Expat Next Door: Willian Benetti from Brazil

Living in beautiful Prague has been an inspiration to many. Expat Willian Benetti decided to share the beauty around him on his upcoming social media account @whereinprague, to inspire locals as well as tourists.

Almost five years ago, Brazilian-born Willian Benetti made the brave decision to move to the center of Europe: Prague.

“I remember my first day here I went to Old Town square and I was so impressed. I thought to myself: this is the prettiest city ever.” The pretty looks are not the only thing that Willian fell for, “My favorite thing about Prague is the atmosphere. Before I moved here, I spoke to a friend who had already visited Prague and she told me the atmosphere was a mix of mysterious and magic, that it was unique. And that’s exactly what I felt when I got here.” 

Moving to a new country doesn’t come without challenges, and the language was not the only difficult thing to get used to. “Before moving here, I never knew the lack of sun would have such a big impact on my mood,” Willian explains. Luckily the challenges did not take away from Prague’s beauty, and Willian wanted to share his piece of Prague with the rest of the world through his Instagram account @whereinprague.

The idea to start @whereinprague came to Willian’s mind quickly after moving,

“When I arrived here I was really impressed with the city, but I was also looking for places to go as an English speaker, places to visit, and new experiences to have. I am also very connected to Instagram, and I couldn’t find any content creator that was sharing these things in Prague. It was an idea that I always had in the corner of my mind, and I thought once I am more stable here and decide to stay, this is something that I could do.” It wasn’t until COVID hit that the idea became reality, and @whereinprague has been growing ever since with regular content being shared on Instagram as well as TikTok.

 

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Un post condiviso da Where in Prague (@whereinprague)

The content creator life pleases Willian well, “I love to connect with people, and it gives me reason to explore.” Discovering new places and having new experiences have been a highlight of starting the social media account, and it has inspired many locals and tourists to explore in Prague.

“I also like to share places that are not on social media. Places that people might not even know existed,” Willian explains, which might be one of the reasons for its success; but positive feedback has also come from his tone of voice, “I don’t want to do anything formal; I want to give recommendation as if I were to talk to a friend.”

Willian is doing well with his social media account, but there is always room to grow. “I would love to be a reference for people that are looking for things to do,” Willian mentions when talking about his goal. He also hopes to improve his Czech to potentially share some more Czech content on his channel as well.

Willian’s time in Prague is far from over, so there will be many more recommendations to share and time to grow, “Prague was the first place in Europe where I felt at home, which is why I decide to stay.”