Maliha Fairozz has visited more than 100 countries with her Bangladeshi passport, which is ranked 8th in the 10 worst passports in the world.
Maliha Fairooz vividly remembers the first time she traveled from Bangladesh to London when she was four years old. Most children would cry when they boarded a plane, but she was excited. "I flew through the clouds, looked up at the sky and thought I was a bird," said the Bangladeshi traveler.
She currently lives in Berlin, Germany, and works for a human rights NGO. Maliha has been to 102 countries and aims to visit every country in the world. But the reason Maliha won the NomadMania award last October is because she traveled everywhere with a Bangladeshi passport, which is ranked 8th in the world's 10 worst passports according to the Henley Passport Index.
Maliha with her Bangladeshi passport. Photo: Instagram/maliharoundtheworld
Dubbed the Oscars of the travel industry, the NomadMania Awards are an annual awards ceremony run by the independent Greek-based organization NomadMania, which celebrates the most inspiring people in travel each year.
Bangladeshi passports only allow visa-free entry or visa-on-arrival access to 40 countries and territories. Meanwhile, citizens with the world's most powerful passport, Singapore, can enter 193 countries and territories without a visa.
“It was more difficult for me to travel and there was more bureaucracy,” Maliha said of her experience traveling around the world. To get to Kyrgyzstan, she needed an official invitation letter from a local travel agency. To get the letter, she had to buy a tour from a travel agency and wait 5-6 weeks for her visa to be issued.
Maliha travels to Ghana. Video: Instagram/maliharoundtheworld
The major challenge that female tourists face when traveling is the stereotype that “Bangladeshis are illegal immigrants”. In addition, tourists with strong passports are often favored because they are considered wealthy. Tourists with weak or low-ranking passports are often considered backpackers or low-budget.
The most traumatic experience the female tourist has ever had was being detained at the airport when she arrived in Cape Verde, Africa. Although she had a visa and the necessary documents to enter, the Cape Verde authorities still refused after seeing her Bangladeshi passport. According to Maliha, the authorities threatened to deport her back to Senegal, the country she had departed from. "The reason they refused to allow me to enter was because no tourist would only visit Cape Verde for 3-4 days, while this is a small island," she said.
The female tourist "went through a really difficult time" and was "very traumatized". The anxiety and feeling of being trapped in a cell that time was a terrifying experience, and to this day she still dreads going to the airport.
However, the bad experiences did not stop her from traveling because she had more positive experiences. "There is so much beauty, kindness, generosity in this world. I am honored to be able to connect with so many people everywhere," she said.
Maliha also said that some people save money to buy houses and cars, but she does not. Despite her high income, she spends most of it on traveling. "That's the best thing," she said.
Her advice to those who want to travel around the world is to start small, like traveling domestically, and then move further to neighboring countries. As you gain the courage, you will travel further and further.
Maliha adds that connecting with people who care about you and believe in your goal of traveling the world will help you keep going, she says.
Anh Minh (According to CNBC )
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