S8 E94: Leading the Life of Travel and Storytelling (It's Possible!)

Get the show’s transcript

[INTRODUCTION]

[00:00:00] YD: Hello everyone. Welcome back. Welcome back. So good to see you. I am Yulia Denisyuk. An award-winning travel photographer, writer, community builder, podcaster, and entrepreneur. and this is Travel Media Lab. This is our platform. That I created at the beginning of the pandemic, helping other people, get into the travel media space.

[00:00:28] And today I'm going live to you from, Valencia, from a co-working space, in Valencia. And I wanna talk to you about a really interesting subject. So stay tuned, but first, a little bit about me if you're new here. again, my name is Yulia Denisyuk. I'm a travel photographer, writer, journalist. And I work with travel publications like National Geographic, like BBC Travel, Kaas Traveler, and others.

[00:00:58] And I'm traveling to all these interesting places around the world and producing stories that I'm really, really excited about. And Travel Media Lab is our platform for helping you break into the travel media space where we share lots of insights. Tips and advice, and also stories from people working in this industry.

[EPISODE]

[00:01:21] So what I want to do today is I wanna take a moment to paint a picture of a vision of what could be possible for you. In this life, if you take action on storytelling and on travel, the two great passions of yours, and why do I say that These two things are your greatest passions. Well, chances are, if you're listening today, if you're tuning in, it's because it is because you love travel and because you love.

[00:01:52] Storytelling, right? You're passionate about the world and probably passionate about, different topics that revolve around travel, whether it's sustainability, whether it's design, responsible traveling, food, culture, or any other sort of topics that intersect with the topic of travel. And chances are that if you're listening to us today, you also feel like you have a.

[00:02:19] Yearning desire to share your thoughts, to share your ideas, to share your stories with the world, right? So if that sounds good to you, if that sounds like it's you, then what I have to share with you today is definitely going to resonate. So keep listening. So last week I spent a few days in Istanbul in between my weeklong assignment, on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey, and my next trip, which is to Spain, which, which is where I'm now.

[00:02:51] And what, what brought me here? And while I was there in Istanbul for a few days, I actually met a friend, who just happened to be in Istanbul at the same time as me, who is also in the trouble media industry. And, this friend and I, we had a lovely dinner. In, Carra Coy, which is, one of the loveliest neighborhoods in Istanbul.

[00:03:12] And, this friend of mine, he's also a great storyteller and in fact, I will actually be interviewing him on the podcast soon because he has a wealth of knowledge and experience in this industry. Okay, so my friend and I, you know, we met for dinner last week in Istanbul and we. Talked about, our experiences of being in the industry.

[00:03:37] He's actually been at it, longer than me for 10 years or even 15, I think. And of course, I've been in the industry for six years, and as we're both kind of comparing our notes and talking in the middle of April, both, both of us realized that in the first three and a half or so months of this year, we both had absolutely stunning whirlwind adventures around the world already.

[00:04:07] he's been skiing in Switzerland, he's been eating his way through Istanbul. He's been exploring Dohas arts and culture scene, which is where we, originally met. My friend and I, and he was also checking out the Artisans of Portugal. That's all in the first three months of, of this year. And if you've been listening to Travel Media Lab, whether it's on YouTube or, in our podcast, you know that I've also been doing a lot of things.

[00:04:36] I've also been busy, in the first three months of this year, I've been on assignment to Sierra Leon. I've been to the Arctic Circle in Canada. I've been to Doha, Qatar. I've also been on assignment in Turkey. And, my next assignment, in few weeks from now, is going to be a culinary journey through Jordan, my beloved country of Jordan that culminates, a dinner with Michelin chefs, in ABA on the Red Sea.

[00:05:05] And. All of that has happening, has happened, and is happening before the first six months of this year are over. Then for the next six months of this year, I'm also already planning trips to Japan, Farrow Islands, Botswana. And a few other places in between pursuing some of the most interesting stories that I'm really excited to bring, to publications this year.

[00:05:32] Now, I am not an independently wealthy person. Okay, just let me make this clear so I could not afford going to all these places at this space. Right. We're talking one trip every few weeks at this point, and also staying at all the incredible properties, and, and having all these amazing experiences that I have.

[00:05:57] I could not afford doing them myself, right? So how do I do that? How is this my life? So the secret to that is very simple. Actually, the secret to that is, Storytelling. The secret to that is storytelling, because I have a skill, I have a skill of finding stories, meeting interesting people, figuring out what kind of stories would be interesting to a wide audience.

[00:06:30] And then selling those stories to travel publications, whether it's Con as Traveler, national Geographic, the New York Times, or other publications that I've been able to work with over the years. And the thing is that I didn't always have the skill right. I, I certainly wasn't born with that skill. In fact, my career path was very different up until the past, six years.

[00:06:55] It w it went in a completely different direction. Right. But I developed the skill, the skill of storytelling in the last six years. And I did it by a lot of trial and error, also by a lot of reading, a lot of reading of publications, and a lot of working with publications to figure out what works and what doesn't.

[00:07:18] And the thing is that if I was able to do it, if I was able to develop that storytelling skill, That means that you can develop it too, right? Again, it's not something that you're born with, it's something that you can learn. And what I also wanna say today is that it actually gets. So much better. This vision, this life, this career path gets so much better as you get established, as you develop your skill, as you work with more and more publications, as you have more experience under your belt, your understanding of what is even possible in this career space.

[00:07:59] Grows exponentially too. You know, six years ago when I was just first starting out and being very rookie and very newbie in this industry, I could not imagine working with the New York Times. Okay. Now that I do, and now that I have worked with them and have worked with some other, you know, some of the biggest names, in the industry.

[00:08:22] Now that I do that, all kinds of opportunities are opening up for me, opportunities that I wasn't even aware of before, to be honest. this summer, for example, I am invited to an exclusive multi-day, travel media industry event that I can't share too many details about at the moment, but I'm super excited to have been invited in in that event and.

[00:08:49] I was invited to that event because I reached a certain level in my career, but I wasn't even aware that, that, that that event was happening, right? So your understanding of what is possible and what you can do in this industry will also grow as you grow in the industry, and that's a really, really extremely exciting thing for me.

[00:09:11] There is also so much nuance and so much intricacy in pitching and publishing your stories with publications and in working with tourism boards and in working with PR agencies who represent them. And at this point in my career, I know most of those nuances. Right. And and the good news is that, again, those things, those nuances, those intricacies, they're absolutely teachable.

[00:09:38] You can absolutely learn how to do that as well. And once you get better at that storytelling skill, at that skill of finding stories, meeting interesting people, figuring out what stories would be interesting to a white audience, and then selling those stories to travel publications, that vision that I just painted for you.

[00:09:59] the, the experiences that I've had and that my friend that I met in Istanbul had, in the past few weeks and, you know, the, the three and a half months of this year that, that we already had, that can be yours as well. It's absolutely possible and it's absolutely within your reach. today I was reviewing some.

[00:10:19] Comments that people have left me on, on Instagram and on some other places, and again and again, I see a lot of people who have aspirations to do what I do, but who have so many doubts about their own abilities to do it. And so I just wanna reiterate it again today, here, right now, that if I am able to have reached this point in my career, then you are able to do it too.

[00:10:49] There is nothing that I have done that you cannot do. Okay? The only thing that you need to have is an ability and desire to actually do something right? To not sit and and be swallowed by your doubts, by thinking about what if or who cares, or am I good enough? And by actually. Starting to reach out to people, starting to reach out to publications, starting to pitch, starting to work with tourism boards.

[00:11:17] Okay. It's all within your grasp. Absolutely. I am a huge, huge, huge believer in that. And how do I know it? Well, I know it because not only have I done it myself, but I've also taught multiple other people from all walks of life, from all kinds of backgrounds on how to do it too. You know, my students, they have been already published in.

[00:11:40] publications like Conde Nast, traveler like Time Magazine, like National Geographic adventure.com, and many others. And they're also starting to go on media trips themselves and they're starting to make a name and a career for themselves in travel media, and it's super exciting for me to see. So I wanna ask you today, if you are listening to this, if you, are tuning in every time, when Travel Media Lab, has a podcast episode out, or when we publish something on YouTube, you're tuning in because you're, You're tuning in because that is your passion. Travel and storytelling are your passions. So I wanna ask you today, what are you waiting for? What are you waiting for? That secret to getting to this point is storytelling skill. It is a skill. It's definitely a skill, but you can develop that.

[00:12:37] That's the point. You can learn it. You can develop that skill. So many people today, in this day and age, offer instructions, offer their knowledge, offer their wisdom. I am one of those people, right? And. You can find people that resonate with you. You can find people that you like, people that you respect, people that you trust and learn from them.

[00:13:02] It is so possible today, it's more possible than ever today to do that and to learn and to develop, your experience and your expertise. what I wanna just say, and what I wanna leave you with is that another year that you spent waiting and doubting. Doesn't serve anybody and it's the least of all serves you, the least of all, it serves you because the world will go on, right.

[00:13:29] I will continue going on all these trips and I will continue going on these events and I will continue, sharing my knowledge with other people. And they will continue pitching and advancing in their career and building their confidence and building their portfolio. If you decide that you're gonna wait for another better time to do something that doesn't serve anybody, I.

[00:13:53] And least of all it serves you because years are gonna b go by and they're gonna go by so fast. I'm turning 40 this year, you guys, I don't know how that happened. feels like I was 18 only yesterday, but I'm turning 40 this year and it's speeding up. let me tell you, time is continuing to speed up, so if you want to do something, You know me, you know this.

[00:14:18] If you've been listening to me and this is not your first time hearing this, then you, hearing what I have to say on the subject of travel media. You know that I've said this before. Taking action is the only thing that separates you today. And you tomorrow with your dreams actualized. Taking act action is the way for you to go from where you are today to where you wanna be tomorrow.

[00:14:43] If you don't take action, nothing happens if you don't pitch. Nothing happens if you don't reach out to somebody you don't get discovered. You might get discovered, but the chances of that happening are kind of akin to, winning a lottery. You know? So why not make those chances for yourself by taking action, by reaching out to people, by showing up for events, by showing up to conferences, by networking with people, by reaching out.

[00:15:09] By learning from people that know what they're talking about and creating this path for yourself. Because again, life is short. And if you want to do something like this, if you want to have the vision that I've just outlined, at the beginning of today's conversation, You can make it happen. You can absolutely make it happen.

[00:15:29] And the most important thing to remember is that that vision, that lifestyle of travel and storytelling that I've outlined, it is possible for you. You deserve it. You are worth it. You have to believe those things. You have to believe that you deserve it and that you are worth it. And the rest, the skills, the know-how, the how to, the techniques, the strategies, all of that other things, all of those other things, they can be learned, but you have to believe that you're worth it and that you deserve it.

[00:16:04] For you to actually take action on those things. Okay? So that's what I wanna leave you with today. Take a moment to think about what your vision is for yourself in this career, what you want to do. Where do you want to travel? What kind of publications you want to work with, what stories are interesting to you?

[00:16:22] What topics, there's so much that you can do in this career path? That's the exciting part for me, that there is just so much freedom and so much flexibility. And really the, the only limitation, in this career path is the one that you put on yourself. You know, if you can imagine doing something, you can absolutely do it.

[00:16:43] I truly believe it. and I have, Again and again, showing other people how to do it and how to go after what they want to do. Okay? But you have to believe in yourself. You have to believe that it's actually possible. So think about those things, as you listen to us today. And also think about what are you waiting for?

[00:17:05] Okay? What are you waiting for? What's stopping you from taking that action, from reaching out to somebody, from, from writing that email, from sending that pitch to. Con traveler, let's say. and I hope that, this conversation spurs some thinking from you and some reflection perhaps, and contemplation, and just a reminder that we are opening enrollment to our.

[00:17:33] Group travel journalism program. This may very soon, in a few weeks actually, we're gonna be opening enrollment to our group program called Introduction to Travel Journalism, and this will be the only opportunity to join us this year. I used to open this program several times a year, but. this year and probably going forward, we will only be opening it once a year.

[00:17:59] Because of my schedule, because of everything that's happening in my own career, I'm only able to run it once a year. So please take notes if you're interested in learning from me. If you're interested in getting started in travel journalism and doing that in a group environment with other amazing people in your group, don't miss this announcement.

[00:18:20] To get notified about program starts and about enrollments, you have to get on the wait list because the only people I'll be sending this information soon will be people on the wait list. So go to travel media lab.com/class. To join our wait list and, I will send you more information when enrollment opens and all that good stuff.

[00:18:44] Okay, thank you so much for listening to us today, sending you lots of sunshine and lots of encouragement from Samami Valencia, Spain. It's been a really lovely day here today and I will speak to you soon. Bye everyone.