The Voyaj Project: How a Young Moroccan Woman is Connecting Humanity through Space

Guest: Yasmine El Baggari, social entrepreneur, cultural connector, and near-astronaut

Episode Highlights:
Yasmine El Baggari joins the Space Cafe Podcast to share her incredible journey of cultural exchange, space aspirations, and fostering global unity. A visionary leader, Jasmine’s initiatives bridge gaps between communities, bringing astronauts, refugees, and locals together for meaningful dialogues. Her story reflects a passion for space exploration not just as a technical frontier but as a platform for human connection and understanding.

Quotable Insights

1. “It’s not about going to space for the sake of it; it’s about returning as Earth ambassadors, carrying new perspectives to unite humanity.”
2. “Astronauts and refugees share resilience and bravery. They risk everything to step into the unknown.”
3. “We’re all explorers at heart. Expanding our horizons—be it across cultures or planets—is what defines humanity.”

Cosmic Timeline (Timestamps):

• [00:00:00] Welcome & Markus’s encounter with Jasmine
  [00:03:20] Jasmine’s near-astronaut experience: reaching the final five of 7,000 applicants for Space for Humanity’s overview effect mission
  [00:05:43] Reflections on the overview effect: the transformative experience astronauts share after seeing Earth from space
  [00:12:00] A serendipitous dinner: sharing her space dreams with luminaries like the head of Virgin Galactic and NASA moon mission veterans
  [00:14:53] The genesis of Voyaj: creating platforms for astronauts, refugees, and locals to explore identity and origin stories
  [00:19:59] Shared courage: the striking parallels between the risks faced by astronauts and refugees, both stepping into unknown worlds
  [00:22:30] Connecting space communities: astronauts sharing their profound experiences with marginalized groups
  [00:40:56] Analog missions as a model for grounded human connection: parallels between simulated Mars missions and cross-cultural dinners
  [00:53:06] Jasmine’s dream of a diverse space exploration future: refugees, Israelis, Palestinians, and others uniting in orbit
  [00:56:00] Jasmine’s vision for democratizing access to space: bridging technology and human empathy for a more inclusive cosmic future

Links to Explore:

• Jasmine’s Voyaj Platform: voyaj.com
• Space for Humanity Initiative: spaceforhumanity.org
• Inspiration4 Mission: https://inspiration4.com/
• Overview Effect: Frank White’s Book
• More episodes of Space Cafe Podcast: SpaceWatch.Global

Music for the Aspiring Space Traveler’s Playlist:

• Jasmine’s pick:

You can find us on Spotify and Apple Podcast!

Please visit us at SpaceWatch.Global, subscribe to our newsletters. Follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter!

Transcript

SCP_122_Yasmine_El_Baggari

[00:00:00] Yasmine: And he's like, I'm going to invite a couple of friends. So we fly to LA. And we host this dinner, and there's, it's very intimate, like 20, 25 people. And he invited the head of Virgin Galactic, You're 

[00:00:14] Markus: kidding me. 

[00:00:14] Yasmine: NASA people who worked on the moon mission, Um, the lunar program, Space for Humanity, the daughter of the Saudi king. And, of course, Cameron, in the middle of the dinner, takes a glass and does the thing and he's like, welcome, everyone.

So, today we have something important to announce. and what happened after like all the ripples from that dinner are still unfolding

[00:00:40] Markus: Hello, everyone. This is the Space Cafe Podcast, and I'm Markus. So, only recently, I meet this remarkable person at a speed dating meeting at an industry event in Marrakesh, Morocco. Very unexpected encounter, where we're a bunch of people at the table, and this young woman called Jasmine El Baghari shares her story.

And I was captivated. She tells us how she almost becomes an astronaut and now brings astronauts and refugees to the same tables on a global scale. A mission to cool down, or help cool down, our overheating global societies. And to inspire us to see the world through a different lens. And she's looking back at a still very young age at an impressive Journey, an impressive path.

Research at Harvard University, works with the World Bank, United States State Department, the World Economic Forum, Obama's Global Entrepreneurship Summit. She's invited to the White House. She's, of course, among the Forbes 100 most influential and most inspiring young leaders, and so on and so forth.

And so it's definitely a story that transcends boundaries, and I felt like this story needs to be told right here on the Space Cafe Podcast. Still, you could say, hmm, is this my cup of tea? This is maybe not what you expect from the Space Cafe Podcast, but I think this is exactly what you expect.

What if? Could be. So give this a try, because here at the Space Cafe Podcast, we love pushing the boundaries, pushing the enemy lobes. We explore what it means to be human, to understand our ambitions, our planetary ambitions. Down here on Earth and in space. Jasmin El Baghari, Moroccan born, a dreamer, a connector, and someone changing lives on Earth and maybe one day beyond it.

So, ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Jasmin El Baghari to the Space Cafe Podcast. Let's go. 

Tell me how close Did you get toward becoming an astronaut? Oh my god, 

[00:03:13] Yasmine: like very close. Um, it was a dream for a moment. although I do feel that it's going to happen in my lifetime, for all of us in fact.

Um, I applied for Space amazing that has this mission to enable Space for everyone and to go to outer experience the overview and then come back to earth as an earth As a civilian not a NASA astronaut European Space Agency So I was in the final five 000 applicants. 

[00:03:51] Markus: 7, 000? 

[00:03:52] Yasmine: From all over the So close. Um, it was a series of Like the whole premise um, yourself as an earth ambassador.

So you're not just going elevate your on the so you go through a series of Um, my program that I applied with was Voyage, around bringing humanity the whole idea was go into space and the message Command humans, talk to across differences, across wasn't time I will be 

[00:04:45] Markus: What would be the first thing you would do in space? 

[00:04:48] Yasmine: Probably a backflip. I would probably, um, I mean, I would, I would want to look down at the Earth and, you know, my friend, um, Sian Proctor, the first black woman to pilot a spacecraft to outer space with SpaceX. And this was back in 2021, when Inspiration4, which was the first all civilian Mission to go to space took four civilians everyday people to around the earth for three days and they got to witness 45 sunrises because they're going so fast. 90, it takes about 90 minutes go around the earth. So imagine you're there for three days. Uh, it was extra, it 

[00:05:35] Markus: gets even boring then. It gets 

[00:05:37] Yasmine: boring. Yes, I imagine three days.

A lot of the astronauts I've talked to, they talk about how they just want to stay there for longer. Like, there's something, like a longing, like you're reflecting, looking back at the Earth, reflecting about all the people in it and all the Communities that you know, and, and I think there's something really profound that happens um, from what I'm hearing.

Oh, the Overview Effect. Frank White would be a perfect book that I recommend to everyone to because he interviews from all over the world to explore the Overview Effect. And, um, I really want Frank White to go to space. He's a legend in the space industry, and he's, Hasn't gotten to go yet.

[00:06:25] Markus: Isn't that crazy? He writes a book about the overview effect and hasn't seen it. 

[00:06:29] Yasmine: It's wild. He, he told me the other day, actually a couple, a couple months ago when I saw him, uh, at the Eclipse Festival in Texas, uh, in the U S how he coined the term the overview effect back in the seventies. But nobody cared, nobody knew about it, and it, there was no, um, interest.

But in the last decade or so, now everybody talks It's become more popular. So he's just so happy that a book that he wrote so long ago is finally now, like,

understood

by everyday 

[00:07:07] Markus: That's so fantastic. I could like really think of a, of a very, very nice gesture. If the world put together enough money necessary for him to bring into, to go up into space, that would be a pretty cool thing to do.

[00:07:19] Yasmine: Let's have this interview. Hey humans, if you're, So, if you're watching this and you want to donate to Frank White to go to space, reach out to us, because that would be the Franky goes to 

[00:07:30] Markus: space. Yeah, Frank, 

[00:07:31] Yasmine: Frank, let's, let's send Frank to space. That would be a dream, truly, because he, he, he's such an amazing person.

He would be great actually to interview as well. Um, such a good human. Good hearted He lives in Cambridge, in Boston. Um, and he, yeah, he holds these overview roundtables every week. And he brings the space community together to talk about everything space. Um, and, you know, spectacular 

[00:08:04] Markus: Interesting. What drives you to be interested in space? 

[00:08:10] Yasmine: Wow, that's a really good question. Um, it's funny because I never really thought of space. for the longest time. This is very recent. It was until 2019. Um, back in, so I had this dream to go to all 50 states in my twenties, which I did. I finished, I got to 49 and then I got scared because I was so driven by, by this dream.

And I didn't know who I was going to be if I finished this dream. So I was kind of scared. 

[00:08:39] Markus: The end of the line. 

[00:08:41] Yasmine: Yeah. Like who am I on the other side of this dream? This wild dream that drove me for 10 years and it took a breakup, like a, you know, relationship breakup to get me out and finish it. So I flew, I took a one way ticket to Alaska and when I got to Alaska, I had this revelation that one, I was in love with the not just I love the world, there's a difference between I like the world and I love the world.

And I'm in love with this planet, like the beauty, the, and I just, I had the spiritual awakening or whatever people call it these days. But I imagined, I felt myself being out there in space, having the, I didn't even know the word overview effects. I didn't know the term, but I imagined myself being out there looking down at the earth.

And I actually imagined myself on the moon. Um, being, at that point, still today, there has never been a woman on the moon, never been a Moroccan in space as well. So I felt this drive, this new dream of like, breaking the barriers. Like, I'd like to go to the moon, why not? How can I get to the moon? And then a week later, I was on the moon.

After having this revelation, every new person I started meeting was in the space industry. Like, it was wild. 

[00:10:03] Markus: like, um, they say when you're pregnant, you only see pregnant, pregnant women. And so when you're, when you're ready to go to space, you only meet space people. 

[00:10:12] Yasmine: It really is true. Even in Morocco on Monday, I met you, you're in space.

It's like everybody I met, for the most part, on Monday, here in Marrakesh, in my home country, in the film conference, was in space. They worked on a space program, or interviewed astronauts, or they knew Sian Proctor, like, wild. I'm like, okay, all right, universe, it's not, I'm not doing anything. It's just like, And Space for Humanity happened, uh, actually it's a funny story.

It's a good story because my friend Cameron Sinclair, who also is another epic human, I told him about this dream to go, that I wanted to go to the moon. And he said, great, let's have a dinner that we co host together. And the theme is going to be inner and outer space. I'm like, great, that sounds amazing.

And he's like, I'm going to invite a couple of friends. So we fly to LA. And we host this dinner, and there's, it's very intimate, like 20, 25 people. And he invited the head of Virgin Galactic, You're 

[00:11:16] Markus: kidding me. 

[00:11:17] Yasmine: NASA people who worked on the moon mission, Um, the lunar program, Space for Humanity, the daughter of the Saudi king.

NASA, who was there. Her name was NASA, by the way, who we became good friends. Mona Hamdi, who's like, works on ethics and technology and knew all the space people at Harvard. Wild. I'm just like, very intimate group. And Loretta Whitesides, who I'd love to talk about. She's trains, she does. 

[00:11:46] Markus: We had her in the 

[00:11:48] Yasmine: Loretta? Yes. Are you serious? 

[00:11:50] Markus: What? Yes. 

[00:11:52] Yasmine: Oh, my God. Okay. She's 

[00:11:54] Markus: fantastic. 

[00:11:54] Yasmine: Loretta changed my life. So, Loretta Whitesides, I can't believe it. That's amazing. So, yeah, Loretta Whitesides was at this dinner, very intimate. Again, I knew nobody in space. This was my first introduction. And, of course, Cameron, in the middle of the dinner, takes a glass and does the thing and he's like, welcome, everyone.

So, today we have something important to announce. We have this young Moroccan woman who has a dream that she would like to share with all of you. And, Markus, it was one of those moments where I'm like, this is insane, like, I can't just reveal my dream to all these incredible humans. And he looked at me, he's like, Yasmin, come on, you got this.

This is your moment. No preparation. No preparation. He didn't even tell me or prompt me he was going to do this. And I, you know, Anousheh Ansari, first Iranian woman 

[00:12:48] Markus: to 

[00:12:49] Yasmine: go to space. Love her. She's another inspiration of mine. And, um, she was there at the dinner. And I'm just mesmerized. And so, of course, I just share my story.

Like, my 50 state dream and this revelation I had. And, Elora came up to me and she's like, Okay, you're going to do my training, like Virgin, Virgin Galactic training she's been doing, and I went to her program. That's the Jedi program. Yes. Have you done it? 

[00:13:18] Markus: No, no, she told me about it. I'd love to do it.

You 

[00:13:20] Yasmine: should definitely do it. Um, so I, I now help with the Mastermind every other month with Alex Karl, who's, um, um, he actually is from Germany. Amazing person also, but his job I think it's the coolest job. His job is to check in with astronauts every day in the International Space Station to make sure they're okay.

I mean, the European astronauts, obviously. Um, and I think that's really cool. But he's a, he's another amazing person. Um, so, so I share my dream and I felt the significance of that I knew that that moment of me being, having a bit of courage share in front of this group of people, 

[00:14:02] Markus: a group of strangers, a group 

[00:14:04] Yasmine: of strangers, 

[00:14:05] Markus: absolute strangers, that's 

[00:14:06] Yasmine: complete strangers.

Um, and what happened after like all the ripples from that dinner are still unfolding. Um, you know, and so even Anousheh Ansari is like, here's my number. You're, you will go to space one day. And if you need anything, reach out. It's amazing. I'm just like, as a mentor, as a friend, like woman, woman to woman.

And That changed my life. And so that's how I found out about Space for Humanity and applied and went from 7, 000 the final, five. 

[00:14:45] Markus: This is a fantastic story. Why do you think, why do you think those stars aligned literally? Why? Why is that? What is happening? Who is responsible for that? 

[00:14:55] Yasmine: I mean, probably, 

[00:14:56] Markus: there 

[00:14:58] Yasmine: is like a force beyond this world that is indescribable.

Some people call it God, some people call it Allah, some people call it the universe. And I feel, whatever it is, I, I just, um, I'm a, I'm a believer in like, if you have the right Like, the world aligns and creates the pathway for you to walk. And as you begin to walk, as my friend Rumi would say, who's one of the greatest poets of our time, that as you begin to walk the path, the path Uh, but you need to have that alignment in the heart and intentions and mind. So I felt that way. I feel this way even today. Like, um, as long as I'm aligned with myself, Everything is unfolding as it's 

[00:15:50] Markus: Is there a method to get yourself on that path? To be, to find that true, that truth in yourself?

Because I feel like it's all about finding something that truly drives That truly motivates you. Where you're sort of losing yourself in something. Is this sheer luck to find something? Or can this be initiated? Find it. 

[00:16:19] Yasmine: I believe everyone has it in them, uh, and some people are more ready than others, and my deepest longing is for everyone experience it and move towards it.

And I believe it's a, you know, sometimes just the right encounter, someone believing in you, um, a story that resonates. But I do believe that it's not luck. I believe it's, um, readiness coupled with motivation and purpose and the desire for something Um, I'll give you an example, which actually.

We'll answer your question about how I got to space. So there's the back, back story, which I love. Because it's, uh, here in Morocco that it started, and it's 19, like the moon landing, back in 1969. So, my uncle, Ahmed, who's a very important character in my, in my life journey. He's, he's the one who believed in me, the first person I guess my parents would be first, but he like saw something in He's like, you belong, you belong. in the world, you know, at 15, at 13. And, and I, in a world where I felt like I Um, and so he, he was born in a, like a farm in a small village in Morocco. He had 11 brothers and sisters.

They were 12. And he, his destiny was to become a farmer. That's what you did back then, in the 60s. And, but he was always different. He always, he was a dreamer. He was someone who asked was curious, didn't want to follow the traditional path, but it didn't really, in the setting that he was in, it was really challenging.

And one day he describes encounter, encountering, uh, I believe it was a British man. That gave him, that like, had an interaction in the village and it inspired him, gave him a sense of, um, hope. Because this person saw him, even though they didn't speak the language. And as a departing gift, this man gave my uncle a radio, a transistor Which was now his new, like, possession that he was so excited about. And, you know, he's listening to all the news. The Vietnam War at the time and all the innovations happening in the West, but he was so far removed from that reality He couldn't relate. It was very different until the moon landing when man was going to land on the moon in 1969 he could relate to He could see the moon. He could feel it. He could experience it and He was so excited. He went back to the village told all his and family. Nobody believed him. But he believed in it. He believed in the story, which became his, the beacon of hope for 

[00:19:26] Markus: Did that trigger anything for you, for your next, for your vision, to make your vision become a reality? 

[00:19:34] Yasmine: Yes, I mean, it became more possible because I suddenly met a crew of humans. In the world who deeply care, uh, and understand this idea of peace building for humanity, um, and having that perspective.

And so I found a lot of similarities with the space community, um, and Similar to, like, the peace building this notion that there are no borders, astronauts when they are up there, they don't see any borders. There's just one planet, one world. division. For me, space represents this invitation to expand your to think outside of. This very small box that we often live in, uh, whether it's country, at a country level or a community level. It's like to remember that there are other tribes, other communities, other perspectives, other beliefs other religions, other ways of life and to stay curious and open and to look at it as like, oh, that's interesting.

Let me learn about that. Or instead of, you know, living in judgment or fear, um, to be curious new. and different because it expands us And so that's what I found in the space community also like this childlike Feeling people I find in space are very they still have that like curiosity that deep curiosity 

[00:21:10] Markus: tell me about those folks.

You met at the dinner. You met Loretta. You met someone from Virgin Galactic So tell and tell us about those folks. 

[00:21:18] Yasmine: I mean There's so many wonderful people Um, you know, Anusha Ansari self funded her trip to space and went with the Russians, which was really cool. Um, her book is amazing. Um, I'm forgetting the name of it, but I believe, something dreams, something has dream in it.

I'll find, I'll find the name as well. But it's a great book because she came to the United States, um, very young, didn't speak English, Uh, but was very driven to learn and physics and math and, uh, and eventually her dream was to, to go to space and she did it. She, she became the first Iranian woman to Middle Eastern, like from the Arab world, uh, to self fund her voyage to space.

And what that inspired in future generations and, uh, the young, the young people across the region and, uh, and she's still doing a lot of amazing work with, um, and making, you know, she, they funded, I believe, what became Virgin Galactic, like, early on. Yeah, and so many other people. And this 

[00:22:31] Markus: was also the moment when you got in touch with the Space for Humanity 

[00:22:36] Yasmine: Space for Humanity.

idea. Tell 

[00:22:38] Markus: us a little bit about that. 

[00:22:40] Yasmine: Well, I mean, it was, um, when I shared my dream in the space, um, people, someone, actually it was Loretta who said, Oh, you should meet Rachel Lyons, who at the time was the executive director of Space for Humanity. We then became friends. Soul Sisters. She's amazing. Like young woman who was leading this initiative, sending people to space.

Um, I found out about the program and I applied and I didn't think I was going to even make it to the first round. Um, but then I did. And then that gave me even more confidence. And I then it's the second round of the third round. And then you're in the final interview process of like, You know, like your weight and your height and are you fit to go to space?

And, um, we have a little visitor, um, you know, and the woman who ended up, uh, actually being selected to go Katya is an incredible. Young woman who, um, became the first Mexican and she's on an incredible journey now Changing policy in Mexico to make space more accessible. We also had Sarah who became the first African woman, Egyptian woman to go to space and she was the second person selected to to go But you know, it didn't matter like whether I go or you go or it doesn't matter, it's like we, it's the opportunity to, you know, I think when especially people from developing countries start to go to space, it really opens up a whole spectrum of possibility for people in that country.

[00:24:18] Markus: Tell us about this selection process. What does it take for, for anyone to go into space? What is it that you, that you're tested for? 

[00:24:30] Yasmine: Um, the main criteria is, is global impact. Is this idea that the work that you're doing in the world is having, uh, meaningful uh, in a specific region, uh, or across the world.

And so, um, I believe Katya was working on, or is working on, uh, making STEM available for everyone, especially for girls, women and girls. Um, so that was the project that she was to go. And, and, you know, there's like a post, uh, program as well. So when you come back, there's, um, a whole mentoring program around, well, how do you bring this idea of the overview fact.

to the world and to different communities. So 

[00:25:13] Markus: it's, it's not so much about being a super athlete, um, like back in, back in the Apollo days. 

[00:25:20] Yasmine: No, 

[00:25:21] Markus: no, it's 

[00:25:21] Yasmine: about the impact, the, your capacity for impact in 

[00:25:26] Markus: Okay. Good. And this in turn triggered another idea in your life, right? Because now you, you weren't, Then you weren't ready or chosen to go into space, but space still remained with you and you, you had your idea for earthly encounters with space people.

Tell us about that. 

[00:25:47] Yasmine: Yeah, I mean, the idea of bringing people together is something we've been doing for the last, you I believe 14 years now. Since I was 17, I came to the United States as a young cultural Moroccan ambassador. That was my first job out of school, out of high school. And actually, I was still in high school technically, but my job was to go to America for a year and meet Americans and talk to them about Morocco and Africa and the Middle East and Muslim women, Arab women, uh, and break down barriers.

Because it was In a post 9 11 era where there is a lot of racism and discrimination against certain populations and somehow the U. S. government Selected me to represent a whole region and continent, which was a privilege, but I was 17. And there was a lot of things I didn't know about my own, my own country and region.

So I ended up studying women's issues in the Middle East. I ended up researching quite a bit around integration, assimilation, and identity for people in the East who go to the West and how do we integrate? So it became, I, I was very curious about these topics because I was an Arab Muslim woman who is now in America and like, do I integrate or do I assimilate?

Do I become like them so I can fit and belong or do I stay true to some of my values that are very different from what I was finding in college or like drinking and whatever it is. Like, I mean, no, no judgment. Again, it's different cultures, but I was struggling with How do I belong? 

[00:27:28] Markus: It was 

[00:27:28] Yasmine: a big question in my And so in college, I just felt very alone. And then after a few months, I said, you know what, I am going to go on a research, like discovery. I want to go to all 50 states and understand other people's lives. Like, what age 

[00:27:44] Markus: was that? 

[00:27:45] Yasmine: Uh, I was 18. 

[00:27:47] Markus: 18. And you were planning to travel all 50 states 

[00:27:50] Yasmine: on a Greyhound bus, 

[00:27:51] Markus: Greyhound bus, of course, whatever would you do?

So 18 year old woman, Greyhound bus. 

[00:27:57] Yasmine: And so I went to my advisor, Omar Dayan. He was amazing. He's Syrian. And I was like, um, so I don't just want to be in school. I want to spend the next four years traveling everywhere to do research on these topics. And he said, Do you know how to do it? I'm like, I'll figure it out.

And he's like, great, we'll support you. And he approved it. So I was able So who was he again? Omar Dahi. He was my school advisor. Okay. Who I think understood that the only way support me through college was to let me do what I wanted to do. Okay. And 

[00:28:35] Markus: he 

[00:28:37] Yasmine: told me when I graduated, he's like, I knew on day one that the best advisor I can be for you is to let you do what you want to do.

And that's the biggest gift until today. That's been everything. Because had I followed a more traditional educational system, I wouldn't have been able to do what I did. And that's why I'm 31 and feel like I'm 150 years old. So, 

[00:29:04] Markus: tell me again, so you're 18, um, where in your school, phase were you then? 

[00:29:13] Yasmine: Um, undergrad.

[00:29:15] Markus: Undergrad. 

And then as an undergrad, you finished that level or? 

[00:29:21] Yasmine: Yeah. 

[00:29:21] Markus: Okay. 

[00:29:22] Yasmine: Yeah, I finished, I eventually graduated. Okay, 

[00:29:25] Markus: you graduated, and then you went on a journey. 

[00:29:28] Yasmine: Um, no, the journey was happening while I was in school. 

[00:29:32] Markus: So how would that, I know, this doesn't make sense. This, how does that work? So, because while you were at school, you should be in school.

[00:29:41] Yasmine: Right. I went to a school where You design your own major, 

[00:29:46] Markus: and we have 

[00:29:47] Yasmine: no grades, no ma like, you design your own curriculum. So it's called Hampshire College, it's in Massachusetts, and it's a school that is very experiential, and uh, so, if you have an idea, then you just do that. So it's not like you don't have to follow the traditional taking classes.

I was taking some classes, but most of my education was on the road and I was receiving grants to go travel and do research in Europe, in Morocco and Middle East and, and around the US. So the, the educational system supports you to follow your interests. 

[00:30:25] Markus: Fantastic. 

[00:30:26] Yasmine: So good. 

[00:30:27] Markus: So what were your research questions then?

[00:30:30] Yasmine: Identity, morality, and cultural evolution. That was one, one big project. Women's issues in the Middle East, in particular Morocco, understanding the Mudawana, which family code book, and policies around that. Um, I was, entrepreneurship, I was interested in this idea of starting your own business.

Entrepreneurial endeavors. That's how Voyage started even in college. Hampshire gave me my first seed funding to start my business. They gave me my first 60K to start Voyage. 

[00:31:05] Markus: Tell us about that, Voyage. Voyage, 

[00:31:08] Yasmine: oh my god. Another, another. Yeah, another. Voyage was founded exactly 10 years ago. And I was traveling to all these places, meeting all these amazing people.

I met families and people around the country and people would ask me like, how do

you know

all these people and how do you just go? and

and I I found that interesting. I'm like,

I just talk to everywhere,

Every like anywhere, everywhere, no matter who they are, I just say hello and start a conversation.

And I realized

that

people had, Didn't do that. I thought everyone did that because the naive in me was like, oh like we are one big family and I realized it was not common for people go and meet people on a bus, on a train, on a plane, at airports In the streets, and I don't know, I had a very natural way of connecting with people Everywhere and not just connecting with people but deeply connecting Like to the point that after a brief conversation, they become family and we visit each other and they come here. They've stayed in my family's home. Like I've had so many people come stay in Rabat, um, and my parents hosting them. Uh, I've been hosted over 200, with over 200 families in America. So I was having this grand adventure and Voyage was kind of an opportunity for me.

an experiment to connect the people I was meeting together so that they also have these cross cultural exchanges and experiences. So almost like turning myself into an app or a platform to enable cross cultural And that's how the idea came about. It was just an evolution of what I was doing and wanting other people to do the same.

And I, you know, we've had a lot of trials and errors. Uh, we've done amazing programming over the years. Um, and I'm still on, I'm still trying to figure it out in terms of like scale and how do you reach people in like faraway places. So that's still a question using how do we use technology. Uh, we just finished building an app right now that we're piloting and testing, but in a very practical way, it looks like dinner conversations.

a circle of people from around the world coming together to explore questions around origin, stories, identity, um, culture. What does home mean to you? Uh, what's your biggest challenge? How can we help as a community? And what is your wildest And so that's what it looks like in its current iteration.

And lately we've been bringing refugees, astronauts, and locals together in the same room. That's been amazing. Bye 

[00:34:01] Markus: astronauts. 

[00:34:03] Yasmine: Because I love space, and I've, uh, started becoming good friends with, with the space community and, and astronauts like Sian Proctor and, and, uh, you know, Loretta, who's actually going up in, with Virgin Galactic in a couple years.

Um, Chris Simbroski, um, recently met Chris Hedfield, who's excited about it. And, and so it's been this, it was, it's Just simply that I, I felt this resonance with astronauts who really got the voyage mission at the core, this idea that we're all one, that we're all one family, and they just got it and therefore invited them to.

Join these dinners and they were they all said yes, which is really cool Because we 

[00:34:48] Markus: selected to participate in such a dinner and how how do you select those folks? So you have an astronaut? Okay, but how about the refugees refugees? 

[00:34:56] Yasmine: So the one example I can offer is the one Refugee dinner we did Refugee astronaut dinner about a month ago in Kent, Washington, which is about an hour from Seattle.

And, uh, we, I was having, actually, the back story is I was having a conversation, catching up with Chris Sembroski, who is, uh, I believe named Hanks on the Inspiration4 mission. And he, um, he randomly, some, a friend of his did a raffle, and he got, he got selected. His friend didn't want to go to space, so he gave him his seat.

He gifted him his seat. And so Chris was like, sure, 

[00:35:37] Markus: I'll go. 

[00:35:38] Yasmine: I'll go to space for three days and, uh, change his life. So I'm, I met Chris through, uh, Loretta actually, uh, cause Loretta brings us together in many different ways. And, and we became friends and we were talking about We talk a lot about, you know, peace and, like, challenges in the world and, and I was telling him that I, well, we, actually I was having a conversation with, uh, World Relief, which is a resettlement agency, uh, for refugees in America, actually global, it's a global organization, and we connected and we, uh, I decided to collaborate and do a dinner for refugees in Kent as part of their integration and like a welcoming experience.

So I'm having a conversation with Amy about this and we're planning this dinner. And then an hour later, I'm having a different conversation with Chris, telling him about this amazing nonprofit I just met called World Relief based in Kent. And he's like, what do you mean? I am in Kent. Like, I work for Blue Origin, and Blue Origin is in Kent.

I'm like, huh. Okay, well, how would you feel about bringing refugees and the space community together and you can share about your journey in outer space as part of the dinner? And within weeks, Blue Origin was involved, Come for the Future, which is their philanthropy arm, and we invited employees, and then Voyage Ambassadors who flew in from across the country to be at this dinner.

So it was like 40 people in this big circle having dinner. Oh, and this amazing chef, Maya, who was learning ingredients about the different cultures where the refugees are from and designing a menu. To create this incredible feast based on the different countries. So we had like Afghan, Moroccan, like a fusion and the amount of, and she just offered that as part of her gift and contribution.

Um, and he got sponsored by McKaylee, this amazing young woman who heard about the dinner and she's like, uh, can I sponsor it? I'm like, yes. And that's how it happened. It was very co creative. 

[00:37:58] Markus: It 

[00:37:58] Yasmine: seems like, 

[00:37:59] Markus: it seems like it could be a challenge to balance completely different life situations, because you have the overprivileged astronaut and the underprivileged refugee.

How do you go, do you go about that? 

[00:38:15] Yasmine: That's a beautiful question, because what I, what I found they have in common is that Many, many things. And that's what made it really exciting because even though they both are coming from different places, they both are taking tremendous, um, risks, right, to go into the unknown and go into uncharted territories.

Um, refugees are leaving their homes without the promise of Astronauts are also leaving the planet without a promise of returning. You know, we, we've seen tragedy happen in the past, so it's a huge 

[00:38:52] Markus: risk. 

[00:38:52] Yasmine: I mean, it's not like, it's not super safe to go to space. And it's a huge risk when you get on that rocket that you might not come back.

And you know the risk, front and center. So I found that to be interesting, that, that courage and that risk taking, uh, to go into, into, into the unknown, that only few people have gone on in our lifetime. Um, and tremendous amount of resilience. Both refugees and astronauts have like, they're very present to, like, their life experience, and they have this resilience that you can actually sense when you're talking to them.

You feel like it's an honor to meet a refugee and hear their story, and equally important, To meet an astronaut and hear their journey because again, there's like 117 million refugees in the world. Um, about 3. 7 million only in the United States. So a lot of people don't have a chance to meet them because they tend to Be with their own community.

And this initiative is trying to bridge them with the other communities in the U. S. that are well established to be able to create new pathways for hope and inspiration for a better life. 

[00:40:08] Markus: So you got about, I don't know, how many are participating in that dinner? 

[00:40:13] Yasmine: About 40. 

[00:40:14] Markus: 40. So you got 40 out of 170 million people.

So how can you let that snowball? 

[00:40:22] Yasmine: That's a beautiful question. Um, we're I mean, the simple answer is, if you are interested to be an ambassador of this way of bringing people together, the Voyage Way, uh, we have a guidebook. We have a way for, to empower you and give you permission to host a dinner in your hometown.

And it doesn't have to always be refugees and astronauts. It could be, uh, scientists and, uh, You know, non scientists, or like musicians and artists, and um, it could be any group that you want, but with this idea of breaking borders, like barriers, and having different perspectives in the same room. So, um, yeah, so the Voyage, you know, there's an app that you can sign up on, and you can create an experience, uh, to invite your friends.

Local friends to join. So you can do one in Vienna even, bringing people together and you then get connected to the Voyage community around the world. And so that's kind of the format of how we're 

[00:41:22] Markus: Are there any memories that stand out from such dinners between astronauts and refugees? Any stories you would like to share?

[00:41:30] Yasmine: Um, yes, there's so many. Um, my favorite one is when people, when, you know, some of the new arrivals, um, which I prefer. I mean, refugees, new arrivals, newcomers are all different terms that we use, um, to dignify the, like, I don't like refugees, but also it's how people understand it. But I really like new arrivals because it's this idea that we have this new group of people who are arriving in a, in a new country, and how do we welcome them?

How do we ensure that they have? Uh, a meaningful Moroccan welcome, you know, like with tea, like the one we had on Monday. Just so, um, like it really shifts the, um, your experience, like how you're, how you're welcomed in, in a new place. But, um, 

[00:42:25] Markus: my problem is, Problem is, these days, we're not welcoming, deliberately not welcoming people anymore because we're shutting Borders.

Borders, that's the problem. 

[00:42:35] Yasmine: And we need to ask the question, why are we doing that? Because of scarcity, um, that we feel like we don't have enough space in our home, in our countries, that immigrants or refugees are taking the jobs of locals. We need to really rethink and re evaluate why are we shutting down our borders?

Because, ultimately, we are going to be refugees. It's just a matter of time. My friends in Southern California yesterday, uh, lost their And now they're refugees. Um, they don't have a home. So it's climate refugees, not just war Um, and it's happening more and more. And it's going to magnify more in the next with climate change and, um, So, we might think it's just a problem over there, but it's actually happening domestically. 

[00:43:27] Markus: It's very powerful, um, we will always be refugees. At some point, because now we're driven into that, into that situation by our own climate changing activities. But mostly, some smart person once said, we're strangers almost in any place in the world, because we just have our teeny little home.

But whenever we go somewhere, we are strangers. So that's, that's a powerful thing to think about. But yeah, so, but anyway, so you're trying to. snowball this through this app whatnot into, into making, turning it into a powerful network. I'd love to hear how the, the astronauts reacted or are usually reacting to the refugee stories, because I just want to find out how the power dynamic works in space.

in such a dinner? Because I mean, like, I would fanboy an astronaut, I think. But are there fanboying moments in, in the direction of refugees? Also possible. So I'm just trying to find out, is the astronaut taking something away from those conversations? 

[00:44:47] Yasmine: Oh, absolutely. I mean, it's been really beautiful to Experience the, um, it's almost like the astronaut understands the responsibility that they carry when they come back from And, uh, it's almost like a duty and responsibility to show up in that way. Um, and they want to, they want to because there again, they've been blasted into the They've fallen in love with the planet. They want to contribute back to Earth in meaningful ways. And most of them do. Most of them are.

Um, but so to receive an invitation Meet refugees in an intimate way, as humans, you know, we don't even call, I don't like to call them refugees, but as friends, it's an honor, and that's the word they use, like, it would be an honor have dinner in a very intimate, casual way with, um, with refugees and for them to hear my story, and they find commonalities, so many, and you asked me a question earlier about some of my favorite stories, or aha moments, It's been that, in a circle, we ask people what is your biggest challenge right now, what's your origin story, where do you come from?

So that builds trust and coherence and harmony. But then we ask, what is the current challenge that you're experiencing right now and you would like support with? And then the last question is, what is your wildest dream? And we specifically use the word wildest because we want people to dream imaginable dreams.

And what we find Every time is that someone's dream and someone's challenge are correlated. One and the same. Someone. Someone's biggest dream or biggest challenge is like integration or, you know, finding community or, um, one, one woman was to become like a well known, um, architect. She was, she built the, Sarah built the, uh, metro station in Turkey.

[00:46:52] Markus: Which is 

[00:46:52] Yasmine: amazing and she's a Syrian refugee, left Syria to go to Lebanon, had to flee Lebanon and then go to Turkey and has faced

discrimination

throughout. Took her 12 years

to

get her asylum

status

in the

US.

Eventually got it with her family. And now she's here in the U.

S.

and she

wants to just

do architecture.

That's

what she studied

and that's

her dream.

And then someone

in the room

was

like a really well known and connected the dot.

And

that to me is the power of these dinners because you never know how what you

feel

like is unreachable. is actually right in front But you have to be, have the boldness to share your dream.

Like

what I

did with Cameron. When he asked, see Cameron did what I'm now doing. He said, Yasmin has a dream she would like to share. And by me sharing it, people rallied. It's the same thing that happens. You have a room of 30 people, 30 40 people, who are all listening And so we build, we create a safe space on the floor with Moroccan rugs, bring my teapot to the table.

Everywhere. I

literally carry

four rugs across the country with me, a duffel bag that

has four,

usually 40 pillows. People look at me at

airports.

They're like, what is happening? I'm like, well, we're doing this thing

and

everybody's excited and everyone wants to be part of it. And people offer their homes in different states.

And it's amazing. Strangers. We're like, well, if you ever want to

do something

in Alabama, I have my house open or my

house

in, you know, Ojai or it's been incredible to see this is all of us.

It's

not, it's not just these 40 people or these, you know, we, last month alone, we brought 190 people together across seven cities in America.

It was wild to do that in one month, but it was an

experiment.

I'm like, let's go for one month and go to all the cities and see what happens. So I have a lot of, a lot of stories. 

[00:48:57] Markus: Does that need a

host,

a moderator, so to say, a dinner? You need a facilitator, someone who 

[00:49:02] Yasmine: is going to hold a space to ensure that everybody

shares

in the room.

You need a

home, so

you need a host,

someone

who can open. We love

home settings.

Because

being in someone's home is very

intimate, and for new

arrivals,

they get to have an American

experience

in being in, in a beautiful house or a beautiful home. But, surprisingly,

churches

have been opening Uh, like their church, like we've had, the canteen dinner was in a church, and they had a kitchen, and we had chefs and refugee chefs, sous chefs, uh, being involved, and,

so, we love home settings.

I mean, this space

right here is perfect. I, I could do something here. And we've done, we've done things here before. Um, but, I mean, it's, it's a home and a facilitator. Their

food is

always nice, because people get hungry when you're sharing

so

deeply. Uh,

tea.

I'll go in tea

and,

um, music So we'll have, like, someone playing Aloud, Moroccan, Arabic.

Uh, or international. It doesn't have to be, I'm going Moroccan because I'm Moroccan. But it could be, um, a Spanish influenced dinner. It could be Mexican, you know, cultural

experience. So it's not,

it doesn't just

have to

be Moroccan. I like it because I'm from Morocco, so it's my way of sharing my culture.

But we, we have dinners that are

also

multicultural. 

[00:50:31] Markus: quite the, the, uh, Opposite

of what social

media is about,

it's the analog

version

that's a lot more

powerful,

that really

works.

It's what we're 

[00:50:43] Yasmine: having right

now,

although I feel like I have not asked you any questions,

so

I'm slightly embarrassed.

Usually I'm the one asking

questions, so

thank you for being so kind.

[00:50:53] Markus: Fantastic.

I think what you're doing here has a huge

future.

And, um, I think so,

because

we are living in a

very transitory phase, culturally, with the

arrival of artificial intelligence,

invading

almost everything we

have socially,

we're in our private homes and whatnot.

And so,

it seems like, With artificial intelligence being able to

replicate almost anything,

we're losing the places where we can feel safe and where we feel

trusted. So anything that's happening

on the internet makes no

sense anymore

in times

of artificial intelligence because there is no trust

Behind it anymore.

I do not believe, I do not know who, what I'm confronted with. So I think there may be a huge revival of the

analog in the future.

What we're having right now, we're not wearing

those,

um, techno glasses or techno

shades that,

like VR

glasses. So

right now, this is as true and real as it

can get.

And maybe in times of hyper technology, this is what humans will be looking The

real

experience. And this real experience is a local experience. It cannot be global anymore, because it can only work if we sit next to one another. So maybe,

so

I'm not

advocating

for the disappearance

of the internet and technology, quite the opposite. But still I think there's two paths

now, we're bifurcating in two ways.

We

will have a, an AI driven whatever world

that is, but

at the same

time,

we will.

Cherish and appreciate profound

analog

experiences. That's what I think.

I love 

[00:52:58] Yasmine: that. 

[00:52:58] Markus: Yeah. 

[00:52:59] Yasmine: I mean, the analog, that's part of the space, like almost every astronaut has to go on an analog

mission, So, in a way, it's like sitting in Hawaii or in a

Mars simulation

and you're there highlighting what's happening in long form, right, like audio or a voice form, and I

think

that's awesome.

I miss that. I

miss

a handwritten note, you know, and I actually wanted to share

something

with you, which is this postcards that, um, um, I collaborated with the Blue Origin Club for the Future

to

co brand these space, these postcards that in every voyage dinner, at the end, People write like a love letter to their future selves or a message that they want to send out to humanity.

Um, it, then Origin sends it to outer space on a rocket, rocket ship and then mail it, mail it back to your home. And it's a very

simple

activity, but what it does, One, it

sparks inspiration

of like, Oh, I

get to have

a physical object that is going to fly to space and come back to me. We're not polluting the space because it's coming back to Earth.

We're

just

putting it in a

box.

Uh, but it has the significance. And, um,

so

I'll make sure to give you a postcard. Fantastic. 

[00:54:15] Markus: Yep. 

[00:54:15] Yasmine: Before, uh, we leave

today

because, um, you know, the messages that we have

received so

far are really powerful. Beautiful and very simple.

Oftentimes

involves around and love for the world, um, or

space

for everyone or no more wars, you know, very simple

messages

but

holds

value you see

that it's universal.

No matter what country or state that we do this in, people want the same thing. 

[00:54:47] Markus: It's as simple

as it

gets, and as difficult Fantastic.

Um, Yasmin, um, if the call came right now, we got a ticket for you to go into space, I guess you would go, right? 

[00:55:03] Yasmine: Oh, yes. I can't wait. I mean, it's gonna ha I feel it.

It's a matter

of time,

but, uh, I'm ready. 

[00:55:11] Markus: Any limits? Would you go to

Mars? Just the moon? I actually

[00:55:14] Yasmine: have no interest to go to Mars. Uh, I only want to go to the moon. I mean, I'll go to, like, the Blue Origin, like, 11 minute ride, which, you know, you still get to experience the overview effect. Um, I mean, this, I don't know if this will happen or not, but I was gifted, um, a seat with, um, Which

is

like, you know, space perspective

worldview. It's the balloon ride. Essentially, more of a

[00:55:43] Markus: I 

[00:55:44] Yasmine: think I saw, I 

[00:55:45] Markus: saw them at South by

Southwest two years

ago. 

[00:55:48] Yasmine: Yeah. 

[00:55:48] Markus: When they set up their capsule.

[00:55:50] Yasmine: Yes. 

[00:55:51] Markus: on the ground and you could experience it on, on screens. So what the, what the ride will be like. 

[00:55:57] Yasmine: So,

so

that's a really cool

innovation

in space because the idea

is you

don't, you go to the edge

of

space, about a hundred thousand feet view and you

still

get the overview effect and you're there for like 12, 8 to 12 hours.

Um, space perspective just successfully,

uh, did their, Test which is awesome. Of course, Richard Branson will be the first to go on this ride

Because that makes sense because

he did the whole balloon Space no like not space balloon, but The other balloon with Virgin a long time ago. That's actually in Marrakech I do know the story.

It's a great story, but he went from I

believe England to To

Morocco on a balloon. And he landed in the Atlas mountains and fell in love with the region. And his mom wanted to, uh,

contribute

to the region

here. So

they started the Eve

Branson

foundation to help empower

girls and

women in the region. And he told her the.

Only

reason

we would buy a

hotel

here is if you help the community. And they've done it in a really meaningful way. Um, his mom's since

passed,

but they've had a lot of impact in the Atlas Mountains over there. And I've collaborated with them over the years, but it's

really cool. I

think

Richard

Branson is a good human who's really trying to do good things.

And, but I'm

excited that

he'll be the ambassador for the space balloon, uh, that will go up

next

year,

actually

in

2026.

So a year from now, two years from now, um, but

Worldview

is another company that is on the path. I probably a couple years later

than Space Perspective,

right now they're focused on space

missions,

but their intention

is also to take

people on these hundred thousand feet view,

but from like the Grand

Canyon or from the Sahara Desert so that you're like going up slowly Um, and having this experience of looking down of the, like, really beautiful national parks

across

the world.

Um, so they're great too. And, um,

this,

yeah, these

space

companies, and there's going to be more and more. I believe there's one in Europe coming

up too.

Uh, forgot what

it's

called, but they're also trying, wanting to take people up and democratizing space.

Like, 

[00:58:18] Markus: I keep asking

this question. Time and again,

because I

would like to find an answer, but it seems like, it feels

like, humans are growing wings at

the moment, and

we're starting to

become What some call

interplanetary,

because the technology

is getting

ready.

So back in the Apollo days, they were

sort of the precursors, the

pioneers, but now we're taking it more seriously, and space is opening

up

and maybe inviting us to not be conquered. Not

at all.

This used to be back

in

the day, but to be

discovered

maybe. 

[00:58:55] Yasmine: Yeah, I mean we're, we're We're explorers. I like our nature.

We're like from tribes and from the desert. And, you know, we come from very far away lands and we've always

been explorers.

So wanting to go

explore

Mars and the moon is OK. It's like part of the human evolution. But I do believe that everyone should be involved, which means let's not forget like Africa and the Middle East.

And. You know, other countries and, uh, that to me is what matters,

is

like when I look at all this

space,

uh, people who've gone up,

it's mostly

Western countries and mostly Americans, um, Europeans as well, but we need more diversity and that's something that, um, you know, I'd love to

see

a refugee go up, you know, I'd love to see an Israeli

and a

Palestinian go up in

Uh, maybe

Russians

and a Russian, a Ukrainian and, and a Republican and Democrats and like,

let's

all go up and have a conversation because most people in the world are good humans and the media can

sometimes

derail

us from

the truth. Like, look deeper and ask the

questions because

it's very easy to get clouded by fear and feel like the world is

this

clouded, dark place.

But

[01:00:13] Markus: it's

not. 

[01:00:14] Yasmine: It's not. 

[01:00:15] Markus: It's 

[01:00:15] Yasmine: not. It's

beautiful. Mostly good. 

[01:00:19] Markus: Regarding that question, if you were going to go

to, to

space, so let's just, um, and this

is also a question I keep asking my, my guests.

Um, going into space is exciting, but when you go

to

Mars, it can get

easily

boring because it's a long journey.

So

what's the one

piece of music? You would not want to miss on your playlist 

[01:00:44] Yasmine: when 

[01:00:44] Markus: things get boring. 

[01:00:45] Yasmine: Coldplay. 

[01:00:46] Markus: The cool thing

is we have a playlist

on Spotify for the aspiring space traveler. And so what's your contribution?

Coldplay.

[01:00:52] Yasmine: Coldplay. 

[01:00:53] Markus: And what, what

track? What track? 

[01:00:54] Yasmine: I

literally, Coldplay has been part of my journey since I was young, dreaming to leave Morocco and travel the world.

And their new album is called The Moon. I'm like, okay, okay,

Chris Martin,

you, we're in sync.

So

he's amazing. And I really feel. Deep resonance. I would listen to I mean, in fact, I have a

request.

When I'm going up one day, I would love for

Chris Martin to be

the artist. For my launch party.

[01:01:24] Markus: Fantastic.

Chris,

if

you hear this

And what track

of the new album? You get to contribute one track. 

[01:01:33] Yasmine: Uh, it would be, uh, Well, there's one called The Moon, um, I believe. Which is their main song. Okay, 

[01:01:40] Markus: good. 

[01:01:41] Yasmine: In the new album. 

[01:01:42] Markus: Fantastic.

Last question,

Jasmine. Um, this

is called the

Space

Cafe Podcast.

Although we're drinking

tea

right now, it's a coffee place.

We're evolving. Exactly. And in coffee places, you

know, and then energize yourself

with an espresso,

a shot to

energize yourself. Now,

I challenge

you to share an espresso for the mind Um, a shot of inspiration, whatever kind

of topic you want

to pick. 

[01:02:09] Yasmine: Anything? 

[01:02:10] Markus: Anything?

[01:02:16] Yasmine: First, to and then to be 

[01:02:22] Markus: That's deep. 

[01:02:24] Yasmine: curious, and open. 

[01:02:27] Markus: Fantastic. 

[01:02:28] Yasmine: And you'll be understood. 

[01:02:31] Markus: Hey

Jasmine,

thank you so much for that

conversation.

Thank you. Shukran.

[01:02:34] Yasmine: It's

been a pleasure, and to our next cup

of tea,

maybe here, or maybe on the moon. 

[01:02:40] Markus: Great. Fantastic. We're through. 

[01:02:43] Yasmine: Yay.

That was amazing. That was

so

cool.

[01:02:47] Markus: Thank you everyone for listening to this. I have to admit, I also like to travel, and I'm completely sharing Jasmine's open hearted and open minded view of the world. Whenever I travel, no matter where I go in this world, I only meet good people. So perhaps this is what I'm experiencing. I see a different world than the one portrayed in the media.

If you like what you hear on this show, if you like this episode with Jasmin, why don't you share it with someone you like? with someone you feel like could benefit or appreciate listening to this. And why don't you give the show a rating on your favorite podcast listening platform or a review? Um, this would help us heaps to get the show to the next level.

Uh, until then, my friends, again, thank you so much for sticking around, for your loyalty, and I'm looking forward to talking to you. In two weeks from now. And until then, take good care and bye bye.