Is there a better way to conclude the DODEQA Project than introducing you a new trip-project? I don’t think so! Here is Aline Mayard’s Yallah Bye project, a great initiative that will take her to Middle East for a couple of months. Interview!
Hey Aline, tell us about yourself!
After my business school, I travelled for 3 months, mostly by myself in North America and started blogging. From that moment on, I knew I had to go bigger. After a year and a half at Buzzcar, a collaborative consumption car sharing startup, I decided to do a “real” blog about the Middle-East.
What is Yallah Bye about?
It’s about my 4 months tour of the Middle-East and everything positive that’s happening there. Of course, I’m talking about traveling and what’s they’re to see in this region. But, my main focus is the people and their creativity, their dynamism. I highlight handcraft, design, art etc. I select some objects with a word and a picture of their creator and people can buy them.
Why did you engage in such a project and why did you choose Middle East?
It started with a friend living in this region. The more she talked about her life, the more I realized I knew nothing of it, and everything she was telling me intrigued me. This region was not just about conflicts and religion, people lived there, life was happening, people were moving on, creating a new world. I wanted to go discover that by myself and share what I would discover.
You launched a KissKissBankBank campaign to crowdfund the project: how is it going?
I reached my goal! It was not as easy as I thought though. Preparing wisely the page took a lot of time, talking about it and explaining the project without being too pushy was also tricky. But all in all, I’m glad that people believed in the project and chose to help it. Now, I have to work on the rewards. That’s going to be something too.
Can we follow YallahBye through other channels than your website?
Of course, Yallah Bye is on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. But I will also be speaking at Le Mouv, a French radio, regularly. You can hear some participations here.
Hey Aline, I really love what you are up to and I hope everything will not got as expected (it would be boring) but very well anyway! Have fun and enjoy this great area of the globe!
