Traveling is not a luxury anymore, it’s a necessity. That’s what Egyptian globetrotter, Fady Hanna, told his audience in his first public speaking event in which he discussed his “Around The World” journey to 86 countries and the problems that prevent Egyptians from travelling.
The event was organised by the newly established online Arabic travel portal SafarProject, which is a channel for Egyptian travellers to write and describe their travel experience to support travellers finding relevant information about countries they want to visit.
SafaProject aims to help those who don’t know how to start traveling by providing them with travel hacks, tips, secrets, and guides. The websites provides information in the form of easy to read and jargon-free articles that discuss issues like visa, accommodation, transportation, hot spots to go to, and other travel related topics.
“It all started when I was solo traveling to Europe for the first time,” said Abdelrahman Amr, SafarProject’s founder. “Since I was traveling alone I had to do a perfect research. I found all the information I needed but it was all in English. Not a lot of content was available in Arabic.” When Amr returned, he wanted to share what he learned and help others know about the countries he visited and how he put together his whole trip.
Later, the idea evolved to include sharing information from anyone who travelled. “For Egyptians, traveling is a project that needs a lot of steps and a proper plan. That’s how we came up with the name, because unlike other nationalities, our passport is not very helpful when it comes to getting a visa,” he added. “We want to make it easier for people to find such information.”
The event’s main speaker, Hanna, came to prove that traveling with an Egyptian passport is possible and that he’s a good example for that. In 10 years, Hanna managed to visit over 40% of the world by visiting 86 countries. “I want to visit all 193 countries that are members of the UN,” Hanna explained.
Hanna also illustrated how he did that using his annual vacations and national holidays every year. He also discussed how he saves money everyday for his trips. “You decide where your money goes, before buying anything you have to think about whether the product or service you’re buying is going to have a positive impact on your life or not.”
Even Hanna’s father, who was present at the event, took the microphone for a second to say that his son pays for all his trips himself.
“When I first started, I travelled to countries that are not very expensive to go to. As time passed, I was promoted to better positions in my job, thus my salary increased and so did my travels. I started going to more expensive countries,” Hanna added.
The 28-years-old traveler has already planned going to country number 87, Uganda, one day after the event. He is determined and won’t stop until he reaches his goal to be the first Egyptian to visit every country in the world.
The goal of his trips are not just personal, Hanna wants to be an inspiration for all those who are afraid to begin exploring the world.
