Our live masterclass, How To Work In Travel Media, kicked off on Saturday, and it reminded me once again how much I love teaching.
Thanks to all the folks who've joined us for our first session and asked brilliant questions!
If you've been on the fence about joining us, you can still get the $147 class pass in the next 48 hours and receive our first session on working with tourism boards as a recording.
Our upcoming sessions include working with travel magazines, foundations of pitching, and the economics of travel media (how much can you earn?).
The class pass also includes a portfolio review + your own publishing roadmap for entering the industry.
Join us here, and I'll see you next Saturday.
xx Yulia
Inside Going Places 🏠
The other Puerto Rican
While our podcast is on a short break this winter, we'll continue highlighting some of our favorite–and freshly relevant–episodes.
Today, a conversation with Firas Zreik, a Palestine-born, New York-based composer and player of Kanun, a traditional Arabic string instrument.
Firas collaborated with Puerto Rican artist Residente on Bajo los Escombros, a song dedicated to the children of Gaza that was part of Residente's Grammy-winning album, 'Las Letras Ya No Importan,' last year.
(Firas' mom, a renowned Palestinian singer, Amal Murkus, was the vocalist.)
"Don't despair, my people; Your voice is loud." – a line from Bajo los Escombros
(Residente and Bad Bunny recorded several tracks together, including this 2019 protest anthem. It exposed then-Governor Ricardo Rosselló, who eventually resigned.)
Take a listen to our chat with Firas Zreik here.
Yulia Denisyuk
Black History Month
ICYMI, check out this Going Places podcast playlist that spotlights the voices shaping Black life, legacy, and culture today.
On it, you'll find past guests of the Going Places podcast like the multi-award-winning creator and book author Lola Akinmade Åkerström, Emmy Award-winning storyteller Evita Robinson, entrepreneur Youmie Jean Francois, and more.
Paid Members Corner 🚀
This week's creator opportunities
🚀 Get paid to travel in Greece for 8 weeks – apply by the deadline of Sat, Feb 14
🚀 A $5,000 grant for women creators – apply by the deadline of Sat, Feb 14
🚀 Allrecipes.com is looking for Route 66 food pitches – pitch by Mon, Feb 16
🚀 A UK-based magazine is seeking Ireland experts for a special project – no deadline, but reach out soon
🚀 Much Better Adventures is seeking outdoors pitches – no deadline, but pitch soon
🚀 A hosted stay in Nova Scotia – no deadline, but apply soon
🚀 Matador Network is seeking Saudi Arabia wellness pitches – no deadline
🚀 Discover Germany is seeking Germany, Austria, and Switzerland pitches – no deadline
🚀🔓BONUS: Get paid $1,000 to speak at TravelCon – apply by the deadline of Fri, Feb 20
🚀🔓BONUS: A creator-in-residence program for book lovers – no deadline
Find all the latest opportunities here.
🔓 Bonus opportunities are unlocked for our free subscribers.
Travel With Us ✈️
🐪 Join us June 5-14, 2026, on a 10-day trip to Jordan. We'll visit the Dead Sea, Petra, Wadi Rum, Amman, and many off-beaten spots in between, taste Jordan's award-winning flavors, and meet extraordinary individuals like the renowned artist who designed the country's newest currency.
Last day to book is Fri, Apr 17, 2026.
In The World 🌍
The message we need right now
Like millions of others, I tuned into the halftime show last time–aka the Benito Bowl–not to watch the football, but to see the highly anticipated Bad Bunny performance.
(If you missed it, Enjoy Puerto Rico is sharing the full performance here.)
The show was historic: it was the first-ever performance by a Spanish-language-only artist at a time when Latin and immigrant life in the U.S. is under a brutal attack by the government.
The performance was filled with cultural and historical references that nodded to Puerto Rico's status as a U.S. colony and revealed its ongoing struggles, such as power outages, land seizure, and disenfranchisement of the island's Indigenous population.
At the same time, Bad Bunny delivered a much-needed message of hope, joy, unity, and diversity. When so many events around us are bleak, fully embracing this moment of joy, celebration, and "a big party," as he promised, is a way of resistance, too. We need joy to keep showing up.
Seeing him march with people carrying flags from across the American continent, as the banner behind the movement read "The only thing more powerful than hate is love," gave me goosebumps. "This is America. We are all America. And we're still here," Bad Bunny declared.
Now this is a place I feel like I could belong to.
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