29-year-old American traded life in New York City for Istanbul
In 2017, Doug BarnardAt that time, a university student made a trip to India with his mother. The experience was so effective that it finally inspired to be a full-time traveler.
“Going to India was an eye -catching experience for me. For the first time, I went to such a stimulus, very stimulating place, and for me this epiphane was to experience more,” says Barnard CNBC.
“The most exciting part was to talk to people and see how things work. Dalma really found me.”
Barnard graduated in 2018 and moved to New York to work for Walmart. At that time, he earned about $ 60,000 a year in the e-commerce industry and was definitely not his passion, although he didn’t like his job.
“I think some of my part was looking for more meaning in my job, or he says.
Since his departure from the United States, Barnard has traveled to places such as Syria, Iraq, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.
Doug Barnard
While working at Walmart, Barnard launched a Youtube channel dedicated to his travels. The first trip on his channel visited Saudi Arabia in 2020.
“At that time, Saudi Arabia was at least a mysterious country from the American perspective. It has been closed for decades and they have just opened to tourism.” “At that time, people thought I was crazy. My family asked me not to go. My grandfather offered me to pay back me. But I went for it and was great.”
Later in that year, Barnard was dismissed from Job because of his pandemi. Although others are nervous about being unemployed, Barnard saw this as an opportunity to bet on him.
“My dream was to travel full -time, to live abroad, to immerse myself in these foreign places, and to make a living from Youtube.”
Barnard moved to Istanbul in 2023.
Berkay Tunali for CNBC
From New York to Istanbul, Türkiye
About three months after his dismissal, Barnard made a one -way ticket from the United States. He arrived in Serbia in January 2021 and then traveled for two years before deciding to make Istanbul, its main base.
“I could never imagine that I would live in a place like Istanbul or travel to all the places where I was lucky enough to travel,” Barnard said, ” Says. “I found myself returning to Istanbul over and over again. It is the perfect place for what I do. The center of the world. I love language, I love culture, I love history.”
When he spent abroad, he inspired Barnard to establish a boutique tourism company. Doug Barnard Travel. They buy small groups of 8 to 10 people in cultural immersion tours of places such as Iraq, Syria and Pakistan. Barnard also offers special tours.
Barnard’s travels abroad inspired to launch a tourism business directed by customers in immersive tours.
Berkay Tunali for CNBC
Group tours start at $ 2,700 per person, and those who are included in the all -inclusive package may vary to the country. Flights are not included.
“This is really authentic travel. I mean, as real. Places like Egypt and India are amazing, but mass tourism industries are so new and a place like Iraq is so new for tourism.” “People are excited to have you. Host is outside this world and everything you see is unique.”
Barnard’s Youtube channel helped to bring the first customers of the tourism company. Most of the goals in their first videos are the place where they offer their immersive tours.
“Most of the time, people will assume we’re here, and then as a tourist, people often told us that we are there as they get excited.” Says. “They are really proud to show their country. It is really happy to see that foreigners are interested in visiting and learning them.”
Doug Barnard Travel offers tours in Syria and other places such as Iraq.
Doug Barnard
In 2024, Doug Barnard Travel organized a total of five groups of groups and revenue $ 100,100. According to the documents examined by the CNBC, Barnard’s Youtube channel business brought more revenue of $ 64,029. In the same year, Barnard was able to pay $ 83,808 a salary.
In Istanbul, Barnard, himself and his girlfriend Ilkay, two bedrooms, two and a half bathrooms live in a duplex apartment, Pay 55.000 Turkish lira or a month of 1,368,91 USD per month.
The additional monthly costs of the couple are an average of 2,000 Turkish liras or about $ 50 USD. It contains invoices such as water, electricity, internet and gas. Barnard says that Istanbul is the perfect place for him because most of his business is in the Middle East. One of the main reasons why he did not see himself returning to the USA
“The more time I spend to live in Istanbul and the more people I meet and the more good I am, the more houses it sounds like a house,” he says.
Barnard and his girlfriend İlkay live together in a duplex apartment in Istanbul.
Berkay Tunali for CNBC
More than four years have passed since Barnard has left the United States and says that traveling to the world is more than being in America.
“I think the Americans may have this impression that the whole world hates us, which is not my experience,” he says. “We have been geographically isolated in the western hemisphere there, and there are many worlds to see.”
Transformations from Euro to USD, 1 Turkish Lira was made using the transformation rate of the Oanda. 0.02 On July 12, 2025, USD. All amounts are rolling to the nearest dollars.
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