Aisana Ashim is a Kazakh journalist and civil movement activist. She is the founder and head of the independent media agency The Village Kazakhstan, and the co-founder of Masa Media, a political education project. In 2021, Aisana launched Batyr Jamal, an independent media platform aimed at empowering women and girls in Kazakhstan, with educational resources focused on their rights, safety, and self-worth. Get ready to learn more about Kazakhstan and Almaty, the city I was born in, through one...

Evita Turquoise Robinson is an Emmy award-winning storyteller who tells and amplifies stories about the BIPOC communities worldwide. She's also the founder of NOMADNESS Travel Tribe — a community of 40,000 Black and brown travelers worldwide with its own festival, the Nomadness Fest. Laugh, cry, and tune in with us as we unpack what it means to create in this time of poly crisis on Earth. Evita has spoken from multiple stages, including TEDx, and she uses the stages she’s built to amplify...

Today, stories matter more than ever. This season on Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk, we travel across the world to bring you imaginative stories about the people we meet: from the journalist fighting for women's rights in Kazakhstan to the man who believes borders are but a fiction and the Finnish keeper of ancient sauna traditions. Get to know incredible places and the people that call them home–and get closer to understanding all the wonderful, awe-inspiring parts of humanity. Get more...

Today, we travel to the heart of Wadi Rum Desert in Southern Jordan with Ahmad Mara'yeh, a Bedouin man and co-founder of Rum Planet Camp. 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...

Today, we're speaking with Lindsay Gary, a Houston-based professor-scholar, multi-disciplinary artivist, and social entrepreneur on a mission to educate, connect, and empower the African diaspora in the US. 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, ...

In today's episode, I speak to Khadija Farah, a travel and documentary photographer based in Nairobi, Kenya. Khadija’s work appears in the New York Times, the Washington Post, The Guardian and more. 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...

Growing up in Mumbai with her extended family, Vibha Chokhani was destined to live a traditional lifestyle. Women in her life were married young and spent their days as homemakers, yet this path never felt right to her.  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...

Today on the show, we're exploring the idea of rest (including cognitive rest), how the US culture sees it differently from Europeans, and what the relationship is between rest and creativity. And stick around in the end for a special announcement.  Featured on the show:Read the CNBC report on US attitudes toward vacationRead the Financial Times article, Europeans have more time, Americans more money. Which is better?Check out the 2023 World Happiness RankingsRead this article on the history...

Aziz Abu Sarah is a peace builder, cultural educator, entrepreneur, author and international speaker. He’s also a Palestinian man who lost his brother to the Israeli soldiers and who is currently working with his Israeli partner, Maoz Inon, to imagine a new vision for both Palestinians and Israelis.  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...

Beth Santos is a passionate entrepreneur and community builder who many women in the travel industry will recognize as the CEO and founder of Wanderful, an international collective of travelers and travel content creators on a mission to make travel better for all women. 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 ,...

Villain hitters. Fortune tellers. Bamboo cage makers. Meet the people keeping Hong Kong's traditions alive. 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...

Today on the show, I’m sharing with you an episode that first came out last September, in which the table is turned on me and I am, for once, in the guest seat, as my friend and podcast producer Noelia Sanchez interviews me about Jordan, one of my favorite places on Earth. What you’ll learn in this episode: The origin story of my relationship with Jordan Yulia's favorite places in JordanWhat people get wrong about Jordan and the Middle EastWhat first time travelers to Jordan should see and...

Today on the show: Part 2 of our conversation with Nada Raphael, a journalist, storyteller, and traveler based in Beirut, who, together with her partner Joelle Sfeir has co-founded Tourleb, a socially responsible tour operator that aims to promote local, women-owned and family operated businesses while changing the narrative about Lebanon.   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 resilienceHow Beirut...

Nada Raphael is a Lebanese journalist, storyteller, and traveler, who, together with her partner Joelle Sfeir has co-founded Tourleb, a socially responsible tour operator that aims to promote local, women-owned and family operated businesses while changing the narrative about Lebanon.  Get ready to travel to Lebanon with Nada and me and dismantle some myths about it while we’re at it.  This is Part 1 of our two-part episode and next week, we’ll share Part 2 of our Lebanon conversation with...

Imani Bashir is a world-traveling storyteller, mother, and advocate who's lived in five countries across four continents, including Egypt, Poland, and Malaysia. Her work focuses on culturally immersive social media content highlighting various atrocities and initiatives to support marginalized communities worldwide. Get ready to be immersed in this important topic: how do we travel in a way that is generative (to use the term on everyone’s minds right now), and not destructive? Imani has...

Today, I’m sharing a story I wrote for Conde Nast Traveler called In Jordan, a Community Disrupted Awaits Travel’s Return. I traveled to Jordan this February amid the ongoing war on Gaza by the Israeli government. This story was the outcome of this trip.  Featured on the show:Read Yulia's CN Traveler story, In Jordan, a Community Disrupted Awaits Travel’s ReturnListen to Episode 113, Palestine, Orientalism, and Solidary Movements with Matt Bowles on Apple Podcasts or SpotifySubscribe to...

If I could summarize this conversation with one phrase, it would be something Shannon said: “When people meet each other they find out that the other is not so other.” 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...

Welcome back to Going Places! 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...

Welcome back to Going Places! We’re speaking to Jen Ruiz, a lawyer turned full-time travel writer, blogger, and content creator. Jen is a 5-time Amazon bestselling author, 3x TEDx speaker, and 4-time award-winning journalist. She is also the solo female traveler behind Jen on a Jet Plane, with an audience of over 350,000 social media followers. 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...

Welcome back to Season 10 of Going Places, everyone! 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...

Welcome back to Going Places, everyone! This season on the show, we learned about Bedouin hospitality, heard from Ammani artists on Gaza, traveled to Italy in search of the world’s rarest silk, and more. 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...

Welcome back to Going Places! Today, we have a conversation with Amelia Bilbeisi, co-founder of Maida Olive Oil, known as Onsuri Olive Oil in North America. Amelia produces one of the world's most premium olive oils on a farm deep inside a Jordanian desert. Tasting this olive oil, designated ultra premium quality, a coveted grade only 5 percent of the world's olive oil producers meet, has opened my eyes and my palette to what quality olive oil should taste like.  Olive oil is central to...

Join us in this episode in conversation with Chicago-based travel 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. In this episode, Karthika and I cover great distances. We travel to the flower markets of Mumbai,  the...

Welcome back to Going Places! Today, I'm thrilled to reconnect with Nikki Vargas, a senior editor at Fodor's Travel and the founder of Unearthed Women joins me to discuss her latest book, "Call You When I Land." In this travel memoir, Nikki shares her profound experiences navigating cultures, finding love, and discovering herself along the way.  Throughout our conversation, Nikki sheds light on the transformative power of travel and its ability to shape our journeys and our careers. We...