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Photo Source: Joanna and Instagram
We are so excited to share with you this week's Travel Crush! Meet South African beauty, expat, and educator, Joanna. Her curiosity and drive to explore the world made her the traveler we are crushing on, but her want to help other achieve the lifestyle she's created for herself has us head over heels! Get to know our newest crush and the women behind The Joanna Jewell Show.
Tell us about yourself! Who are you? Where are you from? What do you do? What inspires you to travel?
My name is Joanna Jewell and I’m originally from South Africa. I’m an online English Teacher and I’m passionate about helping women become location independent so that they can live and and travel on their terms. I also coach aspiring travelers and teachers on how to teach English online and travel. My curiosity for this world inspires me to travel.
How many countries have you been to? Which was your favorite and why?
I’ve been to 22 countries to date and I’ve lived in 7 countries thus far. If I have to chose my favorite countries, I would firstly like to say that there’s something to love about each place that I’ve been to and I’ve learned a great deal from each country and its people. However, Vietnam and Cambodia do stand out to me. I was able to achieve incredible personal goals during my time in Vietnam and Vietnam is the kindest nation I’ve come across so far. Cambodia is special to me because I learned a lot from the people. They express gratitude often and have shown me great humility. My favorite thing about Cambodia are the many smiles that met me during my day to day life there.
We saw you moved to Turkey, congratulations! Why turkey and more importantly how did you do it?
I moved to Turkey for logistical reasons following a forced mass migration out of Malaysia due to political reasons. I had my eyes set on Turkey for a while as my next place of residence, because I believe that it's an excellent option for South Africans, such as myself or anyone looking for a centralized location, where life is affordable.
I started looking into the visa application process and as you can imagine in these times it was not easy to find and sift through outdated, ever changing information. A friend of mine recommended a really good visa agent, who gave me a lot of support and talked me through the process of how to go about applying to become a resident in Turkey.
When I landed in Turkey, my agent met me at the airport, found me a place to stay and accompanied me to my accommodation. Although I'm used to traveling on my own, this added a lot of comfort for me during these times. My experience in getting my two year residency was really good. I’m now a resident of Turkey and I'm making this my Homebase.
We LOVE your hair!! Which destination have you been to that is curly-girl friendly, but you wouldn't expect it? Why would you say it's curly-girl friendly?
Thank you. I would say that Malaysia and Turkey are curly girl friendly. Malaysia has so many Indian hair products which I find work well on my type 4 hair. They have some of the best hair oils I’ve come across and in general have the best selection of hair products for curly hair in Asia. Turkey is curl friendly because a lot of people here have curly hair. I also sometimes see people in Turkey with Afro’s and I’ve also seen lots of Afro hair salons here.
Where are you going for your next vacation? What are you looking forward to the most?
My last vacation was in 2015 when I was an expat in Dubai. I have no idea when my next vacation will be. I’m a digital nomad so I work and travel on the go. Right now I’m not traveling internationally and haven’t done so for the past 2 years except for my forced move out of Malaysia. I’m happy to explore Turkey and take my time at it.
Where else can folks find you?
Other than Instagram, I have a podcast available on Podbean and Apple podcasts titled: The Joanna Jewell Show.
Here are some more of our favorite travelers and their gorgeous shots.
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Let's dive into the great debate: silk pillowcases vs. bonnets.
We’ll break down the pros and cons, spill some tea on the public bonnet debate, and help you decide which is the best for your next adventure.
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