISE Travel Institute, a nonprofit with a mission to create a more just and equitable world through travel education
• Radostina Boseva, a film wedding photographer with an editorial flair based in San Francisco

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• How we support each other during our monthly calls
• The joys and challenges of the book-writing process
• How to manage impostor syndrome at the start of a big creative project

Featured on the show:

• Become a Going Places member here
• Learn more about Dr. Anu Taranath on her website
• Learn more about Dee Flower and her upcoming writing retreat in Kenya

Going Places is a reader-supported platform. Get membership perks like a monthly group call with Yulia at goingplacesmedia.com!

For more BTS of this podcast follow @goingplacesmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on YouTube!

Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don’t forget to tag us @goingplacesmedia!

And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Going Places or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You’ll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!

Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk is a show that sparks a better understanding of people and places near and far by fostering a space for real conversations to occur. Each week, we sit down with travelers, journalists, creators, and people living and working in destinations around the world. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer who's worked with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

On his podcast, Matt interviews people who work at the intersection of travel and activist spaces. On it, you’ll find interviews with people like Imani Bashir, a Black Muslim American who advocates for more Black people in the us to travel with her Passport initiative, and Mari Monsalve, who visited occupied Palestine and uses her platform for Palestinian solidarity.

Become a Going Places member for as little as $6 a month. Visit our reimagined platform at goingplacesmedia.com to learn more.

Going Places is an audience-supported platform. Become a member for as little as $6 a month and get the perks like getting on a group call with Yulia every month to ask questions, get advice, and be in community with each other.

Visit us at goingplacesmedia.com to learn more.

Thanks to our Founding Members:

• RISE Travel Institute, a nonprofit with a mission to create a more just and equitable world through travel education
• Radostina Boseva, a film wedding photographer with an editorial flair based in San Francisco

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• Growing up in Soviet Kazakhstan and Estonia
• A culture shock of moving to the U.S. at age 16
• Yulia explains her decision to join the U.S. Navy
• How serving in Iraq and Afghanistan impacted Yulia's politics
• How a trip to Morocco took Yulia off a corporate career path
• Yulia's stories set in Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Botswana, and Jordan
• Yulia explains why Jordan is so close to her heart

Featured on the show:

• Check out The Maverick Show with Matt Bowles
• Follow @maverickshowpod on Instagram
• Listen to Part 2 of the interview, in which we unpack Orientalism and activism for Palestine

Going Places is a reader-supported platform. Get membership perks like a monthly group call with Yulia at goingplacesmedia.com!

For more BTS of this podcast follow @goingplacesmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on YouTube!

Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don’t forget to tag us @goingplacesmedia!

And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Going Places or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You’ll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!

Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk is a show that sparks a better understanding of people and places near and far by fostering a space for real conversations to occur. Each week, we sit down with travelers, journalists, creators, and people living and working in destinations around the world. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer who's worked with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

Farah’s academic research focuses on religion, gender issues, youth participation, and cross-cultural understanding. She’s also the author of Speaking from Within, her recently published book that covers all aspects of crossing cultures and is a useful introduction to Morocco. 

Become a Going Places member for as little as $6 a month. Visit our reimagined platform at goingplacesmedia.com to learn more.

Going Places is an audience-supported platform. Become a member for as little as $6 a month and get the perks like getting on a group call with Yulia every month to ask questions, get advice, and be in community with each other.

Visit us at goingplacesmedia.com to learn more.

Thanks to our Founding Members:

• RISE Travel Institute, a nonprofit with a mission to create a more just and equitable world through travel education
• Radostina Boseva, a film wedding photographer with an editorial flair based in San Francisco

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• Understanding Morocco's tribal origins
• Jeans vs Hijab: What we can do about the stereotypes we all hold
• How Farah’s work breaks down cultural stereotypes
• Why Rabat is great for women traveling solo
• What it was like for Yulia to attend Africa's largest music festival in Rabat
• The Rabati connection to Andalusia
• Farah explains the royal Rabati pastilla
• Why tajine is not what you think it is
• Why Rabati food is hard to find in restaurants (and what to do about it)
• What we can do to prevent the exotification of Morocco
• How bringing people to Farah's part of the world can help fight against the stereotypes of the media and the world’s powers

Featured on the show:

• Follow @farahcherifdouezzan on Instagram
• Learn more about CCCL's work on its website

Going Places is a reader-supported platform. Get membership perks like a monthly group call with Yulia at goingplacesmedia.com!

For more BTS of this podcast follow @goingplacesmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on YouTube!

Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don’t forget to tag us @goingplacesmedia!

And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Going Places or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You’ll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!

Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk is a show that sparks a better understanding of people and places near and far by fostering a space for real conversations to occur. Each week, we sit down with travelers, journalists, creators, and people living and working in destinations around the world. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer who's worked with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

Tasneem is the first Arab woman to become a Canon ambassador. She has primarily worked with The New York Times and National Geographic, but as you’ll hear in this episode, she has largely stopped collaborating with Western media outlets that continue to dehumanize Palestinian people in their coverage, headlines, and framing.

What has she focused on since? Learn all about it in this episode.

Become a Going Places member for as little as $6 a month. Visit our reimagined platform at goingplacesmedia.com to learn more.

Going Places is an audience-supported platform. Become a member for as little as $6 a month and get the perks like getting on a group call with Yulia every month to ask questions, get advice, and be in community with each other.

Visit us at goingplacesmedia.com to learn more.

Thanks to our Founding Members:

• RISE Travel Institute, a nonprofit with a mission to create a more just and equitable world through travel education
• Radostina Boseva, a film wedding photographer with an editorial flair based in San Francisco

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• Questioning the silence of the media on the journalists killed in Gaza
• Tasneem withdrawing from Women Photograph
• A photography career after opting out of Western media organizations
• What it was like growing up between the US, the UK, and Saudi Arabia
• Tasneem addresses the misconceptions about Saudi Arabia
• What it's like traveling alone as a Saudi woman in Saudi Arabia
• Are women who are covered up oppressed?
• Why Tasneem thinks the borders are invisible
• What gives Tasneem hope

Featured on the show:

• Follow @tasneemalsultan on Instagram
• Learn more about Tasneem on her website

Going Places is a reader-supported platform. Get membership perks like a monthly group call with Yulia at goingplacesmedia.com!

For more BTS of this podcast follow @goingplacesmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on YouTube!

Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don’t forget to tag us @goingplacesmedia!

And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Going Places or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You’ll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!

Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk is a show that sparks a better understanding of people and places near and far by fostering a space for real conversations to occur. Each week, we sit down with travelers, journalists, creators, and people living and working in destinations around the world. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer who's worked with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

In the last few years, our show has undergone a transformation. As we continue witnessing the genocide of the Palestinian people in Gaza, and the dehumanization of entire groups in the media, we’ve questioned our role in travel media and felt powerless and hopeless to make any meaningful change.

This show is our antidote to that hopelessness.

At Going Places, we cultivate hope with stories of people and places that bring our shared humanity back into focus.

We introduce important projects happening halfway around the world that we think you should know about, and we interview people who inspire us, break stereotypes, and serve as ‘agents of light,’ in the words of one of our upcoming guests this season, Dr. Anu Taranath.

Here's a preview of who you're going to meet in Season 13:

• Tasneem Alsultan, a renowned photographer and photojournalist from Saudi Arabia
• Farah Cherif D’Ouezzan, a Moroccan academic who founded the Rabat-based Center for Cross-Cultural Learning
• Dr. Anu Taranat, a University of Washington professor, lecturer on human rights, race, and equity, and author of Beyond Guilt Trips: Mindful Travel in an Unequal World

Going Places is an audience-supported platform.

That means that you can be in community with us on this journey. Today, I want to invite you to become a paid member, so that we can continue doing this work in the months to come.

Become a Going Places member for as little as $6 a month and get the perks like getting on a group call with Yulia every month to ask questions, get advice, and be in community with each other.

Visit us at goingplacesmedia.com to learn more.

Thanks to our Founding Members:

• RISE Travel Institute, a nonprofit with a mission to create a more just and equitable world through travel education
• Radostina Boseva, a film wedding photographer with an editorial flair based in San Francisco

Going Places is a reader-supported platform. Get membership perks like a monthly group call with Yulia at goingplacesmedia.com!

For more BTS of this podcast follow @goingplacesmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on YouTube!

Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don’t forget to tag us @goingplacesmedia!

And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Going Places or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You’ll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!

Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk is a show that sparks a better understanding of people and places near and far by fostering a space for real conversations to occur. Each week, we sit down with travelers, journalists, creators, and people living and working in destinations around the world. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer who's worked with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

In this episode of Going Places, I share updates on the podcast's return, my work on the book proposal (ICYMI: I'm writing a non-fiction book), and why independent journalism is more important than ever.

I talk about our upcoming season, in which you'll hear interviews with a Saudi photographer, a Moroccan professor, and so much more, and share our plans for future projects.

BUT: we need you.

All of September, we're running a Back Indie Media drive together with dozens of other independent publishers. Corporate-owned media continues dehumanizing people in headlines and framing; your support helps us share stories that bring humanity back.

For less than a cup of coffee a month, join us at https://www.goingplacesmedia.com/#/portal/signup/ and get access to member-only creator opportunities (like a travel photography residency) and more.

Going Places is a reader-supported platform. Get membership perks like a monthly group call with Yulia at goingplacesmedia.com!

For more BTS of this podcast follow @goingplacesmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on YouTube!

Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don’t forget to tag us @goingplacesmedia!

And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Going Places or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You’ll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!

Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk is a show that sparks a better understanding of people and places near and far by fostering a space for real conversations to occur. Each week, we sit down with travelers, journalists, creators, and people living and working in destinations around the world. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer who's worked with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

We’re taking an eight-week break, during which I will focus on completing my two book proposals. Wish me luck!

We will be back with new episodes in September.

The ability to go anywhere is something that many of us probably don't pay much attention to in our day-to-day lives.

If we have a powerful passport like that of the United States, some savings or a credit card, and the ability to do flexible, remote work, we can travel somewhere at a moment’s notice.

But for many people around the world, that is not the case. So today, I want to pose some questions about what it means.

Become a Going Places member for as little as $6 a month. Visit our reimagined platform at goingplacesmedia.com to learn more.

Thanks to our Founding Member: RISE Travel Institute, a nonprofit with a mission to create a more just and equitable world through travel education.

Featured on the show:

• Read Banksy's Walled Off Hotel opens in Bethlehem (AFAR)
• Check out the Pew Research study on how rates of travel vary across the world
• Learn more about restrictions of movement in Palestine (a report by the Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem)
• Learn more about our upcoming trip to Okinawa in November here

Going Places is a reader-supported platform. Get membership perks like a monthly group call with Yulia at goingplacesmedia.com!

For more BTS of this podcast follow @goingplacesmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on YouTube!

Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don’t forget to tag us @goingplacesmedia!

And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Going Places or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You’ll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!

Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk is a show that sparks a better understanding of people and places near and far by fostering a space for real conversations to occur. Each week, we sit down with travelers, journalists, creators, and people living and working in destinations around the world. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer who's worked with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

With a Master’s Degree in International Peace and Conflict Resolution, Matt has over two decades of human rights and activism experience. He led activist delegations to monitor human rights abuses in the north of Ireland, co-founded an organization to stop U.S. aid to Israel, organized solidarity delegations to the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and did solidarity work with the indigenous Zapatista communities in Chiapas, Mexico.

In the past few years, many more people around the world have tuned in to the injustice that has been happening in Palestine for the past 75 years. If you want to understand the origins of this injustice AND what you can do to help stop it, this episode is for you.

I first became immersed in the struggle for Palestinian liberation in 2017, when I visited the West Bank and saw the Israeli soldiers at checkpoints, the humiliation of people, the treatment of Arabs like second-class citizens, and the Israeli system of apartheid with my own eyes. Matt has been working on Palestinian solidarity since 1998. It has been so helpful to hear the perspective of someone with this much longer view on the struggle. 

Become a Going Places member for as little as $6 a month. Visit our reimagined platform at goingplacesmedia.com to learn more.

Thanks to our Founding Member: RISE Travel Institute, a nonprofit with a mission to create a more just and equitable world through travel education.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• Current moment in the Palestinian human rights advocacy
• Travel media's sanitized version of seeing the world
• How Matt's Palestinian advocacy started with the Black liberation struggle in the US
• Britain's first and last colony (is the same?)
• The gap in awareness between what Palestine is and what the media shows
• The power asymmetry and the longest military occupation in modern history
• Confronting antisemitism and misrepresentation
• What the Rwandan, Guatemalan, and Cambodian genocides can teach us
• Matt dismantles "It's too complicated"
• Why do we give states more rights than people?
• The origins of this settler colonial project
• Why the US shifted its Palestine stance in 1967
• The history of Palestinian nonviolent resistance 
• Why is there zero accountability for the State of Israel's actions?
• US law enforcement training with IOF
• What can an individual do? A lot!
• What gives Matt hope today
• Why Yulia believes that Gaza will change the world

Featured on the show:

• Listen to Matt's Maverick Show podcast
• Follow @maverickshowpod on Instagram
• Subscribe to Matt's Monday Minute newsletter
• Learn more about the International Solidarity Movement
• Learn more about Jewish Voice for Peace
• Learn more about If Not Now
• Learn more about the Boycott, Divest, and Sanctions movement
• Check out the Boycat App

Going Places is a reader-supported platform. Get membership perks like a monthly group call with Yulia at goingplacesmedia.com!

For more BTS of this podcast follow @goingplacesmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on YouTube!

Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don’t forget to tag us @goingplacesmedia!

And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Going Places or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You’ll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!

Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk is a show that sparks a better understanding of people and places near and far by fostering a space for real conversations to occur. Each week, we sit down with travelers, journalists, creators, and people living and working in destinations around the world. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer who's worked with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

Okinawa is a small subtropical island in the East China Sea, halfway between China and Japan. In 1945, it endured one of the worst battles of the war, known as the Battle of Okinawa, during which an estimated 200,000 people, most of them Okinawan civilians, lost their lives.

Last November, I celebrated my birthday in Okinawa. This year, I'm returning to the island on a very special Going Places women-only trip.

We'll be traveling in the footsteps of Amamikiyo, the goddess who created the world, according to Okinawan beliefs, and spend time with a yuta, a practicing female shaman, in the northern mountain villages.

Learn more about the trip here.

Become a Going Places member for as little as $6 a month. Visit our reimagined platform at goingplacesmedia.com to learn more.

Thanks to our Founding Member: RISE Travel Institute, a nonprofit with a mission to create a more just and equitable world through travel education.

Featured on the show:

• ATTA: In Okinawa, Returning to the Communal Roots of Adventure Travel
• Learn more about our upcoming trip to Okinawa in November here

Going Places is a reader-supported platform. Get membership perks like a monthly group call with Yulia at goingplacesmedia.com!

For more BTS of this podcast follow @goingplacesmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on YouTube!

Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don’t forget to tag us @goingplacesmedia!

And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Going Places or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You’ll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!

Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk is a show that sparks a better understanding of people and places near and far by fostering a space for real conversations to occur. Each week, we sit down with travelers, journalists, creators, and people living and working in destinations around the world. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer who's worked with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

Originally from Finland, Arto divides his time between Nairobi, Bengaluru, and Helsinki as the founder and CEO of Måndag, a creative change agency.

A lot is happening in Africa and on the Indian subcontinent regarding young people leading movements for change, and Arto has the pulse on these movements.

I first came across Arto and his work when I saw one of his Instagram posts about organizing for Palestinian human rights in Helsinki. With statements like: "Call us a bunch of utopians, but we think positive change is unstoppable," Arto shares his radical change ideas with us.

Become a Going Places member for as little as $6 a month. Visit our reimagined platform at goingplacesmedia.com to learn more.

Thanks to our Founding Member: RISE Travel Institute, a nonprofit with a mission to create a more just and equitable world through travel education.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• The tension between capitalism and activism
• What could the world of radical honesty look like
• Why ethical storytelling decenters the storyteller
• Why Arto thinks East Africa, the Middle East, and India are places to be right now
• Taking the global North off the pedestal
• Climate colonialism: sustainable tourism in the context of colonization
• Can ecotourism ever be good?
• What's wrong with travel?
• Climate crisis in Polynesia
• Why Arto thinks flying is too cheap
• Arto's life in two suitcases between India and Kenya
• How land in America is connected to consumerism
• What it was like living in Nairobi and Bengaluru
• Yulia and Arto have a favorite spot they share in Finland
• What gives Arto hope

Featured on the show:

• Follow @artosivonen on Instagram
• Learn more about Måndag

Going Places is a reader-supported platform. Get membership perks like a monthly group call with Yulia at goingplacesmedia.com!

For more BTS of this podcast follow @goingplacesmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on YouTube!

Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don’t forget to tag us @goingplacesmedia!

And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Going Places or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You’ll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!

Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk is a show that sparks a better understanding of people and places near and far by fostering a space for real conversations to occur. Each week, we sit down with travelers, journalists, creators, and people living and working in destinations around the world. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer who's worked with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

RISE is an award-winning nonprofit with a mission to create a more just and equitable world through travel education. It is also a Going Places Founding Member.

If you missed last week’s episode, be sure to catch up with the first part of our conversation with Vincie.

For GOING PLACES audience: use code goingplaces10off to get a discount on all existing and future RISE paid programs.

Become a Going Places member for as little as $6 a month to get access to all our stories and resources. Visit goingplacesmedia.com to learn more.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• Why Vincie no longer uses the word ‘destination’
• What a 17th-century cartographer has to do with modernity
• What is tourism leakage?
• The word Yulia avoids using when talking about travel
• Trips you can take with RISE
• What's intimidating about Vincie's work
• Why it's important to use the word ‘decolonization’
• How to stay engaged with many forms of resistance

Featured on the show:

• Follow @risetravelinstitute on Instagram
• Learn more about RISE on their website
• Download the free RISE e-book, Decolonizing Travel
• Check out the upcoming RISE Flagship Program
• Connect with Vincie on LinkedIn

Going Places is a reader-supported platform. Get membership perks like a monthly group call with Yulia at goingplacesmedia.com!

For more BTS of this podcast follow @goingplacesmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on YouTube!

Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don’t forget to tag us @goingplacesmedia!

And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Going Places or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You’ll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!

Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk is a show that sparks a better understanding of people and places near and far by fostering a space for real conversations to occur. Each week, we sit down with travelers, journalists, creators, and people living and working in destinations around the world. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer who's worked with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

RISE is also a Going Places Founding Member.

Born and raised in Hong Kong and now based in the United States, Vincie is a disruptor, nonprofit leader, seasoned educator, and woman immigrant of color with a hearing disability whose perspective is not commonly found in travel leadership spaces.

Before her work in travel and tourism, Vincie taught French at the University of Hong Kong and was involved in refugee rights advocacy work in Hong Kong, Southeast Asia, and French-speaking Africa.

Beyond RISE, Vincie also teaches human rights in the graduate programs at Antioch University New England.

This conversation was so big and powerful that we broke it into two parts. Part 2 comes out next.

For GOING PLACES audience: use code goingplaces10off to get a discount on all existing and future RISE paid programs.

Become a Going Places member for as little as $6 a month to get access to all our stories and resources. Visit goingplacesmedia.com to learn more.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• Do we have the capacity to care today?
• How human rights show up in travel
• Why talking about sustainable travel is not enough
• Why is justice not part of the conversation in travel spaces
• Colonial capitalism: the system at the root of injustice
• How Yulia decides whether to go or not to go on a trip
• What it was like growing up in Hong Kong under British colonial rule
• Forced migration versus leisure travel
• The changes in Hong Kong over one decade
• Should I stay or should I go when things go bad?

Featured on the show:

• Follow @risetravelinstitute on Instagram
• Learn more about RISE on their website
• Download the free RISE e-book, Decolonizing Travel
• Check out the upcoming RISE Flagship Program
• Connect with Vincie on LinkedIn

Going Places is a reader-supported platform. Get membership perks like a monthly group call with Yulia at goingplacesmedia.com!

For more BTS of this podcast follow @goingplacesmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on YouTube!

Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don’t forget to tag us @goingplacesmedia!

And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Going Places or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You’ll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!

Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk is a show that sparks a better understanding of people and places near and far by fostering a space for real conversations to occur. Each week, we sit down with travelers, journalists, creators, and people living and working in destinations around the world. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer who's worked with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

I attended WITS to moderate a panel called Travel, Power, and the Role of Creators in the World on Fire.

With my brilliant co-panelists Janine Jervis, communications director for Visit Jordan, and Dr Anu Taranath, University of Washington faculty member, educator, and consultant on human rights, race, and privilege, we spent an electrified 30 minutes channeling the pain, grief, and frustration so many feel.

In front of 600 people, I delivered a message that has been in my heart for the last few years. This is the message I want to share with you today.

I want to apologize to you for the quality of this recording. It’s not the greatest, and normally, I would not share it.

But I thought the conversation was just too important, and so it finds its way to you in this form. Check out the YouTube video that you can follow along with subtitles.

Become a Going Places member for as little as $6 a month. Visit our reimagined platform at goingplacesmedia.com to learn more.

Thanks to our Founding Member: RISE Travel Institute, a nonprofit with a mission to create a more just and equitable world through travel education.

Featured on the show:

• Follow @dr.anutaranath on Instagram
• Follow @jamaykey on Instagram
• Learn more about WITS

Going Places is a reader-supported platform. Get membership perks like a monthly group call with Yulia at goingplacesmedia.com!

For more BTS of this podcast follow @goingplacesmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on YouTube!

Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don’t forget to tag us @goingplacesmedia!

And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Going Places or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You’ll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!

Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk is a show that sparks a better understanding of people and places near and far by fostering a space for real conversations to occur. Each week, we sit down with travelers, journalists, creators, and people living and working in destinations around the world. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer who's worked with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

Most of us are closer to being homeless than we are to being millionaires, with only one healthcare disaster, a lost job, or another calamity sending us to the brink. Yet, we often still buy into the myth of being "self-made" in the US, hustling hard to get to a better place one day.

It’s a promise that hasn’t been delivered for many. In her book, Natasha travels to nine countries around the world to show how, in those places, instead of promising better futures tomorrow, there is already a better present now.

Become a Going Places member for as little as $6 a month. Visit our reimagined platform at goingplacesmedia.com to learn more.

Thanks to our Founding Member: RISE Travel Institute, a nonprofit with a mission to create a more just and equitable world through travel education.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• Does the American Dream still exist?
• The palpable despair and the core problem of the US
• The answer: what’s already working in many places around the world
• Why you won’t lose your home if you lose your job in hyper-capitalist Singapore
• The US is one of seven countries on earth that don’t offer this
• Why Finland is the happiest country on earth
• Moving to another place versus staying and fighting
• The convergence Yulia sees happening right now
• What gives Natasha hope right now

Featured on the show:

• Follow @natashahakimizapata on Instagram
• Learn more about Natasha on her website
• Purchase Natasha's book, Another World Is Possible: Lessons For America From Around The Globe
• Check out House of Beautiful Business

Going Places is a reader-supported platform. Get membership perks like a monthly group call with Yulia at goingplacesmedia.com!

For more BTS of this podcast follow @goingplacesmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on YouTube!

Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don’t forget to tag us @goingplacesmedia!

And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Going Places or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You’ll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!

Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk is a show that sparks a better understanding of people and places near and far by fostering a space for real conversations to occur. Each week, we sit down with travelers, journalists, creators, and people living and working in destinations around the world. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer who's worked with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

Born and raised just outside of Cleveland, Joe has now circumvented the globe, hitting the trails as often as possible in search of stories and new ways to torture himself–all of which he documents on his YouTube channel.

Become a Going Places member for as little as $6 a month. Visit our reimagined platform at goingplacesmedia.com to learn more.

Thanks to our Founding Member: RISE Travel Institute, a nonprofit with a mission to create a more just and equitable world through travel education.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• How people learn the myth of America The Greatest
• Why Joe considers himself an immigrant, not an expat
• Why Joe moved to Germany
• How living in Berlin impacted Joe's views on American life
• What it’s like running a marathon in the Omani desert
• Why Joe travels to run
• What's aging in reverse and how you can do it too
• What gives Joe hope

Featured on the show:

• Follow @baurjoe on Instagram
• Listen to Joe's Travel Tomorrow podcast
• Read Joe's newsletter, Without A Path
• Watch Joe's Okinawa film on YouTube
• Learn more about the Oman Desert Marathon

Going Places is a reader-supported platform. Get membership perks like a monthly group call with Yulia at goingplacesmedia.com!

For more BTS of this podcast follow @goingplacesmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on YouTube!

Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don’t forget to tag us @goingplacesmedia!

And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Going Places or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You’ll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!

Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk is a show that sparks a better understanding of people and places near and far by fostering a space for real conversations to occur. Each week, we sit down with travelers, journalists, creators, and people living and working in destinations around the world. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer who's worked with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

The newly opened Stockholm Archipelago Trail connects 20 of the archipelago’s 30,000 islands via a series of footpaths made by goats, sheep, and Vikings.

Become a Going Places member for as little as $6 a month. Visit our reimagined platform at goingplacesmedia.com to learn more.

Thanks to our Founding Member: RISE Travel Institute, a nonprofit with a mission to create a more just and equitable world through travel education.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• Why Yulia loves Stockholm (and she’s never been)
• The misperception of Vikings (were they original influencers?)
• What Vikings have in common with ancient nomads of Central Asia
• The right to roam everywhere vs the right to shoot trespassers
• Why the archipelago is Stockholm’s best-kept secret
• What life is like in the Stockholm Archipelago
• How going on the trail helps travelers see the impact of the climate crisis
• How the industrial world disconnected us from nature–and how to get it back
• What happened when we put up the world’s first fence?
• What is eco-awakening
• What gives Marie hope today

Featured on the show:

• Follow Stockholm Archipelago on Instagram
• Learn more about Stockholm Archipelago Trail
• Check out Yulia's favorite story, Karlsson on the Roof
• Read Vikings Beyond The Stereotype
• Read Yulia's TIME Magazine story about the new trail

Going Places is a reader-supported platform. Get membership perks like a monthly group call with Yulia at goingplacesmedia.com!

For more BTS of this podcast follow @goingplacesmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on YouTube!

Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don’t forget to tag us @goingplacesmedia!

And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Going Places or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You’ll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!

Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk is a show that sparks a better understanding of people and places near and far by fostering a space for real conversations to occur. Each week, we sit down with travelers, journalists, creators, and people living and working in destinations around the world. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer who's worked with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

Alex is an American travel photographer, writer, and solo female traveler whose work has been featured on Lonely Planet, BBC Travel, AP News, and more. She’s scrambled up fortress ruins in Afghanistan, galloped horses across the Kyrgyz steppe, and motorbiked from Pakistan to France.

Become a Going Places member for as little as $6 a month. Visit our reimagined platform at goingplacesmedia.com to learn more.

Thanks to our Founding Member: RISE Travel Institute, a nonprofit with a mission to create a more just and equitable world through travel education.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• What it was like traveling to Chechnya
• How colonialism shows up when we travel
• What Gaza has taught the world
• Traveler vs tourist: why Alex thinks it doesn't matter
• Building a sustainable hostel in Pakistan’s Ishkoman Valley
• From nomading to settling down in brick and mortar
• Why Alex and I both love the Kazakh steppes
• Does Alex still have faith in humanity?
• Traveling as a woman in the world of creepy men
• Would women at the helm fix everything?
• Where Alex finds hope these days

Featured on the show:

• Follow @lostwithpurpose on Instagram
• Read Alex's post on tourist privilege
• Follow Alex's Chechnya stories
• Check out Alex's Pakistan motorcycle tours
• Support the hostel with this GoFundMe campaign

Going Places is a reader-supported platform. Get membership perks like a monthly group call with Yulia at goingplacesmedia.com!

For more BTS of this podcast follow @goingplacesmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on YouTube!

Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don’t forget to tag us @goingplacesmedia!

And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Going Places or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You’ll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!

Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk is a show that sparks a better understanding of people and places near and far by fostering a space for real conversations to occur. Each week, we sit down with travelers, journalists, creators, and people living and working in destinations around the world. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer who's worked with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

Today, we're digging into what you can expect from us going forward, our thoughts on the kind of place we're building in our corner of the internet, and how you can join us.

I'll also share 5 reasons to join our reader- and audience-supported community, including getting on a monthly group call with Yulia every First Friday of the month.

Become a Going Places member for as little as $6 a month. Visit our reimagined platform at goingplacesmedia.com to learn more.

Thanks to our Founding Member: RISE Travel Institute, a nonprofit with a mission to create a more just and equitable world through travel education.

Going Places is a reader-supported platform. Get membership perks like a monthly group call with Yulia at goingplacesmedia.com!

For more BTS of this podcast follow @goingplacesmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on YouTube!

Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don’t forget to tag us @goingplacesmedia!

And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Going Places or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You’ll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!

Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk is a show that sparks a better understanding of people and places near and far by fostering a space for real conversations to occur. Each week, we sit down with travelers, journalists, creators, and people living and working in destinations around the world. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer who's worked with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

Going Places features weekly interviews with people near and far who make our world better. At the core of it, it's about cultivating hope. And we need that feeling of hope more than ever right now.

Here's a preview of who you're going to meet in Season 12:

• Natasha Hakimi Zapata, an award-winning journalist who wrote a book called Another World is Possible: Lessons for America from Across the World
• Alex Reynolds, a traveler building a radically different hostel in Pakistan’s Ishkoman Valley
• Marie Ostblom from Stockholm Archipelago Trail reminding us about the human right to roam and why we should not be afraid of the forest

Today, I have a BIG announcement to make. 

We just launched Going Places as a reader-supported platform. On it, we feature Indigenous art collectives in Algeria and Quechua language guardians from Peru to center and celebrate Indigenous voices and build bridges, not walls.

Reader-supported means that you can be in community with us on this journey. Become a Going Places member for as little as $6 a month and get the perks like getting on a group call with Yulia every month to ask questions, get advice, and be in community with each other.

Visit our reimagined platform at goingplacesmedia.com to learn more.

Thanks to our Founding Member: RISE Travel Institute, a nonprofit with a mission to create a more just and equitable world through travel education.

Going Places is a reader-supported platform. Get membership perks like a monthly group call with Yulia at goingplacesmedia.com!

For more BTS of this podcast follow @goingplacesmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on YouTube!

Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don’t forget to tag us @goingplacesmedia!

And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Going Places or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You’ll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!

Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk is a show that sparks a better understanding of people and places near and far by fostering a space for real conversations to occur. Each week, we sit down with travelers, journalists, creators, and people living and working in destinations around the world. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer who's worked with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

Today, we're speaking with Janine Jervis, a dear friend who's worked for Visit Jordan for 17 years and who currently serves as their North American Communications Director.

Reminder: I'm running a 10-day group trip to Jordan this May. The trip runs from May 18th to 27th and you can get all the information by visiting here. The last day to join our trip is Friday, April 18th.

Original Air Date: Jan 24, 2024.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• Janine’s extensive experience in the travel and tourism industry
• What Janine's initial perceptions of Jordan were
• The ongoing tragedy in Gaza and its impact on Jordan's mood and tourism industry
• The role of tourism in supporting local communities and economies
• Janine tells us about the women in Jordan who are making a positive impact in Jordan and the region
• Janine and Yulia reflect on the hospitality of Bedouin communities in Wadi Rum

Featured on the show:

• Connect with Janine on LinkedIn
• Read Janine's Visit Jordan blog, Falling in Love with Jordan
• Learn more about our upcoming trip to Jordan in May here

Get more information at: Going Places website

Going Places is a reader-supported platform. Get membership perks like a monthly group call with Yulia at goingplacesmedia.com!

For more BTS of this podcast follow @goingplacesmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on YouTube!

Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don’t forget to tag us @goingplacesmedia!

And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Going Places or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You’ll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!

Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk is a show that sparks a better understanding of people and places near and far by fostering a space for real conversations to occur. Each week, we sit down with travelers, journalists, creators, and people living and working in destinations around the world. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer who's worked with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

Today, I'm sharing with you perhaps one of my most personal stories. It was published in AFAR Magazine in 2022.

Reminder: I'm running a 10-day group trip to Jordan this May. The trip runs from May 18th to 27th and you can get all the information by visiting here. The last day to join our trip is Friday, April 18th.

Original Air Date: July 5, 2023.

Featured on the show:

• AFAR: In Barcelona for Vacation and Fertility Treatment
• Learn more about our upcoming trip to Jordan in May here

Get more information at: Going Places website

Going Places is a reader-supported platform. Get membership perks like a monthly group call with Yulia at goingplacesmedia.com!

For more BTS of this podcast follow @goingplacesmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on YouTube!

Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don’t forget to tag us @goingplacesmedia!

And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Going Places or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You’ll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!

Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk is a show that sparks a better understanding of people and places near and far by fostering a space for real conversations to occur. Each week, we sit down with travelers, journalists, creators, and people living and working in destinations around the world. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer who's worked with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

Today, we're speaking with Nikki Vargas, a senior editor at Fodor's Travel, founder of Unearth Women, and author of "Call You When I Land." In this travel memoir, Nikki shares her experiences navigating cultures and finding love.

Reminder: I'm running a 10-day group trip to Jordan this May. The trip runs from May 18th to 27th and you can get all the information by visiting here. The last day to join our trip is Friday, April 18th.

Original Air Date: Feb 21, 2024.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• How the memoir writing process differs from other non-fiction
• Are books easier to write than articles?
• How Nikki overcame self-doubt and fear in the writing process
• Nikki shares practical strategies for tackling a writing project
• Recognizing the privilege of travel
• How Nikki's work supports women in travel, amplifying their voices through conscious consumerism
• Highlighting women making a difference, like Manal Kahi's Eat Offbeat.
• Nikki's upcoming book project inspired by a trip to Norway

Featured on the show:

• Check out Nikki's travel memoir, CALL YOU WHEN I LAND
• Nikki’s book Instagram: @callyouwheniland
• Nikki Vargas website: nikkivargas.com
• Nikki’s Instagram: @niknakvargas
• Eat OffBeat: eatoffbeat.com
• Pitch your story idea to Fodors
• Review Fodor’s pitch guidelines
• Listen to Episode 87: The Driving Force Behind Unearth Women with Nikki Vargas
• Learn more about our upcoming trip to Jordan in May here

Get more information at: Going Places website

Going Places is a reader-supported platform. Get membership perks like a monthly group call with Yulia at goingplacesmedia.com!

For more BTS of this podcast follow @goingplacesmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on YouTube!

Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don’t forget to tag us @goingplacesmedia!

And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Going Places or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You’ll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!

Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk is a show that sparks a better understanding of people and places near and far by fostering a space for real conversations to occur. Each week, we sit down with travelers, journalists, creators, and people living and working in destinations around the world. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer who's worked with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

Today, we're speaking with Algerian-French language coach Feriel Temmar, who is based in Paris. Feriel was born in Algeria, grew up in London, West Africa, and New York, and worked in Canada before leaving it all behind and starting over in France.

Reminder: I'm running a 10-day group trip to Jordan this May. The trip runs from May 18th to 27th and you can get all the information by visiting here. The last day to join our trip is Friday, April 18th.

Original Air Date: Oct 21, 2020.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• Growing up in a multicultural home
• How moving to New York was not as fabulous as it sounds
• Why Feriel chose to pursue the path of “a real job,” inspired by her father’s career at the United Nations
• How Feriel’s now-beloved-career started by a question
• How “fake it till you make it” is the advice that worked really well for Feriel
• The secret to a successful—and sustainable(!)—freelancing career

Featured on the show:

• Follow Feriel on Instagram | @ferielisalanguagecoach
• Connect with Feriel on LinkedIn
• Learn more about our upcoming trip to Jordan in May here

Get more information at: Going Places website

Going Places is a reader-supported platform. Get membership perks like a monthly group call with Yulia at goingplacesmedia.com!

For more BTS of this podcast follow @goingplacesmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on YouTube!

Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don’t forget to tag us @goingplacesmedia!

And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Going Places or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You’ll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!

Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk is a show that sparks a better understanding of people and places near and far by fostering a space for real conversations to occur. Each week, we sit down with travelers, journalists, creators, and people living and working in destinations around the world. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer who's worked with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

Today, we're speaking with Katalina Mayorga, the founder of El Camino Travel, a travel community for women with a passion for culture.

Reminder: I'm running a 10-day group trip to Jordan this May. The trip runs from May 18th to 27th and you can get all the information by visiting here. The last day to join our trip is Friday, April 18th.

Original Air Date: Oct 7, 2020.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• Growing up in a bilingual Colombian-American immigrant family
• What taught Katalina to be vocal from an early age
• The pressure of success as an immigrant in the US
• Katalina's human rights activism in Latin America and D.C.
• How Katalina disrupted a major coffee corporation during her college years
• The danger of the American Dream
• Happiness in Nicaragua versus the United States
• What it was like building El Camino Travel
• What being a global citizen means to Katalina

Featured on the show:

• Follow Katalina on Instagram | @theyoufinder
• Check out El Camino Travel
• Learn more about our upcoming trip to Jordan in May here

Get more information at: Going Places website

Going Places is a reader-supported platform. Get membership perks like a monthly group call with Yulia at goingplacesmedia.com!

For more BTS of this podcast follow @goingplacesmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on YouTube!

Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don’t forget to tag us @goingplacesmedia!

And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Going Places or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You’ll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!

Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk is a show that sparks a better understanding of people and places near and far by fostering a space for real conversations to occur. Each week, we sit down with travelers, journalists, creators, and people living and working in destinations around the world. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer who's worked with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

Today, we're speaking with Chicago-based journalist and photographer Karthika Gupta. Her work has been featured in Vogue, BBC Travel, USA Today, Condé Nast Traveler, Fodors, AFAR, Travel & Leisure, Robb Report, and more. Karthika is also the founder of Culturally Ours, a platform dedicated to promoting cultural understanding and celebrating global diversity. 

Reminder: I'm running a 10-day group trip to Jordan this May. The trip runs from May 18th to 27th and you can get all the information by visiting here. The last day to join our trip is Friday, April 18th.

Original Air Date: Feb 28, 2024.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• Meet a sustainable farm by one of the smallest tribal nations in California
• The flower markets of Mumbai
• The misconceptions about traveling to the Middle East
• How Karthika travels with her two children

Featured on the show:

• Read Karthika's Vogue Story, How One of the Smallest Tribal Nations in the U.S. Is Redefining Sustainable Living
• Follow Karthika on Instagram: @karthikagupta
• Listen to Episode 07: You're Good Enough To Do This Work with Karthika Gupta
• Learn more about our upcoming trip to Jordan in May here

Get more information at: Going Places website

Going Places is a reader-supported platform. Get membership perks like a monthly group call with Yulia at goingplacesmedia.com!

For more BTS of this podcast follow @goingplacesmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on YouTube!

Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don’t forget to tag us @goingplacesmedia!

And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Going Places or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You’ll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!

Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk is a show that sparks a better understanding of people and places near and far by fostering a space for real conversations to occur. Each week, we sit down with travelers, journalists, creators, and people living and working in destinations around the world. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer who's worked with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

Today, we're speaking with Sarah Munir, a journalist and tech executive who split her time between Karachi and New York before moving back to Karachi full-time. 

Reminder: I'm running a 10-day group trip to Jordan this May. The trip runs from May 18th to 27th and you can get all the information by visiting here. 

Throughout February, you can save $150 off your booking by using code GOINGPLACESFEB when you join our trip. The code expires on Fri, Feb 28.

Original Air Date: Oct 13, 2021.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• Sarah's philosophy: your life is always a work in progress
• Sarah's principle of failing forward
• Shuttling between New York and Karachi
• Why your passion and career don’t have to be the same thing
• Sarah's lessons from a career in media and journalism
• Why women enjoy sex (and other things) more as they age

Featured on the show:

• Follow Sarah on Instagram ​​@sarahmunir
• Learn more about our upcoming trip to Jordan in May here

Get more information at: Going Places website

Going Places is a reader-supported platform. Get membership perks like a monthly group call with Yulia at goingplacesmedia.com!

For more BTS of this podcast follow @goingplacesmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on YouTube!

Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don’t forget to tag us @goingplacesmedia!

And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Going Places or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You’ll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!

Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk is a show that sparks a better understanding of people and places near and far by fostering a space for real conversations to occur. Each week, we sit down with travelers, journalists, creators, and people living and working in destinations around the world. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer who's worked with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

Today, we're speaking with Lola Akinmade Åkerström, an award-winning storyteller, travel photographer, writer, creator, TED speaker, and multi-book author. She's a Hasselblad Heroine and she runs the Stockholm-based travel consultancy, Geotraveler Media and the Geotraveler Media Academy. 

In this episode, Lola shares how the manuscript for her novel was rejected 70 times (that’s right, seven-zero!) before being picked up and how the book is now out with four different publishers. We cover pitching, rejections, and being prepared when National Geographic comes knocking on your door.

Reminder: I'm running a 10-day group trip to Jordan this May. The trip runs from May 18th to 27th and you can get all the information by visiting here. 

Throughout February, you can save $150 off your booking by using code GOINGPLACESFEB when you join our trip. The code expires on Fri, Feb 28.

Original Air Date: Aug 18, 2021.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• Lola shares the story behind one of her most memorable photographs
• Why Lola defines herself as a multipotentialite
• Lola's advice for those reliant on a job but eager to make the transition to full-time creative work: find anchor clients
• Tips for navigating rejection during the pitching process
• How to stop putting yourself in a box and live beyond the expectations of others; the power of asking “why not?”
• Why blindly following trends is like trying to swim in a raging sea; be a surfer
• Lola speaks candidly about the challenges she has encountered on her journey
• Why Lola believes that comparison does not benefit creative entrepreneurs

Featured on the show:

• Follow Lola on Instagram | @lolaakinmade
• Follow Lola on LinkedIn | Lola Åkerström
• Check out Lola’s website at akinmade.com
• Learn more about Geotraveler Media Academy
• Watch Lola's TED Talk, The power of asking "Why not?" 
• Order Lola’s book, In Every Mirror She’s Black on Amazon
• Learn more about our upcoming trip to Jordan in May here

Get more information at: Going Places website

Going Places is a reader-supported platform. Get membership perks like a monthly group call with Yulia at goingplacesmedia.com!

For more BTS of this podcast follow @goingplacesmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on YouTube!

Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don’t forget to tag us @goingplacesmedia!

And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Going Places or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You’ll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!

Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk is a show that sparks a better understanding of people and places near and far by fostering a space for real conversations to occur. Each week, we sit down with travelers, journalists, creators, and people living and working in destinations around the world. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer who's worked with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

Today, we're speaking with Emy Rodriguez, a freelance journalist from Arecibo, Puerto Rico, and a proud member of the LGBTQ+ community. His writing has appeared in Condé Nast Traveler, Fodors, and many more magazines. Emy currently lives in Barcelona, Spain, which is how we initially connected. 

In this episode, Emy shares his experiences as an immigrant in Barcelona and navigating the challenges and joys of living in a new country.

Reminder: I'm running a 10-day group trip to Jordan this May. The trip runs from May 18th to 27th and you can get all the information by visiting here. 

Throughout February, you can save $150 off your booking by using code GOINGPLACESFEB when you join our trip. The code expires on Fri, Feb 28.

Original Air Date: Oct 11, 2023.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• The impact of AI on the writing industry
• How being part of the LGBTQ+ community influences Emy's writing
• Personal perspective versus objectivity in travel writing
• Dispelling misconceptions about the Middle East
• The vibrant creative scene in Amman, Jordan
• Yulia and Emy reflect on the privilege of being able to travel
• What it was like for Emy to relocate to Barcelona

Featured on the show:

• Follow Emy on Instagram @emyrodriguez
• Read Emy’s article in Condé Nast Traveler, Returning to My Hometown in Puerto Rico, Where I’d Struggled to Come Out as a Teenager
• Read Emy’s article in AFAR Magazine, What It’s Like to Be a Queer Traveler in the Middle East
• Learn more about our upcoming trip to Jordan in May here

Get more information at: Going Places website

Going Places is a reader-supported platform. Get membership perks like a monthly group call with Yulia at goingplacesmedia.com!

For more BTS of this podcast follow @goingplacesmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on YouTube!

Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don’t forget to tag us @goingplacesmedia!

And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Going Places or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You’ll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!

Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk is a show that sparks a better understanding of people and places near and far by fostering a space for real conversations to occur. Each week, we sit down with travelers, journalists, creators, and people living and working in destinations around the world. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer who's worked with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

Reminder: I'm running a 10-day group trip to Jordan this May. The trip runs from May 18th to 27th and you can get all the information by visiting here. 

Throughout February, you can save $150 off your booking by using code GOINGPLACESFEB when you join our trip. The code expires on Fri, Feb 28.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• How Vanessa approached the safety question of traveling to Jordan
• Gaining a new perspective on the region through long conversations
• The impact of tourism cancelations on Jordan's tourism community
• What it's like traveling in proximity to Palestine
• Meeting the people of Jordan: an Ammani photographer, a sustainable farmer in Madaba, the Bedouins of Wadi Rum
• Why hospitality looks like home-cooked meals in Jordan
• Why Petra By Night was one of the top experiences for Vanessa
• What Vanessa has to say to someone considering going to Jordan

Featured on the show:

• Follow Vanessa on Instagram: @adventures_vkabbe
• Learn more about our upcoming trip to Jordan in May here

Get more information at: Going Places website

Going Places is a reader-supported platform. Get membership perks like a monthly group call with Yulia at goingplacesmedia.com!

For more BTS of this podcast follow @goingplacesmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on YouTube!

Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don’t forget to tag us @goingplacesmedia!

And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Going Places or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You’ll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!

Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk is a show that sparks a better understanding of people and places near and far by fostering a space for real conversations to occur. Each week, we sit down with travelers, journalists, creators, and people living and working in destinations around the world. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer who's worked with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

Reminder: I'm running a 10-day group trip to Jordan this May. The trip runs from May 18th to 27th and you can get all the information by visiting here. 

Throughout February, you can save $150 off your booking by using code GOINGPLACESFEB when you join our trip. The code expires on Fri, Feb 28.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• Is it safe to travel to Jordan in 2025?
• Flight disruptions and cancellations in Jordan
• Five places in Jordan that you should not miss
• How to get a different perspective on the Middle East
• Living close to nature versus an urbanized way of life
• What do The Dune, The Star Wars, and The Martian have in common
• How a stranger paid for our meal in Jordan
• Going Places travelers share their experience of traveling to Jordan

Featured on the show:

• Follow Rum Planet Camp on Instagram: @rum.planet.camp
• Follow Carob House on Instagram: @carob.house
• Check out my Condé Nast Traveler story, In Jordan, a Community Disrupted Awaits Travel’s Return
• Check out my profile of Jordan in AFAR's Where To Go In 2025 list
• Check out this Jordan Times article about the receding of the Dead Sea
• Learn more about our upcoming trip to Jordan in May here

Get more information at: Going Places website

Going Places is a reader-supported platform. Get membership perks like a monthly group call with Yulia at goingplacesmedia.com!

For more BTS of this podcast follow @goingplacesmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on YouTube!

Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don’t forget to tag us @goingplacesmedia!

And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Going Places or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You’ll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!

Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk is a show that sparks a better understanding of people and places near and far by fostering a space for real conversations to occur. Each week, we sit down with travelers, journalists, creators, and people living and working in destinations around the world. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer who's worked with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

Growing up with women who painted, sewed, designed, and made art, Dana has a long-standing fascination with detail. She works from a workshop studio in Jabal al Weibdeh - one of my favorite neighborhoods in Amman – fusing elements of painting, photography, and applied materials like gold leaves and beads in her politically and socially engaged artwork. 

Reminder: this May, you can join my 10-day group trip to Jordan where we'll meet artists like Dana and see their art. Get more details here.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• Dana's path from architecture and urban planning to socially engaged art
• The main element in Dana’s art
• The stories behind Dana's latest exhibit, (Re)Narrate: A Visual Commentary on Colonial Narratives in the Levant & Africa
• How the Black Panther movement in the US is connected to the Palestinian liberation struggle

Featured on the show:

• Follow Dana on Instagram: @dana_barqawi
• Learn more about Dana's work on her website
• Check out the (Re)Narrate exhibit
• Shop Dana's art posters

Get more information at: Going Places website

Going Places is a reader-supported platform. Get membership perks like a monthly group call with Yulia at goingplacesmedia.com!

For more BTS of this podcast follow @goingplacesmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on YouTube!

Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don’t forget to tag us @goingplacesmedia!

And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Going Places or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You’ll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!

Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk is a show that sparks a better understanding of people and places near and far by fostering a space for real conversations to occur. Each week, we sit down with travelers, journalists, creators, and people living and working in destinations around the world. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer who's worked with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

Hussein is the founder of Elharf Studio, a platform showcasing rare books, design products, and sources of Arab visual inspiration. Most recently, Hussein worked on a project of re-designing the Jordanian currency.

Hussein also teaches calligraphy workshops and travelers joining my 10-day group trip to Jordan this May 2025 will be able to meet him in person. The trip is now open and you can get more details here.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• The ancient civilization that made gods for people in the region
• The origins of the world's first alphabet
• Why Hussein is obsessed with coins
• Why a letter is a universe in itself
• How Hussein aims to preserve the vast trove of Arab cultural heritage

Featured on the show:

• Follow Hussein on Instagram: @hussein_alazaat
• Follow Elharf on Instagram: @elharfhouse
• Learn more about Hussein on his website
• Check out the Beautiful Book Trove project
• Read the article based on this interview, Guardian of Culture

Get more information at: Going Places website

Going Places is a reader-supported platform. Get membership perks like a monthly group call with Yulia at goingplacesmedia.com!

For more BTS of this podcast follow @goingplacesmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on YouTube!

Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don’t forget to tag us @goingplacesmedia!

And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Going Places or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You’ll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!

Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk is a show that sparks a better understanding of people and places near and far by fostering a space for real conversations to occur. Each week, we sit down with travelers, journalists, creators, and people living and working in destinations around the world. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer who's worked with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

Get 20% off of any issue of the Living Hyphen magazine with code GOINGPLACES at the Living Hyphen online store. The beautifully produced magazine features artists and writers from all across Canada hailing from over 30 ethnicities, religions, and Indigenous nations who explore various themes of this multi-hyphenated identity in a collection of poetry, prose, photography, and visual art.

Announcement: my 10-day group trip to Jordan in May 2025 is now open! Get more details here.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• Seeing nature as a deity, rather than a resource
• How Indigenous languages shape our worldview
• Learning Chuvash language
• What radical imagination looks like to Justine
• Growing up in the Filipino diaspora in Canada
• Filipino identity versus Philippines as a place
• How we process our identity and look for belonging
• Weaving complexity

Featured on the show:

• Follow Justine on Instagram: @justineabigail
• Follow Living Hyphen on Instagram: @livinghyphen
• Learn more about Justine on her website
• Follow the work of Living Hyphen
• Check out the Living Hyphen podcast
• Read Justine's 3DR newsletter
• Check out Dismantling The Master's Tools by Mathura Mahendren
• Read Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Get more information at: Going Places website

Going Places is a reader-supported platform. Get membership perks like a monthly group call with Yulia at goingplacesmedia.com!

For more BTS of this podcast follow @goingplacesmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on YouTube!

Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don’t forget to tag us @goingplacesmedia!

And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Going Places or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You’ll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!

Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk is a show that sparks a better understanding of people and places near and far by fostering a space for real conversations to occur. Each week, we sit down with travelers, journalists, creators, and people living and working in destinations around the world. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer who's worked with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

Today, we’re talking with Justine Abigail Yu, the founder of Living Hyphen, a community and multimedia platform that explores what it means to live in between cultures as a hyphenated Canadian – that is, an individual who calls Canada home but who has roots elsewhere.

Justine is a Filipina-Canadian and in our conversation, we discuss identity and belonging in the diaspora communities, radical imagination, and storytelling as a soft landing.

This conversation was so big and important that we're breaking it into two equally powerful parts. In the next two episodes, Justine shares with us a healing and hopeful way to approach the new year.

Get 20% off of any issue of the Living Hyphen magazine with code GOINGPLACES at the Living Hyphen online store. The beautifully produced magazine features artists and writers from all across Canada hailing from over 30 ethnicities, religions, and Indigenous nations who explore various themes of this multi-hyphenated identity in a collection of poetry, prose, photography, and visual art.

Announcement: my 10-day group trip to Jordan in May 2025 is now open! Get more details here.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• Growing up in between cultures
• Connecting the dots between local and global struggles
• Why travel is an inherently political act
• Expanding the idea of what activism looks like
• How Justine holds multiple truths at the same time
• How Vent Diagrams can help us with the complexity of the world
• The origin of Turtle Island and the power of words
• The practice of pleasure activism

Featured on the show:

• Follow Justine on Instagram: @justineabigail
• Follow Living Hyphen on Instagram: @livinghyphen
• Learn more about Justine on her website
• Follow the work of Living Hyphen
• Check out the Living Hyphen podcast
• Read Justine's 3DR newsletter
• Check out Vent Diagrams on Instagram: @vent_diagrams
• Read Pleasure Activism by adrienne maree brown

Get more information at: Going Places website

Going Places is a reader-supported platform. Get membership perks like a monthly group call with Yulia at goingplacesmedia.com!

For more BTS of this podcast follow @goingplacesmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on YouTube!

Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don’t forget to tag us @goingplacesmedia!

And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Going Places or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You’ll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!

Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk is a show that sparks a better understanding of people and places near and far by fostering a space for real conversations to occur. Each week, we sit down with travelers, journalists, creators, and people living and working in destinations around the world. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer who's worked with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

Eliot has edited a few of my stories at BBC Travel, where he started a column called Custom Made that highlights cultural custodians preserving vanishing customs. Eliot's book, Custodians of Wonder: Ancient Customs, Profound Traditions, and the Last People Keeping Them Alive, is now available.

Original Air Date: Feb 14, 2024.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• Writing "The Last Surviving Sea Silk Seamstress" for BBC Travel
• How to build relationships and trust with people you're reporting on
• How traditions shape places and people
• Going beyond tourist attractions
• Eliot and I discuss changing reading habits
• Eliot's book "Custodians of Wonder" is now available
• How Eliot's journalism background set him up for the process of writing a book
• The intense commitment required to write a book
• Eliot gives advice to aspiring authors and shares resources like the Writer's Digest conference
• The story behind a photo featuring traditional soy sauce production in Japan

Featured on the show:

• Eliot's book, Custodians of Wonder, is now available wherever books are sold
• Follow Eliot on Instagram: @eliot.stein
• Read Eliot’s article on BBC Travel: The last surviving sea silk seamstress
• Learn about the Barrel-aged soy sauce, also available online at trf-ny.com
• Pitch your book idea: writersdigestconference.com
• Read the BBC Travel author brief

Get more information at: Going Places website

Going Places is a reader-supported platform. Get membership perks like a monthly group call with Yulia at goingplacesmedia.com!

For more BTS of this podcast follow @goingplacesmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on YouTube!

Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don’t forget to tag us @goingplacesmedia!

And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Going Places or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You’ll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!

Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk is a show that sparks a better understanding of people and places near and far by fostering a space for real conversations to occur. Each week, we sit down with travelers, journalists, creators, and people living and working in destinations around the world. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer who's worked with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

The holiday season is probably my favorite time to be in this region. I grew up in Estonia, a small country just south of Finland that, while not technically part of Scandinavia, has strong cultural ties with the Nordic countries. In my childhood, these Nordic ways to celebrate Christmas were common and today, I'm sharing these traditions with you from a story I did for Fodor's Travel called 12 Strange Things You Didn't Know About Nordic Christmas.

Plus: as a special bonus, my very own AI clone, which I created just for this story, makes an appearance.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• Growing up with Nordic Christmas traditions
• The pagan roots of Christmas
• Meet Nordic Christmas characters: Grýla, Bjúgnakrækir, and Joulupukki
• What Christmas feasts look like across Scandinavia
• The Finnish tradition of Christmas Sauna

Featured on the show:

• Read my Fodor's article, 12 Strange Things You Didn’t Know About Nordic Christmas
• Check out the Descript app

Get more information at: Going Places website

Going Places is a reader-supported platform. Get membership perks like a monthly group call with Yulia at goingplacesmedia.com!

For more BTS of this podcast follow @goingplacesmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on YouTube!

Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don’t forget to tag us @goingplacesmedia!

And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Going Places or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You’ll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!

Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk is a show that sparks a better understanding of people and places near and far by fostering a space for real conversations to occur. Each week, we sit down with travelers, journalists, creators, and people living and working in destinations around the world. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer who's worked with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

Take a journey with us today to the land of Kanun, the Arabic tradition of Maqam, and world music.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• Understanding the Kanun and its history
• Maqam: the language of Arabic music
• How colonization and racism show up in the music world
• Growing up Palestinian and second-class citizen in Haifa and Galilee
• What it was like collaborating with Grammy-winning artist Residente
• The role of artists and activism in the Palestinian cause
• Firas tackles the question of diaspora

Featured on the show:

• Opening credit: Prelude to Salute by Firas Zreik
• See Firas play Kanun in my three other favorite compositions:
• Fields of Figs
• Shams
• Lullaby for Nature
• Listen to the song dedicated to the children of Gaza, in collab with Residente
• Learn more about Firas on his website
• Follow Firas on Instagram

Get more information at: Going Places website

Going Places is a reader-supported platform. Get membership perks like a monthly group call with Yulia at goingplacesmedia.com!

For more BTS of this podcast follow @goingplacesmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on YouTube!

Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don’t forget to tag us @goingplacesmedia!

And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Going Places or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You’ll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!

Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk is a show that sparks a better understanding of people and places near and far by fostering a space for real conversations to occur. Each week, we sit down with travelers, journalists, creators, and people living and working in destinations around the world. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer who's worked with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

Travel with us to some of the world’s lesser-known places like Abkhazia and Mauritania and hear what Ric learned about humanity by visiting 181 countries. 

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• Chasing 193: the quest to visit every country in the world
• Exploring Abkhazia, a de-facto nation between Georgia and Russia
• The hospitality of the Caucasus region
• Desert life in Mauritania and riding the Iron Ore train
• The Amazigh culture, identity, and quest for self-determination (why you shouldn’t call them Berbers)
• The nature of borders and national identity
• How we should think about visiting countries with inhumane record
• Why Ric founded the Extraordinary Travel Festival
• What Ric learned about humanity from visiting 181 countries

Featured on the show:

• Check out Ric's podcast, Counting Countries
• Check out Ric's blog, Global Gaz
• Learn more about the Extraordinary Travel Fest
• Follow Ric on Instagram

Get more information at: Going Places website

Going Places is a reader-supported platform. Get membership perks like a monthly group call with Yulia at goingplacesmedia.com!

For more BTS of this podcast follow @goingplacesmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on YouTube!

Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don’t forget to tag us @goingplacesmedia!

And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Going Places or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You’ll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!

Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk is a show that sparks a better understanding of people and places near and far by fostering a space for real conversations to occur. Each week, we sit down with travelers, journalists, creators, and people living and working in destinations around the world. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer who's worked with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

Get ready to learn more about Kazakhstan and Almaty, the city I was born in, through one of its most prominent voices today.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• Aisana’s path to founding independent media
• Learning about Kazakhstan's history and geography
• The legacy of colonization in Kazakhstan
• The state of women’s rights in Kazakhstan and the parallels Aisana sees in the US
• Can journalists be activists too?
• How our work can fit into the current landscape in the world 
• Aisana’s favorite places in Almaty and Kazakhstan

Featured on the show:

• Watch Qazaq Tili, a documentary about the Soviet erasure of the Kazakh language and culture (English subtitles)
• Learn more about the ancient Kazakh warrior queen, Tomiris
• Learn more about the unrest in Almaty in 2022
• Learn more about the role of radio in Rwanda's genocide
• Read Yulia's BBC Travel article about Kazakhstan
• Follow Aisana on Instagram
• Follow Village Kazakhstan on Instagram
• Follow Masa Media on Instagram
• Follow Batyr Jamal on Instagram

Get more information at: Going Places website

Going Places is a reader-supported platform. Get membership perks like a monthly group call with Yulia at goingplacesmedia.com!

For more BTS of this podcast follow @goingplacesmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on YouTube!

Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don’t forget to tag us @goingplacesmedia!

And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Going Places or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You’ll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!

Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk is a show that sparks a better understanding of people and places near and far by fostering a space for real conversations to occur. Each week, we sit down with travelers, journalists, creators, and people living and working in destinations around the world. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer who's worked with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

Evita has spoken from multiple stages, including TEDx, and she uses the stages she’s built to amplify messaging, use data storytelling, and pass the mic to those doing the work. But right now, Evita is embarking on a new phase in her journey, bringing her back home to herself and her roots as a storyteller, writer, and filmmaker.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• our journeys to motherhood and love as we both turn 40
• what we can do to take agency of our fertility
• going through a phase of rebirth in Egypt
• what outliving your dream looks like
• why we need insanity to get our creative visions into the world
• why we both love the desert
• why storytelling is urgently needed now
• speaking up for Palestine

Featured on the show:

• Check out Evita's Egypt film
• Check out Evita's Emmy-award-winning Palm Springs episode
• Learn more about Evita's work on her website
• Learn more about NOMADNESS Tribe and NOMADNESS Fest
• Follow Evita on Instagram
• Sign Travel Industry For Palestine petition

Get more information at: Going Places website

Going Places is a reader-supported platform. Get membership perks like a monthly group call with Yulia at goingplacesmedia.com!

For more BTS of this podcast follow @goingplacesmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on YouTube!

Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don’t forget to tag us @goingplacesmedia!

And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Going Places or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You’ll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!

Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk is a show that sparks a better understanding of people and places near and far by fostering a space for real conversations to occur. Each week, we sit down with travelers, journalists, creators, and people living and working in destinations around the world. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer who's worked with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

Get more information at: Going Places website

Going Places is a reader-supported platform. Get membership perks like a monthly group call with Yulia at goingplacesmedia.com!

For more BTS of this podcast follow @goingplacesmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on YouTube!

Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don’t forget to tag us @goingplacesmedia!

And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Going Places or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You’ll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!

Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk is a show that sparks a better understanding of people and places near and far by fostering a space for real conversations to occur. Each week, we sit down with travelers, journalists, creators, and people living and working in destinations around the world. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer who's worked with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

In this episode, Ahmad shares why understanding the local culture and connecting with its community is as vital as experiencing its landscapes.

We also touch on the impact of tourism on Wadi Rum and how Ahmad has incorporated sustainable practices into his family’s camp. You’ll also hear about his experience meeting Matt Damon in the desert.

Original Air Date: Oct 3, 2023.

Featured on the show:

• Last chance to join me this Fall on a 10-day trip to Jordan
• Follow Rum Planet Camp on Instagram @rum.planet.camp
• Read my article in AFAR Magazine, Heading to Jordan? Skip the Bubble Tent and Stay Here Instead.

Get more information at: Going Places website

Going Places is a reader-supported platform. Get membership perks like a monthly group call with Yulia at goingplacesmedia.com!

For more BTS of this podcast follow @goingplacesmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on YouTube!

Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don’t forget to tag us @goingplacesmedia!

And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Going Places or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You’ll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!

Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk is a show that sparks a better understanding of people and places near and far by fostering a space for real conversations to occur. Each week, we sit down with travelers, journalists, creators, and people living and working in destinations around the world. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer who's worked with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

Our theme music this season, Abbad El Shams, is provided by Rawan Roshni, a Palestinian/Balkan singer based in Jordan.

In this episode, Lindsay talks about staying true to your purpose, finding time in our busy days to dedicate to what matters, and the value of asking important questions as a method for finding our paths forward. It’s what has led her on her journey in becoming a choreographer, educator,  founder of a nonprofit, and artist.

Original Air Date: Feb 24, 2021.

Featured on the show:

• Join me this Fall on a 10-day trip to Jordan
• Follow Lindsay on Instagram @doctor_linds
• Check out Lindsay's website
• Learn more about Lindsay’s projects Dance Afrikana and The New Red Book

Get more information at: Going Places website

Going Places is a reader-supported platform. Get membership perks like a monthly group call with Yulia at goingplacesmedia.com!

For more BTS of this podcast follow @goingplacesmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on YouTube!

Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don’t forget to tag us @goingplacesmedia!

And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Going Places or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You’ll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!

Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk is a show that sparks a better understanding of people and places near and far by fostering a space for real conversations to occur. Each week, we sit down with travelers, journalists, creators, and people living and working in destinations around the world. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer who's worked with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

Khadija is a member of Inland Stories, an international cooperative of long-term documentary photographers. Her work is part of the 2020 Lit List by Authority Collective, Women Photograph, Diversify Photo, and World Press Photo's African Photojournalism Database (APJD). Khadija’s projects includes In Bibi's Kitchen, a cookbook with recipes and stories from eight African nations for which she produced all on location images.

Original Air Date: Nov 11, 2020.

Featured on the show:

• Join me this Fall on a 10-day trip to Jordan
• Follow Khadija on Instagram @farahkhad
• Check out Khadija’s website
• Learn more about In Bibi’s Kitchen, a book of recipes and stories from the African continent

Get more information at: Going Places website

Going Places is a reader-supported platform. Get membership perks like a monthly group call with Yulia at goingplacesmedia.com!

For more BTS of this podcast follow @goingplacesmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on YouTube!

Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don’t forget to tag us @goingplacesmedia!

And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Going Places or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You’ll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!

Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk is a show that sparks a better understanding of people and places near and far by fostering a space for real conversations to occur. Each week, we sit down with travelers, journalists, creators, and people living and working in destinations around the world. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer who's worked with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

First woman in her family to get divorced, to get a master degree, and to live in a foreign country, Vibha has learned how to step into the unknown and in this episode, she traces her journey of transformation and acting in spite of fear on a path that took her from India to the United States and back. 

Today, Vibha is a leadership and transformation coach based in Mumbai where she is supporting leaders worldwide to build capacity of “skillful human presence” in themselves in order to build capacity for their teams and organizations.

Original Air Date: Oct 14, 2020.

Featured on the show:

• Join me this Fall on a 10-day trip to Jordan
• Follow Vibha on Instagram @vibhachokhani

Get more information at: Going Places website

Going Places is a reader-supported platform. Get membership perks like a monthly group call with Yulia at goingplacesmedia.com!

For more BTS of this podcast follow @goingplacesmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on YouTube!

Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don’t forget to tag us @goingplacesmedia!

And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Going Places or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You’ll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!

Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk is a show that sparks a better understanding of people and places near and far by fostering a space for real conversations to occur. Each week, we sit down with travelers, journalists, creators, and people living and working in destinations around the world. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer who's worked with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

And stick around in the end for a special announcement. 

Featured on the show:

• Read the CNBC report on US attitudes toward vacation
• Read the Financial Times article, Europeans have more time, Americans more money. Which is better?
• Check out the 2023 World Happiness Rankings
• Read this article on the history of the 5-day workweek
• Learn more about cognitive rest from this Harvard Business Review article
• Check out what Lola Akinmade has to say about rest

Get more information at: Going Places website

Going Places is a reader-supported platform. Get membership perks like a monthly group call with Yulia at goingplacesmedia.com!

For more BTS of this podcast follow @goingplacesmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on YouTube!

Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don’t forget to tag us @goingplacesmedia!

And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Going Places or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You’ll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!

Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk is a show that sparks a better understanding of people and places near and far by fostering a space for real conversations to occur. Each week, we sit down with travelers, journalists, creators, and people living and working in destinations around the world. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer who's worked with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

If there is only one episode you will tune in to this season, let it be this one, because it will give you an idea of how to talk to people who don’t have the same views as you when it comes to Palestine - Israel, one of the most important issues and injustices of our time.

Aziz is a National Geographic Explorer and a TED Fellow who co-founded Mejdi Tours, a travel company that takes people to places like Palestine/Israel, Northern Ireland, and South Africa and presents multiple narratives about those places. His recent efforts with Maoz Inon include a Ted talk titled A Palestinian And Israeli, Face To Face, and meeting Pope Francis in time for the G7 Summit. 

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• What it's like to meet with Pope Francis
• How Aziz stays engaged in the face of pain and loss
• A Palestinian and an Israeli joining forces
• Aziz tells the story of losing his brother and becoming a peacemaker
• What it's like living under the Israeli apartheid structure
• What Aziz wants people to see when they see Palestinians
• The power of poetry in Palestinian culture
• Mejdi Tours and the Dual Narrative method
• Seeing beyond tourism stereotypes in Egypt
• The asymmetry between Palestine and Israel
• The crux of Aziz's peacemaking approach
• Moving beyond pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli labels
• Fighting fear with hope
• What the peacemaking vision in Palestine and Israel looks like
• How you can get involved in the peacemaking process
• Why Aziz thinks hope is an action

Featured on the show:

• Learn more about Aziz on his website
• Read Aziz's Ted Ideas story, How I Learned to Forgive My Brother’s Murderers
• Check out the Ted Talk by Aziz and Maoz, A Palestinian And An Israeli, Face To Face
• Read Al Jazeera op-ed by Aziz and Maoz, When It Comes to Israel-Palestine, True Naivety Is Believing in Endless War
• Learn more about Mejdi Tours
• Learn more about Land For All
• Get involved at InterAct
• Learn more about the Palestinian poet Samih al-Qasim
• Follow Aziz Abu Sarah on Instagram
• Follow Maoz Inon on Instagram
• Check out Aziz's book, Crossing Boundaries: A Traveler's Guide to World Peace

Get more information at: Going Places website

Going Places is a reader-supported platform. Get membership perks like a monthly group call with Yulia at goingplacesmedia.com!

For more BTS of this podcast follow @goingplacesmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on YouTube!

Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don’t forget to tag us @goingplacesmedia!

And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Going Places or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You’ll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!

Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk is a show that sparks a better understanding of people and places near and far by fostering a space for real conversations to occur. Each week, we sit down with travelers, journalists, creators, and people living and working in destinations around the world. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer who's worked with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

Beth is the author of WANDER WOMAN: How to Reclaim Your Space, Find Your Voice, and Travel the World (2024). In this conversation, we discuss the stories that make this book so special, the challenge of not only writing , but also marketing and promoting the book, breaking through the noise, and what we can do to reclaim our space as women in travel, a true majority in the travel industry that still gets treated as a niche.

We also talk about AI and its impact to our fragile storytelling and media eco-system. I try to surprise Beth by asking my ChatGPT bot questions about Beth and her work and prompting the bot to impersonate Beth. What we learn about AI in the process is fascinating!

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• Beth reads an excerpt from Wander Woman
• The challenge of writing a book
• Rethinking the traveler versus tourist narrative and the privilege of travel
• Reclaiming our space as women in travel
• Book publicity and the fairy godmother complex
• Yulia talks to AI about Beth
• The impact of AI on travel creators
• How Wanderful plans to use AI 
• Beth responds to ChatGPT impersonating Beth
• Is there a digital space that is safe to build our businesses in?
• Celebrating 11 years of Wanderful
• Building one DEI table in travel

Featured on the show:

• Learn more about Beth on her website
• Check out Beth's book, WANDER WOMAN: How to Reclaim Your Space, Find Your Voice, and Travel the World
• Learn more about Wanderful, a community of travelers and content creators redefining travel for women worldwide
• Get your free solo travel guide from Wanderful
• Check out WITS, a conference for women in travel
• Listen to Beth's podcast, The 85 Percent
• Follow Beth on Instagram
• Follow Wanderful on Instagram
• Check out Beyond Guilt Trips: Mindful Travel in an Unequal World, a book by Dr. Anu Taranath
• Check out Black Travel Alliance
• Check out Native Women Wilderness

Get more information at: Going Places website

Going Places is a reader-supported platform. Get membership perks like a monthly group call with Yulia at goingplacesmedia.com!

For more BTS of this podcast follow @goingplacesmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on YouTube!

Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don’t forget to tag us @goingplacesmedia!

And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Going Places or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You’ll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!

Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk is a show that sparks a better understanding of people and places near and far by fostering a space for real conversations to occur. Each week, we sit down with travelers, journalists, creators, and people living and working in destinations around the world. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer who's worked with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

Lindsay Varty is an author and former professional rugby player from Hong Kong who writes about Cantonese culture and history in an attempt to generate a greater love and understanding of her home for herself and her readers. So today on the show, we're traveling to Hong Kong with Lindsay and me.

Lindsay is the author of several books including Hong Kong Slang, Welly the Wild Boar and the local best-seller, Sunset Survivors, which features a collection of photographs and interviews with local artisans who work in some of the city's oldest, most traditional trades.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• Meet the keepers of some of Hong Kong's disappearing traditions like villain hitters, fortune tellers, and bamboo pole noodle makers
• Why some Hong Kong artisans don't want more sales
• Is growth always good?
• What Hong Kong leaves behind when it moves forward
• Hong Kong's real estate problem
• How to avoid the cliches of Hong Kong
• Looking for identity and belonging as third-culture kids
• Hong Kong's walking tours with Lindsay
• Lindsay's upcoming book on third culture kids

Featured on the show:

• Learn more about Lindsay's work on her website
• Check out Lindsay's book, Sunset Survivors
• Follow Lindsay on Instagram
• Follow Lindsay's Sunset Survivors project on Instagram
• Check out VoiceMap
• Check out The Impossible City: A Hong Kong Memoir by Karen Cheung

Get more information at: Going Places website

Going Places is a reader-supported platform. Get membership perks like a monthly group call with Yulia at goingplacesmedia.com!

For more BTS of this podcast follow @goingplacesmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on YouTube!

Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don’t forget to tag us @goingplacesmedia!

And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Going Places or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You’ll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!

Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk is a show that sparks a better understanding of people and places near and far by fostering a space for real conversations to occur. Each week, we sit down with travelers, journalists, creators, and people living and working in destinations around the world. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer who's worked with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• The origin story of my relationship with Jordan
• Yulia's favorite places in Jordan
• What people get wrong about Jordan and the Middle East
• What first time travelers to Jordan should see and experience
• Yulia's group trip to Jordan in Oct 2024

Original Air Date: Sep 20, 2023.

Featured on the show:

• Join me this Fall on a 10-day trip to Jordan
• Read my CN Traveler article about traveling to Jordan this year
• Check out Noelia's company, Noteworthy Lab

Get more information at: Going Places website

Going Places is a reader-supported platform. Get membership perks like a monthly group call with Yulia at goingplacesmedia.com!

For more BTS of this podcast follow @goingplacesmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on YouTube!

Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don’t forget to tag us @goingplacesmedia!

And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Going Places or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You’ll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!

Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk is a show that sparks a better understanding of people and places near and far by fostering a space for real conversations to occur. Each week, we sit down with travelers, journalists, creators, and people living and working in destinations around the world. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer who's worked with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

This is Part 2 of our two-part episode.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• The origins of Lebanon's joie de vivre, creativity, and resilience
• How Beirut is doing after the blast of 2020
• Why making plans in Lebanon is impossible
• Must-see experiences for a first-time traveler to Lebanon
• Why Nada loves Tripoli
• Walking the Lebanon Mountain Trail
• Exploring Lebanon through dishes like kibbeh and freekeh
• Women traveling solo in Lebanon

Featured on the show:

• Check out the TourLeb website
• Nada's book, Hyphen Islam Christianity
• Joe Sacco's Gaza comic book
• Wanderful's Lebanon chapter announcement
• Follow TourLeb on Instagram

Get more information at: Going Places website

Going Places is a reader-supported platform. Get membership perks like a monthly group call with Yulia at goingplacesmedia.com!

For more BTS of this podcast follow @goingplacesmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on YouTube!

Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don’t forget to tag us @goingplacesmedia!

And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Going Places or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You’ll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!

Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk is a show that sparks a better understanding of people and places near and far by fostering a space for real conversations to occur. Each week, we sit down with travelers, journalists, creators, and people living and working in destinations around the world. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer who's worked with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

This is Part 1 of our two-part episode and next week, we’ll share Part 2 of our Lebanon conversation with Nada.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• The complex narratives and histories of Lebanon
• How Nada’s book project led to the eventual launch of Tourleb
• Starting a new kind of tourism in Lebanon
• What the west gets wrong about the Middle East
• Nada unpacks the statement "It's complicated"
• Dispelling the myths and misconceptions about traveling to Lebanon
• Is it safe to travel to Lebanon now?

Featured on the show:

• Check out the TourLeb website
• Nada's book, Hyphen Islam Christianity
• Joe Sacco's Gaza comic book
• Wanderful's Lebanon chapter announcement
• Follow TourLeb on Instagram

Get more information at: Going Places website

Going Places is a reader-supported platform. Get membership perks like a monthly group call with Yulia at goingplacesmedia.com!

For more BTS of this podcast follow @goingplacesmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on YouTube!

Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don’t forget to tag us @goingplacesmedia!

And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Going Places or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You’ll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!

Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk is a show that sparks a better understanding of people and places near and far by fostering a space for real conversations to occur. Each week, we sit down with travelers, journalists, creators, and people living and working in destinations around the world. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer who's worked with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

Imani has worked with The New York Times, Cosmo, The Washington Post, Travel + Leisure, and many others. She just took on a new role as the director of communications at BEAM, which stands for Black Emotional And Mental Health collective.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• Imani's experience of being a Black digital nomad
• How living abroad shaped Imani’s global citizenship
• Traveling with kids & mom culture in the US and abroad
• Travel as a way to gain empathy for immigrants
• Travel media industry’s handling of Gaza
• The ethics of press trips
• The history of Black Islam in America
• Misconceptions about Islam
• Did anything change since the murder of George Floyd?

Featured on the show:

• Learn more about Imani on her website
• Read Imani's story, Life As a Black “Digital Nomad” Isn’t the Same
• Read Imani's story, A Reflection on What It Means to Be a Black American Muslim
• Check out the work of BEAM
• Sign the Travel Industry For Palestine initiative
• Listen to the Upstream Podcast
• Follow Imani on TikTok
• Follow Imani on Instagram

Get more information at: Going Places website

Going Places is a reader-supported platform. Get membership perks like a monthly group call with Yulia at goingplacesmedia.com!

For more BTS of this podcast follow @goingplacesmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on YouTube!

Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don’t forget to tag us @goingplacesmedia!

And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Going Places or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You’ll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!

Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk is a show that sparks a better understanding of people and places near and far by fostering a space for real conversations to occur. Each week, we sit down with travelers, journalists, creators, and people living and working in destinations around the world. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer who's worked with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

Featured on the show:

• Read Yulia's CN Traveler story, In Jordan, a Community Disrupted Awaits Travel’s Return
• Listen to Episode 113, Palestine, Orientalism, and Solidary Movements with Matt Bowles on Apple Podcasts or Spotify
• Subscribe to Yulia's Going Places newsletter to get notified about Yulia's October group trip to Jordan

Get more information at: Going Places website

Going Places is a reader-supported platform. Get membership perks like a monthly group call with Yulia at goingplacesmedia.com!

For more BTS of this podcast follow @goingplacesmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on YouTube!

Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don’t forget to tag us @goingplacesmedia!

And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Going Places or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You’ll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!

Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk is a show that sparks a better understanding of people and places near and far by fostering a space for real conversations to occur. Each week, we sit down with travelers, journalists, creators, and people living and working in destinations around the world. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer who's worked with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

Shannon Stowell is the CEO of the Adventure Travel Trade Association, an organization for travel industry partners that believes travel can be a powerful force for good in the world. Shannon has spent over 30 years working in adventure travel, e-commerce, outdoor retail, and environmental science. Shannon and I met in person on a trip to Jordan this February, and we immediately connected around our shared belief about what travel could be. 

In this conversation, Shannon takes us to Kurdistan, an autonomous region in Northern Iraq, where Shannon traveled with his son in 2017. You’ll learn about the meaning of the Kurdish saying “The Kurds have no friends but the mountains,” and what it feels like to visit the Yazidi sacred village of Lalish. We also discuss Shannon’s must-see places for people like me who have already traveled a lot, the Tomorrow’s Air initiative led by ATTA, why Shannon believes travel is a privilege, not a right, and what is a soft ambassador.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• How Shannon defines adventure travel
• Shannon’s trip to Kurdistan in 2017
• What living off the grid in nature is like
• What Maslow's hierarchy of needs has to do with modern depression
• Must-see places for people who've already traveled a lot
• The impact of media on destinations
• Meeting the current moment: travelers' role in times of strife
• The story of “To kill a white person”
• What gives Shannon hope right now

Featured on the show:

• Learn more about the Adventure Travel Trade Association
• Check out Explore Mesopotamia tours in Iraqi Kurdistan
• Read The New York Times story about Kurdistan
• Check out Shannon's book, Riding The Hula Hula to the Arctic Ocean
• Learn more about the Tomorrow’s Air initiative
• Follow ATTA on Instagram

Get more information at: Going Places website

Going Places is a reader-supported platform. Get membership perks like a monthly group call with Yulia at goingplacesmedia.com!

For more BTS of this podcast follow @goingplacesmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on YouTube!

Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don’t forget to tag us @goingplacesmedia!

And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Going Places or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You’ll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!

Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk is a show that sparks a better understanding of people and places near and far by fostering a space for real conversations to occur. Each week, we sit down with travelers, journalists, creators, and people living and working in destinations around the world. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer who's worked with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

Matt Bowles is a veteran location-independent entrepreneur and host of The Maverick Show. I recently sat down with Matt to do a two-part series for his show. Matt has been doing activism work in solidarity with the Palestinian movement for the past 25 years, and in this conversation, we cover how he and I first became aware of the Palestinian struggle and movement, Orientalism, the asymmetry of power, the student encampments currently taking over the US and the world, what activism inside solidarity movements looks like, and more. If you like this conversation with Matt, head to the Maverick Show to listen to the full two-part interview series we did on his feed. 

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• Matt's story: joining the Palestinian solidarity movement
• What Orientalism looks like
• How the asymmetry of power is related to injustices around the world
• Multiple ways to become an activist

Featured on the show:

• Listen to The Maverick Show's episodes with Yulia: Episode 282: Growing up in the Soviet Union, Traveling Through Africa, and Falling in Love with Jordan and Episode 283: The “Travel Industry for Palestine” Petition, Unpacking Orientalism, and Writing Great Travel Stories
• Visit Travel Industry For Palestine to learn more
• Follow Matt on Instagram

Get more information at: Going Places website

Going Places is a reader-supported platform. Get membership perks like a monthly group call with Yulia at goingplacesmedia.com!

For more BTS of this podcast follow @goingplacesmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on YouTube!

Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don’t forget to tag us @goingplacesmedia!

And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Going Places or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You’ll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!

Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk is a show that sparks a better understanding of people and places near and far by fostering a space for real conversations to occur. Each week, we sit down with travelers, journalists, creators, and people living and working in destinations around the world. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer who's worked with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

In this conversation, Jen and I discuss dating while traveling, our strategies for finding a partner for life, why we don’t want to put all our eggs into one basket as entrepreneurs, and what passive income streams Jen is currently working on. Jen will also share her approach to achieving so many incredible accomplishments in the span of several years, like self-publishing a book, becoming a TEDx speaker, and getting a book deal based on an article she wrote 5 years ago. The book in question, 12 Trips in 12 Months is available to pre-order!

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• Jen's story: Giving Up Dating to Travel the World
• The evolution of travel journalism
• Challenges and opportunities in monetizing travel journalism
• How Jen is diversifying her income streams
• Navigating the volatility of freelancing
• Finding love and building relationships as a digital nomad

Featured on the show:

• Jen's book, 12 Trips In 12 Months, is available to pre-order now!
• Check out Jen's story, Giving Up Dating to Travel the World
• Get Jen's free list of 17 flight alert websites and apps to get notified of flight deals (business class, too!)
• Jen's Ted Talks: The Power of Flying Solo; Why Can't We Be Friends?; Remote Work Freedom
• Check out the Jen On A Jet Plane website
• Follow Jen on Instagram
• Follow Jen on TikTok
• Follow Jen on Facebook

Get more information at: Going Places website

Going Places is a reader-supported platform. Get membership perks like a monthly group call with Yulia at goingplacesmedia.com!

For more BTS of this podcast follow @goingplacesmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on YouTube!

Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don’t forget to tag us @goingplacesmedia!

And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Going Places or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You’ll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!

Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk is a show that sparks a better understanding of people and places near and far by fostering a space for real conversations to occur. Each week, we sit down with travelers, journalists, creators, and people living and working in destinations around the world. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer who's worked with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

I'm your host Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel photographer, writer, storyteller, community builder, podcaster, filmmaker, educator, and entrepreneur working on stories from around the world for top global publications, traveling to places like Botswana and the Arctic Circle, and producing stories about people that live and work in those places that I’m excited about.

Going Places is my show that sparks a better understanding of people and places near and far. We hope to foster a space for real conversations to occur as we celebrate humanity in all its forms and hope to build bridges, rather than walls, with our work.

How does one move through the world in this moment in time? This will be the central question we will explore on the show this season. How do we stay engaged with the world that has so much injustice and pain in it? How can we, through our individual actions, improve the situation around us? How do we stay open to the joys of travel while recognizing how our political and societal structures impact, and often oppress others? 

These are all complex questions that I don’t have an answer to. But I am inviting a host of smart and kind people on the show to help me tackle them.

Thank you so much for listening and stay tuned for the first episode coming to you next week!

Get more information at: Going Places website

Going Places is a reader-supported platform. Get membership perks like a monthly group call with Yulia at goingplacesmedia.com!

For more BTS of this podcast follow @goingplacesmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on YouTube!

Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don’t forget to tag us @goingplacesmedia!

And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Going Places or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You’ll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!

Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk is a show that sparks a better understanding of people and places near and far by fostering a space for real conversations to occur. Each week, we sit down with travelers, journalists, creators, and people living and working in destinations around the world. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer who's worked with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

I hope you enjoyed the new show format - and if you did, please take a moment to leave us a rating or a review on Apple podcasts or Spotify. I appreciate it! 

This episode and the entire season of the show are brought to you by Visit Jordan. Be sure to visit myjordanjourney.com to learn more about Jordan. I loved partnering with this organization because, as you know, I love the country of Jordan so much, and I loved the opportunity to talk about it at length. 

Today is our last episode and we’re going on a short hiatus, but before we do, I want to leave you with final thoughts on whether or not travel can change the world. This episode will talk about and reflect upon my latest trip to Jordan in February 2024.

Get more information at: Going Places website

Going Places is a reader-supported platform. Get membership perks like a monthly group call with Yulia at goingplacesmedia.com!

For more BTS of this podcast follow @goingplacesmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on YouTube!

Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don’t forget to tag us @goingplacesmedia!

And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Going Places or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You’ll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!

Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk is a show that sparks a better understanding of people and places near and far by fostering a space for real conversations to occur. Each week, we sit down with travelers, journalists, creators, and people living and working in destinations around the world. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer who's worked with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

Our theme music this season, Abbad El Shams, is provided by Rawan Roshni, a Palestinian/Balkan singer based in Jordan.

Olive oil is central to Jordanian culture, and today, Amelia and her team are well on their way to elevating its status worldwide. To get the taste of this incredible oil, head to onsurioliveoil.com. And be sure to use code GOINGPLACES, all caps, to get 10 percent off your purchase. Onsuri ships free to North America. 

This episode and the entire season is brought to you by Visit Jordan. Be sure to visit myjordanjourney.com to learn more about Jordan.

Get more information on the episode page.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• Significance of olive oil in Jordanian culture
• How ONSURI became a top olive oil producer
• How to tell if the extra virgin olive oil is of high quality
• Challenges affecting olive oil production (e.g., climate change)
• Traditional vs. modern approaches in agriculture
• The role of women in olive oil production
• Where olive trees come from
• Cultural significance of olive oil in the Middle East
• Sustainability practices on Amelia's farm
• ONSURI's environmental sustainability efforts (it's carbon-negative)
• Amelia's journey to becoming an olive oil sommelier
• Benefits and versatility of extra virgin olive oil in cooking and baking
• Varieties of olive oil offered by Onsuri and their recommended uses
• Tours and visits to Onsuri Farm for travelers
• What it's like for Amelia to be a part of her father's dream

Featured on the show:

To get a taste of this incredible oil, head to onsurioliveoil.com and use code GOINGPLACES to get 10% off your purchase. Onsuri ships free to North America!

Get more information at:

Going Places is a reader-supported platform. Get membership perks like a monthly group call with Yulia at goingplacesmedia.com!

For more BTS of this podcast follow @goingplacesmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on YouTube!

Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don’t forget to tag us @goingplacesmedia!

And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Going Places or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You’ll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!

Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk is a show that sparks a better understanding of people and places near and far by fostering a space for real conversations to occur. Each week, we sit down with travelers, journalists, creators, and people living and working in destinations around the world. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer who's worked with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

Our theme music this season, Abbad El Shams, is provided by Rawan Roshni, a Palestinian/Balkan singer based in Jordan.

Mentioned in this episode:

Visit Jordan

This episode and the rest of this season are brought to you by Visit Jordan. Jordan is a beautiful country in the Middle East that has something for everyone: in a relatively small area, it packs diverse landscapes like the Mediterranean forests of Ajloun, deep canyons in Wadi Dana, the Mars-like desert of Wadi Rum, and the Dead Sea, the lowest point on earth. Let Jordan be your host for your Middle Eastern adventures. Go to Visit Jordan to learn more.

Visit Jordan

In this episode, Karthika and I cover great distances. We travel to the flower markets of Mumbai,  the deserts of Jordan, and the sustainable farm run by one of the smallest tribal nations in California. Karthika shares with us the backstory to her latest work for Vogue magazine,  the motivation that enables her to keep pitching her beautiful stories and get published in places like Vogue, AFAR, and others, and how knowing people from places we visit can exponentially increase our understanding of the world.

We also discuss the misconceptions about traveling to the Middle East and why traveling with her two children is Karthika's favorite way of learning something new about herself and others. Discover the motivation behind her compelling stories and her insights on how connecting with locals can deepen our understanding of the world.

This episode and the entire season of the show is brought to you by Visit Jordan.  Be sure to visit myjordanjourney.com to learn more about this beautiful place.

Featured on the show:

• Read Karthika's Vogue Story, How One of the Smallest Tribal Nations in the U.S. Is Redefining Sustainable Living
• Follow Karthika on Instagram: @karthikagupta
• Karthika's website: karthikagupta.com
• Listen to Episode 07: You're Good Enough To Do This Work with Karthika Gupta

Get more information at:

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

Going Places is a reader-supported platform. Get membership perks like a monthly group call with Yulia at goingplacesmedia.com!

For more BTS of this podcast follow @goingplacesmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on YouTube!

Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don’t forget to tag us @goingplacesmedia!

And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Going Places or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You’ll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!

Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk is a show that sparks a better understanding of people and places near and far by fostering a space for real conversations to occur. Each week, we sit down with travelers, journalists, creators, and people living and working in destinations around the world. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer who's worked with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

Our theme music this season, Abbad El Shams, is provided by Rawan Roshni, a Palestinian/Balkan singer based in Jordan.

Mentioned in this episode:

Visit Jordan

This episode and the rest of this season are brought to you by Visit Jordan. Jordan is a beautiful country in the Middle East that has something for everyone: in a relatively small area, it packs diverse landscapes like the Mediterranean forests of Ajloun, deep canyons in Wadi Dana, the Mars-like desert of Wadi Rum, and the Dead Sea, the lowest point on earth. Let Jordan be your host for your Middle Eastern adventures. Go to Visit Jordan to learn more.

Visit Jordan

Throughout our conversation, Nikki sheds light on the transformative power of travel and its ability to shape our journeys and our careers. We discuss the role travelers play in supporting the communities they visit, echoing Nikki's commitment to championing women's voices worldwide. From her experiences founding Unearthed Women to her latest book project, Nikki's wisdom and passion for exploration shines through, offering listeners a fresh perspective on the intersection of travel, self-discovery, and advocacy.

"Call You When I Land" is out now and promises readers a captivating exploration of wanderlust, resilience, and pursuing one's dreams. Whether you're an avid traveler or simply curious about the world, Nikki's story will surely resonate. 

This episode and the entire season is brought to you by Visit Jordan. Be sure to visit myjordanjourney.com to learn more about Jordan.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• Introduction and overview of Nikki's new book, "Call You When I Land."
• Excerpt reading and discussion of pivotal moments from the book
• Comparison of the writing process between Nikki's first book, "Wanderess," and her memoir, "Call You When I Land."
• Challenges and rewards of book writing compared to articles
• Overcoming self-doubt and fears in the writing process
• Practical strategies for tackling a writing project
• The influence of Nikki's career as a travel journalist and editor on her book writing
• The power of memoirs and travel narratives in inspiring transformation
• Recognizing the privilege of travel and finding accessible ways to explore
• Supporting women in travel and amplifying their voices through conscious consumerism
• Highlighting stories of everyday women making a difference in their communities, like Manal Kahi's Eat Offbeat.
• Importance of authenticity in social media, particularly TikTok
• Balancing personal life milestones with professional endeavors
• Nikki's upcoming book project inspired by a trip to Norway
• Invitation to join Nikki on her book tour and connect in person

Featured on the show:

• Order Nikki's travel memoir, CALL YOU WHEN I LAND
• Nikki’s book Instagram: @callyouwheniland
• Nikki Vargas website: nikkivargas.com
• Nikki’s Instagram: @niknakvargas
• Nikki’s Twitter: @MsNikkiVargas
• Catch up with Nikki on her book tour. 
• Follow Nikki on Tiktok: @authornikkivargas
• Eat OffBeat: eatoffbeat.com
• Pitch your story idea to Fodors.
• Review Fodor’s pitch guidelines.
• Listen to Episode 87: The Driving Force Behind Unearth Women with Nikki Vargas

Get more information at:

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

Going Places is a reader-supported platform. Get membership perks like a monthly group call with Yulia at goingplacesmedia.com!

For more BTS of this podcast follow @goingplacesmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on YouTube!

Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don’t forget to tag us @goingplacesmedia!

And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Going Places or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You’ll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!

Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk is a show that sparks a better understanding of people and places near and far by fostering a space for real conversations to occur. Each week, we sit down with travelers, journalists, creators, and people living and working in destinations around the world. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer who's worked with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

Our theme music this season, Abbad El Shams, is provided by Rawan Roshni, a Palestinian/Balkan singer based in Jordan.

Mentioned in this episode:

Visit Jordan

This episode and the rest of this season are brought to you by Visit Jordan. Jordan is a beautiful country in the Middle East that has something for everyone: in a relatively small area, it packs diverse landscapes like the Mediterranean forests of Ajloun, deep canyons in Wadi Dana, the Mars-like desert of Wadi Rum, and the Dead Sea, the lowest point on earth. Let Jordan be your host for your Middle Eastern adventures. Go to Visit Jordan to learn more.

Visit Jordan

Eliot has edited a few of my stories at BBC Travel, where he currently serves as the deputy editor,  and where he started a column called Custom Made that highlights cultural custodians preserving vanishing customs. Eliot has recently completed a book inspired by this column that will be published this fall.

This conversation has given me a sense of joy and lightness that I haven't felt in a while. You're going to hear about our shared passion for telling stories about people preserving cultural traditions, like the last remaining sea silk seamstress in Sardinia and Japan's craft soy sauce brewer who still makes shoyu in a traditional way. We also discuss what the book writing process was like for Eliot and hear more about his upcoming book. If you want to learn more about Eliot and receive updates on his upcoming book, follow him on Instagram @Eliot.Stein.

This episode and the entire season is brought to you by Visit Jordan. Be sure to visit myjordanjourney.com to learn more about Jordan.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• Discussion about the story "The Last Surviving Sea Silk Seamstress" for BBC Travel
• Importance of highlighting the person, tradition, and craft rather than the writer
• Insight into the process of building relationships and trust with subjects for storytelling
• Importance of traditions in shaping places and people
• Recognition of the depth beyond tourist attractions
• Discussion on changing reading habits and the impact on storytelling
• Multifaceted approaches to storytelling in the digital age
• Eliot's upcoming book "Custodians of Wonder"
• Eliot's background in travel journalism and its influence on the book
• The labor of love and intense commitment required to write a book
• Advice for aspiring authors: prioritize passion over monetary or personal gains
• Resources and opportunities for aspiring authors, such as the Writer's Digest conference
• Story behind a photo featuring traditional soy sauce production in Japan
• Importance of clear pitching guidelines for democratizing travel journalism
• Hope in the power of travel journalism to foster empathy and understanding across cultures

Featured on the show:

• Follow Eliot on Instagram: @eliot.stein
• Read Eliot’s article on BBC Travel: The last surviving sea silk seamstress
• Learn about the Barrel-aged soy sauce, also available online at trf-ny.com
• Pitch your book idea: writersdigestconference.com
• Read the BBC Travel author brief

Get more information at:

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

Going Places is a reader-supported platform. Get membership perks like a monthly group call with Yulia at goingplacesmedia.com!

For more BTS of this podcast follow @goingplacesmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on YouTube!

Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don’t forget to tag us @goingplacesmedia!

And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Going Places or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You’ll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!

Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk is a show that sparks a better understanding of people and places near and far by fostering a space for real conversations to occur. Each week, we sit down with travelers, journalists, creators, and people living and working in destinations around the world. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer who's worked with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

Our theme music this season, Abbad El Shams, is provided by Rawan Roshni, a Palestinian/Balkan singer based in Jordan.

We'll journey together to the heart of Jordan, where baking is not just about sustenance but a profound cultural legacy. Join me as we explore how bread is intricately woven into the fabric of Jordan's community life, from traditional dishes gracing UNESCO's heritage list to the philosophy of Al Barakah that binds individuals to each other and the land. We'll also look at the challenges local wheat varieties face and the passionate efforts of people looking to revive Jordan's connection to its ancestral crops. So, come along on this journey as we explore a story of history, community, and the enduring spirit of Jordan through its breadmaking.

This episode and the entire season is brought to you by Visit Jordan. Be sure to visit myjordanjourney.com to learn more about Jordan.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• Journey to Jordan to explore its bread-making culture
• Description of arboud’s simple ingredients and baking process
• Jordan’s history as part of the Fertile Crescent and its agricultural significance
• Discovery of the world's oldest known bread in Jordan’s Black Desert
• Impact of this discovery on understanding human history regarding baking and farming
• Description of Jordan's native baladi wheat and its influence on culinary traditions
• Various traditional Jordanian dishes that incorporate bread
• The shift from local baladi wheat farming to imported refined flour in the 1970s
• Efforts by Al Barakeh Wheat Collective to restore Jordanians' connection to native wheat
• Other organizations' efforts to revive ancient wheat and traditional recipes
• The concept of Al Barakeh and its cultural importance in Jordan

Featured on the show:

• In the Land of the World's Oldest Bread, a Return to an Ancient Baking Culture

Summer reading series:

• Robb Report: Inside Hotelito, A Luxe Hideaway on Mexico's Guerrero Coast
• AFAR: In Jordan, Skip the Bubble & Go Here Instead
• Vogue: An Unexpected Cultural Hotspot in the Alps
• BBC Travel: Mongolia’s epic celebration at -40C
• AFAR: The Untold Story of Turkey's Iznik Tiles
• CN Traveler: Seeking Silence In Wadi Rum
• Toronto Star: A Lens On The World
• AFAR: In Barcelona for Vacation and Fertility Treatment

Get more information at:

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

Going Places is a reader-supported platform. Get membership perks like a monthly group call with Yulia at goingplacesmedia.com!

For more BTS of this podcast follow @goingplacesmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on YouTube!

Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don’t forget to tag us @goingplacesmedia!

And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Going Places or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You’ll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!

Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk is a show that sparks a better understanding of people and places near and far by fostering a space for real conversations to occur. Each week, we sit down with travelers, journalists, creators, and people living and working in destinations around the world. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer who's worked with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

Our theme music this season, Abbad El Shams, is provided by Rawan Roshni, a Palestinian/Balkan singer based in Jordan.

The conversation you're about to hear today was recorded last October, two weeks after the current escalation of violence in Gaza and the West Bank.  

Together, we processed the emotions of collective pain, sorrow, and anger, what these artists feel about the Western perspectives on Israel-Palestine, what’s changing in this situation that generations of people in the Middle East have grown up with, and what is the role of artists in this moment.

I want to say thank you to Sarah, Hussein, and Rawan for coming on the show at such a raw and difficult moment to share their thoughts and experiences with us, and I hope you take a listen to what they have to say.  

This episode and the entire season is brought to you by Visit Jordan. Be sure to visit myjordanjourney.com to learn more about Jordan.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• The importance of critical examination of headlines and seeking context in reporting
• Collective healing and activism in response to the ongoing struggle in Palestine
• The interconnectedness of social justice movements globally, from Black Lives Matter to indigenous rights
• The need to address injustice before discussing peace and coexistence
• The power of social media in raising awareness and facilitating change
• The role of civilian journalism in capturing events
• The hope that the world's attention will translate into meaningful change
• The role of art and creativity in processing emotions and raising awareness
• The evolving creative community in Amman
• Collaboration and support in Amman's creative community
• Curiosity and exploration as keys to discovering Amman's creative scene
• Venues for music and cultural events
• Hussein finds hope in the wonder of discovering new tools, projects, and touring his city. Sarah shares that she has seen a positive shift in people's willingness to listen and discuss important topics in Jordan.
• Rawan mentions that her relationships, faith, and the lessons from nature give her hope.

Featured on the show:

• Journalist Sarah Shabbar: https://www.instagram.com/jordannewsdaily
• Artist & calligrapher Hussein Alazaat: https://www.elharf.com
• Palestinian-Balkan musician Rawan Roshni: https://rawanroshni.com
• Abbad El Shams song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ds7sXkk3YWw

Get more information at:

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

Going Places is a reader-supported platform. Get membership perks like a monthly group call with Yulia at goingplacesmedia.com!

For more BTS of this podcast follow @goingplacesmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on YouTube!

Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don’t forget to tag us @goingplacesmedia!

And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Going Places or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You’ll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!

Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk is a show that sparks a better understanding of people and places near and far by fostering a space for real conversations to occur. Each week, we sit down with travelers, journalists, creators, and people living and working in destinations around the world. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer who's worked with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

Our theme music this season, Abbad El Shams, is provided by Rawan Roshni, a Palestinian/Balkan singer based in Jordan.

Mentioned in this episode:

Visit Jordan

This episode and the rest of this season are brought to you by Visit Jordan. Jordan is a beautiful country in the Middle East that has something for everyone: in a relatively small area, it packs diverse landscapes like the Mediterranean forests of Ajloun, deep canyons in Wadi Dana, the Mars-like desert of Wadi Rum, and the Dead Sea, the lowest point on earth. Let Jordan be your host for your Middle Eastern adventures. Go to Visit Jordan to learn more.

Visit Jordan

Janine shares her initial perceptions of Jordan, highlighting the warmth and hospitality of its people and the authentic connections she's forged with individuals from diverse backgrounds. We also discuss the ongoing tragedy in Gaza and its impact on Jordan's mood and tourism industry. Join us for a captivating conversation that underscores the profound value of travel in fostering cross-cultural understanding and appreciation.

Our theme music this season, Abbad El Shams, is provided by Rawan Roshni, a Palestinian/Balkan singer based in Jordan.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• Janine’s extensive experience in the travel and tourism industry
• The transformative power of travel in challenging stereotypes and broadening perspectives
• Janine's initial perceptions of Jordan and the warmth and hospitality of its people
• The ongoing tragedy in Gaza and its impact on Jordan's mood and tourism industry
• The role of tourism in supporting local communities and economies
• The inspiring women who are making a positive impact in Jordan and the region
• The warmth and hospitality of Bedouin communities in Wadi Rum
• Encouraging people to approach travel with an open mind

Get more information at:

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

Going Places is a reader-supported platform. Get membership perks like a monthly group call with Yulia at goingplacesmedia.com!

For more BTS of this podcast follow @goingplacesmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on YouTube!

Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don’t forget to tag us @goingplacesmedia!

And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Going Places or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You’ll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!

Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk is a show that sparks a better understanding of people and places near and far by fostering a space for real conversations to occur. Each week, we sit down with travelers, journalists, creators, and people living and working in destinations around the world. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer who's worked with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

Mentioned in this episode:

Visit Jordan

This episode and the rest of this season are brought to you by Visit Jordan. Jordan is a beautiful country in the Middle East that has something for everyone: in a relatively small area, it packs diverse landscapes like the Mediterranean forests of Ajloun, deep canyons in Wadi Dana, the Mars-like desert of Wadi Rum, and the Dead Sea, the lowest point on earth. Let Jordan be your host for your Middle Eastern adventures. Go to Visit Jordan to learn more.

Visit Jordan

So today on the show, we're going to discuss some of the results of that searching, rethinking, and questioning.

• Renaming the podcast to "Going Places" to reflect its renewed purpose
• Shifting focus from travel industry insights to storytelling
• Emphasizing the podcast's mission to explore diverse perspectives and our shared humanity

Get more information at:

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

Going Places is a reader-supported platform. Get membership perks like a monthly group call with Yulia at goingplacesmedia.com!

For more BTS of this podcast follow @goingplacesmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on YouTube!

Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don’t forget to tag us @goingplacesmedia!

And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Going Places or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You’ll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!

Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk is a show that sparks a better understanding of people and places near and far by fostering a space for real conversations to occur. Each week, we sit down with travelers, journalists, creators, and people living and working in destinations around the world. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer who's worked with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

Links discussed in this episode:

B'tselem

Human Rights Watch

Amnesty

For more BTS of this podcast follow @travelmedialab

Need support and accountability? Join our Facebook group!

Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don’t forget to tag us @travelmedialab!

And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Travel Media Lab or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You’ll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!

Travel Media Lab with Yulia Denisyuk is a podcast about people and places that make our world a fascinating place to be. Each week, we bring you stories from places near and far and sit down with the world’s most exciting travelers, journalists, creators, and people working in the travel space. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer working with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about Travel Media Lab at travelmedialab.co.

In this episode, Emy shares his experiences as an immigrant in Barcelona, navigating the challenges and joys of living in a new country. He discusses the importance of dialogue, listening, and giving back while also expressing his delight in discovering a vibrant community and a sense of hope in his journey. 

This episode will inspire you to reflect on your own privilege, explore new perspectives, and embrace the power of community. Tune in to gain valuable insights from Emy's journey and discover the beauty of finding home wherever you are.

Get full show notes and more information at: https://travelmedialab.co/podcast/101

Want to know how to publish your travel stories? Download my free guide in which I share with you the 10 steps to take now to get your work out into the world.

For more BTS of this podcast follow @travelmedialab

Need support and accountability? Join our Facebook group!

Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don’t forget to tag us @travelmedialab!

And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Travel Media Lab or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You’ll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!

Travel Media Lab with Yulia Denisyuk is a podcast about people and places that make our world a fascinating place to be. Each week, we bring you stories from places near and far and sit down with the world’s most exciting travelers, journalists, creators, and people working in the travel space. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer working with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about Travel Media Lab at travelmedialab.co.

Mentioned in this episode:

Visit Jordan

This episode and the rest of this season are brought to you by Visit Jordan. Jordan is a beautiful country in the Middle East that has something for everyone: in a relatively small area, it packs diverse landscapes like the Mediterranean forests of Ajloun, deep canyons in Wadi Dana, the Mars-like desert of Wadi Rum, and the Dead Sea, the lowest point on earth. Let Jordan be your host for your Middle Eastern adventures. Go to Visit Jordan to learn more.

Visit Jordan

Wadi Rum isn't just a picturesque landscape; it's a realm where nature's grandeur converges with the warmth and authenticity of its people. Ahmad shares why understanding the local culture and connecting with its inhabitants is as vital as experiencing its breathtaking vistas.

We also touch on the impact of tourism on Wadi Rum and how Ahmad has incorporated sustainable practices into his family’s camp. You’ll also hear about his experience meeting Matt Damon in this remarkable setting!

As we celebrate our 100th episode, we invite you to participate in our special week-long celebration. Share your review of our podcast on Apple Podcasts or leave a rating on Spotify, and you could win a 20-minute coffee conversation with me. Let's connect over video and discuss your interests, whether it's travel, storytelling, or anything else that sparks your curiosity. Remember to submit your review by Wednesday, October 11th, and stay tuned for the winner announcement on Thursday, October 12th.

Get full show notes and more information at: https://travelmedialab.co/podcast/100

Want to know how to publish your travel stories? Download my free guide in which I share with you the 10 steps to take now to get your work out into the world.

For more BTS of this podcast follow @travelmedialab

Need support and accountability? Join our Facebook group!

Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don’t forget to tag us @travelmedialab!

And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Travel Media Lab or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You’ll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!

Travel Media Lab with Yulia Denisyuk is a podcast about people and places that make our world a fascinating place to be. Each week, we bring you stories from places near and far and sit down with the world’s most exciting travelers, journalists, creators, and people working in the travel space. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer working with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about Travel Media Lab at travelmedialab.co.

Mentioned in this episode:

Visit Jordan

This episode and the rest of this season are brought to you by Visit Jordan. Jordan is a beautiful country in the Middle East that has something for everyone: in a relatively small area, it packs diverse landscapes like the Mediterranean forests of Ajloun, deep canyons in Wadi Dana, the Mars-like desert of Wadi Rum, and the Dead Sea, the lowest point on earth. Let Jordan be your host for your Middle Eastern adventures. Go to Visit Jordan to learn more.

Visit Jordan

Our conversation explores Esme's incredible journey through the world of travel journalism. It's one filled with determination, resilience, and the kind of passion that fuels success. Esme shared her insights into navigating the industry, from breaking in as a writer to forming lasting connections with fellow journalists and editors.

Esme also shares her thoughts on the realities of press trips, emphasizing that they can be both glamorous and incredibly demanding. Her advice on the importance of follow-ups and not jumping to negative conclusions when met with silence from editors is a lesson in resilience and professionalism. 

Throughout our conversation, one key message resonated: the collaborative nature of the pitching process. Esme highlighted how editors appreciate writers who bring fresh, compelling ideas to the table and how forming positive, working relationships is key to success in the industry.

Get full show notes and more information at: https://travelmedialab.co/podcast/99

Want to know how to publish your travel stories? Download my free guide in which I share with you the 10 steps to take now to get your work out into the world.

For more BTS of this podcast follow @travelmedialab

Need support and accountability? Join our Facebook group!

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Travel Media Lab with Yulia Denisyuk is a podcast about people and places that make our world a fascinating place to be. Each week, we bring you stories from places near and far and sit down with the world’s most exciting travelers, journalists, creators, and people working in the travel space. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer working with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about Travel Media Lab at travelmedialab.co.

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Visit Jordan

This episode and the rest of this season are brought to you by Visit Jordan. Jordan is a beautiful country in the Middle East that has something for everyone: in a relatively small area, it packs diverse landscapes like the Mediterranean forests of Ajloun, deep canyons in Wadi Dana, the Mars-like desert of Wadi Rum, and the Dead Sea, the lowest point on earth. Let Jordan be your host for your Middle Eastern adventures. Go to Visit Jordan to learn more.

Visit Jordan