Last week, Condé Nast Traveler's Women Who Travel Power List won Gold at the SATW's annual awards.
Congrats to editors Lale Arikoglu and Megan Spurelly, who put this list together every year!
For 2026, I contributed a profile of Muna Haddad, founder of Baraka Destinations in Jordan, who became a dear friend.
Baraka is an uncommon organization in the tourism space.
Working with local micro-entrepreneurs, it creates experiences in Jordan’s secondary, forgotten locations, like Umm Qais or Pella in the country's north, that center their narratives.
The goal is to give power and dignity back to where they belong: with local communities.
Booking a walk, a stay, or an experience with Baraka is one of the best ways I know to understand this region more deeply.
With Muna, you'll get exposed not to the Western ideas and narratives, but to the lived-in reality, told directly by its people.
At a time when destruction of life in Palestine continues despite the worldwide activism and protests, I feel ever more committed to telling stories that flip the mainstream, accepted narratives on their head.
This win is a small but much-needed nod to keep going in that direction. Congratulations, Muna!
xx Yulia
P.S. Muna and her team have recently launched Amman Walking Tour, a 4-hour experience built on 8 months of research and over 20 interviews with Former Jordanian Prime Ministers, anthropologists, and third-generation coffee roasters, all to peel back the layers of Amman most travelers never see.
Muna appears on our Going Places podcast for one of the most poignant conversations I've ever had with a guest.
🏠 Inside Going Places
Chile deep dive
In Part 5 of our Chile Deep Dive series, we explored the flavors of Atacama with the Indigenous entrepreneur Sandra López.
This week, you'll hear from the people who made it their life's work to listen to the desert.
Yulia Denisyuk
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🌍 In The World
Tourism for peace
Much has been said this month about October 7, but it's important to remember: this didn’t start on October 7.
Just look at these archival NYT headlines from the 1930s and 40s.
You can see for yourself with this NYT archival time machine tool.
I spoke about the importance of traveling with context in the past, and who benefits when we don't.
Tourism is not removed from the world's challenges; in fact, it is often the vehicle that fuels them.
We owe it to the world to move through it with awareness.
A few years ago in Cairo, I met a traveler, author, entrepreneur, and a Palestinian man who dedicated his life to building peace in his region.
I was immediately drawn to Aziz Abu Sarah, his story of losing his brother to the Israeli soldiers, and his belief that, despite all wrongs, a new vision for this land is possible, rooted in justice, peace, and reconciliation.
On our podcast, Aziz recited these powerful lines from a poem by Palestinian poet Samih al-Qasim, The Traveling Tickets.
I later spoke these lines on stage at Wanderful’s 2025 WITS Summit in New York, wearing a GAZA shirt to discuss what responsibility creators and storytellers have in this moment.
And now, we're coming full circle:
This November, our Founding Member RISE Travel Institute is creating a space for Aziz and his Israeli partner, Maoz Inon.
We'll ask:
In a time of intersecting global crises, how can the travel and tourism sector come together in a visible, values-driven way?
Join us on Thursday, November 19 for a conversation that you won’t want to miss.
This event is led by RISE and a global coalition of more than 20 leading travel organizations, academic institutions, and media partners, including Going Places.
And I couldn't be more proud to support it.
The Traveling Tickets by Samih al-Qasim
When my killer rifles through my pockets,
He will find three travel tickets.
One to peace,
One to the field in rain,
And one to the conscience of humankind.
And I beg you, my killer, do not waste these things,
Do not ignore these tickets,
Please, I beg you, my killer,
Take these tickets and travel.
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 Muscat, Oman.
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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.
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Radostina Boseva is a film wedding photographer with an editorial flair based between SF and Europe.
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