The Team

Laura

Head of Content & Product

Laura is a multi-talent. She's a trained graphic designer, has worked as a project manager, and loves structure and Excel spreadsheets. Funny combination, right? We think so too, and we love it — because that makes Laura the perfect team player. Which is also why she leads our content team.

Fun Fact

Laura really takes advantage of remote work. She's constantly joining our calls from somewhere new, so many conversations start with: "Laura, where are you this time?" "Oh, I'm in Budapest, Istanbul, Georgia…"

Favorite destinations

• Italy
• Japan
• New York

Natalie

Head of Marketing & Sales

Natalie's job here is to make sure everyone (yes, really everyone!) soon knows about 22places and that we have the coolest, most helpful travel tips in the world. Absolutely no pressure, Natalie! Hehe. But we're not worried — Natalie not only studied marketing, she also gathered plenty of hands-on know-how with her own handmade business. She used to be out exploring the wider world, but ever since becoming a mom of two, she travels more in Germany and around Europe. But watch out, dear Natalie — we're definitely going to change that, and soon.

Fun Fact

She loves electronic music and hits up festivals and raves every year.

Superpower

Natalie has a built-in family-travel compass. She plans trips so that both kids and parents are happy, and finds special accommodations and places that her friends often end up recreating one-to-one. When she's not crafting travel plans, she's making sure in marketing that everyone soon has 22places on their radar.

Favorite destinations

• Azores
• Sweden

Julie

Head of Revenue

Julie is our right hand and our left. We have a new idea, and Julie does everything to make it happen. When the question comes up in our team calls, "Who's doing this?" the answer is usually "Julie!"

Fun Fact

Julie knew Jenny long before Basti did (sorry, Basti!) — the two of them lived together back in their student days in the Netherlands and Berlin.

Superpower

Julie can sleep anywhere, anytime. Sounds unspectacular — but it's actually a pretty genius superpower.

Favorite destinations

• Norway
• Canada

Larissa

Content Manager

Larissa originally comes from classic local journalism and has interviewed stars like Eko Fresh, Mia Julia, and Kim Wilde (anyone still remember her?). But what she loves writing about even more are her travel experiences — and there are quite a few. Her biggest dream? Visiting every country in the world. She's already done a third. Wild, right?

Fun Fact

Larissa's apartment in Cologne looks like a souvenir shop. In every country she visits, she picks up at least one of those kitschy keepsakes: the Eiffel Tower from Paris, a Mayan temple from Guatemala, or a puffin from the Faroe Islands. But what she loves bringing home most are those colorful little decorative plates.

Superpower

Larissa is our master of travel efficiency. She's got a built-in scan mode for the best value, and she'll guaranteed find the cheapest flights, accommodations, and authentic food. Her superpower is her perfect timing: she fits the full sightseeing program — including a relaxation break — into record time.

Favorite destinations

• Thailand
• Greece
• Costa Rica

Tina

Content Manager

Tina travels and travels and travels. One minute she's in France, suddenly she's in Portugal, and whoosh — South America. From every one of these places, she brings back wonderful tips and writes them up for us. Back when she was a working student, she was apparently also studying on the side. Now she's fully on the team.

Fun Fact

Tina isn't just a great writer, she's also a serious athlete and a language talent. She already speaks fluent Italian and Portuguese. Now she's also learning Spanish and French. When she finds the time for all this, we have no idea. Which kind of supports the theory that she wasn't actually studying. How else would she have all this time to learn languages?

Superpower

Tina is the expert for places that often get overlooked on the world map. Whether East Timor, Uganda, or Uruguay — she travels to where hardly anyone else goes. She's happiest alone, athletic, and just with a backpack.

Favorite destinations

• South America

Jaike

Content Manager

Jaike is literally a true island child. She was born as the very last baby on the island of Juist — crazy, right? Her love for icy winds and rugged coasts was basically baked into her from day one. Even though she now lives in Cologne, it's the dark and mystical places that top her travel bucket list. The perfect addition to our sun-loving team.

Fun Fact

Fitting with her dark travel destinations, Jaike is also a total true-crime fan. Ask her about any case — chances are she'll tell you the whole story behind it.

Superpower

Jaike has a built-in creepy radar. She's basically the master of travel's darker side. No matter how sunny the destination, she'll find the eerie corners, secret libraries, dusty bookshops, and anything that screams vintage, mystery, and goosebumps.

Favorite destinations

• Great Britain
• Amsterdam

Anna

Content Manager

Anna started with us as a working student and is now full-time on the team. She writes about her own travels and makes sure our trips end up in lots of great and helpful articles. Basti and I have a habit of putting that off, you see. She constantly impresses us with her superpower: she finds at least three typos in every article that no one else spotted.

Fun Fact

Anna obviously loves traveling too. But when she absolutely won't travel is during Carnival. No way! She dances in the guard, sews her own costumes, and wouldn't dream of leaving the country at that time of year.

Superpower

Anna's superpower is being our travel safety net. When something goes sideways on a trip, she instantly switches into plan-B mode and pulls a cool alternative out of her sleeve. She turns changed plans into new favorite moments.

Favorite destinations

• Indonesia
• Greece

Linda

Editorial Assistant

Linda, one of our loyal readers, thought to herself one day: "Why not just apply?" Said and done! Her contagious enthusiasm for 22places won us over right away. Lucky for us, she's a serial abstainer — no TV, no streaming. Perfect! That way she still has time alongside her event-management job to support our team.

Fun Fact

When Linda isn't working or out in nature, she loves crafting. And she's the kind of person who happily tries everything once. Does that include wood carving? We're going to have to investigate that one.

Favorite destinations

• USA
• Austria

Ilkay

Editorial Assistant

Ilkay woke up one morning and thought: hey, I love traveling. I'll just reach out to 22places today and ask if I can become part of their team. Of course her actual application was a bit more detailed than just that sentence, but lo and behold: good ideas often pay off.

Fun Fact

Ilkay loves sports, but most of all she loves trying out new ones constantly. We're just hoping she doesn't run out of ideas for new sports. If she ever does, she could fall back on her love for musical instruments — because there too, she hasn't settled on just one: piano, guitar, trumpet — Ilkay plays them all.

Favorite destinations

• Indonesia
• Philippines

Helen

Editorial Assistant

Fun Fact

Helen comes from Bad Dürkheim — a real wine region. Every year, her hometown hosts the largest wine festival in the world. So no wonder she has a very special mission when she travels: testing local wine. Purely out of cultural interest, of course.

Superpower

Helen always finds the best sunset spots — and if something goes sideways on a trip, she's the Queen of Plan B (and Plan C, and D, while she's at it).

Favorite destinations

• Spain
• Sri Lanka

Marie

Social Media Assistant

Fun Fact

Marie used to dislike coffee. These days, she needs more time in the morning for her coffee routine than for everything else. Grind size, temperature, timing — without the perfect coffee, there's no perfect start. (Priorities matter.)

Superpower

When everything goes haywire on a trip, Marie stays deeply chill. Missed the train? Lost accommodation? Plan blown up? No problem. Marie stays in zen mode and calmly finds a solution.

Favorite destinations

• Greece
• Spain
• Italy

Lena

Media Designer

We met Lena in Fuerteventura — and ever since, she's become an essential part of our daily routine (and our team). She supports us with whatever needs to get done. Because Lena is a true jack-of-all-trades: on the island, she's already worked for a surf school, in hospitality, and in events. On top of that, she's a trained media designer and educator — our kids adore her (rightfully so). Long story short: whatever she can't do today, she'll figure out by tomorrow.

Fun Fact

Lena is from Switzerland, switches at lightning speed between Swiss German and standard German — and simply never gets cold. While the rest of us are squeezing ourselves into thick wetsuits, she's still jumping into the water in a bikini. Maybe not getting cold is a Swiss thing?

Superpower

When everything falls apart, plans get thrown overboard, or things simply don't go as they should, Lena keeps the overview. Whether through navigation, flexible adjustments to excursions, or rebooking accommodations — whatever doesn't fit in the moment, Lena makes fit.

Favorite destinations

• Fuerteventura
• Morocco
• Colombia
• Vietnam