Traveling the world leads to incredible events that you would not see

Introduce yourself in a few words..

My name is Desislava Olovanova, so far almost my entire professional path has been in advertising and communications, I am happy that under my leadership the team of the agency I manage won for the first time in Bulgaria the most prestigious advertising award – a lion in Cannes (Cannes Lion). I am a mother of 3 children, I have 3 dogs that make traveling very challenging. I have valuable and deep friendships with people who live all over the world, and this is one of the reasons for traveling. One of my closest friends is a professor in Japan and travels often for conferences and research on Eastern culture and theater in the Far East. Thanks to her, I have seen and immersed myself in many distant cultures in a way that few people can do. I love to travel for work, to exhibitions, conferences, because this type of experience “syncs the clock” and opens new horizons, including meetings with people. Traveling long distances, of course, is always a journey to oneself, and that is why it is healthy to practice regularly.

What does traveling the world mean to you?

I am from the generation that spent its childhood behind the iron curtain, traveling abroad was a forbidden pleasure and this sharpened our appetite for travel. Then the curtain fell, but visas and the financial inability to travel, especially far, remained. This made us travelers at heart, always ready to jump and leave with pleasure if the opportunity arises. But it also instilled in us a curiosity about the world, I cannot imagine visiting a place and not exploring all its known and unknown attractions. Every time I realize how different the next generations are in this regard, for them traveling is a given. Traveling for me is a necessity and as long as I can, I will travel.

How many different countries have you seen so far? Tell us an interesting story or highlights from your travels?

So far I have been to 40 countries and in many of them I have funny stories. I lived in Albania and Lebanon for a while, and these are story-generating places. I love to tell the story of Madame Barbier, an elderly Romanian woman who married a Lebanese man in her youth, later became a widow, who lived on the front “green line” in Beirut during the most intense war. My father and I would visit her from time to time when there were no shootings. She lived with a rather large monkey named Chita. When there were shootings, Madame Barbier would play the piano. She refused to move from her home despite the danger from shells. Chita, the monkey, was a passionate smoker and when we visited her, we brought her cigarettes. For the first time, I saw a monkey smoking there. All of this seemed as surreal as it sounds. Such an experience, which one can only gain by traveling, prepares you to expect absolutely everything from life. Subsequently, it turned out to be useful knowledge.

Do you like to repeat destinations? Give examples and motivation “for” or “against”?

Yes, I love to return to places where it is nice. In Spain I have a house in a beautiful reserve almost by the ocean and I never get enough of being there, every time I travel there, I rejoice like a child at Christmas. Every time I return, I feel sad. I am still not satiated with this wonderful place, which, because it is a reserve, is so “natural,” as my little daughter says, that you never get enough of being there. One day I hope to go there to live permanently. But now work is in Sofia and there is no way. Still, it is important to say that I love Sofia, I feel at home here. In recent years, more and more often on returning from a trip, I am happy to be home. It is a wonderful refuge, we do not realize this, but more than half of the world does not have drinking water from the tap, paved streets, qualified medical assistance. I know that many people will laugh at this statement, but the world is far from just Europe. Where will I not return? Two weeks ago I thought that I would never return to Nepal. There I experienced quite a few unpleasant things like in the movies. I got seriously ill from a virus, it is so dirty there that it is hard to protect yourself, things were quite bad, I lay in a hotel without air conditioning in hellish heat with a fever, my friend managed to get me in a state to Kathmandu by taxi also without air conditioning, on some hellish roads in the heat, stench, and traffic jams, I was gasping for breath in the back seat and vomiting in bags… Maybe we caught a bad season – the beginning of the monsoon rains, when it is hot and humid. But despite the physical discomfort, Nepal turned me upside down. I do not believe in spiritual cleansings and similar things, I do not practice yoga or meditation and I do not get carried away by Eastern spirituality. This overturning was on a physical level and as a result – also on an emotional level. Nepal brought me new dreams that I had never dreamed before, new tastes – I started eating things that I had not before, new calmness. We saw the living goddess Kumari, they have such a one, she is a child of about 10 years old and is chosen on the same principle as the Dalai Lama. She blessed us, which happens extremely rarely and not with tourists. It was an unforgettable trip and although while I was there, I decided that I would never return, two weeks later I was already thinking about whom I would take to Nepal. 

What was your first trip that truly changed you as a professional and can be said to have changed your thinking?

I do not think anything has changed me to such an extent that I returned with new insights and different views. But in a professional sense, my first big lessons related to travel were visits to the advertising festival in Cannes. I have been going there since the beginning of the first decade of the 21st century, every time it is an incomparable professional experience, pulling you forward by a few years.

What do you learn about yourself and your professional skills, when you are in a new cultural environment?

I learned the most about our professional level from global or regional meetings of the advertising group we are part of, they are one of the largest in the world, the tools they use have been created over decades and this, of course, is extremely interesting and impressive for us.

Have you met people or ideas during your travels that have influenced your career path?

Not really.

Do you think that traveling helps you expand your professional network? How?

Traveling provides such an opportunity. But it must be purposefully related to professional events, exhibitions, conferences, the world offers surprising meetings that can turn into partnerships, opportunities, career developments.

What skills do you develop the most when you travel, and how do they affect your work?

I mainly absorb foreign experience. I always willingly or unwillingly compare with our experience, I strive not to fall into overly literal comparisons, because not all practices that work somewhere will work for us as well. I will give you an example. I was for a week on an exchange in Prague as part of a PR training. I was completely amazed at how PR professionals work there. The pace is significantly calmer, but the big difference is that at that time there was no option to pay to enter as a brand with PR content in a given media. You can, but there is a big sign that it is a paid publication, which makes PR meaningless. This made entry with an interview or in another way into editorial content a very valuable achievement with visible results for the brand. Thus, colleagues worked on a single article for a month or more, investing many hours of communication, attention, and most importantly active communication with journalists. And these journalists, even though not paid for this content, showed strong professional interest and attention, polished every detail, and valued every piece of information. Unfortunately, not all media in Bulgaria work this way, it was interesting for me to see another experience in a different environment.

Is there a city or country that has inspired you to start a new business or project?

Yes, it is very strange, but there is. We wanted to create an influence marketing company back in 2016, we had decided it and were thinking about the name of the company. I arrived in Hamburg for a ceremony of some major tourism awards, where we won the big award for a tourism clip, and while I was wandering the streets, I saw a sign and boom – I invented the name we use to this day. There at the very ceremony of these awards, I learned a lot about organizing ceremonies, the kind that I like.

When you are in an unfamiliar country, do you feel more motivated or more distracted? Why?

Traveling always fills you with energy because it changes your stereotypes, stimulates your brain, affects all your senses. I suppose everyone of us has experienced a surge of energy and inspiration when returning from a trip. The bad thing is that the routine at home quickly kills them. On the road, I have made some of the most radical decisions and I do not regret them. Traveling is a way to step aside from yourself and think more objectively about the circumstances.

Are there destinations that act as a “restart” for your creativity and ambition?

Every new destination is such. Every place that reverses your perceptions – is too. I will give another example with Nepal or Mexico. These are caste countries where the “social elevator” does not work. It is almost impossible to escape from your predetermined fate from birth. In Bulgaria, it is not like that – opportunities lurk everywhere, I am not saying it is easy, but it is possible to succeed, no matter where you start. Especially if you are young.

How do you manage the balance between work and pleasure, when you travel?

Three times in my life I have not worked while traveling – one was when I went for 1 month to Mexico, I was at the beginning of something new, but I trusted my colleagues and stayed with my phone off and without internet the whole time. The world did not end during that time. The other such trip was in Japan – it was years ago, I could not connect my phone to the internet, which was for the best. In China, my husband and I wandered around with a backpack on our backs and again we were not focused on work. But in most cases, I travel with a laptop and work a little, sometimes even more. I absolutely love to work on a plane, three to four hour flights are optimal. No one calls you on the phone, there is nowhere to stand up and go, you get a lot of work done!

How have travels changed the way you perceive the value of money?

I have been traveling for a very long time and what I have learned over all these years is that money should be earned and spent, because if you just save it, you lose it. Or of course – it should be invested. So many things have happened over these years, we have changed as travelers. In my first travels, I had never seen a bank card and did not believe that I would ever have one. I traveled with cash and very little, our standard of living in Bulgaria was so much lower than in most countries that it was almost impossible to go abroad. I will never forget how in Japan at the airport I paid for a one-way ticket for the metro to Tokyo (the cheapest alternative), which was ¼ of my mother’s salary at that moment. Then gradually things started to change. Now in Spain, shopping at a nice supermarket is 30-40% cheaper than in Bulgaria. A hotel in the Alps is at a similar price as in Bansko. Even Greece in its northern part is becoming a little cheaper than Bulgaria. I do not say this with reproach and I do not complain about it. Our incomes are not high, but these are positive processes for me, we are becoming a normal European country. When you are equal to others, you start to value money more, now with it you can do so many things! And this will gain even more meaning when we finally switch to the euro.

Do you think it is better to spend on experiences, rather than on material possessions?

Sometimes material possessions bring great experiences. For example, if you invest in surf equipment and learn to ride it, it unlocks endless possibilities for experiences. “Chasing the wind” among surfers and kiters is a reason for many exotic travels. And the group of people who practice water sports is affluent and very interesting, i.e. you can make many meaningful and promising contacts. So, I personally have never been able to separate material possessions and experiences. I believe that both bring wonderful emotions and that is why I work actively all my life, so that I can enjoy them as much as I can.

How do you see the future of digital nomadic life?

I am a huge supporter of it. I believe that a happy person works better than an unhappy one. Traveling is a way to be more satisfied, than going to an office from 9 to 6. Unfortunately, however, AI is gradually displacing precisely those professions that are compatible with nomadism. “Settled” professions remain – craftsman, work in a restaurant, doctor, etc. Otherwise, employers, if they have the option to hire people remotely, should not hesitate, this is a huge opportunity, thus you choose from a much larger pool of people, but then the question of proper selection arises.

Are there specific countries that are more favorable for work and investments?

I suppose these are developed countries, but there competition is huge. Any country where there is no mafia, has security and functioning regulations and has a developed workforce is suitable for investments.

If you could choose one place in the world to develop your next big idea, where would it be and why?

My next idea is again related to Bulgaria, I have not yet exhausted the possibilities here.

What are the destinations you would definitely recommend to be visited and why?

Kenya – Masai Mara, to see the savannah and the wild animals in it, it is unknown how long they will be there. Paris in autumn – because I have never seen anything more magnificently beautiful. China – the Celestial Empire is an unique place and must be seen. Argentina and Buenos Aires – because it is a time machine to a lost beauty.

What is the career advice you would give based on what you have seen around the world?

As they say – let’s not confuse tourism with emigration. Career development is difficult and even painful at times, and what helps a lot is to love your job. I believe that those people succeed who go to work with pleasure on Monday morning. If it’s not like that for you – first look for the reasons within yourself. Nothing guarantees you that at the next job it will be good for you. Go to some very poor country, stay there, it always helps. It gives you the motivation to appreciate what you have, and it opens your eyes to the opportunities, that you do not use.