Manuella Penev is a 32-year-old marketing, project management, and operations professional who thrives somewhere between spreadsheets and spontaneity. She plans her trips down to the last detail, but she’s more than happy to abandon the plan the moment something better comes along.
For now, she's calling South Africa home, though "home" is a loose term for someone whose curiosity about food, travel and people keeps pulling her somewhere new.
We caught up with her to find out where she travels to most, how Shyft changed the way she travels, and what she's excited to explore next.
Q: You travel frequently. Tell us where in the world you visit the most, and why?
I travel as frequently as my budget allows [chuckles]. The two places I visit most are Bulgaria and Thailand.
Bulgaria, because I still have family there, especially my grandmother, whom I make a point of visiting whenever I can. It’s become even more special to me because my partner proposed to me in my family’s hometown during a trip in 2024.
And Thailand, because it was the first country my partner and I travelled to together back in 2015, when we finished studying.
It’s one of the few places where the rand is still slightly in your favour and, despite visiting multiple times, we still feel like we’ve barely scratched the surface of everything the country has to offer.
Q: You've previously requested that Shyft add an interest-bearing account, and that request has been granted. How have you been using Vault?
I actually haven’t dabbled in it just yet. I’m patiently waiting for a USD or EUR interest-bearing account to be added first.
Q: You say Shyft changed your life. What difference has it made?
I’ve been in situations where I was in another country and my bank was an absolute nightmare. I couldn’t make payments, access my account, or even speak to someone. Telephonic support still relies on network reception, so if you’re dealing with a network issue, you’re basically stuck.
Every time that’s happened, Shyft has been my safety net. I’ve never had issues accessing my funds, but if I do, the customer support team is always available.
The fact that I can chat to them via WhatsApp is genuinely a game-changer, and the waiting times aren’t long either.
I can’t stress enough how important this is. It might sound dramatic, but when you’re in a foreign country and suddenly need to sort something out, seamless payments and reliable access to your funds become everything. It’s easy to overlook until you don’t have it, and then it can completely derail your experience.
Q: Which Shyft features have become your go-tos?
My biggest go-tos are exchanging and buying currencies. It’s made managing money while travelling so much simpler and far less stressful because I can move between currencies quickly and easily without feeling stuck.
Q: Have you ever dabbled in Shyft’s investment features?
Not yet, but that’s the next step in my Shyft journey. I started out using it mainly for travel and managing currencies, but now I’m really excited to explore the investment side of the app too.
Q: If we topped up your Shyft wallet with $1 000 right now, where are you heading and who’s coming with?
If I’m completely honest, I’d probably put it straight into investments so I can finally explore that side of Shyft.
But if I’m not allowed to be practical, I’d head straight to Holambra in Brazil. South America has been on my list for a while now, but it’s one of those trips that takes a proper chunk of planning and budget, so it’s been patiently waiting.
And I’d definitely take my partner, Josh, with me. No matter where we end up, travelling with him is always an adventure.
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