meet the humans behind maneba
Hi 🤎
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We are María and Alazne, two friends who met by chance in Sri Lanka and instantly felt a deep connection. What brought us together was a shared love for presence, curiosity for exploring new cultures, passion for movement, and the desire to live authentic experiences.
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At the time, Alazne had been living on the island for a couple of months, while María was on the second stop of her trip around the world. With Christmas approaching and both of us far from home, we decided to spend it together and our journey took us to Japan.
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Those magical days became the seed of something bigger. Between temples and city lights, endless parks and cozy coffee shops, long conversations and new friendships, we discovered how much we dreamed of creating something meaningful: a community where adventure, movement, and deep connection come together.
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That’s how the idea of Maneba Collective began to take shape, before we even knew its name.
our tokyo diaries
Alazne
Alazne
Alazne
Alazne
Alazne is an emotional counsellor, personal trainer, and yoga teacher dedicated to guiding others back to themselves through movement, body awareness, and mindfulness.
With a deep love for surfing, travel, and the rhythms of nature, she creates spaces where breath meets movement, and stillness leads to transformation.
Maria is an adventurer, content creator, and storyteller whose heart lives in the mountains.
She thrives on exploring cultures, connecting with people around the world, and capturing the raw beauty of authentic moments through her lens, turning each frame into a story and every journey into a memory.
We've both lived in different countries and traveled across the globe, we’ve been lucky to meet people from many cultures and backgrounds, each encounter opening our minds and filling us with joy and energy. These friendships and experiences have shaped us, and we want to share that same spirit with everyone who feels called to join.
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For us, traveling is about balance: embracing adventure while also taking time to ground and reflect, sharing nurturing food, learning from our new amigos, and being surrounded by the beauty of nature. It’s in this rhythm, between movement and stillness, exploration and connection, that the true magic of a journey unfolds.
the story behind the name "Maneba"
In 2019, while volunteering in Cameroon, María met a young woman who changed everything. She was 21, had already given birth four times, lived in a small brick room with a metal roof, and had just delivered her fourth child alone, while fighting malaria.
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When asked her name at the hospital, her husband could not answer, and she didn’t speak French. Realizing the situation, she said out loud: “Maneba.”
She had been handpicked from a tribe as a teenager, married at 16, and lived for years beside someone who didn’t even know her name. That moment revealed both the invisibility many women face and the quiet strength they hold. From that day, we promised that if we ever created something, it would carry her name a commitment to make women visible, honor their voices, and create opportunities for them, including in the adventure and movement scene.
what Maneba Collective means to us
Having both traveled and lived around, we’ve been inspired by the people we’ve met and the joy and energy that comes from connecting deeply across cultures. We dreamed of a space that blends adventure, movement, reflection, and connection. A space where we can explore, ground ourselves, share nourishing food, learn from local communities, and move with presence.
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This is Maneba Collective: journeys that honor local cultures, empower women, and connect like-minded people through conscious travel. Adventures that aren’t just about moving, but about leaving a mark inside and out, forever.
