S8 E82: Where I'm going in 2023 [Qatar, Sierra Leone, and more]

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[INTRODUCTION]

[00:00:10] YD: Welcome everyone to the Travel Media Lab Podcast. I am your host. My name is Yulia Denisyuk. I’m a travel photographer, writer, storyteller, community builder, podcaster, entrepreneur, and I work with various publications and tourism boards in my career. Right now, telling stories about different places around the world and some of the publications that I work with were National Geographic, New York Times, Condé Nast Traveler, AFAR, and others. I am just super grateful that this is my career, that I’ve built for myself, and that, this is what I do. Traveling to places and discovering, learning about these places and their cultures, and their people, and their foods, is one of my passions. I’m really grateful that this is what I get to do in my life.

That wasn't always the case. I used to be a brand manager working for a big corporation or several corporations and I really didn't love my job at all. I was pretty miserable in that job. So now, I am just very grateful that the work that I do now is this because I just absolutely love it. And Travel Media Lab is the platform that I built, started building during COVID, during the first year of the pandemic. This platform is all about helping people break into the industry, the travel media industry, and sharing insights, sharing conversations, stories, and things like that.

[00:01:44] YD: So welcome, again. Super excited to have you all here today. This is the very first podcast episode of season eight. We are in season eight already with our podcasts, which is kind of crazy. And today, in this episode, I want to take a moment to share with you some of my plans for 2023. Some of the things that I thought about when I started thinking about what 2023 could look like for me, and then hopefully encourage you to think in similar ways about your 2023 and what that could mean for you as well, and hopefully even have a discussion.

So, where I want to start today's discussion is I want to talk about a word for the year. So, you've probably know – I'm sure you know this practice by now it's very popular on Instagram and other places too, choosing a word for yourself that would guide your intentions, your actions, and everything for the year. And when I started thinking about 2023 and started thinking about what happened in 2022. I decided that my word for 2023 is going to be effortlessness. Effortlessness. It's a bit clunky word. But it's this idea of doing things effortlessly, doing things without that sort of pushing hard and striving hard for things. I want things instead to come to me and I want things to be effortless.

That really comes from the fact that I suppose wrapping up 2022, and looking at all the things that I've accomplished, and taking stock of all the things that I did last year. I realized that, and even years before that. I realized that a lot of what I do is work so hard and hustle so hard, and always push. As I grow older, I really want to get away from that mentality of pushing for things hard, and really just instead of inviting things into my life, and really having a bit more spaciousness in my life. I'm not only talking about my work here right now, even though it's a big part of it. But in all areas of my life, be it relationships, be it opportunities, anything that I want to pursue, I'm really focused this year on inviting that effortlessness and spaciousness, right?

So, instead of me chasing somebody, for example, and really going hard after opportunities, I really want those opportunities to come to me, and I really want the right people to enter my life, and for us to effortlessly create things together. Again, whether it's our partnerships, opportunities for work, whether it's relationships, friends, loved ones, just kind of this idea of doing things a little bit more effortlessly, because I am really tired from last year of, again, hustling so much and pushing so hard for everything.

[00:04:57] YD: This is my word for this year. It's effortlessness. Hopefully, by the end of the year, I will report back to you and let you know how it goes and how it helps me sort of create some of these effortless opportunities. That's my word for the year. And I would really love to hear if you have one. So, if you have selected a word for the year for yourself, please let me know. You can drop it in the comments here on Instagram if that's where you're listening to me. Or if you're watching this on YouTube, you can also comment and let me know what your word of the year is, or if you're planning to get one.

My plans for this year, for 2023, are kind of big. Some of you might know that I've recently got a visa to go and live in Barcelona for a year, which I'm super excited about. So, one of the big parts of what's going to happen for me this year is that I'm moving to Barcelona. I got my visa, and now I have some certain time period to answer and apply for my residency permit. So that's one big change, or one big project that's going to be happening this year is me moving to Barcelona.

Another big focus for me this year is that I want to start or continue doing more in-person events and workshops. I started doing some of them last year. During COVID, of course, everything was virtual. A lot of the things that I was doing inside Travel Media Lab, we're virtual. And then last year, we were very fortunate to be able to do some in-person events, like we had a Trouble Media bootcamp in Texas last year. I also had done several workshops in different conferences around the world. So, I'm excited to be doing that, again, this year.

In particular, if you are part of Wanderful Community. Wanderful is this global network for travelers, for content creators, for bloggers in the travel industry. If you're part of their network, you will see that this year at a conference in Puerto Rico, I am there again. And I will be leading a full-day workshop in Puerto Rico this May and have a chance to come and join me there at that conference. I will be sort of sharing more details about this event in the upcoming weeks. But in a nutshell, you can come to Puerto Rico, to San Juan, this May from 18th to 21st of May. And just before the conference starts, I will be doing a full-day workshop, which is sensitively called, Day in the Life of a Travel Journalist. So, I will be taking you behind the scenes from idea generation, to pitching, to working with a tourism board, to being in the field. So, interviewing and how all of that comes together. That's a full-day workshop.

As part of this event, you also get access to the conference itself, where you network with tourism boards and network with other creators in the industry. So, it's going to be a pretty awesome event, I think. I will have more details soon. So, stay tuned for that. If that's something you're interested in, then definitely stay tuned. Vicky is asking if I can repeat the conference name. Sure. It's called WITS. W-I-T-S. The website is witsummit.com. It's a conference that's organized by this community called the Wanderful Community. Yeah, this year, it's in Puerto Rico and I hope you can join us.

[00:08:43] YD: We're also going to be doing a giveaway for one person to get a free ticket to WITS, meaning that your overall registration is going to be much lower cost if you win that WITS registration ticket giveaway. So, stay tuned. I don't have all the details right now. But just to let you know that this year, I want to be doing more in-person events, more workshops, and that's the first of them. I'm also planning something in Georgia, the country, not the state. That should be exciting. But more on that as the year unfolds.

Like I said, Barcelona is one big part of the year. Big project for the year is moving to Barcelona. The second big sort of focus for the year is doing more in-person events and workshops like the one in Puerto Rico this May. The third focus that I have for the year is really going to more places that align with my personal vision, my personal mission, even of being in the travel industry, which is that I want to do even more stories that I have been doing that are about places that are misunderstood in the media, or that are perhaps not getting as much attention from the mainstream media as they deserve. Some of you know that for some time, I've been running these group trips to Jordan, to the country of Jordan, which I absolutely love. The reason why I was doing that is the same mission that I'm driven by, which is that I wanted people to experience some of these places, and really see that they're not as scary as we sometimes think they are when we see headlines in the media.

Yeah, so that's the third focus for the year is to be going to places where I can tell some of the stories that are really not being told in the media today. More on that in a second. The last really big part of the focus for the year for me is that I want to be much more thoughtful with where my time, my energy, my attention, and my resources go this year. I really want to be thoughtful with where I show up, how I show up, who do I choose to show up with, right? What kind of projects I want to do. And if you've known me, and if you've sort of followed my journey, you know that I'm already doing a lot of that, right? I'm pretty thoughtful with what I want to accomplish in life and with my career. But this year, it becomes even more important. Here's why.

Again, some of you might know that last year, I had a very difficult year, especially the second part of the year was really difficult for me. I had a lot of travels crazy, crazy travels. I was going all over the place. I felt pretty lonely in those travels, because it was mostly me traveling by myself. Then I had a family reunion in Kazakhstan with some family members that I haven't seen for a very long time. And right after that reunion, my uncle, my mom's brother had passed away unexpectedly, and he's younger than my mom. So, it was a very difficult time and a huge shock for all of us, because we had just seen him in Kazakhstan.

When I returned back stateside in November and was kind of slowing down for the year and thinking about the year, I just really felt this notion that time is so freaking fast. It goes so freaking fast. We just never know what's going to happen and how people we love, we know, how long they stay in our life, or how fast they can exit or how quick they can exit our life. So, that really made me think a lot about this next year, 2023, and how I want to show up and again, who I want to show up with. It extends to everything, right? Because our time is finite. We only have 24 hours in the day. All of us. Although, Beyoncé has more than 24. But most of us we have 24 hours in the day. So, it's all about your choice. What do you want to focus on? Where do you want to put your attention? What is important to you? Is it your career? Is it your health? Is it your relationships? Is it finding your person, which is by the way, putting it out there, right? Some of you also know that that's my goal for this year, is to meet a partner. It's a very important goal for me.

So, you only have such a limited amount of time to devote to all of these things. Where do you want to place your attention? You need to be cognizant of that and you need to really think about that. Otherwise, it's going to be scattered all over and you're not really going to make progress on a lot of these things. So again, this is kind of how my year looks like in 2023. Moving to Barcelona, a big project, doing more in-person events and workshops, going to places that really align with my mission, and then also being more thoughtful with where my time and my energy and my resources go. All of that is under the umbrella of effortlessness. That word for the year, effortlessness. Spaciousness, right? Inviting opportunities in, inviting people in, not chasing, not pushing through, not pushing hard for things.

Again, this has been my pattern for so many years, just pushing hard, pushing through. Now, I want I want things to be effortless. I'm ready for that. So that's my word. And I invite you to co-op that word as well. Vicky says, “Me too.” Definitely take that if you want Vicky, or find your own word that kind of evokes that emotion from you, right? Yeah, I think it's important, and that's how you set that intention and that focus for yourself. That's my word, effortless.

Damian says, “This is a beautiful and deep conversation. You should start a YouTube channel.” Hi, thank you, Damian. I actually have a YouTube channel. Believe it or not. It's tiny. It's very tiny, but I do have one. So, thank you. Thank you for that. Maybe, I think, what I need to do is also do more live conversations like this, because a lot of the conversations that I'm having for the podcasts, for example, they're sort of like – they're recorded. So, I'm not doing them live. But it's awesome. I love this, actually. So, I'll take your invitation, Damian, and I'll do more live stuff, live streaming and live showing up here on IG. That's awesome.

[00:15:30] YD: All right. So, I told you a little bit about what my sort of big picture plan for the year looks like or what are some of the things that I'm thinking about for this year. Now, I want to tell you how my year actually looks like, in terms of where I'm going this year, because the title of this podcast episode is where I'm going in 2023. So now, let me tell you, that's exciting the part. So, as I'm recording this podcast episode, today, here, the end of January, in 2023, I'm actually going on my first trip of the year, tomorrow. I need to pack my suitcase is right here and there's still a lot of things that I need to do today. But I'm going on my first big trip of the year, tomorrow. I'm going to Doha in Qatar, and I'm going to be there for five days. I'm super excited to be there. This will be my second time in Doha. I've been there before. But under completely different circumstances. I was there at a military base more than 15 or 20 years ago, when I was in the military. So, it's going to be a very different situation now. I'm getting some reports that Doha is incredibly empty now after the World Cup is gone. So, we shall see. I'm super excited to go to Doha and see what happens there.

After I return from Doha, Qatar, it's going to be a trip that I'm extremely, extremely excited about. I'm going to Sierra Leone. Sierra Leone is a country in West Africa. It's a country that has been through a lot, especially in the recent years, it has been through so much. But right now, Sierra Leone is doing an effort or working on an effort to develop tourism in the country and start having people come to the country and contribute to the economy, because the country has so much to offer, actually, in terms of tourism, right? It has multiple different biodiversity regions. It has amazing beaches. It has amazing food and culture and all that. But of course, also, it is an extremely, extremely, extremely poor country. It has very few resources. It has been through a civil war. It has been through a lot, and a lot of people don't really know that much about Sierra Leone. So, I'm very excited that I'm part of that trip, and that I will be one of the first people to go and see that development effort of developing the tourism efforts in the country, and I'm just so, so excited to be part of that.

That goes back to what I was talking about earlier, which is that I want to do more trips and more stories this year that are aligned with my vision, or my mission, my personal mission, to tell stories about places that either don't have that much coverage in the mainstream media or that are misunderstood or misrepresented in the mainstream media. So, I'm super, super excited about that trip, and that's going to be in February.

As soon as I return from Sierra Leone, literally like the same day that I return from Sierra Leone, I am actually going on a trip to the Canadian Arctic Circle. So, it's going to be a pretty crazy transition coming from West Africa's coast where it's going to be nice and warm, and immediately going into the polar vortex kind of situation. I'm traveling through the Canadian Arctic Circle, and I'm going to this little tiny town called Churchill, Canada, population 599. Which is pretty amazing. And I'm going to be there to do a story on documenting the northern lights because you can see Northern Lights there. I think it's something over 300 nights a year is when you can see Northern Lights in Churchill. So, it's pretty incredible. I'm also going to be reporting on sustainable tourism operations and initiatives there in Churchill, because like everywhere else, Churchill is being affected by global warming, by the changing climates, and it's a pretty precarious situation for that small town that depends on tourism so much. So, I will be there to see what the community is doing and what some tour operators and companies are doing to make the situation better for everyone involved.

Then, after I come back from that trip, I will have a little bit of a break here in Chicago, before I head out to Barcelona by April, to get my permits for my visa that I just recently got. While I'm there in Barcelona, I will also do an assignment in Turkey, in April. An assignment that I've sort of dreamed up in my head myself, which was that I wanted to hike the Lycian Way, in Turkey, which is a trail that goes along Turkey's southern coast through an ancient kingdom of Lycia. Some of you might have heard it or might be familiar with it. So, that's an assignment that I'm currently putting all the pieces in place there for that one.

[00:21:03] YD: Then, in May, I'm still in Barcelona and waiting for my residency permit. So, arrive in May. I come back to my beloved Jordan, which I'm super, super excited about as well for an assignment about a Farm to Fork initiative in Jordan. So, Jordan has incredible food. If you've spent any time with me, you know how much I love Jordan, and how much I love and appreciate the food and the culture and everything there. But not that many people know about the actual food community in Jordan, and all the entrepreneurs and chefs and restaurateurs, and people in the industry there who are really working hard of elevating food tourism in Jordan, right?

People come to Jordan for adventure, mostly. Petra, and hiking and all that stuff. But the culture of food is just incredible. So, we need to elevate that awareness, raise awareness of that outside of Jordan. That's why I'm going to be there in May. And then also in May, I'm back to this side of the world for a conference that I just mentioned earlier, in Puerto Rico. I'm going to be doing that full-day event, where I'll be taking everyone behind the scenes of being a travel journalist and what does that take, what does that look like, working with tourism boards, working with magazines, from A to Z. That event is going to be in Puerto Rico, May 18th through 21st. Again, stay tuned. I love to welcome everyone there. It's going to be an awesome event. 

Then, I'm back to Chicago for a little bit, a short break here in Chicago. And then in June, it’s time to go back to Barcelona to start looking for an apartment, settling in and maybe, maybe slowing down a little bit for the summer. That's the plan so far. So, as you notice, this plan has only taken us through the first part of the year. But it's going to be a pretty hectic first part of the year with a lot of travel plans and a lot of moving parts.

I don't have anything planned for the second part of the year right now, besides going to Marrakech in November to celebrate my 40th birthday. So that will be amazing. But besides that, I don't have anything planned. But you can see I'm going to be super busy the first part of the year. So, I'm looking forward to all of that.

That's where I'm going in 2023, or rather in the first part of 2023. We'll see what the rest of the year will bring as we go through this sort of initial plan. We'll see what happens next. And again, it's all being guided by that idea of effortlessness and bringing opportunities to me and not chasing things too much, but really just having that spaciousness to have opportunities come my way instead.

[00:24:03] YD: Now, I want to turn it to you guys, because this is a live recording, right? So, I want to turn it to you. And I want to ask you, what about you? Where are you going in 2023? Drop your comments. I will shout them out. Because I want to know where you're headed this year. And also, what intentions are you setting for yourself? What is your word for 2023? What do you want to invite more into your life? Just send me a quick comment there. It doesn't have to be anything big or elaborate. But I'd love to hear where you're going this year? What is your word for the year? And what are some of the intentions you're inviting into your year in 2023?

As you do that, I just want to mention that if you're watching this or like if you're listening to this later as a podcast, you can still do that as well. You can find me on Instagram, @insearchofperfect or @TravelMediaLab and share with me what your plans for 2023 are, where you're traveling this year and what your intentions for the year are as well. I'd love to hear from you. So, as you do that, let me just scroll through here. Check out some of the comments. Deana says, “Me too”. I think this is in terms of inviting effortlessness into your life. Amazing. Love it. Vicky is asking, “Do you plan your trips once you get there or before?”

Vicky, it's almost always before, right? Because if you're there to do a story, if you're there on assignment, you cannot just show up and have things to be aligned, right? You need to align things ahead of time. That includes interviews. That includes your itinerary. Where you're going. What you're doing. All of that needs to be planned ahead of time, for sure. So yeah, my trips are always planned before time.

Chris is saying, “Wow, I'm jealous of your Sierra Leone trip.” Yes. Thank you, Chris. I'm jealous of it myself and I'm the one going. I think it's one of those once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for sure. Damian is saying, “Thank you so much. You're amazing, Yulia.” Thank you, Damian. It's so good to see you. Alice is saying that she's going to Jordan in April, May too, to film food. Amazing. Alice, we have to talk more about this. Maybe our paths will cross there. And yes, Jordan is an incredible destination, particularly for people who appreciate food and food stories. There's a lot of those over there. So, that's really wonderful.

Vanessa is saying she's going to Portugal next week. Then Banff, Alberta, Canada in March. Mexico in April and Jordan in May. I love it Vanessa. What an awesome itinerary. That is really cool. I'm sad that we're not meeting in Jordan in May. We're going to be close, but not – yeah. I said that the days didn't work out this time. Vanessa is also saying we should celebrate our birthday together in Marrakech. Yes, totally. I love that plan.

[00:26:59] YD: Hannah, it's so good to see you my friend. It's been so long. You guys, if you don't know who Hannah is, you should follow her too. By the way her handle on Instagram @homeandawayhannah. Hannah is our honorary, honorary, honorary, triple honorary member of the Travel Media Lab community. She just has grown into the superstar who has done so many beautiful stories, and she's always so supportive of everyone. Hannah, we miss you a lot. And it's so good to see you here and she's saying, “Yulia, you're so inspiring.” Thank you. “My words for 2023 are growth and balance.” Oh, I love that. Growth and balance. Yes. So important, right? Sending you hugs and sending you best wishes for those two words, growth and balance. And she's saying, “I will be in Barcelona at the end of April.” Yay. Okay. All right. We're going out. ad we're having a catch up, for sure. That's amazing, because I will be there in end of April too. Amazing.

All right. Chris is saying, “I bought the storyteller kit a year ago, but I'm not doing it until now. I want portrait of Britain. So, I think I'm now ready to make a change.” Awesome. Congratulations, Chris. That's really cool. A year ago, you bought it, but you're doing it now. It's amazing that you started. That's the most important part. I always talk about starting and taking action is so important. So, congrats. That's really awesome. He says, “I think I'm now ready to make a change and I'm planning on doing stories in Portugal, Morocco, and TZ.” I'm not sure I know what TZ is. Maybe Tanzania, but Portugal and Morocco. That sounds amazing. Sounds really wonderful.

Vanessa saying, “My word for 2023 is confidence. I need to shake off the imposter syndrome and be proud of what I've accomplished so far.” Yes, Vanessa. Yes, absolutely. You've done so much, right? You've done so many beautiful stories already. You have to takes. You are a beautiful, beautiful creator. Yeah, I mean you have to believe in yourself. Right? We talk about this all the time. If you don't believe in your worth and your value and your voice, your beautiful voice that you have and your mandate event for telling stories, right? If you don't believe in that, well, who is going to believe in that if you don't? So, you have to be your first, first and foremost supporter, and I think it's so important, and you are amazing. I love seeing you. By the way Vanessa and I, we saw each other at IMM Travel Media Conference last week and it was just so amazing to spend time and you've got this. You've absolutely got this.

Hannah says, “I miss you.” Yes, same. I miss you so much and hopefully see you in person soon. And Chris says that, “Yes, it was Tanzania.” Okay, so Portugal, Morocco, and Tanzania. Awesome. Very cool. You guys, you have such beautiful words of the year and you have such beautiful plans. I wish you all the best in those plans and in this new year. It's going to be an exciting year for us, I hope, I really hope. Thank you for sharing. Thank you for sharing those intentions with me. That's really awesome.

[00:30:28] YD: All right. Finally, before we wrap up today, I also wanted to share ways that you can be working with me and with Travel Media Lab this year. There are kind of three main ways in which you can work with us this year. First of all, we have a program called Intro to Travel Journalism. And a big announcement there or big change for this year is that it's only going to be opening once this year, only once in May. So, if you're thinking about it, or if you've been thinking about joining the program, don't miss it. Because it's only going to be in May.

In the past, we've had enrollments twice a year. We had one in May, and we had one in November. And starting this year, it's only going to be once a year in May. So, if you're thinking about joining, don't miss it. It's not open yet for enrollment, but it will be soon because if you miss it in May, the next one is not going to be open until next year, 2024. Okay. You can find more info about that at travelmedialab.com/class. Very simple. Tavelmedialab.com/class.

Then, we have our membership, The Circle, which actually, very few people who are on this live recording were part of before, which is so amazing. So, Hannah, and Vanessa, both. Our Circle membership is an ongoing thing, so you can join that anytime. And that's a membership where I just provide so much support for people who are interested in joining this industry, in working in this industry, in pitching, in working with tourism boards, all the different aspects of the industry. You can start in The Circle for as low as $27 a month. So, $27 a month, you can start building your own foundation in this industry. And that link is travelmedialab.com/circle. Also, very simple. Travelmedialab.com/circle.

Finally, I will also continue doing individual mentorships this year, and Alice who said that she's going to be doing film stories in Jordan, she's in one right now. I saw earlier, Lisa joined us and other people too, that were in the individual mentorship. I will be doing that as well. I love doing that work too, and going deep with one person into their plans and into their stories and ideas. The next one will be opening in April. So, don't miss that as well. Again, three ways that you can work with me this year, the program, the group program will be opening in May, only once this year. So, if you miss it this year, you have to wait until 2024. The membership, The Circle is ongoing. So, you can check it out at any time. And then the individual mentorship will be opening in April. All right.

[00:33:20] YD: So that's me, and that's the plans that I have for this year. A lot of spaciousness, a lot of effortlessness, and more alignment with my mission and my vision for what I want for myself this year. Hopefully, this was helpful to you or useful to you this conversation today. Let me see. I'm just going to pause and see if we have any more comments here or questions or thoughts. Deana is saying, she wants to continue practicing self-care and self-compassion, listening to her intuition. She's in Germany now and she's excited for me to witness aurora borealis. Thank you. Thank you, Deana. That's a beautiful journey, right? The most beautiful journey of self-care and self-compassion. Yes. 100% to that. Amazing.

Very cool, you guys. Thank you, Alice. Thank you, Nikita. Nikita is saying, “Thank you for sharing, Yulia.” My pleasure. Thank you, Ali. Tatiana is here. Cherry, Mary, Vanessa, Chris, Hannah, Maxime is here. Wow. Amazing, you guys. Thank you so much for joining us today for this live recording. I think this is kind of cool. What do you think? I think I'm going to be doing this more often maybe, and do more sort of live recordings and live conversations even with our guests because I think that it’s just so cool when we get that instant feedback and instant participation and questions and all of that. That is just so awesome. So, thank you so much. That was really fun.

And I think that's it. That's it for now. Thank you so much for listening and for supporting our Travel Media Lab show, our podcasts. I will see you next week on the podcast. We'll have our first guest interview of the season that I'm super, super excited about. She's going to share her journey to publishing her book, which is amazing. She's a travel writer, and she's also a published book author. So, that will be super cool. As always, especially if you're listening this right now in your podcast app, please take a moment to leave us a rating or review on the podcast, because that's how we continue to grow and that's how we continue to be found by more people. If you want to support the show, that's how you can support us. So, please take a moment to do that, and I see here that we have a few more comments before we leave.

[00:35:46] YD: So, Hannah says, “Thank you, Yulia. Safe travels and happy storytelling.” Thank you, Hannah. Tara says, “Thank you for sharing your plans. Good luck with your adventures.” Thank you so much, Tara. And Maria says, “Yes, please.” You guys are amazing. Thank you so much for coming today for supporting this live podcast recording. And yeah, hopefully, it was interesting for you and you learned something today, maybe or maybe you would now take some time to think about your own word for the year, your own plans, your own focus and intentions for the year, and where you want to spend your time and your energy and your intentions, it is so important that we think about that, always. I wish you all the best. Safe travels and I see you soon everyone. Thank you so much. Thank you. I'll see you soon.

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