About Going Awesome Places
Our Mission
We help inspire and empower our readers go to some truly awesome places around the world by providing insanely detailed itineraries and travel guides that come from our first-hand experiences.
Our Inspiration
Our goal from day one has been to write honestly and genuinely to inspire others to travel. Through inspiration, we want to give our readers the tools and guidance to have similar, if not better, experiences of their own.
The only way I know how to do that is to share stories, educate, and leave no stone unturned.
Our Story
From my electrical engineering degree at the University of Waterloo, I pursued a career in consulting. I was pretty happy with my job, but at the same time, I realized my passion for it had waned and what I was learning was starting to taper off. On top of that, the living-out-of-my-suitcase life was really wearing me out.
Fast forward 4 years to December 2011. I had started to evaluate what I wanted to do, and I began to draw out an exit-strategy. A lot of that involved timing when to leave my company, the start of planning my trip to Asia, and devising the best way to use my remaining vacation days. I read Tim Ferriss’ The 4- Hour Workweek and that’s when the gears started turning.
Come April 2012, I had everything figured out and handed in my 2 weeks resignation. April 13, 2012 was my last day and what a relief it was! The only thing holding me back from leaving immediately was my friend’s upcoming wedding in May. I decided to use this time to prep, pack and see old friends.
I went home that night and quickly did some research before ultimately purchasing this domain, getting WordPress set up, and creating my first blog post.
Keep in mind that this was with only 3 days left at home. The wedding happened and then I was out of Toronto by May 21.
What I didn’t know was that the world was also reading.
It was an adventure of a lifetime and truly put a perspective on the important things in life. It was something that profoundly changed my core and gave me a renewed sense of direction.
When I eventually came back at the end of August, I reviewed the blog and how it was doing. To my surprise, I started seeing traffic come in from places I wasn’t expecting. This is when the lightbulb clicked inside and I realized that maybe there was more to all of this than an online diary.
The Evolution
Since then, it’s been a rollercoaster journey of building up the site whether it be content, social media, the brand, readership, and so much more. The big thing I realized was that blogging isn’t a sprint, it really is a marathon. Bit by bit, I kept learning and improving and all that work has culminated into what you’re seeing today.
Anyone that’s in the business knows that running a blog/channel/brand is no easy task. I learned the hard way as I went from full time blogging to a full time job. It got to the point where I was literally working two jobs. I did it for just over 2 years and eventually I just couldn’t do it anymore and knew I needed a change.
That same year, I got married to my lovely and beautiful wife, Chantelle. She’s been an integral part of the team, travelling with me on most of my trips, is my photographer, videographer, and stylist. Most important of all, she’s my biggest cheerleader
So I’ve gone full circle – quitting my job the first time to travel, starting the blog, attempting to blog full time, working a full time job, to quitting again and blogging full time. When I say rollercoaster, I mean it!
In And Out Of The Spotlight
I take our craft seriously and it’s through being members of different writing associations that allows us to be a vetted part of various professional communities where we are able to share our knowledge, count on each other for support, and to find ways to level up our skills. We’re currently a member of: Travel Media Association of Canada (TMAC), Society of American Travel Writers (SATW), Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA), and Travel Massive.
We were also proudly part of the Spring 2024 cohort of RemarkableVoices, an eight-week program empowering BIPOC creators through workshops, speakers, mentorship, and tangible skills training.
Over the years, there have been various stories written about the Going Awesome Places journey.
Here are a few to check out:
The Future
The work never ends. Since going full-time in 2017, I (and our team) have poured my heart and my soul into the business, treating it like my own mini-startup. Finding new ways to adapt through the pandemic, we’ve come out stronger and with a renewed sense of purpose.
Looking at 2025 and beyond, we’re focusing on growing our team, staying relevant in the age of AI, navigating the ups and downs of SEO, developing even better video content, putting an emphasis on long-term relationships, and creating useful travel content.
We look forward to sharing with you all the awesome places of the world.
Facts About Will
- Name: William Tang
- Ethnicity: Chinese
- Languages: English, Mandarin, and Cantonese
- Traveling since: 2007 when on an exchange to Lund University in Sweden
- Favourite places around the world: Japan, New Zealand, and French Polynesia
- Fun fact #1: I’ve applied for Amazing Race Canada but didn’t get past the second round. To make up for it, I joined Competitours for an Amazing Race style trip around Europe. This is also what lead to my IMDB credit on the documentary Tripped Up.
- Fun fact #2: I was once part of an unaired reality show by Expedia called Sinternship where they sent 6 Canadians to Las Vegas where we had to compete in challenges to win a prize. It included challenges such as driving a Ferrari on the track, being a blackjack dealer at a casino, mixing drinks at a bar, performing a magic trick on stage, learned how to tattoo, and more. Expedia Canada ultimately didn’t really do much with it but it was an incredible experience.
- Fun fact #3: I studied electrical engineering at the University of Waterloo so my education is almost a complete 180 from what I do now, but it probably explains why project management and communication such a big part of campaigns we work on.
How To Reach Us
You can reach us through our contact page or you can find us on the numerous social media platforms that we’re part of. For sponsorship, rate card, and PR inquiries, please head to our Collaborate page.
