Have you seen pictures of the Rocky Mountains before? The super high peaks, the low valleys and the rocky cliffs in between. Ambitious sommets reaching for the sky in full confidence. Thick fog that might temporarily blur your vision or even discourage you. On your way up, you might get bruised or cut, but you look around and the view is absolutely worth it. You stand there, in a moment of self-reflection, and you’re glad that you kept going; you’re proud that you made it eventually despite everything. That is pretty much how our first year as Wantotrip has been. Full of ups and downs, endless challenges, but every now and then we make a leap forward and successfully hit a new milestone. And right then, all the trouble, all the blood and sweat feels worth it.
After years of traveling and reflecting, Makram Hermassi and Chahrazed Remadi have finally made the decision to lay the first foundation stone and pursue their dream of creating their startup Wantotrip. It was at that moment that the journey of a thousand footsteps began. On September 20th 2019, Wantotrip was officially founded, consisting of an international E-travel platform that bridges between talented community leaders ( content creators, Youtubers, Instagamers… ) and their like-minded communities of followers to share their passions in thematic trips fully designed and operated by our expert partners around the globe. The following month, it was granted the startup label from the ministry of Communication Technologies and Digital Transformation.
The project started as an idea and it traveled with Makram and Chahrazed for quite a while. Wantotrip the dream found its essence in their rich experience; and the whole process of building the foundation of the startup happened as they traveled through Asia. When Wantotrip got the startup label in October, Mak&Cha were exploring Vietnam, and then during the very same month, they got accepted into the Flat6lab accelerator program while traveling in Borneo.
Upon receiving the news, they returned to Tunisia. The real work has officially begun! A team of ambitious young people was put together, ready to conquer the world with unusual, adventure-driven and adrenaline-pumping experiences. And a number of community leaders were on board to host those trips and lead us on these exciting journeys.
The first few trips were organised, booked and very highly-anticipated by the participants. We traveled to Indonesia, in October 2019, with Rahalista where we made the ascent to the majestic Mount Rinjani. Mak&Cha hosted trips to Northern Vietnam, Sulawesi in Indonesia, the golden Tunisian Sahara, all the way to Tanzania, where we lived the true safari experience. And Selsem hosted a trip in February to the beautiful Philippines where our group of adventurers had an absolute blast. We hiked Cebu’s Osmeña Peak, tried canyoneering and swam with white sharks; we visited Bohol’s Chocolate Hills and Tarsier Sanctuary; and felt the excitement of Virgin Island Hopping in El-Nido. We have seen it all.
Our team was working with such relentless motivation and strong drive. Then, it happened. The Covid-19 crisis hit us with its first blow. All international borders closed. No more international flights. Lockdown was enforced. Social distancing became a thing. Six months after launch, we were faced with our first major challenge. This was the time to be really creative. And creative we were! Our co-founder Chahrazed has had the brilliant idea of creating a travel-themed board game, and this was the call to finally concretize it.
Over the next few months, our team worked relentlessly on refining the concept of the game; creating the game questions, rules and designs; and figuring out a smart marketing strategy. We were hopeful that the crisis must come to an end at some point, and we had to get ready for when it would be time to resume our international trips. So we continued working on new itineraries for new destinations. Our website was also under construction. There was plenty of work for us to keep us busy during the difficult times of quarantine. Several weeks later, when restrictions started to loosen up, we were feeling a bit more relieved.
June was a high time for Wantotrip. Early that month, we moved to our new office, officially known as: Wantotrip House. And by the end of June, we announced the release of our board game Wantotrip: Le Tour du Monde. Yes, we were back to business!
The closed borders didn’t stop us from doing what we love best: camping, hiking, diving, paintball wars and all sorts of outdoor activities. We decided to invite our community to share these great moments with us. On June 20th, we hosted our first local event: Stand Up & Chill in Sidi Bou Said with Mak&Cha, followed by a day of photography and biking activities, then came the horseback riding in Belvedère, and many many camping events in Bizerte, Rass Fartass, El Kef, Testour, etc. We sailed on board a catamaran and explored the beautiful archipelago Kerkennah with Mak&Cha; we reconnected with ourselves during yoga sessions with Mayssaa; and we caught the Milky Way and captured stunning pictures on our cameras with the Vmaker from atop Jughurta tableland and the hills of the beautiful Berber village Chenini.
Twenty events and many campfires later, our passion keeps growing day after day. Today, we are back to organising international trips and are looking forward to our upcoming 2021 adventures. Our website was launched in October 2020. Our board game has proved to be a great crowd pleaser. It is being delivered all across the nation, orders can be placed from anywhere around the world too, and we are beyond happy by the feedback we receive every day. And very soon, we will be officially opening our Wantotrip Travelers Club and welcoming our community to our House.
The year 2020 has surely not been easy on our newly-launched startup, but we couldn’t be more proud of the progress we have made so far. We overcame challenges and reached important milestones despite the hardships. We are grateful for Chahrazed’s positivity and brilliant ideas that never cease to keep us moving; for Makram’s coaching and continuous mentorship; for their inspiring vision and great leadership; for our entire team’s enthusiasm and hard work and for truly believing in what we do. We wouldn’t be here today without everyone’s efforts, patience and evergoing drive.
So here’s to all the highs and lows of 2020. Here’s to a Rocky-mountains-like year. And may 2021 be kind, crisis-free and full of adventures!
