Kazi Asma Azmery, a traveler by passion, always looks forward to learning new things from new people and new culture. This is what she finds most exciting about travelling. Despite a lot of challenges and stereotypical ideas she did not stop doing what she loves to do. As a result she has already finished travelling 100 countries. Of late, this good-looking adventurer opened up about her journey so far:

How did you grow this passion of travelling?

“Actually I like to travel since my childhood. I am from a really small city, Khulna. Lots of my relatives used to travel abroad and when I saw them I used to say it to myself – okay, I also want to go there. Meanwhile my mother is a good storyteller. I have heard the stories of Ibn Battuta from her. Those tales inspired me a lot to be a traveler and one day I just started exploring the world.”

How many countries have you already been to?

“I have already travelled hundred countries. I completed my century by travelling to Turkmenistan on 29 October 2018. I have become a century-club member and it’s really prestigious and a big deal for me because I have travelled all those countries holding Bangladeshi passport. Moreover I am the first person from the 165 million people dwelling in this country to have travelled hundred countries.”

What’s the most rewarding experience for you when it comes to traveling?

“The most mentionable aspect is that I am learning. While travelling I have learned how to be a good human being and broad-minded. Of course, there are so many good things in our Bangladeshi culture but our culture does not teach us minor details such as how to use the bin and how to say sorry if I do something wrong. I have learned such things from other cultures around the world. So, I am learning to be a kind and self-content person because of travelling.”

Do you face any challenge while traveling outside just because you are a woman?

“I never felt any challenge as a woman outside the country except during the first one or two years of my travelling experience as my bags were heavy (with a laughter) at that time! But I had to face a big challenge in my own society. Till 2017 I had big fight with my relatives, cousins, friends and other acquaintances. They used to think that I have a very good future and I am ruining it by doing something crazy like traveling. But now they appreciate me.”

When people go nearer to nature, they feel very philosophical. So philosophically speaking, do you find travelling as an expression of freedom?

“Yeah, I think traveling opportunity for a woman from Bangladesh is a big freedom because they cannot go outside so often. For example- earlier whenever I wanted to travel to Dhaka from Khulna, I had to come with my cousins. So I didn’t have the freedom. But when I started exploring the world, I found my freedom. That freedom really made me discover the world.”

So how do you feel when you represent your country?

“I love to represent my country and I feel proud to do so. My friends always forget my name, so they call me by ‘Miss Bangladesh’. It makes me so proud. I keep telling my friends that Bangladesh is the first country in the world where people sacrificed their lives for their mother tongue.”

While travelling you must have to face unknown people and cultures. How do you cope up with such situations?

“No, I don’t find it difficult because I like to meet new people. Moreover all the travelers are friendly. We don’t have any separate identity. The only identity that we share is that we are all travelers.”

Do you want to share a very memorable but weird experience for the readers.

“I was once going to Honduras with one of my friends who was a Chinese. We were looking for a taxi to go to the bus station. We asked the taxi driver in broken Spanish about the fare. He demanded fifteen (15) dollars but we mistook it for fifty (50) dollars because of language barrier. So we started bargaining with the driver to fix the fare at twenty (20) dollars. So after the negotiation when we got on the car and we were talking among ourselves in English, the driver said to us, ‘Oh, you guys can speak English, you didn’t tell me that. I was asking for fifteen dollars many times but you guys are interested to give me twenty.’ We were looking at ourselves and thinking that we were so stupid.”

Last but not least, do you want to say something for the women of our country (as many of them are scared of going outside and something like adventuring is far beyond their dreams)?

“We have to change our mindset. It’s all in the mind. If you want to be self-dependent, explore and have money, then you should explore the world and meet local people. However for the solo travelers like me I will request them to avoid India as some places of India are not safe for the solo travelers.”