February 20, 2025 • 29 mins
What happens when a life-altering event redirects your career path? Joanna Kalafatis, a remarkable travel writer and actress, shares her transformative journey from aspiring economist to cultural storyteller. Raised between Greece and the United States, Joanna's unique perspective reshapes how she engages with the world, offering listeners valuable insights into cultural immersion and the art of connecting with locals despite language barriers. Her stories of exploring hidden gems and off-the-beaten-path destinations promise to inspire your wanderlust and redefine your approach to travel.
Unveiling lesser-known tales, like the story of Palenque, Colombia—the first free town in the Americas—Joanna weaves history with personal anecdotes. We also delve into her acting adventures on the Netflix series "Maestro in Blue" and the talk about the thrill of performing live at the Getty Villa. From the cultural riches of the country of Georgia to the practicalities of balancing travel and creativity, this episode provides a tapestry of experiences that demonstrate the enriching power of storytelling.
Connect with Joanna on Instagram: @Joanna.Kalafatis
Learn more about her at LosetheMap.com.
Check out Eat With at https://www.eatwith.com/.
Thank you for listening! Please take a moment to rate, review and subscribe to the Media in Minutes podcast here or anywhere you get your podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/media-in-minutes/id1555710662
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Angela Tuell (00:05):
Welcome to Media in Minutes.
This is your host, Angela Tuell.
This podcast features in-depthinterviews with those who report
on the world around us.
They share everything fromtheir favorite stories to what
happened behind the lens andgive us a glimpse into their
world From our studio here atCommunications Redefined.
This is Media in Minutes.
In today's episode, we aretalking with Joanna Kalafatis.
(00:32):
Joanna is a travel writer andactress who runs a website
focused on cultural immersion,adventure travel and
off-the-beaten-path destinationsat losethemapcom.
Raised between Greece and theUnited States, she splits her
time between the two countries.
She loves discussing herhomeland, particularly
destinations internationaltravelers may not know much
(00:52):
about, and encouraging localtravel that connects us to
people around the world.
Hi, joanna, how are things inNew York?
Joanna Kalafatis (01:01):
They're great.
They're really windy, but great.
Angela Tuell (01:06):
I know you said you're on like the 15th floor
too right.
Joanna Kalafatis (01:08):
Yes, yes, I'm hearing it howling outside right
now.
It feels, it feels very nicebeing in here with blankets and
stuff.
Angela Tuell (01:14):
Yes, that's always nice.
I'm so happy to have you on ourpodcast today.
Joanna Kalafatis (01:22):
Same.
Really happy to be here.
Thank you for inviting me.
Angela Tuell (01:25):
Yeah, I'd love to start with.
You know you have such afascinating background.
Could you share with ourlisteners how you ended up in
travel writing, how you got towhere you are today?
Joanna Kalafatis (01:36):
Yeah, yeah, I guess that's kind of a story.
So well, I've always been a bigwriter since I was young and
then, you know, just started mylife and I'd started travel blog
and my study abroad program,which I really uh, honestly, was
mostly for my family andfriends like keep track of me,
and for my parents wereconcerned to make sure I was
alive still, you know, becauseit was posting um.
(01:56):
But yeah, so I started and Ikind of really liked just
sharing um, the impressions Igained on the road.
And then then after college, Imoved to LA for acting and I was
doing a lot of freelancearticles on the side for extra
income and I just realized thatlike I really wanted to start
something of my own so I couldwrite in my own voice and really
focus on the things that Icared about with travel.
(02:19):
And I got opportunities totravel via work and via just
honestly being young andtraveling really cheaply and
being okay with it.
They're like sure I'll be in aroom with six people, it's fine,
but yeah, so I started kind ofwriting my blog and then writing
for other travel websites andit, you know, escalated up from
there and I think I brought thiskind of unique take because I
(02:42):
have been raised between twocountries, so it was always
interesting to me to kind ofunique take because I have been
raised between two countries, soit was always interesting to me
to kind of like observecultural differences.
You know, and that's somethingI really want to focus on in my
own travel writing that I wasn'tgetting the chance to when I
was writing for otherpublications necessarily.
So, yeah, that's how I got in.
Angela Tuell (02:59):
So what did you want to be initially?
Did you know as a teen or intocollege, what you thought?
Oh my God.
Joanna Kalafatis (03:08):
I mean, when I was really young I wanted to be
an archaeologist.
I was obsessed with Mayan andIncan culture.
I read the whole Popol Vuh andall that Super popular kid, as
you can probably imagine Verypopular but not weird at all.
But yeah, so I wanted to bethat.
And then I wasn't sure.
I studied economics andpolitical science and I want to
get involved in internationalrelations.
(03:29):
So I still was really fascinatedto, like you know, get to other
countries, basically and seehow things are there and
honestly, that background haskind of informed like when I'm
traveling somewhere, I do alsoapply a bit of a lens of like a
(03:53):
little bit geopolitics, a littlebit social issues, you know, in
the country, just kind of kindof seeing what's up besides the
tourist sites and how thingsoperate.
And then I kind of I wasn't 100percent sure still, I was
studying economics and it wasfine, no-transcript.
Well, a minivan hit me, whichis bad, and yes, it broke my
(04:23):
femur and I was hospitalized inSouth Africa for a while.
It was a whole thing and I cameclose to, you know, not being
here anymore, since thathappened when a multi-ton
vehicle hits you on the streetand it just made me kind of
reflect on, like, what am Idoing and what do I want to do?
And you know I don't feelfulfilled and this doesn't feel
a hundred percent like what Ishould be doing.
And then I gravitated back tothe arts, which I had been doing
(04:44):
a lot, for you know I grew updoing like dance and piano and
theater and all that.
So I decided to get back intoacting and writing and that's
what I would devote myself to,but still kind of weirdly enough
, because people like oh, do youfeel like you're wasting your
degree or you waste your time?
And when I think about it,really I'm like no, because you
know, it gave me that way ofthinking about things and that
(05:04):
kind of perspective that I thinkI bring to my writing, to my,
you know content creation today.
Angela Tuell (05:16):
Yeah, so that's a long story.
No, that's great to find outhow you got to where you are, so
I wanted to ask you a littlebit about the culture question.
You know what is your bestadvice when you travel somewhere
to experience the culture?
Ooh okay.
Joanna Kalafatis (05:27):
So lots of things.
I fully recommend, honestly,just integrating and interacting
with local people as much aspossible, because that's how
you're going to get most of theculture.
And obviously, you know that'snot an easy thing to do always,
especially in places wherethere's like a big language
barrier, just hard to you knoworganically meet people and go
off or some people who justaren't, you know, don't feel
(05:49):
comfortable approachingstrangers and striking up a
conversation.
But then I always recommendservices that I've personally
used and loved, which is one ofthem that I recommend is Eat
With, which is essentially yougo to dinner or lunch or
something at someone's houselocally and you eat dinner with
them and their family or theroommates or whoever they live
(06:09):
with, so you get to taste localcuisine, but then you also get
to talk to them.
You know, for hours I love it.
Yeah, no, that's honestlyreally great.
And then there are othercompanies like sometimes I've
used local guides you can doeither like like I've done
literally like single-personwalking tours, which aren't as
expensive as you might think,where someone from the city who
(06:30):
really loves our city I did itin Cartagena, I did it in
Helsinki Just kind of shows youaround and just by virtue of
showing you around, they kind ofend up chatting to you about
you know everything they thinkabout their country and like a
lot of questions about yourcountry and how things function,
the same or differently.
Um, so I think you know if, ifyou don't have a lot of time to
spend in a country or if you'renot the kind of person who, can
(06:52):
you know, feels very comfortable, just like striking up
conversations in bars and stuff,and yeah, that's understandable
.
Obviously, I think going withthat kind of like very small or
even individual, personal, localtour, going with companies like
Eat With, just gives you thatcultural immersion.
Angela Tuell (07:09):
Those are great.
I can't wait to look into thosea little bit more.
Yeah, also mentioned yourwebsite and newsletter.
It's losethemapcom, correct,quite popular.
So for those who aren't superfamiliar, please tell us more.
Joanna Kalafatis (07:24):
So, for those who aren't here, please tell us
more.
So lose, the mapcom is my, it'smy travel blog and you know, I
just kind of came to the titleafter, after brainstorming with
a journalist friend to like 4amwith lots of beer we hit on it
and we liked it because I Iwanted to give people that
impression of like, yes, youknow, I'm going to obviously
give advice on what to do andwhat to see and what to eat, but
(07:45):
I wanted to keep that thatethos in mind of like lose the
map, in the sense of don't justrun around to attractions and
sites, but actually take sometime to just do things you like
in a place and connect to aplace and just be in it, you
know, just to get, to get abetter sense of how things are
there.
So I had left it a little stalefor a couple of years post-COVID
(08:10):
, because obviously there wasn'tmuch to report in the world of
traveling for me.
You know, there wasn't much oflike.
I went to my living room today.
It was grand so and I did havelike a backlog of articles I
could have written, but honestlyit was just such a weird time
that psychologically I was justlike I don't think I can do this
right now yeah, um.
(08:31):
But then I got back to it, uh,about a year ago and just like
re kind of invested all the timeenergy I had into it and it's
been doing, honestly, betterthan ever, which is great.
Because a lot of people arelike, oh, you want to travel
blog now, is it a good time,with, you know, google doing its
algorithm things.
I'm like, well, I tried andit's working.
I think it's just honestly.
I think it's about, with atravel blog connecting to people
(08:54):
, cause like, if you want anational geographic article in
place, you're going to go to NatGeo, right.
If you want, like, a completeguidebook, you're going to go to
Lonely Planet or Moon TravelGuides or something like that.
So when people go to yourtravel blog, it's because they
either connect with the way youtravel or your voice.
So I think it's for me.
I've just been focusing a loton bringing that and things I'm
interested in to my travel blog,because then they'll attract
(09:15):
people who are interested in thesame things.
Angela Tuell (09:17):
Yes, I've got to tell you, the stories are
fantastic too.
One of them I was looking atyesterday it was a hundred tips.
You know how there's tiparticles a lot.
That's pretty common, but I waslooking through them and they
were all things I had neverheard of or like new ideas.
I mean that's amazing.
That's what I love to hear.
I mean fantastic information.
(09:37):
So, yes, anyone that hasn'tbeen on that's listening
definitely needs to check it out.
Are you writing for any otheroutlets right now too?
I?
Joanna Kalafatis (09:45):
am.
I have so my.
Actually, my primary writingjob, weirdly, is not related to
travel.
I write scripts for a YouTubechannel called the Infographic
Show.
But, I do get to bring in a lotof that world knowledge because,
like right now, I'm doing a lotof geography scripts for them.
So basically they do likeinfotainment kind of videos
aimed at young adults,educational but also with a side
(10:10):
of humor and sarcasm, so youknow you'll actually sit and
listen to 20 minute video.
So that's my primary writingjob.
But for my travel writing Iwrite pretty consistently for
Matter Network.
I've written for BusinessInsider and Time Out New York,
for Greek Reporter, for ThingsFocused obviously more of my
homeland.
So yeah, I have a handful ofconsistent kind of freelance
gigs there.
Angela Tuell (10:30):
Okay, and what types of stories do you like to
do the most?
Joanna Kalafatis (10:34):
Honestly, a lot of the stories I love to do
have to do with things that, topreface, I consider myself this
isn't bragging, I'm just a bignerd about it.
I consider myself like a prettywell read and knowledgeable
person about internationalthings, let's say, and places.
So when I come across like astory that I've never even heard
of, or like a town that'simportant in a way that I didn't
know existed, I really like tohighlight that because I think
(10:56):
it's important to you know,highlight stories in places that
people might not know that muchabout.
So those are the stories Ireally love.
And then I also love storiesthat kind of.
You know you get to delve intomyths about a place or
stereotypes about a place orpreconceptions, and see to what
extent they're true or not, andmore often than not I find them
(11:17):
to be kind of untrue.
Like it's very interesting toyou know, one of my best
performing articles is a verysimple one that I just wrote up
one day because I'm like peopleshould know this about Greece.
But it was like it wasbasically five travel myths
about Greece.
And then the other one waseight things to do in the winter
in Greece.
And so many people were likewait, there's places in Greece
that get snow.
You can do things in the winterand it was wild because you
(11:44):
know for me, coming from there,and I think this is a trap we
all fall into right.
Like you assume, all theknowledge you have is common
knowledge, but we each have ourarea of expertise that sometimes
we're even unaware of, so Ithink tapping into that is super
cool and important.
Angela Tuell (11:57):
I think it's easy to think what we know, everyone
knows, and so everyone hassomething to contribute.
What we know, everyone knows,and so everyone has something to
contribute.
Yeah, I love that.
What are some of your othermost memorable stories?
Joanna Kalafatis (12:08):
Well, one of the ones I love the most is the
one on Palenque.
It's a it's a town in Colombia,small town in Colombia, like
two and a half hours outsideCartagena, deep in the jungle,
very humid.
My hair was not having funthere, but it's fascinating
because it's known as the firstfree town in the Americas.
So it's essentially Cartagenahas a dark side of its history
(12:31):
was one of the biggest slaveports for Spanish colonials in
the 16th, 17th centuries.
So what happened is there was amassive group of enslaved
people that escaped at somepoint and these were people who
were either first generation,like had directly been brought
from Western Africa, or likewere the kids of people who've
(12:51):
been brought from Western Africa.
So they escaped and they formedtheir own town and essentially
the Spanish authorities tried toget them but essentially gave
up at some point because theywent so deep in the jungle.
They're like you know what,we're not doing whatever, like
we can't do this anymore.
But it's fascinating to visitand I wrote a story that I got a
lot of good feedback on becauseI really, you know, like I said
, worked with local people to be, like, respectful of the
(13:13):
culture and make sure it wasgetting everything right.
But it's fascinating because itprovides a window into kind of
what black culture may have beenlike if it were not for the 200
, 300 years of slavery that kindof took that Western African
culture out of so many peopleright.
So like they still speak adialect that includes West
African words, they still haveinstruments with West African
(13:35):
music that they play, they stillpractice some West African
spiritual beliefs.
So it's really interestingbecause it kind of gives a
window into like this might havebeen.
You know, this might have beena completely different kind of
black culture were it not foreverything that happened.
Obviously.
Angela Tuell (13:50):
Yeah, do they welcome tourists?
Is it a tourist area or thatyou can?
Joanna Kalafatis (13:55):
It's.
I mean, tourists definitely gothere mostly on group tours.
It's like a hard place to kindof go and stay alone and
navigate, but like, yeah, gothere mostly on group tours.
It's like a hard place to kindof go and stay alone and
navigate, but like, yeah,they're.
I mean, when we went there, alot of the local kind of
community leaders and the personwho ran the music school were
very happy to come out and talkto us about what it's like there
and what they're building andvery enthusiastic about it.
Angela Tuell (14:12):
So yeah, that is really great.
So how often are?
Joanna Kalafatis (14:15):
you traveling.
You know it depends because I Ido do acting work, so it
depends a lot on that schedule.
In case you might not haveheard, the last couple of years
have been pretty terrible foractors, so it's given me a lot
more flexibility to travel.
I do usually group most of mytravel in the kind of dead
periods for acting, so likeDecember, january or like May to
(14:37):
July.
It's a little more slow in theindustry.
I try to group most of itaround there.
It is easier when I'm spendingmy time based out of Greece
because it's just so easy to goto so many countries.
Angela Tuell (14:49):
So many countries right.
Joanna Kalafatis (14:51):
And within a couple hours flight.
Yes, anywhere.
Angela Tuell (14:54):
I always think about how I'm almost jealous of
Europe, how you can go to somany places.
We're so far.
Joanna Kalafatis (15:01):
Oh my God, um, and almost jealous of europe,
how you can go to so many placeswe're so far.
Oh my god, I mean, it was theone thing like I recently
relocated back to new york fromla and la, like I loved it for a
lot of reasons, but alsogetting anywhere is so difficult
.
Yeah, I mean it's so hard, butyou're yes, yes, you go like 11
hours west to get to japan, or10 hours, whatever it is oh my
goodness.
Angela Tuell (15:20):
yeah, um, I do want to talk about acting too,
but first I would ask questionsabout journalism and PR.
How can publicists most helpyou do your job, and do you have
any pet peeves?
Joanna Kalafatis (15:33):
I mean my only pet peeve, I would really say,
is when it's clear that someonehasn't done the research at all
as to what I do and reaches outto me.
Like I recently had someonereach out to me to promote some
kind of like infant formula andI'm like, do you?
I don't have a child, by theway, and also it's not what I
write about because I don't havea child.
(15:54):
So I'm like, what exactly areyou reaching out about?
So obviously you know not,don't do that.
But so that's really my onlylike big pet peeve.
But to help do our jobs,honestly, I think it's just
about having like opencommunication which goes both
ways right.
Like I always try to betransparent with people I work
with, of listen like what you'reselling isn't really my niche,
(16:19):
which is how I think I buildtrust with brands of like I'm
not going to sell something thatI know my audience is probably
not going to be interested in.
Like, for example, like I knowcruise travel is like not a
niche my audience tends to beinterested in.
So I'm not going to go to acruise company and be like you
know, let me sell your stuffbecause it's just not going to
align and then you know it helpswhen I have open communication
from the, from publicists ofokay, this is what we're looking
(16:43):
for specifically.
This is kind of what we'reabout.
Can you do this?
Does this make sense for you?
Because it makes it easier todo my job and say yes or no and,
you know, provide a fruitfulcollaboration or not.
Angela Tuell (16:54):
So yes, that's great advice.
Great advice.
I saw that you've been toalmost 50 countries right Soon
to be.
Joanna Kalafatis (17:02):
Correct Soon to be 48 by UN count, definitely
going to hit at least two morethis year because I'm planning
on doing a little Balkan trip,which it's embarrassing, being
from Greece, how little of theBalkans I've been.
I've been to Bulgaria.
That's it Embarrassing.
Angela Tuell (17:17):
Embarrassing Neighbors.
I could drive there.
Where are you going this yearthen?
Joanna Kalafatis (17:22):
um so, uh.
My top two are croatia,montenegro, but I also really
want to go to belgrade, serbia,which I've I've heard very
interesting things about as acity, so I'm fascinated that
does sound fascinating.
Angela Tuell (17:33):
Um and I know this is the worst question to ask a
travel writer, but I'll ask itin a little bit of a way what,
what instead of what are yourfavorite places that you've
traveled to?
You know that have likesurprised you or ones that
really stood out.
Joanna Kalafatis (17:47):
Ooh, yeah, that is a hard question.
I'll say one of my recent onesis one that surprised me and
stood out Georgia, the country,not the state.
I also love the state, butdifferent.
No, it surprised me becausebecause, quite honestly, I
didn't know much about Georgia.
It's not a big destination forWestern tourism, so I went there
(18:08):
with few to no preconceptionsof what I was about to find and
I found a country that wasreally fascinating.
I mean, it used the kind of thecapital which I'm going to
butcher the pronunciation ofTbilisi, I want to say the
language is difficult.
It was kind of either on ornear the Silk Road and you can
(18:30):
totally tell I mean there's somuch cultural influence and
architectural influence fromlike, from Iran, from Europe,
from Turkey, from Russia.
You know, it's kind of thesmorgasbord of different
cultures that you could tellleft their mark there.
Super safe country, reallyheavy but really delicious
cuisine, really fascinating,like gorgeous mountain regions
to see.
(18:50):
I didn't know that it was theorigin of wine cultivation in
the world, so they have like anentire wine country.
Yeah, wine was first cultivatedin Georgia 8, 8 000 years ago,
so the eastern part is the likewine region right had no idea.
Um, they have like a thousandtwo thousand year old cave
complex uh what likecivilization site that people
(19:13):
lived in.
I mean, just fascinating thingsto see that I had no idea about
.
So it was definitely surprisingbecause because, like I said, I
didn't know much about it and Idon't think much is written
about it, and I absolutely lovedit, yeah.
So I have to add that to thebucket list.
Angela Tuell (19:26):
I love the places where, although I feel like I do
a lot of research so I knowmostly what to expect, but I do-
love when you're not sure whatto expect, and really going in
and and it just or not havingthose expectations.
I guess too.
I think.
Joanna Kalafatis (19:41):
Yeah, not knowing Cause.
You know there's somedestinations where it's like
obviously being there is alwaysgoing to be different and better
, but it's like I have seen somuch of you know Santorini, for
example, one of my greatdestinations.
I've seen so much of it atInstagram that when I went there
I'm like, oh yeah, this is whatI've seen.
Angela Tuell (19:57):
I get it.
Yes, this is what I've seen.
I get it, like you know.
Yes, yes, so we do need to talkabout being an actress and, um,
tell us a little bit about howthat's going.
I know that you were mostrecently on a popular streaming
service on a show, right?
Joanna Kalafatis (20:11):
on Netflix about that.
Yeah, well, so it was actuallya really great uh, opportunity,
because I have not in my lifeacted in Greek.
Before that I had done anotherGreek production, but I was
playing an American in it.
Um, so it was my first.
Basically, I I'd known thedirector for a while.
We'd been like acquaintances,friends, for about a decade.
(20:33):
Um, it's a small, you know,community of Greek entertainers
in the US and, yeah, he calledme one day saying, like I'm
writing this part, I keephearing it in your voice Can you
please audition for this?
I'm like, ok, and it wassupposed to be a guest star.
And then I got, I became aseries regular, which was a very
nice compliment for me from thecast and the director and
(20:53):
everyone.
So, yeah, the show is calledMaestro in Blue.
It's the first Greek show to onnetflix and hit the top 10 for
international shows.
Um, when it premiered so it'sdone really well like it was
wild because we're on the islandfilming and, um, I was cool
because I hadn't been in theearlier season, so I was not
recognizable when we're filmingright but tourists would come in
(21:16):
like like tourists from fromlondon and and israel and spain,
and be like oh my, oh my God,oh my God, it's the cast of
Maestro and I'm like, okay, soyou guys recognize everyone.
That's wild.
Okay, Filming in a Greek island, filming in my home country?
Really amazing.
Like I said, I had some nervesfilming in my theoretically
(21:38):
mother tongue but, like you know, I was gone for so much of my
childhood that it's I am alittle more rusty in Greek than
English, so it was a littleintimidating but, you know, went
really well.
So, honestly, just a greatexperience all around.
Angela Tuell (21:52):
Do you have any other acting things coming up?
Joanna Kalafatis (21:57):
I recently auditioned for something big and
I you know I try not to thinkabout things after I audition.
I think it went really well.
But you know, that means verylittle because there's so many
people auditioning.
You know, we'll see.
I kind of.
I've adopted a philosophy afteraudition for something I you
have to let it go, becauseyou're just going to drive
yourself insane.
And you know, sometimes you'relike oh, I haven't heard
(22:18):
anything in a month, Idefinitely didn't get it.
And then they're like oh,actually production was delayed
for eight months.
You get a call like a yearlater.
You're like what?
You never know, there's noupdates, right, there's no
updates, you get no information.
So the best thing is to justlike have fun with it, do your
audition, then move on with yourlife.
Angela Tuell (22:43):
And if you get it, they how nerve wracking.
Joanna Kalafatis (22:46):
Oh yeah, what are you proudest of in your
career so far?
Actually, you know, I'mproudest of a play I did last
year.
It was staged at the GettyVilla in LA, which is a really
awesome thing.
I didn't even know they didplays, actually, but apparently
you do plays on theme.
You know ancient themes.
So I did an original play by aplaywright, alex Liras really
talented guy that dove into theupbringing of Alexander the
(23:09):
Great, and I played his mother,Olympias, who was a huge
influence on his life.
And you know, prior to that Ihadn't been on stage in 10 years
.
So it was.
Yeah, I'd done a bunch of playsearlier in my career, but I'd
been doing mostly film and TVand it was.
(23:30):
You know, there's nothing likebeing on stage, just that live
energy, that adrenaline you getfrom the audience and from just
not having, you know, second orthird takes that you have to get
it right, right, the pressurecreates something really
beautiful.
And just the amount ofrehearsal you get, obviously in
time to explore a character,because you don't really get
that with film and tv right,you're kind of expected if you
(23:50):
get any rehearsal takes.
Yeah, not takes like anyrehearsal at all.
That's kind of amazing.
Most people won't even do that.
You just expect to be on set,know your character, know your
lines and go for it.
I don't think I knew that.
Angela Tuell (24:00):
Oh yeah, you just have to be on set know your
character, know your lines andgo for it.
I don't think I knew that.
Joanna Kalafatis (24:03):
Oh yeah, you just have to be like ready,
basically, and it's, it'samazing theater to just have
that time to explore a story anda character and to play a woman
who, to me, was so fascinatingbecause history has written her
down as very evil and, like youknow, she I mean she killed
children.
She was not like a great person,okay, but but it was
(24:23):
interesting to explore a personwho was.
She was doing the same thingsthat, like, male rulers were
doing.
It was to ensure the line ofsuccession right, everything is
to ensure the line of successionand also because her own life
would be under threat ifalexander the great were not to
become king.
She would be disposableessentially as the mother of
someone who's not in line forthe throne, um, so it was just
fascinating to go into it.
She was really intelligent andreally cunning and really just
(24:46):
played a big role in makingAlexander what he was.
And it was fascinating to gointo kind of how much it weighed
on her to be a woman at a timein history when her strengths
would never be really admired,you know, or showcased in any
way.
Angela Tuell (25:04):
That is fascinating.
Joanna Kalafatis (25:05):
Do you think you'll do?
Plays or you want to focus on Imean honestly, it's part of the
reason I moved back to New York.
I would love to do more plays,Like there is so much more
theater here and I would love todo more plays.
A hundred percent.
Angela Tuell (25:16):
Yeah Well, that's great.
What else are your?
Do you have other goals for thefuture?
Yeah, Well, that's great.
Joanna Kalafatis (25:22):
What else are your?
Do you have other goals for thefuture?
Honestly, my biggest one is I'dlike to have my own travel show
.
I am pitching a couple of ideasright now, you know, seeing how
they go, but, like I, I'dreally love to and I feel, like
you know, I I blessed to have,like those on camera, skills and
this enthusiasm and likepassion and knowledge of travel,
so I think it could combinereally well.
Angela Tuell (25:43):
You would be so fantastic at it, thank you.
What I love about your writingand your approach and you know
who you are is how down to earthand real travel advice and you
know not things that you don'tread your content and think, oh,
I couldn't do that or how wouldI do that Right, so that makes
it very valuable.
(26:03):
I love that, thank you.
Before we go, I have to askwhat is something that many
people who maybe don't know youwell might be surprised to learn
about you.
Joanna Kalafatis (26:15):
Um, I have developed flight anxiety in the
last eight years.
Angela Tuell (26:20):
Really, you know what I have later in life too.
Joanna Kalafatis (26:23):
Yeah, isn't it crazy, oh my God, I always
assumed phobias were like thingsyou were born with.
But no, you can develop them atany time apparently.
So I just had like a very badtakeoff experience going into a
developing storm of flying outof the Bahamas.
So I was it's been.
Takeoff is not good for mesince then, like until that ding
(26:44):
goes on.
I'm not, I'm not doing wellRight, and it's wild because,
people are like exactly, peoplelike you fly all the time and I
will say I will share anembarrassing story.
One time I was on a flightwhere the person next to me like
I was really just freaking out.
I was not, I was like tearingup, I was just not doing well.
Usually it doesn't get that bad, but one out of 20 times
something will just hit and itjust happens.
(27:05):
And the person next to me waslike, don't worry, planes are
really safe.
They're such a safe method oftransportation.
I'm like I know I've flownthree times this month and she
was like oh, and her expressionkind of changed Like so what's
wrong with you?
Why are you freaking out?
But it's part of what I sharewith readers.
It.
This is kind of like you said.
(27:25):
I'm really thankful you saidabout my approach, because part
of what I try to get across topeople is like I'm not
exceptionally brave oradventurous or extroverted or
anything you would think enablesme to like solo travel and do
these things.
I just try to focus on the factthat I want the experience more
than the things I'm afraid of.
So like I will get on thatplane, sometimes being in a
(27:47):
really bad mental place with itbecause I really want to explore
this new country, or I reallywant to see my family back in
Greece, or I really want tovisit my friend in whatever it
is, or I really want to go tothat job, that films in Malta or
whatever.
So, um, so I try to impressupon my readers because I don't
want my life and my travels toseem like something untouchable
and unattainable.
(28:08):
You know, I want to impress,like so many people are capable
of doing this yeah, and I thinkso many people don't realize
that you know so it's.
Angela Tuell (28:16):
Oh, I love that you're sharing that yeah yeah,
what is the best way for ourlisteners to connect with you
online?
Joanna Kalafatis (28:24):
Well, definitely to read my blog,
first and foremost atlosethemapcom and also follow me
on Instagram.
I'm most active on Instagram,JoannaKalafatis.
I'm sure it'll be uploadedsomewhere for the spelling, but
I also have a Facebook pagewhich is Lose the Map, and those
are, and I and I just started aYouTube channel.
I only have a couple of videosup, Guys, video editing is hard,
(28:46):
Um, but I did just start aYouTube channel which is also
under my name, Joanna Califatis.
Angela Tuell (28:52):
So it was a taste of a travel travel.
Uh, show right.
Joanna Kalafatis (28:55):
Yes, yes, I mean, that's part of the reason
why I'm like, I feel like Ireally want to start practicing
with this.
Angela Tuell (28:59):
Yeah, so we'll be watching and reading.
Thank you so much, Joanna.
Thank you so much.
It was really great to be here.
That's all for this episode ofMedia in Minutes, a podcast by
Communications Redefined.
Please take a moment to rate,review and subscribe to our show
.
We'd love to hear what youthink.
You can find more atcommunicationsredefinedcom slash
(29:20):
podcast.
I'm your host, Angela Tuell.
Talk to you next time.
Welcome to Media in Minutes.
This is your host, Angela Tuell.
This podcast features in-depthinterviews with those who report
on the world around us.
They share everything fromtheir favorite stories to what
happened behind the lens andgive us a glimpse into their
world From our studio here atCommunications Redefined.
This is Media in Minutes.
In today's episode, we aretalking with Joanna Kalafatis.
(00:32):
Joanna is a travel writer andactress who runs a website
focused on cultural immersion,adventure travel and
off-the-beaten-path destinationsat losethemapcom.
Raised between Greece and theUnited States, she splits her
time between the two countries.
She loves discussing herhomeland, particularly
destinations internationaltravelers may not know much
(00:52):
about, and encouraging localtravel that connects us to
people around the world.
Hi, joanna, how are things inNew York?
Joanna Kalafatis (01:01):
They're great.
They're really windy, but great.
Angela Tuell (01:06):
I know you said you're on like the 15th floor
too right.
Joanna Kalafatis (01:08):
Yes, yes, I'm hearing it howling outside right
now.
It feels, it feels very nicebeing in here with blankets and
stuff.
Angela Tuell (01:14):
Yes, that's always nice.
I'm so happy to have you on ourpodcast today.
Joanna Kalafatis (01:22):
Same.
Really happy to be here.
Thank you for inviting me.
Angela Tuell (01:25):
Yeah, I'd love to start with.
You know you have such afascinating background.
Could you share with ourlisteners how you ended up in
travel writing, how you got towhere you are today?
Joanna Kalafatis (01:36):
Yeah, yeah, I guess that's kind of a story.
So well, I've always been a bigwriter since I was young and
then, you know, just started mylife and I'd started travel blog
and my study abroad program,which I really uh, honestly, was
mostly for my family andfriends like keep track of me,
and for my parents wereconcerned to make sure I was
alive still, you know, becauseit was posting um.
(01:56):
But yeah, so I started and Ikind of really liked just
sharing um, the impressions Igained on the road.
And then then after college, Imoved to LA for acting and I was
doing a lot of freelancearticles on the side for extra
income and I just realized thatlike I really wanted to start
something of my own so I couldwrite in my own voice and really
focus on the things that Icared about with travel.
(02:19):
And I got opportunities totravel via work and via just
honestly being young andtraveling really cheaply and
being okay with it.
They're like sure I'll be in aroom with six people, it's fine,
but yeah, so I started kind ofwriting my blog and then writing
for other travel websites andit, you know, escalated up from
there and I think I brought thiskind of unique take because I
(02:42):
have been raised between twocountries, so it was always
interesting to me to kind ofunique take because I have been
raised between two countries, soit was always interesting to me
to kind of like observecultural differences.
You know, and that's somethingI really want to focus on in my
own travel writing that I wasn'tgetting the chance to when I
was writing for otherpublications necessarily.
So, yeah, that's how I got in.
Angela Tuell (02:59):
So what did you want to be initially?
Did you know as a teen or intocollege, what you thought?
Oh my God.
Joanna Kalafatis (03:08):
I mean, when I was really young I wanted to be
an archaeologist.
I was obsessed with Mayan andIncan culture.
I read the whole Popol Vuh andall that Super popular kid, as
you can probably imagine Verypopular but not weird at all.
But yeah, so I wanted to bethat.
And then I wasn't sure.
I studied economics andpolitical science and I want to
get involved in internationalrelations.
(03:29):
So I still was really fascinatedto, like you know, get to other
countries, basically and seehow things are there and
honestly, that background haskind of informed like when I'm
traveling somewhere, I do alsoapply a bit of a lens of like a
(03:53):
little bit geopolitics, a littlebit social issues, you know, in
the country, just kind of kindof seeing what's up besides the
tourist sites and how thingsoperate.
And then I kind of I wasn't 100percent sure still, I was
studying economics and it wasfine, no-transcript.
Well, a minivan hit me, whichis bad, and yes, it broke my
(04:23):
femur and I was hospitalized inSouth Africa for a while.
It was a whole thing and I cameclose to, you know, not being
here anymore, since thathappened when a multi-ton
vehicle hits you on the streetand it just made me kind of
reflect on, like, what am Idoing and what do I want to do?
And you know I don't feelfulfilled and this doesn't feel
a hundred percent like what Ishould be doing.
And then I gravitated back tothe arts, which I had been doing
(04:44):
a lot, for you know I grew updoing like dance and piano and
theater and all that.
So I decided to get back intoacting and writing and that's
what I would devote myself to,but still kind of weirdly enough
, because people like oh, do youfeel like you're wasting your
degree or you waste your time?
And when I think about it,really I'm like no, because you
know, it gave me that way ofthinking about things and that
(05:04):
kind of perspective that I thinkI bring to my writing, to my,
you know content creation today.
Angela Tuell (05:16):
Yeah, so that's a long story.
No, that's great to find outhow you got to where you are, so
I wanted to ask you a littlebit about the culture question.
You know what is your bestadvice when you travel somewhere
to experience the culture?
Ooh okay.
Joanna Kalafatis (05:27):
So lots of things.
I fully recommend, honestly,just integrating and interacting
with local people as much aspossible, because that's how
you're going to get most of theculture.
And obviously, you know that'snot an easy thing to do always,
especially in places wherethere's like a big language
barrier, just hard to you knoworganically meet people and go
off or some people who justaren't, you know, don't feel
(05:49):
comfortable approachingstrangers and striking up a
conversation.
But then I always recommendservices that I've personally
used and loved, which is one ofthem that I recommend is Eat
With, which is essentially yougo to dinner or lunch or
something at someone's houselocally and you eat dinner with
them and their family or theroommates or whoever they live
(06:09):
with, so you get to taste localcuisine, but then you also get
to talk to them.
You know, for hours I love it.
Yeah, no, that's honestlyreally great.
And then there are othercompanies like sometimes I've
used local guides you can doeither like like I've done
literally like single-personwalking tours, which aren't as
expensive as you might think,where someone from the city who
(06:30):
really loves our city I did itin Cartagena, I did it in
Helsinki Just kind of shows youaround and just by virtue of
showing you around, they kind ofend up chatting to you about
you know everything they thinkabout their country and like a
lot of questions about yourcountry and how things function,
the same or differently.
Um, so I think you know if, ifyou don't have a lot of time to
spend in a country or if you'renot the kind of person who, can
(06:52):
you know, feels very comfortable, just like striking up
conversations in bars and stuff,and yeah, that's understandable
.
Obviously, I think going withthat kind of like very small or
even individual, personal, localtour, going with companies like
Eat With, just gives you thatcultural immersion.
Angela Tuell (07:09):
Those are great.
I can't wait to look into thosea little bit more.
Yeah, also mentioned yourwebsite and newsletter.
It's losethemapcom, correct,quite popular.
So for those who aren't superfamiliar, please tell us more.
Joanna Kalafatis (07:24):
So, for those who aren't here, please tell us
more.
So lose, the mapcom is my, it'smy travel blog and you know, I
just kind of came to the titleafter, after brainstorming with
a journalist friend to like 4amwith lots of beer we hit on it
and we liked it because I Iwanted to give people that
impression of like, yes, youknow, I'm going to obviously
give advice on what to do andwhat to see and what to eat, but
(07:45):
I wanted to keep that thatethos in mind of like lose the
map, in the sense of don't justrun around to attractions and
sites, but actually take sometime to just do things you like
in a place and connect to aplace and just be in it, you
know, just to get, to get abetter sense of how things are
there.
So I had left it a little stalefor a couple of years post-COVID
(08:10):
, because obviously there wasn'tmuch to report in the world of
traveling for me.
You know, there wasn't much oflike.
I went to my living room today.
It was grand so and I did havelike a backlog of articles I
could have written, but honestlyit was just such a weird time
that psychologically I was justlike I don't think I can do this
right now yeah, um.
(08:31):
But then I got back to it, uh,about a year ago and just like
re kind of invested all the timeenergy I had into it and it's
been doing, honestly, betterthan ever, which is great.
Because a lot of people arelike, oh, you want to travel
blog now, is it a good time,with, you know, google doing its
algorithm things.
I'm like, well, I tried andit's working.
I think it's just honestly.
I think it's about, with atravel blog connecting to people
(08:54):
, cause like, if you want anational geographic article in
place, you're going to go to NatGeo, right.
If you want, like, a completeguidebook, you're going to go to
Lonely Planet or Moon TravelGuides or something like that.
So when people go to yourtravel blog, it's because they
either connect with the way youtravel or your voice.
So I think it's for me.
I've just been focusing a loton bringing that and things I'm
interested in to my travel blog,because then they'll attract
(09:15):
people who are interested in thesame things.
Angela Tuell (09:17):
Yes, I've got to tell you, the stories are
fantastic too.
One of them I was looking atyesterday it was a hundred tips.
You know how there's tiparticles a lot.
That's pretty common, but I waslooking through them and they
were all things I had neverheard of or like new ideas.
I mean that's amazing.
That's what I love to hear.
I mean fantastic information.
(09:37):
So, yes, anyone that hasn'tbeen on that's listening
definitely needs to check it out.
Are you writing for any otheroutlets right now too?
I?
Joanna Kalafatis (09:45):
am.
I have so my.
Actually, my primary writingjob, weirdly, is not related to
travel.
I write scripts for a YouTubechannel called the Infographic
Show.
But, I do get to bring in a lotof that world knowledge because,
like right now, I'm doing a lotof geography scripts for them.
So basically they do likeinfotainment kind of videos
aimed at young adults,educational but also with a side
(10:10):
of humor and sarcasm, so youknow you'll actually sit and
listen to 20 minute video.
So that's my primary writingjob.
But for my travel writing Iwrite pretty consistently for
Matter Network.
I've written for BusinessInsider and Time Out New York,
for Greek Reporter, for ThingsFocused obviously more of my
homeland.
So yeah, I have a handful ofconsistent kind of freelance
gigs there.
Angela Tuell (10:30):
Okay, and what types of stories do you like to
do the most?
Joanna Kalafatis (10:34):
Honestly, a lot of the stories I love to do
have to do with things that, topreface, I consider myself this
isn't bragging, I'm just a bignerd about it.
I consider myself like a prettywell read and knowledgeable
person about internationalthings, let's say, and places.
So when I come across like astory that I've never even heard
of, or like a town that'simportant in a way that I didn't
know existed, I really like tohighlight that because I think
(10:56):
it's important to you know,highlight stories in places that
people might not know that muchabout.
So those are the stories Ireally love.
And then I also love storiesthat kind of.
You know you get to delve intomyths about a place or
stereotypes about a place orpreconceptions, and see to what
extent they're true or not, andmore often than not I find them
(11:17):
to be kind of untrue.
Like it's very interesting toyou know, one of my best
performing articles is a verysimple one that I just wrote up
one day because I'm like peopleshould know this about Greece.
But it was like it wasbasically five travel myths
about Greece.
And then the other one waseight things to do in the winter
in Greece.
And so many people were likewait, there's places in Greece
that get snow.
You can do things in the winterand it was wild because you
(11:44):
know for me, coming from there,and I think this is a trap we
all fall into right.
Like you assume, all theknowledge you have is common
knowledge, but we each have ourarea of expertise that sometimes
we're even unaware of, so Ithink tapping into that is super
cool and important.
Angela Tuell (11:57):
I think it's easy to think what we know, everyone
knows, and so everyone hassomething to contribute.
What we know, everyone knows,and so everyone has something to
contribute.
Yeah, I love that.
What are some of your othermost memorable stories?
Joanna Kalafatis (12:08):
Well, one of the ones I love the most is the
one on Palenque.
It's a it's a town in Colombia,small town in Colombia, like
two and a half hours outsideCartagena, deep in the jungle,
very humid.
My hair was not having funthere, but it's fascinating
because it's known as the firstfree town in the Americas.
So it's essentially Cartagenahas a dark side of its history
(12:31):
was one of the biggest slaveports for Spanish colonials in
the 16th, 17th centuries.
So what happened is there was amassive group of enslaved
people that escaped at somepoint and these were people who
were either first generation,like had directly been brought
from Western Africa, or likewere the kids of people who've
(12:51):
been brought from Western Africa.
So they escaped and they formedtheir own town and essentially
the Spanish authorities tried toget them but essentially gave
up at some point because theywent so deep in the jungle.
They're like you know what,we're not doing whatever, like
we can't do this anymore.
But it's fascinating to visitand I wrote a story that I got a
lot of good feedback on becauseI really, you know, like I said
, worked with local people to be, like, respectful of the
(13:13):
culture and make sure it wasgetting everything right.
But it's fascinating because itprovides a window into kind of
what black culture may have beenlike if it were not for the 200
, 300 years of slavery that kindof took that Western African
culture out of so many peopleright.
So like they still speak adialect that includes West
African words, they still haveinstruments with West African
(13:35):
music that they play, they stillpractice some West African
spiritual beliefs.
So it's really interestingbecause it kind of gives a
window into like this might havebeen.
You know, this might have beena completely different kind of
black culture were it not foreverything that happened.
Obviously.
Angela Tuell (13:50):
Yeah, do they welcome tourists?
Is it a tourist area or thatyou can?
Joanna Kalafatis (13:55):
It's.
I mean, tourists definitely gothere mostly on group tours.
It's like a hard place to kindof go and stay alone and
navigate, but like, yeah, gothere mostly on group tours.
It's like a hard place to kindof go and stay alone and
navigate, but like, yeah,they're.
I mean, when we went there, alot of the local kind of
community leaders and the personwho ran the music school were
very happy to come out and talkto us about what it's like there
and what they're building andvery enthusiastic about it.
Angela Tuell (14:12):
So yeah, that is really great.
So how often are?
Joanna Kalafatis (14:15):
you traveling.
You know it depends because I Ido do acting work, so it
depends a lot on that schedule.
In case you might not haveheard, the last couple of years
have been pretty terrible foractors, so it's given me a lot
more flexibility to travel.
I do usually group most of mytravel in the kind of dead
periods for acting, so likeDecember, january or like May to
(14:37):
July.
It's a little more slow in theindustry.
I try to group most of itaround there.
It is easier when I'm spendingmy time based out of Greece
because it's just so easy to goto so many countries.
Angela Tuell (14:49):
So many countries right.
Joanna Kalafatis (14:51):
And within a couple hours flight.
Yes, anywhere.
Angela Tuell (14:54):
I always think about how I'm almost jealous of
Europe, how you can go to somany places.
We're so far.
Joanna Kalafatis (15:01):
Oh my God, um, and almost jealous of europe,
how you can go to so many placeswe're so far.
Oh my god, I mean, it was theone thing like I recently
relocated back to new york fromla and la, like I loved it for a
lot of reasons, but alsogetting anywhere is so difficult
.
Yeah, I mean it's so hard, butyou're yes, yes, you go like 11
hours west to get to japan, or10 hours, whatever it is oh my
goodness.
Angela Tuell (15:20):
yeah, um, I do want to talk about acting too,
but first I would ask questionsabout journalism and PR.
How can publicists most helpyou do your job, and do you have
any pet peeves?
Joanna Kalafatis (15:33):
I mean my only pet peeve, I would really say,
is when it's clear that someonehasn't done the research at all
as to what I do and reaches outto me.
Like I recently had someonereach out to me to promote some
kind of like infant formula andI'm like, do you?
I don't have a child, by theway, and also it's not what I
write about because I don't havea child.
(15:54):
So I'm like, what exactly areyou reaching out about?
So obviously you know not,don't do that.
But so that's really my onlylike big pet peeve.
But to help do our jobs,honestly, I think it's just
about having like opencommunication which goes both
ways right.
Like I always try to betransparent with people I work
with, of listen like what you'reselling isn't really my niche,
(16:19):
which is how I think I buildtrust with brands of like I'm
not going to sell something thatI know my audience is probably
not going to be interested in.
Like, for example, like I knowcruise travel is like not a
niche my audience tends to beinterested in.
So I'm not going to go to acruise company and be like you
know, let me sell your stuffbecause it's just not going to
align and then you know it helpswhen I have open communication
from the, from publicists ofokay, this is what we're looking
(16:43):
for specifically.
This is kind of what we'reabout.
Can you do this?
Does this make sense for you?
Because it makes it easier todo my job and say yes or no and,
you know, provide a fruitfulcollaboration or not.
Angela Tuell (16:54):
So yes, that's great advice.
Great advice.
I saw that you've been toalmost 50 countries right Soon
to be.
Joanna Kalafatis (17:02):
Correct Soon to be 48 by UN count, definitely
going to hit at least two morethis year because I'm planning
on doing a little Balkan trip,which it's embarrassing, being
from Greece, how little of theBalkans I've been.
I've been to Bulgaria.
That's it Embarrassing.
Angela Tuell (17:17):
Embarrassing Neighbors.
I could drive there.
Where are you going this yearthen?
Joanna Kalafatis (17:22):
um so, uh.
My top two are croatia,montenegro, but I also really
want to go to belgrade, serbia,which I've I've heard very
interesting things about as acity, so I'm fascinated that
does sound fascinating.
Angela Tuell (17:33):
Um and I know this is the worst question to ask a
travel writer, but I'll ask itin a little bit of a way what,
what instead of what are yourfavorite places that you've
traveled to?
You know that have likesurprised you or ones that
really stood out.
Joanna Kalafatis (17:47):
Ooh, yeah, that is a hard question.
I'll say one of my recent onesis one that surprised me and
stood out Georgia, the country,not the state.
I also love the state, butdifferent.
No, it surprised me becausebecause, quite honestly, I
didn't know much about Georgia.
It's not a big destination forWestern tourism, so I went there
(18:08):
with few to no preconceptionsof what I was about to find and
I found a country that wasreally fascinating.
I mean, it used the kind of thecapital which I'm going to
butcher the pronunciation ofTbilisi, I want to say the
language is difficult.
It was kind of either on ornear the Silk Road and you can
(18:30):
totally tell I mean there's somuch cultural influence and
architectural influence fromlike, from Iran, from Europe,
from Turkey, from Russia.
You know, it's kind of thesmorgasbord of different
cultures that you could tellleft their mark there.
Super safe country, reallyheavy but really delicious
cuisine, really fascinating,like gorgeous mountain regions
to see.
(18:50):
I didn't know that it was theorigin of wine cultivation in
the world, so they have like anentire wine country.
Yeah, wine was first cultivatedin Georgia 8, 8 000 years ago,
so the eastern part is the likewine region right had no idea.
Um, they have like a thousandtwo thousand year old cave
complex uh what likecivilization site that people
(19:13):
lived in.
I mean, just fascinating thingsto see that I had no idea about
.
So it was definitely surprisingbecause because, like I said, I
didn't know much about it and Idon't think much is written
about it, and I absolutely lovedit, yeah.
So I have to add that to thebucket list.
Angela Tuell (19:26):
I love the places where, although I feel like I do
a lot of research so I knowmostly what to expect, but I do-
love when you're not sure whatto expect, and really going in
and and it just or not havingthose expectations.
I guess too.
I think.
Joanna Kalafatis (19:41):
Yeah, not knowing Cause.
You know there's somedestinations where it's like
obviously being there is alwaysgoing to be different and better
, but it's like I have seen somuch of you know Santorini, for
example, one of my greatdestinations.
I've seen so much of it atInstagram that when I went there
I'm like, oh yeah, this is whatI've seen.
Angela Tuell (19:57):
I get it.
Yes, this is what I've seen.
I get it, like you know.
Yes, yes, so we do need to talkabout being an actress and, um,
tell us a little bit about howthat's going.
I know that you were mostrecently on a popular streaming
service on a show, right?
Joanna Kalafatis (20:11):
on Netflix about that.
Yeah, well, so it was actuallya really great uh, opportunity,
because I have not in my lifeacted in Greek.
Before that I had done anotherGreek production, but I was
playing an American in it.
Um, so it was my first.
Basically, I I'd known thedirector for a while.
We'd been like acquaintances,friends, for about a decade.
(20:33):
Um, it's a small, you know,community of Greek entertainers
in the US and, yeah, he calledme one day saying, like I'm
writing this part, I keephearing it in your voice Can you
please audition for this?
I'm like, ok, and it wassupposed to be a guest star.
And then I got, I became aseries regular, which was a very
nice compliment for me from thecast and the director and
(20:53):
everyone.
So, yeah, the show is calledMaestro in Blue.
It's the first Greek show to onnetflix and hit the top 10 for
international shows.
Um, when it premiered so it'sdone really well like it was
wild because we're on the islandfilming and, um, I was cool
because I hadn't been in theearlier season, so I was not
recognizable when we're filmingright but tourists would come in
(21:16):
like like tourists from fromlondon and and israel and spain,
and be like oh my, oh my God,oh my God, it's the cast of
Maestro and I'm like, okay, soyou guys recognize everyone.
That's wild.
Okay, Filming in a Greek island, filming in my home country?
Really amazing.
Like I said, I had some nervesfilming in my theoretically
(21:38):
mother tongue but, like you know, I was gone for so much of my
childhood that it's I am alittle more rusty in Greek than
English, so it was a littleintimidating but, you know, went
really well.
So, honestly, just a greatexperience all around.
Angela Tuell (21:52):
Do you have any other acting things coming up?
Joanna Kalafatis (21:57):
I recently auditioned for something big and
I you know I try not to thinkabout things after I audition.
I think it went really well.
But you know, that means verylittle because there's so many
people auditioning.
You know, we'll see.
I kind of.
I've adopted a philosophy afteraudition for something I you
have to let it go, becauseyou're just going to drive
yourself insane.
And you know, sometimes you'relike oh, I haven't heard
(22:18):
anything in a month, Idefinitely didn't get it.
And then they're like oh,actually production was delayed
for eight months.
You get a call like a yearlater.
You're like what?
You never know, there's noupdates, right, there's no
updates, you get no information.
So the best thing is to justlike have fun with it, do your
audition, then move on with yourlife.
Angela Tuell (22:43):
And if you get it, they how nerve wracking.
Joanna Kalafatis (22:46):
Oh yeah, what are you proudest of in your
career so far?
Actually, you know, I'mproudest of a play I did last
year.
It was staged at the GettyVilla in LA, which is a really
awesome thing.
I didn't even know they didplays, actually, but apparently
you do plays on theme.
You know ancient themes.
So I did an original play by aplaywright, alex Liras really
talented guy that dove into theupbringing of Alexander the
(23:09):
Great, and I played his mother,Olympias, who was a huge
influence on his life.
And you know, prior to that Ihadn't been on stage in 10 years
.
So it was.
Yeah, I'd done a bunch of playsearlier in my career, but I'd
been doing mostly film and TVand it was.
(23:30):
You know, there's nothing likebeing on stage, just that live
energy, that adrenaline you getfrom the audience and from just
not having, you know, second orthird takes that you have to get
it right, right, the pressurecreates something really
beautiful.
And just the amount ofrehearsal you get, obviously in
time to explore a character,because you don't really get
that with film and tv right,you're kind of expected if you
(23:50):
get any rehearsal takes.
Yeah, not takes like anyrehearsal at all.
That's kind of amazing.
Most people won't even do that.
You just expect to be on set,know your character, know your
lines and go for it.
I don't think I knew that.
Angela Tuell (24:00):
Oh yeah, you just have to be on set know your
character, know your lines andgo for it.
I don't think I knew that.
Joanna Kalafatis (24:03):
Oh yeah, you just have to be like ready,
basically, and it's, it'samazing theater to just have
that time to explore a story anda character and to play a woman
who, to me, was so fascinatingbecause history has written her
down as very evil and, like youknow, she I mean she killed
children.
She was not like a great person,okay, but but it was
(24:23):
interesting to explore a personwho was.
She was doing the same thingsthat, like, male rulers were
doing.
It was to ensure the line ofsuccession right, everything is
to ensure the line of successionand also because her own life
would be under threat ifalexander the great were not to
become king.
She would be disposableessentially as the mother of
someone who's not in line forthe throne, um, so it was just
fascinating to go into it.
She was really intelligent andreally cunning and really just
(24:46):
played a big role in makingAlexander what he was.
And it was fascinating to gointo kind of how much it weighed
on her to be a woman at a timein history when her strengths
would never be really admired,you know, or showcased in any
way.
Angela Tuell (25:04):
That is fascinating.
Joanna Kalafatis (25:05):
Do you think you'll do?
Plays or you want to focus on Imean honestly, it's part of the
reason I moved back to New York.
I would love to do more plays,Like there is so much more
theater here and I would love todo more plays.
A hundred percent.
Angela Tuell (25:16):
Yeah Well, that's great.
What else are your?
Do you have other goals for thefuture?
Yeah, Well, that's great.
Joanna Kalafatis (25:22):
What else are your?
Do you have other goals for thefuture?
Honestly, my biggest one is I'dlike to have my own travel show
.
I am pitching a couple of ideasright now, you know, seeing how
they go, but, like I, I'dreally love to and I feel, like
you know, I I blessed to have,like those on camera, skills and
this enthusiasm and likepassion and knowledge of travel,
so I think it could combinereally well.
Angela Tuell (25:43):
You would be so fantastic at it, thank you.
What I love about your writingand your approach and you know
who you are is how down to earthand real travel advice and you
know not things that you don'tread your content and think, oh,
I couldn't do that or how wouldI do that Right, so that makes
it very valuable.
(26:03):
I love that, thank you.
Before we go, I have to askwhat is something that many
people who maybe don't know youwell might be surprised to learn
about you.
Joanna Kalafatis (26:15):
Um, I have developed flight anxiety in the
last eight years.
Angela Tuell (26:20):
Really, you know what I have later in life too.
Joanna Kalafatis (26:23):
Yeah, isn't it crazy, oh my God, I always
assumed phobias were like thingsyou were born with.
But no, you can develop them atany time apparently.
So I just had like a very badtakeoff experience going into a
developing storm of flying outof the Bahamas.
So I was it's been.
Takeoff is not good for mesince then, like until that ding
(26:44):
goes on.
I'm not, I'm not doing wellRight, and it's wild because,
people are like exactly, peoplelike you fly all the time and I
will say I will share anembarrassing story.
One time I was on a flightwhere the person next to me like
I was really just freaking out.
I was not, I was like tearingup, I was just not doing well.
Usually it doesn't get that bad, but one out of 20 times
something will just hit and itjust happens.
(27:05):
And the person next to me waslike, don't worry, planes are
really safe.
They're such a safe method oftransportation.
I'm like I know I've flownthree times this month and she
was like oh, and her expressionkind of changed Like so what's
wrong with you?
Why are you freaking out?
But it's part of what I sharewith readers.
It.
This is kind of like you said.
(27:25):
I'm really thankful you saidabout my approach, because part
of what I try to get across topeople is like I'm not
exceptionally brave oradventurous or extroverted or
anything you would think enablesme to like solo travel and do
these things.
I just try to focus on the factthat I want the experience more
than the things I'm afraid of.
So like I will get on thatplane, sometimes being in a
(27:47):
really bad mental place with itbecause I really want to explore
this new country, or I reallywant to see my family back in
Greece, or I really want tovisit my friend in whatever it
is, or I really want to go tothat job, that films in Malta or
whatever.
So, um, so I try to impressupon my readers because I don't
want my life and my travels toseem like something untouchable
and unattainable.
(28:08):
You know, I want to impress,like so many people are capable
of doing this yeah, and I thinkso many people don't realize
that you know so it's.
Angela Tuell (28:16):
Oh, I love that you're sharing that yeah yeah,
what is the best way for ourlisteners to connect with you
online?
Joanna Kalafatis (28:24):
Well, definitely to read my blog,
first and foremost atlosethemapcom and also follow me
on Instagram.
I'm most active on Instagram,JoannaKalafatis.
I'm sure it'll be uploadedsomewhere for the spelling, but
I also have a Facebook pagewhich is Lose the Map, and those
are, and I and I just started aYouTube channel.
I only have a couple of videosup, Guys, video editing is hard,
(28:46):
Um, but I did just start aYouTube channel which is also
under my name, Joanna Califatis.
Angela Tuell (28:52):
So it was a taste of a travel travel.
Uh, show right.
Joanna Kalafatis (28:55):
Yes, yes, I mean, that's part of the reason
why I'm like, I feel like Ireally want to start practicing
with this.
Angela Tuell (28:59):
Yeah, so we'll be watching and reading.
Thank you so much, Joanna.
Thank you so much.
It was really great to be here.
That's all for this episode ofMedia in Minutes, a podcast by
Communications Redefined.
Please take a moment to rate,review and subscribe to our show
.
We'd love to hear what youthink.
You can find more atcommunicationsredefinedcom slash
(29:20):
podcast.
I'm your host, Angela Tuell.
Talk to you next time.
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