I am Usman Ghani from Lahore, Pakistan; and I have been traveling around the World from 2012. One thing which was really disturbing me in my travels, was how people perceived about Pakistan and its people. Whenever I introduced myself, they'd fear that I am some sort of terrorist or I'd at least be supporting extremism on the name of Islam.

It was really heart-wrenching for me and it'd always hurt me when people used to avoid meeting or hosting me in their cities, or showing me around because they were not comfortable accompanying a Pakistani; and such things happened with me in many of my trips across Central Asia, South-East Asia and some European Countries. Also, thanks to our Foriegn Policies and International Relations with most countries, Pakistani Passport is also not liked in most airports around, we get that 'extra special treatment' wherever we go.

It was all shattering me and I wanted to do something to change all this. I knew I couldn't do it alone, but I had to think about something as I was not ready to just sit down and curse the Politicians, Media and other Men in Power, for not doing much in this regard; so I came up with this idea of 'Mission Positive Pakistan' through which I started welcoming foreigners in Pakistan and tried every possible way to send them back with good memories from my country.

I didn't even have a proper roadmap of what to do and how to do it but I just started sending random messages to foreign tourists, travel bloggers, influencers, or any kind of potential tourists who showed some interest in Pakistan, or were planning to visit soon; and I actually started getting some very appreciative responses from those people, as there is lack of information about a lot of things in Pakistan so they wanted to know things from someone inside the country before arriving here.

My assistance started with the invitation letter which is mandatory for most visas, no matter from where they were applying. Then, I'd use my experience of traveling to write down complete itineraries for them, and also accompanied a few of them to the North, or other cities around Lahore. What I do very regulary is, that I show them around my city, and take them to best food places; which has become sort of a routine matter of my life from last 4 years. I was meeting 6-10 people every week in the Summer of 2019 before the Covid struck tourism, just like all other sectors of life.

With all this, my message started reaching the other countries through some bloggers and vloggers who had good following; resultantly, some of them convinced more people from their countries to visit Pakistan and they'd connect them with me to plan everything, and assist them throughout their Planning and execution of the trip; and that, for me was my first success 😊 Nothing makes me happier than the moment when some stranger writes me from another part of this Planet and tells me that someone I had met before, was inspired by my mission, and motivated others to visit Pakistan and that's how they started planning of this trip.

I have been doing this thing from almost 7 years now, meeting 100s of foreigners, helping a lot of them in every possible way I could, and sending them back with a lot of positive vibes from my country; and a lot of people have reached me through the people I have already met.

Then, I wanted to take this Mission to next step; so I have started a Tourism Company, so I can expand my Services, and also I'd love to reach more people through my Social Media Platforms.

I have been to 16 countries myself, and all others are on the wish list 🌍

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I want to make new friends all around the world, host and guide them if they plan to visit my beautiful country

Interests

Traveling, making new friends, learning about cultures, portraying the positive image of my country to the people around the globe

• photography
• travelling
• meeting new people
• new friends
• road trip

Music, Movies, and Books

Titanic, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

From starting my mission in 2014, when I was hardly meeting 2 3 tourists in a month, to have met 300+ foriegners, having 10k+ Followers of my page @missionpositivepakistan and also interviewed by VOA URDU and some mainstream Media Channels 😎😎😎

Teach, Learn, Share

I love to learn about different cultures and how people live in different countries and areas

What I Can Share with Hosts

My precious time (as it never comes back), Good company, and a lot of stories

Countries I’ve Visited

Azerbaijan, Belgium, France, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Maldives, Netherlands, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates

Countries I’ve Lived In

Pakistan