331: From Palestine to Global Impact: The Transformative Power of Cultural Exchange Through Travel with Yazan Badarny
331: From Palestine to Global Impact: The Transformative Power of Cultural Exchange Through Travel with Yazan Badarny  
Podcast: The Maverick Show: Travel Stories on Culture, Identity & Living Beyond Borders
Rating: Explicit Published On: Mon Apr 07 2025
Description: Learn how volunteering, internships, and cultural exchanges abroad can transform your life & positively impact the world. ============================ Get the Monday Minute my weekly email with 3 personal recs for travel, culture, and living beyond borders you can read in 60 seconds. ============================ ON THIS EPISODE Yazan Badarny joins Matt from Haifa and starts off by talking about his experience growing up in the Palestinian city of Arraba. He describes the racism and second class citizenship experienced by Palestinians with Israeli citizenship, and explains how travel and living abroad empowered him to confidently embrace his Palestinian identity and speak up about the Palestinian struggle around the world.  Yazan takes us on his transformative journey doing an internship in South Africa, taking one of the world’s highest bungee jumps, and developing the idea for his company Home Awe. Yazan explains his passion for empowering other Palestinians to travel the world, both so that they can have personal growth experiences by connecting with the world and so that they can educate the world about Palestine. He talks about his travels from Tanzania to Switzerland, shares life lessons from learning to ski in the Alps, and explains the importance of ‘starting with why’. Yazan talks about the volunteer and internship opportunities that Home Awe offers around the world today, from Brazil to Sri Lanka, and how he grew his Instagram following to over 400,000. Finally, he reflects on the impact Home Awe has had on its participants, and on what travel means to him today. ⁠ ⁠ → Full show notes with direct links to everything discussed are available here. ============================ FREE RESOURCES FOR YOU: See my Top 10 Apps For Digital Nomads See my Top 10 Books For Digital Nomads See my 7 Keys For Building A Remote Business (Even in a space that’s not traditionally virtual) Watch my Video Training on Stylish Minimalist Packing so you can join #TeamCarryOn See the Travel Gear I Use and Recommend See How I Produce The Maverick Show Podcast (The equipment, services & vendors I use) ============================ ENJOYING THE SHOW? Follow The Maverick Show on Instagram and DM Matt to continue the conversation Please leave a rating and review — it really helps the show and I read each one personally You can buy me a coffee — espressos help me produce significantly better podcast episodes! :)