Maria Iotova


Maria Iotova is a freelance journalist, editor, and communications strategist for the travel, non-profit, and news sectors. Among others, she has written for the Huffington Post, Matador Network, and the Financial Times. After intensively exploring her home country of Greece and the UK as a journalism graduate, her obsession with unearthing untold stories took her to Ghana, where she worked for The Daily Graphic. Ever since, she has lived in South Korea, Mauritius, and Rwanda doing what she loves the most: getting out of her comfort zone. 


How the Covid-19 crisis triggered innovation and expat entrepreneurship

In June last year, the IMF had predicted a 4.9% drop in global growth for 2020 — a percentage that was revised to 4.4% in October. We are in February 2021, and there are no signs of transition to normality before this year’s third and fourth quarters. But innovation and entrepreneurship, accompanied by aspiration, discovery, and evolution are forces that cannot be suppressed until we wipe out Covid-19.

Mocha Café: For a coffee break beyond borders

When — a few weeks ago — I saw the tasteful “Coming Soon!” placard outside house number 17 on KG 439 Street, I knew something worth waiting for is being cooked behind the green gate. Vision 2020 in Gacuriro is merely a residential area, with everything that makes a suburban neighbourhood truly great: a school, a clinic, green lawns, safety, friendly neighbours, and now — its very own café. Mocha Café is not just a sign of the times that the coffee industry in Kigali is booming; it’s the destiny

The benefits of coworking spaces: Why coworkers thrive

The freelance and entrepreneurial economies are thriving, especially among the Millennials and Gen Z working population. In 2016 there were 55 million freelancers in the USA, and it’s estimated that by 2020 freelancers in the US will make 50% of the total workforce. But where do freelancers and digital nomads work? You have definitely seen them in the cafés or the park, however, with more than 10,000 coworking spaces around the world, remote work has been redefined. Here we look into the benefits of coworking spaces, the etiquette for deskmates, and we give you tips on how to choose the right coworking space for you.

Ahlem Mahroua: How I left Google to become a digital nomad

Ahlem is a blogger and the founder of Digital Nomads Media. Born in France to Algerian parents, she grew up in a multicultural environment — it's this setting that sparked her love for languages and traveling. Ahlem has lived in Mumbai, London, Madrid, Dublin, Lisbon, and currently, she lives in Barcelona. A sales manager at Google for six years in the field of online advertising and marketing, Ahlem created the site last year after leaving Google to pursue her own passions. She is a digital nomad who writes about her travel experiences and entrepreneurship on her blog.

Perry Yeatman: The benefits of living and working abroad

During the past 30 years Perry Yeatman has built the career and life of her dreams. She has worked with world leaders, such as Margaret Thatcher and Bill Clinton. She has been a senior executive at Unilever and Kraft Foods, and has led transformational projects, from Russia’s economic reform to developing the World Economic Forum’s New Vision for Agriculture. In doing so, she was travelling the world, while making a difference and being a wife and mother. Today she helps others to do the same, and talks to Expat.com about how focus, determination, hard work, and the support of others can help anyone fulfil their career and life dreams.