Turkish Airlines hosted an interaction session with Asil Özbay, a solo woman motorcycle traveller from Turkey, at its office premises in Kathmandu on August 23. During the session, Özbay revealed that her passion for motorcycle travel started when she was 17. She has so far she travelled to 28 countries stretching to three continents: Asia, Europe and Africa.
Asil Özbay started her recent journey from Turkey two months ago and reached Nepal on August 17 covering the trails through Iran, Pakistan and India. “I thought that I would face a lot of stereotypes throughout my journey as the cultures and societal norms are different for solo travellers, but I was surprised to see people appreciating a lone woman rider and having interest to listen to my stories,” she said.
She is a faculty member at Istanbul Gedik University where she teaches Sport Science and is currently doing her PhD in Brand Management from Marmara University, Istanbul. She has 46.1k followers on Instagram: aislozbay. Her next destination for exploration is South America.
“My slogan is ‘One Woman, One Bike and One World’ and I want to inspire other women to take adventurous decisions. It was - and still is - hard for me to convince my parents, but gradually they have seen the impact I have been making in Turkey and the countries I have travelled to,” shares Özbay.
During the same session, Abdullah Tuncer Kececi, General Manager of Turkish Airlines for Nepal also announced that the airline company is sponsoring Özbay’s and her bike’s trip back to Istanbul, Turkey.
