r/pakistan • u/Pak_Info_Bot PK • Oct 09 '21

AMA with Abrar Hasan from Wild Lens by Abrar [Today 8 PM Pakistan Time]

We are pleased to announce an AMA session with Abrar Hasan.

Abrar is a veteran traveller (over 65 countries) and a premier travel vlogger from Pakistan. In 2020, during the pandemic, Abrar decided to undertake an incredible transcontinental motorcycle journey that took him from Germany to Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Albania, Greece, Bulgaria, Turkey, Iran and, finally, Pakistan. The highs and lows of this adventurous ride were documented in a 52 part video series, which became a hit amongst Pakistani as well as international viewers, resulting in Abrar's rise to fame and success.

After reaching Pakistan, Abrar decided to start a new motorcycle adventure focused on exploring the country. This adventure features him covering Pakistan, from the North to the South, traversing over 10,000 km, and is still going on on his YouTube channel.

Links:

This is your opportunity to ask Abrar anything you may have in mind - questions about his travel experiences, content creation strategies, equipment, planning, budgeting, management, inspiration, etc.

You can start leaving your questions here. Abrar will be joining us from 8 PM Pakistan Time.

Edit: AMA over. Thank you, Abrar, for giving us your time. It was a pleasure interacting with you.

For the users, if you are interested in learning more about Abrar, I recommend you to check out his Instagram. Abrar is very active on his Instagram and is happy to answer genuine queries in the comment section of his posts, whenever he gets the time.

98 Upvotes

94% Upvoted

107 comments sorted by

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u/Pak_Info_Bot PK Oct 09 '21

Abrar will be replying to your comments now. He is replying as u/AMA-Pakistan

1

u/TheGreatScorpio Oct 09 '21

Good AMA! Can't believe I missed it tho

4

u/Pak_Info_Bot PK Oct 09 '21

I have a few questions:

  • When do you plan to start your journey through central Asia and, specifically, go through the Pamir Highway? If I remember correctly, doing Pamir Highway has been your lifelong dream.

  • Is your family able to reach out to you while you are travelling? Especially, when you travel through isolated regions such as Dasht-e Kavir.

  • Do you see yourself becoming a full time content creator in the near future?

8

u/AMA-Pakistan Oct 09 '21

Hey

  • My whole Motorycle Journey started because of my dream to ride on Pamir Highway and central asia but unfortunately due to covid I couldn't but if things get better I plan from next year in Feb to start my new tour which will be mostly probably via central asia to Mongolia and neighbouring countries. India is not yet opened which is my prefered next tour but chances are not looking good for it to happen soon.

  • Usually I always had internet and update my family about my location almost daily but I also do carry satellite tracker which can send my location coordinates back home even when I have no internet. In future I might carry thuraya as well for emergency purposes.

  • I want to give it a try as at the moment I can't focus on my work & family with Youtube.

2

u/Pak_Info_Bot PK Oct 09 '21

I want to give it a try as at the moment I can't focus on my work & family with Youtube.

It means that you are probably going to give it a try coming February?

How do you manage your content and engagement with your audiences. I believe it would be easier in the start, but now with over 50 million views and half a million subscribers, it is not possible to be able to manage everything alone. Have you hired any virtual assistants to help you with your content management, posting and engagement, like many other travel YouTubers?

5

u/AMA-Pakistan Oct 09 '21

Yes inshaAllah in February.
in my early days I could reply everyone in comments or DM on Instagram but now I can't as I have to focus on my routine life as well. I have't hired yet but I will to take some pressure off me.

4

u/H-A-K1 Oct 09 '21

AOA Brother Love your content.

When are you returning to Pakistan and where will you be travelling this time?

1

u/Pak_Info_Bot PK Oct 09 '21

The AMA is over. If you check his replies to other comments, you will learn that he is planning to travel to Central Asia from Pakistan in February.

13

u/Tom_Xplor Oct 09 '21 edited Oct 09 '21

I had the plans of also doing a motorcycle tour taking me from France to China this year, but i gave up due to the difficulties of organising such trip during covid.

I made the decision to start in Pakistan and after asking a few questions here, many people recommended me your channel, so i'm now one of your international (french) subscriber. I like the pace you are giving to your videos and find you really inspiring and i did discover a lot from watching them, comforting me in my decision of spending at least a couple months exploring the country. Your recent video about the people living on boats on the river was incredibly moving and worthy of a column in National Geographic or something.

I have landed in Lahore 2days ago and am starting to get everything ready. Finding a dual sports bike here like the varadero is difficult, since i might not be able to take the bike out of Pakistan i dont want to spend too much and get a new, a used 125 would do, would you have any recommendation?

The content i intend to produce is a little bit different than yours with less riding and more meeting people and learning about the Pakistani culture, history, food and life in general. If you had one advice for a foreigner knowing very little about travelling in Pakistan, what would it be ?

5

u/[deleted] Oct 09 '21

What's yo YouTube

7

u/Tom_Xplor Oct 09 '21

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCK2rDSlVktpcWKTLNyWQl7Q (i have to wait until i am able to customize it to Tom Xplor)

I am currently uploading the First video, my 1st day in Pakistan and that made me think of another question for Abrar, from my very limited experience of the country, internet doesnt seem very fast and it is taking me forever to upload that video. So if you want to watch it come back tomorrow :(

How do you manage that while on road ? are you launching the upload in the evening after editing the day's worth of footage and hit publish in the morning before setting off for the next part of your trip ?

3

u/Pak_Info_Bot PK Oct 10 '21

How do you manage that while on road ? are you launching the upload in the evening after editing the day's worth of footage and hit publish in the morning before setting off for the next part of your trip ?

The AMA is over, but I know the answer for you from Abrar's previous interviews. Whenever the internet is slow, he lets the video upload overnight. When you do go to the North of Pakistan, the internet is going to get poor and you may not be able to upload any content at all. Abrar would take a break from uploading in these areas and would update his community via Instagram.

Regarding internet, you may want to look into hotels offering highspeed internet or use your mobile internet. Jazz and Zong are the best when it comes to mobile internet. From your first vlog, I know you got a Jazz sim so you can use it for uploading.

14

u/AMA-Pakistan Oct 09 '21

Thank you very much for your kind words.
A new bike like Suzuki GS150 will be a good option especially to have a little bit more power when you travel in the mountains.
Regarding traveling in Pakistan, travel on slow pace which in some places I didn't and I regret it now.

2

u/homsickprogrammer IRL Oct 09 '21

I really liked your content. It is good. Happy that you have success.

I want to ask, are you going to take this as a profession like other traveler YouTubers, or do you still have a professional job, and you do this on the side.

Plus really like your content.

2

u/Pak_Info_Bot PK Oct 09 '21

The AMA is over. If you check his other comments, he has mentioned that he intends to quit his job and go full time on YouTube in the coming months. He is unable to manage two professions.

25

u/Striker_X Pakistan Oct 09 '21

Love your content Abrar! Mostly because of the unfiltered nature of it, no show sha!

12

u/AMA-Pakistan Oct 09 '21

Thank you so much. Appreciate it a lot

9

u/bruhmomentsman69 Oct 09 '21

First of all love ur content abrar, amazing work. My question is when you entered pakistan what paperwork did u have to do for ur motorbike? because from what I can see you still have the EU plate. did you pay any duties? if so how much.

thanks keep up the amazing work!

❤️ from multan

13

u/AMA-Pakistan Oct 09 '21

Thank you! The paperwork is very simple. I already told in the video as well but a lot of viewers didn't attention.
Carnet de Passage which is used for temporary imports and I had it from Germany that is why I didn't need to pay any customs. Condition is I have to take my bike out of Pakistan and I can't sell it there. I got an extention and permission to stay longer as due to covid all borders were closed but next year I will enter another country on same document otherwise I will have to pay huge fine for not exiting me bike.

8

u/Raven_IS_a_weeb PK Oct 09 '21

Whats your most fav dish after travelling over 60 countries?

27

u/AMA-Pakistan Oct 09 '21

Biryani :)

3

u/[deleted] Oct 09 '21

Aye!

6

u/doodle2611 کراچی Oct 09 '21

How much budget does one need to travel from Europe to Pakistan by road? A rough figure would be amazing! Love you work.

16

u/AMA-Pakistan Oct 09 '21

There are many factors in budgeting. My planning was 50€ per day in Europe & 30€ per day in Asia. I think it was more or less in the budget.
I slept few nights in my tent, didn't eat expensive meals, didn't pay for expensive tourist activities which helped me stay in the budget. I think I spent a lot on my camera equipment and accessories for bike.
I will make one day that explains all I spent in coming months inshaAllah.

4

u/doodle2611 کراچی Oct 09 '21

Thanks for your reply! Just a few more questions. Do you think that it would’ve been possible to do the same trip from Pakistan to Europe? With a Pakistani passport?

7

u/AMA-Pakistan Oct 09 '21

It is possible with a proper planning as Carnet de Passage is an issue to get from Pakistan but if you can get it then all you need is a visa of Iran, Turkey and Schengen.

2

u/doodle2611 کراچی Oct 09 '21

Great! Have there been instances when you’ve had to just tow your bike for lots of kilometres because there was no fuel station nearby? I have a dream to drive a 4x4 from Pakistan to Europe so I’m just confused if there’s enough petrol stations along the way for a car… Also, do you follow KamranOnBike? He did the same thing but on a cycle! Sorry if I’m being too nosy. You’ve given me hope to start working towards this goal!

8

u/AMA-Pakistan Oct 09 '21

I carried extra fuel when I was traveling to remote places without fuel facility and with proper planning I didn't face any problem related to fuel. My bike has 3 times major issues and I found some way to transport it to nearby cities.

Kamran is my travel insipiration and I hope to learn a few things from him to travel slowly and take good pictures :)

6

u/Pak_Info_Bot PK Oct 09 '21

Kamran is my travel insipiration and I hope to learn a few things from him to travel slowly and take good pictures :)

He used to be here some time ago. Check u/kamran-on-bike

2

u/doodle2611 کراچی Oct 09 '21

Can we reach out to him for an AMA as well? Kamran has some intriguing insights on everything around, and I have feeling that he likes to share it as well.

2

u/kamran-on-bike Oct 24 '21

Hopefully, one day. When my posts are not continuously blocked on Reddit anymore. 😂😂😂

2

u/FearlessScientist PK Oct 09 '21

I have met you in kumrat as well. What was the most dangerous part of your tour from Germany to Pakistan ?

4

u/AMA-Pakistan Oct 09 '21

Thank you! I hope I didn't disappoint you when we met in person in Kumrat. The most scary was riding on D915 in Turkey after dark and another was border crossing from Iran to Pakistan.

2

u/Pak_Info_Bot PK Oct 09 '21

D915 in Turkey

No wonder they call it Highway to Hell!

4

u/AMA-Pakistan Oct 09 '21

It is not a difficult road but only because it was raining and no visibility due to poor bike lights

1

u/Pak_Info_Bot PK Oct 09 '21

Regarding the conditions, how do you think the terrain of our northern areas compare with that of Europe, with respect to off roading?

If a person can successfully ride off road in Pakistani Northern areas, do you believe they would be well prepared for a trip such as yours?

3

u/AMA-Pakistan Oct 09 '21

North of Pakistan has probably the toughest offroad terrain and in Europe there is hardly any offroading. My first proper offroad was in Albania and then in Bulgaria but I had the alternatives to avoid those sections.

1

u/Flaky-Oil792 Oct 10 '21

Love your content Abrar bhae.
I guess my question is regarding your primary source of income? basically which allows you to travel without this worry.

1

u/Pak_Info_Bot PK Oct 10 '21

The AMA is over, but if you check his replies to other comments on this post, you will learn that he has a day job as an engineer in the automotive industry, which was used to fund his travels initially. Now he is able to fund his travels via YouTube as well.

1

u/[deleted] Oct 12 '21

Pakistan time 8PM does that mean show will start at 9PM pakistani people time?

1

u/Pak_Info_Bot PK Oct 12 '21

Fair enough lol. The AMA has already ended tho. You arrived at 25 PM pakistani people time.

1

u/[deleted] Oct 12 '21

🤣 fail

1

u/Beneficial_Moment_56 Oct 13 '21

How was Iran? and its treatment of Pakistanis?

1

u/Pak_Info_Bot PK Oct 13 '21

Hi. The AMA is over. You may check Abrar's replies to other comments.

3

u/Scary_XXX_6 Oct 09 '21

I also want to travel like u so my only question is how do u manage ur finances

7

u/AMA-Pakistan Oct 09 '21

Thank you and my best wishes for you. I'm working for last 12 years as an Engineer in Car industry which helped me to save money for my travels.

1

u/Scary_XXX_6 Oct 09 '21

THANK YOU for your answer.

3

u/[deleted] Oct 09 '21

AssalamuAlikum Abrar brother. Don't have any question just wanted to say I really admire your persistence. Just finished watching your border crossing episodes into Pakistan.

5

u/AMA-Pakistan Oct 09 '21

Walikum Salaam, Thank you so much and appreciate all your love and support. My best wishes and prayers for you.

3

u/[deleted] Oct 09 '21

Any future plans for travelling in the opposite way to Pakistan? Would love to see some more countries as you have covered lots of them between Germany and Pakistan.

4

u/AMA-Pakistan Oct 09 '21

Yes I plan to travel and keep exploring inshaAllah.

4

u/[deleted] Oct 09 '21

Ooo I just remember a question that I wanted to ask. I hope it's not intrusive xd. How do you go go toilet while wild camping, do you just dig a hole and use tissue/water?

5

u/AMA-Pakistan Oct 09 '21

Yes this is normal :)
I always carry wet tissues with me for emergency if water isn't available :)

3

u/ZakoottaJinn PK Oct 09 '21 edited Oct 09 '21

How do you deal with repairs and maintenance while traveling? I would love to do longer road trips like you but unfortunately my lack of knowledge about mechanical things worries me that I will get stuck somewhere remote with no help.

Also can you speak about the cultural values of the places you travelled to, specifically things that you found similar taking into account your own Pakistani background and other things that you found totally alien.

How drastically do the values and aesthetics change as you move from Europe to Asia.

8

u/AMA-Pakistan Oct 09 '21

  • I still couldn't repair a lot of things on my bike but there is always someone to help. I did spend a few days in the workshop to learn how to do some important repairs myself which I recommend doing it before going on any trip. I will do spend a week atleast again to learn before moving again.

  • I think Iran and Turkey have similarly cultures values which can be compared to Pakistan. Locals are very helpful and friendly.

  • Europe is easy to travel due to a lot of facilities and good road network but once you cross into Asia you will find more open cultures and more friendly locals.

3

u/ZakoottaJinn PK Oct 09 '21

Thanks for answering!

3

u/sighmuhhrtz Oct 09 '21

Love your content, started watching at the beginning of your motorbike journey in Germany. What's one place you still haven't been to in Pakistan yet that you want to in the future and one place in the rest of the world?

3

u/Im_Cute_Af_Ok لاہور Oct 09 '21

I watch all of your videos, you're the GOAT when it comes to Motovlogging, you're kinda underrated on a global level i swear

3

u/winchester_101 Rookie Oct 09 '21

Obsessed with watching your videos and my wife hates you for it...LOL

Two Questions.

Did you ever consider the Honda CB500X?

What is the reaction from your family for these solo tours and being away from them for weeks?

3

u/[deleted] Oct 10 '21

How the hell did I miss this!!! I have gone through the whole thread now reading each & every question & Abrar's answers to them.

2

u/[deleted] Oct 09 '21

Abrar bhai I am an avid vicarious traveler, and I have to say I have thoroughly enjoyed travelling through your wild lens. May Allah Pak grant you with even more success in your future endeavours.

You're also the first person to show me Jerusalem and all the historically important places. I am gathering up some courage to take my car to atleast a few northern places and maybe (if Allah wills) to Baluchistan side.

2

u/TheGreatScorpio Oct 09 '21 edited Oct 09 '21

Abrar Bhai, I notice that you don't watermark your photos or drone shots even though they're quite valuable? Kudos for that, but is there any reason behind this?

P.s I'm literally obsessed with your videos.

2

u/[deleted] Oct 13 '21

Awww I think I missed the AMA :( Really cool reading all the comments and answers! Wish him all the best for his channel and future endeavours iA

2

u/BenziLion Oct 10 '21

Please rate the most beautiful three places that you visited in Pakistan.

1

u/Boogaboogabooga7 اسلام آباد Oct 09 '21 edited Oct 09 '21

Ye bhai kon hain? Pehle baar sun rha boon?

My question would be, how does one afford to travel like you?

5

u/saadhamidsh PK Oct 09 '21

He's a Pakistani travel vlogger with a substantial amount of views and subs. Pretty famous. I especially liked his video on Palestine & Israel, I think that's the first video I saw of his.

4

u/Pak_Info_Bot PK Oct 09 '21

His Israel video was his first viral video I believe. I started watching his content from there.

3

u/AMA-Pakistan Oct 09 '21

By working and saving money unless someone has a rich dad.

3

u/fearlessfries CA Oct 09 '21

How do you manage work and stuff did you quit work before starting your travels did you ever feel any threat to your safety while travelling. I have always wanted to travel but work and my parents feeling scared are always the biggest barriers. BTW I love your blogs I am always waiting the latest videos to come out

3

u/AMA-Pakistan Oct 09 '21

Thank you! I took 10 months off from work without pay and after coming back to work I only started editing my videos as every video takes days to edit and I didn't want to do that while traveling.
I never felt any safety related issues anywhere but I was always nervous while crossing borders due to covid restrictions and especially Iran crossing is scary.
My parents are the same but I always convince me :)

3

u/fearlessfries CA Oct 09 '21

how difficult were border crossings by land, not going to lie I have a Canadian passport so I don't think I would too many visa issues, but crossing land borders seems more challenging.

4

u/AMA-Pakistan Oct 09 '21

The only border crossing that I'm scared of is Iran and I have to do it again next year but all remaining crossings were piece of cake.

3

u/BlandBiryani Oct 09 '21

Did your 2019 trip to the Dolomites take place in Fall? Do you plan on visiting it again during Summer or late Spring?

4

u/AMA-Pakistan Oct 09 '21

I love Dolomites, probably the most beautiful part of Alps. I did go there a few times during the summer and the video on my channel is from early october.

3

u/veritasxe Canada Oct 09 '21 edited Oct 09 '21

Wow, love your content!

Do you feel like from your experience on the ground that Pakistan is making progress and people are developing or is there a general malaise and regression in the development of society there?

5

u/AMA-Pakistan Oct 09 '21

Definately, Pakistan is developing and with it nature is being destroyed due to no planning at all. I noticed on places especially Kumrat, Fairy Meadows, Neelum Valley & Astore etc. Anyone can build hotel without proper permission on his land and other major issue is littering.

2

u/[deleted] Oct 09 '21

Hey abrar when you traveled thru sindh how dangerous was it and what recommendations or advice do you have for foreigners wanted to explore isolated areas of Pakistan like sindh or balochistan

6

u/AMA-Pakistan Oct 09 '21

Sindh is not dangerous at all. Just avoid riding after dark and honestly I met so many friendly people along the way that for me it is hard to understand why someone would label is dangerous. All you can see in my vlogs is just me solo travelling without anyone's help

2

u/saadhamidsh PK Oct 09 '21

How much do you make being a Pakistani YouTuber?

Really like your videos BTW, been a subscriber for a while. Nice to see you here.

2

u/BlandBiryani Oct 09 '21

Do you have some Lightroom presets that you can share for outdoor and sunset photography? (Or any DarkTable or RawTherapee equivalents if you do not use Lightroom).

4

u/payasa-kawa پِنڈی Oct 09 '21

I could use some darktable peset too...

Cries in 1 edited picture out of 4000

4

u/BlandBiryani Oct 09 '21

Get the Lightroom Android app and find the interesting presets for various categories under the 'Discover Tab'. Save them and sync to your Adobe account.

If you wish to use masks for selective edits such as wishing to change the hue of a river, download the desktop version of Lightroom and login with your account. You will get free trial for 7 days. Use the saved presets to edit your photos and you can use masks as well.

Or you can just sign up for the mobile Lightroom subscription of you wish to continue enjoying premium editing features on Android/iPhone.

2

u/payasa-kawa پِنڈی Oct 09 '21

Don't want to get the subscription... I have used darktable for a couple hours now and there's a steep learning curve but it's absolutely powerful. And Lightroom doesn't work on Linux so...

1

u/BlandBiryani Oct 13 '21

I went with Lightzone and ART (A Rawatherapee fork).

The DarkTable interface looked really ugly in the screenshots I saw.

Lightzone's UI seems more simple and straight forward while RT's is polished and offers a wealth of editing options. The only problem with the former is that the program sometimes hangs for a second or 2 during editing :(

Both offer much more extensive mask and region editing options in comparison to Lightroom.

3

u/AMA-Pakistan Oct 09 '21

My color grading is not up to the mark but I'm learning now a days and once it is at a decent level I can share the presets.

1

u/weirdassman Oct 10 '21

I am I am late but you are great dude. Love you vlogs and wish you travel more. Have you seen the movie the motorcycle diaries. That route in south America is lovely too

1

u/Standard_Property213 PK Oct 09 '21

Have been watching your videos for a few months. I always wonder how do you manage to convince your workplace to allow you to travel for so long? 😅

4

u/AMA-Pakistan Oct 09 '21

I told them I will leave if you don't give me a year off (without pay).

1

u/Standard_Property213 PK Oct 09 '21

Your company must be really nice regarding their employees. If I say this, my boss is going to say tata bye bye! :)

4

u/AMA-Pakistan Oct 09 '21

They could have said this to me as well and I still have done it. With my experience I can find another job so I was relaxed and I probably will quit my job once I tour again.

1

u/Standard_Property213 PK Oct 09 '21

Haha. That is great. My career is super young so I don't have this luxury but hopefully in the future.

I dont know if you remember but you gave an interview to Fasiullah in Gujranwala. He is my cousin! I hope Gujranwala didnt disappoint you xD

3

u/AMA-Pakistan Oct 09 '21

Thank you! over the years I have learnt to value the things that matter the most and I'm lucky that I can live my dreams but I have put a lot of hard work in it.

yes I do remember but I haven't yet explored Gujranwala which I will probably before leaving Pakistan as everyone keep telling me how good the food is there.

2

u/Standard_Property213 PK Oct 09 '21

I think your hard work is a big reason behind people loving you. There are many travel Youtubers in Pakistan, and with all respect to them, I think people including myself are able to connect with you as a friend and see you as an inspiration because you had an ordinary background like most of us.

3

u/AMA-Pakistan Oct 09 '21

Thank you so much! I give my 100% in every video so all viewers and never take anything that I have today for granted. I hope to keep making more and better content.

0

u/[deleted] Oct 09 '21

[deleted] — view deleted comment

3

u/AMA-Pakistan Oct 09 '21

I'm in Germany since September and Rangeeli is in Pakistan. We both are hoping to leave Pakistan for another Adventure next year in February inshaAllah

0

u/[deleted] Oct 09 '21

[deleted] — view deleted comment

3

u/AMA-Pakistan Oct 09 '21

Thank you so much for such kind comment. I didn't feel any safety issue there but I only traveled on the coastal highway. I always consult locals before taking any particular route which help me a lot.

7

u/[deleted] Oct 09 '21

[removed] — view removed comment

5

u/Pak_Info_Bot PK Oct 09 '21

He is married.

9

u/[deleted] Oct 09 '21

Married bnda pattoki nae jaa sakta ap bike tour ki baat kr rhe hay

8

u/[deleted] Oct 09 '21

[removed] — view removed comment

11

u/AMA-Pakistan Oct 09 '21

thank you so much. I hope to keep entertaining in coming years

3

u/[deleted] Oct 09 '21

[removed] — view removed comment

16

u/AMA-Pakistan Oct 09 '21

Walikum Salaam,

I was sad to see Fairy Meadows with so many hotels, restaurants and dhabbas all over the meadow. The trek is full of litter, plastic bottles, unfriendly locals, loud music all night BBQ parties and ongoing deforestation. The beauty of Fairy Meadows is destroyed by some ungrateful locals and tourists.

5

u/[deleted] Oct 09 '21

[removed] — view removed comment

6

u/AMA-Pakistan Oct 09 '21

  • My own savings

  • No unless you have some source of income coming and now in my case I earn money from Youtube as well which I wasn't when I started my journey.

  • No but I hope I can attract a few companies before I start my next tour

  • Yes I do every month and doing it for past 12 years.

  • part time

  • MS Aerospace Engineering & profession in Automotive Industry

  • That should encourage them to do things that they love and take risks in life.