Inspiration
One of our teammates went on a trip this summer to rural Upper Mustang, Nepal with a geologist and as when he was there, he realized that helping areas that are in need would be an interesting way to bring people with adventurous spirits and similar interests together - the concept of YOI was born.
The rest of us were immediately interested in this project as it would be a great way to encourage sustainable tourism and allow for people to discover the world in a new, culturally-focused way.
What it does
YOI aims to bring yoi (joy!) into young adult's lives by offering them cheap and safe trips, once-in-a-lifetime adventures and the opportunity to give back to communities around the world. When you create a profile on our website, you answer a few questions specially designed to tailor trips to your needs and desires, then the website automatically links you up with experiences (aka trips) or people that you might be interested in meeting as they have the same interests as you.
How we built it
We started off by brainstorming the different mechanics which we wanted to incorporate into our website and ways in which we could impliment them. When we figured out that we would aim for the creation of a website which would work in creating a profile and show the basic mechanics of the project. To do this, we used bootstrap to inspire us for the look and feel of the website and give us a little nudge in the right direction in terms of HTML/CSS coding.
Challenges we ran into
The main issue we had was debating whether we wanted our platform to be created more like a social media or more like a travel application. However, we soon figured that, given the time constraint of Yhack, it was necessary for us to move away from the idea of a social media and focus more on a platform which would bring people together without them having to be constantly connected to the website Another challenge we faced was that our team had to learn HTML from scratch to be able to develop the website which we have arrived to today, after a few hours of trial and error we finally got the hang of it and started to code in full speed to the best of our abilities. Finally, finishing the project in the 48 hours (give or take) given to us was probably the biggest challenge. From brainstorming to research, to planning, to the development of the business model, to the coding and the many, many changes that we had to come back to time and time again, it was very challenging. Especially because we weren't able to get a lot of sleep due to the excitement and having to sleep on the floor, which made us a bit less efficient on the morning on the second day. But, it was all worth it in the end.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
Despite having very little HTML knowledge in our team we managed to put our heads together and create a functioning website where you can login and look at profiles and experiences of other people. We also developed a fully comprehensive business model and did a lot of research on the subject of millennial traveling which has both expanded our minds on the subject and given us ideas for future developments of the company.
What we learned
We learned that working in a team and always staying on the same wavelength can be complicated, often someone mistook what they were supposed to do for something else. But, we also learned that having a team to bring out new ideas in each other and always having your back when there's a problem that needs to be fixed can be truly helpful and often a life-savior. It's safe to say that we also learned how to work on very little sleep and a lot of coffee towards a project that we have become passionate about.
What's next for YOI - Social Travelling
One of our teammates wants to see this project become a fully-fledged start-up and actually help millennials discover the world. Therefore, our hopes are that we can soon develop YOI so that it can organically grow on its own and inspire people to help others. To do this, we would need to develop an app and get in touch with possible business partners that would allow us to get funding and grow to reach even the furthest areas of the world. We would also need to travel ourselves and meet with local guides to see who would be willing to work in association with us and let young adults discover the hidden beauties that certain areas have to offer.
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