Stories of people and places near and far 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. Each week, we sit down with travelers, journalists, creators, and people living and working in destinations around the world. Guided by Yulia’s years of working in the travel media industry, we meet the people living in the Middle Eastern deserts, culture writers in Hong Kong, street artists in Chicago, and more.
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The Power of Asking "Why Not?" with Lola Akinmade Åkerström (Re-Release)
Season 11 · Episode 137
Wednesday, February 19, 2025 • Duration 47:16
Note to listeners: we're currently on hiatus, returning with new episodes in April 2025. Until then, we're sharing some of our favorite episodes from the archive each week.
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
The Privilege of Travel with Journalist Emy Rodriguez (Re-Release)
Season 11 · Episode 136
Wednesday, February 12, 2025 • Duration 48:58
Note to listeners: we're currently on hiatus, returning with new episodes in April 2025. Until then, we're sharing some of our favorite episodes from the archive each week.
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
Seeing Jordan for the First Time with Travel Advisor Vanessa Abbe
Season 11 · Episode 135
Wednesday, February 5, 2025 • Duration 41:04
Today, we're speaking with Vanessa Abbe, a travel advisor who joined me on my trip to Jordan last October. In this conversation, which we had live on Instagram recently, I wanted to hear her take on what it’s like traveling in the country right now.
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
Join our Going Places newsletter to get updates on new episodes and Yulia's travel storytelling work. Subscribe at goingplacesmedia.com/newsletter!
For more BTS of this podcast follow @goingplacesmedia on Instagram and check out !
Five Places You Shouldn’t Miss in Jordan (Plus: Is It Safe to Go Now?)
Season 11 · Episode 134
Wednesday, January 29, 2025 • Duration 41:56
Today’s episode is a field guide for traveling to Jordan in 2025. We’ll answer urgent questions about travel safety in Jordan, look at some of the most incredible places in Jordan you shouldn’t miss, and hear from our past travelers who went to Jordan with me last fall.
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
Learn more about our upcoming trip to Jordan in May
Enemy of the Sun: Disrupting Colonial Narratives with Artist Dana Barqawi
Season 11 · Episode 133
Wednesday, January 22, 2025 • Duration 21:00
Today, we're meeting Dana Barqawi, a multidisciplinary artist and urban planner based in Amman, Jordan. Dana’s multimedia work challenges colonial narratives and explores Indigenous identities and aspects of womanhood and community.
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
Join our Going Places newsletter to get updates on new episodes and Yulia's travel storytelling work. Subscribe at goingplacesmedia.com/newsletter!
A Hidden Cave of Treasures with Calligraphy Artist Hussein Alazaat
Season 11 · Episode 132
Wednesday, January 15, 2025 • Duration 38:08
Today, I’m sharing with you a conversation that is going to be quite different from anything we’ve done on the show to date. We’re going to do a studio visit to meet a dear friend, a renowned calligrapher, artist, and designer Hussein Alazaat who lives and works in Amman, Jordan.
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
Join our Going Places newsletter to get updates on new episodes and Yulia's travel storytelling work. Subscribe at !
The Exciting Work of Imagining a New World with Justine Abigail Yu: Pt 2
Season 11 · Episode 131
Wednesday, January 8, 2025 • Duration 36:09
Today, we’re continuing part two of our conversation with Justine Abigail Yu, a Filipina-Canadian storyteller, community builder, and activist. Justine is 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 has roots elsewhere.
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
Living In Between Cultures with Changemaker Justine Abigail Yu: Part 1
Season 11 · Episode 130
Wednesday, January 1, 2025 • Duration 42:20
Welcome back to the show and welcome to 2025! Thank you for being with us all throughout this season.
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
Custodians of Wonder with BBC Travel's Eliot Stein (Re-Release)
Season 11 · Episode 129
Wednesday, December 25, 2024 • Duration 01:03:26
Today, we’re talking with Eliot Stein, a journalist, writer, book author, and deputy editor at BBC Travel. Eliot and I first got to know each other through our shared passion for stories that reveal something about a place through the lens of tradition and unique cultural practices.
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
12 Things You Didn’t Know about Nordic Christmas (Plus, Meet Yulia’s AI Clone)
Season 11 · Episode 128
Wednesday, December 18, 2024 • Duration 21:23
Today on the show, we’re traveling to Scandinavia because it's almost Christmas time.
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
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
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.
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
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.
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.
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....
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.
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