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Set clear realistic goals and work hard to reach them; learn from mistakes and negative experiences, but don’t ponder on them for too long; surround yourself with positive and energetic people that bring the best out of you; and finally, don’t forget to enjoy the small treats in life!
These are just a few of the ways that the 31-year old millennial, global commercial director at International Workplace Group plc, and co-founder of Forever Passport Sebastiaan Willen advises when it comes to creating a business, but also just in everyday life. I had the pleasure of connecting with Sebastiaan to discuss his new project, Forever Passport, that he co-founded with his beautiful wife, Zara. Together they recently welcomed a 9-month old baby boy.
About two and a half years ago, Sebastiaan and Zara packed up their belongings and moved halfway across the world to the region of Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia for work. It was around this same time that the couple needed to renew their passports. Saddened by the countless memories attached to the many custom stamps that filled their passports, the couple began talking “and before [they] knew it, Forever Passport was born.”
The love both Sebastiaan and Zara share for travel did not come out of nowhere. For Sebastiaan, as a child and teenager, he enjoyed going on vacation. For him a vacation was more than just laying on a beach or by a pool, it was a time to discover new cultures, the history of a particular region or country, and so much more. Pinpointing a special trip that awakened his curiosity and itch for travel, Sebastiaan looks to his younger days when he was 19 and off on his first big trip traversing Australia for a month. Yet, it was a foreign exchange semester in Hong Kong that made Sebastiaan transform from a tourist to a traveler.
Reminiscing about Hong Kong, you can tell that for Sebastiaan that was more than just a life-changing trip. During his last year at college, he took the opportunity to study abroad in Hong Kong. Aside from being immersed in the lifestyle and culture of Hong Kong by living there and being a part of “a great cultural experience,” he also took “numerous trips to other Asian countries” such as inland China, Macau, Singapore, Thailand, and Indonesia. The culture shock rang in a positive light. Growing up in Europe, Sebastiaan notes that “the difference in culture between countries is there, but it’s relatively small;” however “that’s not the case in Asia. Each country has its own rich history and very different cultures. On top of that cultural element is the amazing nature all around Asia that’s just jaw-dropping!”
The pure heart that shows when Sebastiaan talks about his travels, and just traveling in general, and his constant desire to really see the world, makes it no surprise as to why he and Zara came up with Forever Passport. It’s a business that in many ways chose him, and as individuals who are also interested in the entrepreneur path, this business is one that can be built “on the side without neglecting [their] demanding day jobs.”
The plan was set, the time was there, now it was time for action. Sebastiaan and Zara began by defining what exactly the content would be. From those initial steps, the pair set out to collect the data on all of the countries in the world by utilizing publicly available databases. Simultaneously, Sebastiaan looked for a designer who could help bring their idea to life. A freelancer from Azerbaijan partnered with the couple, helping them throughout the project, and together designed what today is now Forever Passport.
Forever Passport is more than just a book, it is a portable way to document your travels and carry it with you forever. There really is no other product like it. While there are scratch maps, push-pin maps, country rings, or charm bracelets, there is not a book that allows you to really capture it all. With Forever Passport, of course, you’ll get a stamp on your legal passport, but now you can hold on to that memory by also stamping the country page within your Forever Passport. It’s the perfect gift for you or any traveler you know.
Even if we look to digital ways of documenting your travels, it is very obtuse. Apps usually allow you to store pictures or mark travels, but only up until a certain point, then you need to turn to their paid subscriptions. But as Sebastiaan notes, digital has limitations that Forever Passport can supply.
We want people to step away from digital memories for a second, but create hundreds of physical memories of all the countries they visited in an organized way; something they take with them and are excited about whenever they travel to another country; something they can show their children and grandchildren 20, 30 or 40 years down the road.
While Forever Passport may not make your life or traveling easier, it does bring a little bit of nostalgia and excitement to travel and create a bit of a chase.For those fortunate enough to travel internationally, Forever Passport will work. It will inspire, as much as it will hold memories. As of right now, Sebastiaan and Zara have only been advertising the product for the Kickstarter launch that they are planning to do. In order to make such a launch successful, it’s important to get many people signing up to buy the product in the first 24 hours of the launch, so ‘pre-campaign’ advertising is done to help establish that initial success.
So far advertisement has shown the success of Forever Passport, as thousands of people continue to sign up to receive their very own Forever Passport and join the Facebook Group. In response to the “extremely positive” enthusiasm, Sebastiaan and Zara “are incredibly grateful that people believe in us and our product without having seen it in person or having read reviews about it!”
As global travel has truly come to a halt, and with much angst, Sebastiaan and Zara feel within their hearts that it would be in the best interest of Forever Passport to postpone the launch, in order to make the crowdfunding campaign a success. Forever Passport is ready to be printed; however, until global travel picks up there doesn’t seem to be a solid launch date.
To help get global travel back up and to get your Forever Passport sooner, help stop the pandemic from progressing. The more people that wear masks and take care of their hygiene, the sooner restrictions on global travel will be lifted.
Interested in traveling the world while getting paid? Here at Diversifying Globetrotters LLC, we are partnered with Melanin On The Map and Travel Coach Network to help people across the world find financial, personal, and time freedom. Join the hundreds of others making the change to better themselves while exploring the world and adding money to their pockets.
