Dear Alyne, thank you for listening to Pakistani women

Travel vlogger talks about visiting country despite hearing negative comments, women’s rights

KARACHI: Pakistan, it seems, is witnessing a travel renaissance of sorts lately. After being much maligned as ‘one of the most dangerous places on Earth’ due to years of terrorism, the country appears to be eliciting strong interest as a travel destination.

A host of foreign travel vloggers, in particular, have set their sights on Pakistan in recent times. The latest among them is Alyne Tamir, known widely on social media as Dear Alyne.  After starting travel vlogging two years ago and visiting over 70 countries, the American-Israeli traveller has finally arrived in Pakistan.

PHOTO: Instagram

Now, when it comes to work-life, women across the world have things harder than men – in any field. Likewise, being a woman in the travelling and vlogging world also comes with its own set of challenges, but Alyne managed to still make it big.

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Recalling her journey in an exclusive conversation with The Express Tribune, she shared that she belonged to a super privileged family and could easily pass as a white American – even though she’s only half white. She added that she was able to get a normal job – even one with a minimum wage in the US, which is much higher than the minimum wage in the majority of the countries.


Alyne acknowledged, “First of all, it’s much easier for me. That being said, I am a woman, it is still difficult in some ways but I just want to make the world a better place. I don’t care what people say about me as I’m doing it. So it doesn’t hurt my feelings or stop me from working towards my goals.

“Because, at the end of the day, I am not doing this for people to like me, I’m doing it to reach the right people and help them. It kind of makes it easier for me to take these comments from insecure men that are crawling out of their mom’s basements to write mean comments but who cares about what they say. Their opinions are not the ones that matter. The opinions that matter are girls write me messages that my videos help them or teach them.”

PHOTO: Instagram

Prior to landing in Pakistan, Alyne had not heard many good things about the country. Whatever she had heard about Pakistan from the media, was always negative. Even last year, when she decided to visit the country, she was surprised to find out that she would need a visa to travel to Pakistan, as opposed to the 174 countries that American citizens can travel to without a visa.  And while laws were a little different at the time, they have now been revised to encourage more tourists to visit the country.

Alyne was then invited by a group of local vloggers, who go by the name of Karachi Vynz, to visit Pakistan. She had gotten her Pakistan visa last month and the trio of Daniyal Sheikh, Mansoor Qureshi and Bilal Mansoor received her earlier this week, when she landed in Karachi.

Upon her arrival and having spent a day in the city, Alyne revealed why she decided to come to Pakistan despite hearing only bad things about the country. She said, “Pakistan has a lot of different people and a lot of different situations. I think some of the situations are not the greatest for women, but that’s not an excuse to not visit and try and learn about it. I have heard good things about Pakistan as well – about the nature, the beauty and the generosity. So I think every place has a good and bad, it’s better to see for yourself.”

After spending a few days in the metropolitan city, Alyne flew to Lahore to experience its culture and history. Having spent about a week in Pakistan, her perception about the country and its treatment of women seems to have changed to an extent.

PHOTO: Instagram

She explained, “The media doesn’t show much about the women of Pakistan. The media about Pakistan is really negative in the US when it does even show up, so I didn’t really have an idea of what it’s like for women here. I think knowing myself just how it is for women, just from travels in the world, in developing countries. I know what it’s like. I know that the upper-class women have a better life and the rural women have a harder life. So what I’m interested in is the average women and what is life like for her and what can be done to improve that level of ‘goodness’ or ‘badness’.”

Apart from travelling and vlogging, Alyne also runs a group on Facebook for women called Girls Gone Global. She decided to create the group because she realized that while Western and European women can safely share their feelings and opinions, there are many countries where women can't really speak up as their families or societies make it difficult for them to express themselves.

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Alyne also held a Girls Gone Global meet up during her visit to Karachi, where she discussed some of the problems that women in Pakistan face. The 30-year-old doesn’t find herself qualified enough to inspire other women, however, she still hopes to somehow help women get their voice back.

“My hope is to receive the messages that these women want to share, and then I can share them on Dear Alyne, for the rest of the world. I just want to reach these women, find out what their problems are and what they want to be done about it and that’s what I’m here for. So I am hopeful that I am able to do it.” After having visited Karachi, Lahore and now Islamabad, Alyne will be travelling further towards the North to see the majestic natural beauty of Pakistan.