A big welcome to everyone who's joined us from this Instagram post over the weekend. I hope you'll enjoy being part of our community!
If you're new here, you might not know that we have a podcast. In it, we share voices pushing the travel industry forward to a more empathetic and equitable place.
Last season, I interviewed Sibu Szymanowska and Hira Aftab, the co-founders of Hybrid Tours.
Sibu is a human rights advocate, entrepreneur, and global citizen with two decades of working and living across four continents.
Hira is a humanitarian expert who has worked in the British Red Cross, the E.U., and the U.N. She also co-founded Our World Too, an organization dedicated to re-humanizing the narrative surrounding refugees and displaced communities worldwide.
Within the massive travel industry (which generates $2.9 trillion in the U.S. alone), Hybrid Tours is an uncommon operator that uses travel as a tool for justice, empathy, and breaking stereotypes.
The goal?
To disrupt business as usual by running trips that amplify local and displaced communities, decolonize the history we think we know, and show travelers the best sights countries offer.
🎙️ Check out our interview here:
Yulia Denisyuk
Hira and Sibu are running a trip to South Korea this November.
On this trip, you'll learn firsthand about the rise of K-Pop and understand South Korea's incredible transformation and modernization over the last few decades.
But here is what makes it a Hybrid tour. Hira and Sibu will also:
- Cover North Korea's origins through experiences like visiting a village built by North Korean refugees [not a refugee camp]
- Share how the U.S. intervention helped create North Korea, a topic many travel companies from the Global North avoid
Use code GOINGPLACES when you book.
xx Yulia
🏠 Inside Going Places
Chile deep dive
ICYMI: Our new series, Going Places Deep Dive, is underway!
This series goes deeper into select places around the globe via stories of people who live and work there, spotlighting local communities and how tourism fits into a bigger picture.
Part 2 takes us to Atacama, the world's driest non-polar desert. 🇨🇱 Part 3 is out this Wednesday!
Yulia Denisyuk
Community call this week
For our paid members, we started a new perk this year: quarterly community calls where we gather to get to know each other and build our connections.
Our next call is this Friday, Sep 18, at 12 pm EST.
If you've been thinking about joining our membership, now is a great time to do it: join us here to get access to our community call on Friday, our Member Lounge where you can meet other members and even link up for a project, and full access to our weekly opportunities round-up – all while supporting our indie media project.
Let's talk
This Fall, I'm conducting a series of listening calls to learn how we can be more useful to our audience.
I want to know more about you, how you came across Going Places, and what we can do to deliver more value to you as we continue building our platform.
Interested? Book a 30-min call with me here.
🚀 Paid Members Corner
This week's creator opportunities
For less than a cup of ☕, you can unlock your access here PLUS support our editorial coverage.
🚀 Thailand wants to pay for your UGC content – apply by Thu, Sep 24
🚀 Get $20,000 to write in Berlin – apply by Fri, Sep 25
🚀 $3,000 for a print story at AFAR – pitch by Wed, Sep 30
🚀 This editor is seeking pitches on Malta and Indonesia – pitch by Sat, Oct 31
🚀 A press trip to Sardinia this October – no deadline
🚀 A press trip to Fort Lauderdale this October – no deadline
🚀 Restore in the Riviera Maya this December – no deadline
🚀 Nat Geo Traveller photo editor is seeking photos from Sri Lanka – no deadline
🚀🔓BONUS: Win €10,000 for your photography – apply by Thu, Sep 24
🚀🔓BONUS: Robb Report is hiring a social media editor – no deadline
Find all the latest opportunities here.
🔓 Bonus opportunities are unlocked for our free subscribers.
Member news
Updates from our paid member community
Thanks to our newsletter, our paid member Jessica Aftimus Rosa became a Journalist-In-Residence at a fellowship in Toronto, with a 3,500 CAD (~$2,500) honorarium 🎉🎉🎉
Jess had this to share with us:
"Back in July, you shared as one of the Creator Opportunities in the weekly dispatch that INKspire, a Toronto organization supporting early-career writers, was seeking applications for two writers in residence. I applied and was named the Journalism Writer in Residence for 2026/27!
The program launches September 12; I'll be running a five-part workshop series over the next few months and mentoring the class of 30+ fellows, alongside the Creative Writing WIR.
I wouldn't have come across this opportunity without Going Places!"
Congratulations, Jess!
Connect with Jess on Instagram: @hey_jeska
🌍 In The World
On the road again
I'm packing bags this week for my upcoming three-country trip.
The first two engagements will be in a journalistic capacity as I head to a conference in France, followed by another in Croatia.
At my last stop in Greece, I look forward to writing a lot to make headway on my book proposal. (I wrote an entire chapter on Jordan in Jordan last year, and it was glorious.)
Last week, I shared three writing tips I gathered over a decade-plus in this career.
(Missed it? See it here.)
I have a lot more to say on writing well, writing regularly, and writing prolifically.
For me, writing is part art, part discipline.
Sometimes, inspiration strikes: more than once, I've woken up in the middle of the night writing down sentences and entire drafts in a process I can only describe as a download.
But more often, I have also stared at the blank page (especially when the deadline loomed). In moments like this, discipline helped me get the words on paper.
I cannot wait to share all that I've learned about the art, the discipline, and the evolution of writing with our students in Athens this November.
(Using AI in writing is now part of the conversation, and we'll discuss its implications in Athens, too.)
Spots are already filling up, so if you're interested, don't wait.
The last day to book your spot with a deposit is Friday, Oct 9.
You can use it however you'd like: to review your portfolio, get feedback on your work, receive advice on a particular project, or even compare notes on our creative endeavors. This private one-hour call will be scheduled at a time of your choosing.
➡️ The code to get this perk is inside your paid-member newsletter.
Guess This Place
Let's play a game 🗺️
Your task is to name this place.
Today's place is:
Know this place? You can check your answer on our site here.
Last week's answer was Rabat, Morocco.
100% human-made | Become a member to support our work here
RISE Travel Institute is our Founding Member
RISE is a nonprofit with a mission to create a more just and equitable world through travel education.
➡️ This November, RISE is running the Experiential Journey to the Indian Himalayas. Their RISE Traveler Pathway is a new self-paced program for travelers, digital nomads, content creators, and tourism practitioners centered on justice and systems thinking. Use code GoingPlacesCommunity for 10% off!
Interested in your organization becoming a Founding Member? Get in touch here.
Radostina Boseva is our Founding Member
Radostina Boseva is a film wedding photographer with an editorial flair based between SF and Europe.
To get a shout-out like this in every issue, join us as an individual Founding Member here.
We pay $1,008 a year to host Going Places online. Help us offset this cost with a one-time tip 🙏
Did you know? You can now learn with Yulia
Check out our current offerings (classes, private sessions, and mentorships) here.
Member discussion