Journiosity

In this French episode with English subtitles, I interview Abdulkarim in Marrakech’s spice market in the Mellah, the historic Jewish quarter named for salt trading. Abdulkarim explains the area’s mixed communities today, contrasts houses (dar) with riads built with thick earth-and-stone walls that insulate against heat and cold, and discusses sun exposure and vitamin D deficiency. He describes his...

Finding Yourself in Mexico City: Loss, Solitude and Vibration I meet Alberto in Mexico City by chance after chatting at a street stall. Alberto, 53, recounts losing his father on his 33rd birthday, divorcing the same week, losing his job and contact with his young son, and nearly becoming homeless, leading to years of depression and alcoholism without professional help. He says time alone is essen...

[ENG] This interview is in Spanish. Visit the Journiosity Substack for subtitles in English and an English-language blog post covering Sergio's fascinating life experiences. [ESP] Esta entrevista está en español. Visita el Substack de Journiosity para ver subtítulos en inglés y una publicación en inglés que cubre las fascinantes experiencias de vida de Sergio. ENG Living the Journey: Sergio’s Hitc...

Solo Travel, Starting Over and Building Olive: Gaby’s Journey from Ecuador to Buenos Aires I’m interviewing Gaby, an Ecuadorian living in Buenos Aires, about starting over after a 13-year marriage ended. Gaby’s first solo trip to Argentina—originally for a Coldplay concert—led her to fall in love with the city’s walkability, friendliness, and opportunities, and to pursue an MBA at the University o...

From Brazil to Bariloche: Ivna on Faith, Healing and Making Dreams Happen I’m in a hostel in Bariloche, Argentina, interviewing Ivna, a 32-year-old Brazilian on her first trip outside Brazil. Ivna shares a lifelong dream of seeing the world sparked by a childhood movie, her belief that strangers become familiar through conversation, and her mother’s advice that speaking can take you anywhere. She...

From La Plata to aerial heights: on solo travel, changing tracks and flying high I interview Facundo at a hostel in San Martín de los Andes, Argentina, where he is vacationing alone from La Plata near Buenos Aires. Facundo says solo travel is easier for meeting people if you are sociable and brave. He describes switching from an engineering degree (after two stressful years with only 2–3 hours of...

Young Argentinians on Milei’s Reforms: Inflation, Taxes, Hope and Daily Life in Mendoza In Mendoza, Argentina, October 2025, I interviewed Juli, a lawyer, and Tomi, a small business owner/engineer, about changes under President Milei after recent elections that ostensibly strengthened his position in Congress. They describe life before Milei as marked by extreme inflation, product shortages, impor...

How do we deal with trauma that bubbles to the surface years down the road? What can that journey look like? In this episode, I’m speaking with Catalina in a cafe in downtown Santiago, Chile. What starts out as a conversation about her background and her unconventional career path turns into a multi-layered story of navigating the buried trauma that eventually becomes impossible to ignore, and wha...

Is it possible to find strength in traumatic events? How can we empower ourselves despite life’s challenges? In this episode, I’m speaking with Marian, a young law student from Mexico City, interning in Ottawa, Canada. Despite losing her father at a young age and having her trust abused by another family member, Marian has an appreciation of the unique things life has taught her, a deep desire to...

In some ways, given current world events (for posterity, it is early March 2026), this interview could not be better timed: in this episode, I’m speaking with Jenny, a US citizen who moved to Ottawa, Canada, in mid-2025 and who has an eye-opening perspective on what is at work in the top levels of the US administration. We actually spoke only two months after her move—about how her dating experien...

Do you believe in right and wrong, black and white? When that dichotomy no longer serves, can you exist in the grey zone? In this episode, I’m speaking with Betty, a nurse living in Ottawa, Canada, who grew up in a religiously conservative family in Iran. Living under the “dictatorship” of her own father and then, later, the Islamic Republic, Betty’s story shows us how it is entirely possible—perh...

Have you ever felt like there must be more to life? And have you been brave enough to follow that feeling? In this episode, I speak with Oana, a Waldorf teacher currently living in Ottawa, Canada, whose life took her from rural Communist Romania to Mexico, learning about alternative approaches to understanding the world, and finally to Canada. Her story is driven by her joy for learning—and shows...

What do you know about Yemen? Does it hold a special place in your heart? In this episode, I’m speaking with Mohammed, a Yemeni legal scholar living in Ottawa, Canada, whose life has been directly touched by some of this century’s most defining moments and who takes us on a journey of discovery as we delve into Yemeni geography, history and culture. This is a public episode. If you would like to d...