Joker’s approach is not that of a typical travel agency. For starters, the journeys are adventurous, to say the least. Groups of travellers set off to discover little-known areas of Ethiopia, to name just one of their recently added destinations. “The idea is that people travel in small groups to be able to really experience the local culture, instead of just watching it from a tourist distance,” says Baeten.

Joker also embraced the concept of ethical travelling long before it became a hype. The agency won the travel award for sustainable tourism two years ago.

But Joker has been around much longer. It started out as a collective of travel escorts specialised in global expeditions, employing several passionate people. One of them was Jos, who at the time ran a café in Leuven. He first came up with the idea of opening a travel-oriented café in 1994. The suggestion was received enthusiastically and became reality one year later in the form of the first Via Via café, which Jos still runs together with two colleagues.

“Today, a travel café doesn’t seem so unusual,” says Jos, “but 15 years ago there were relatively few. It was a new concept, and people took to it immediately.” About the same time Jos laid down his idea with Baeten and Bob Elsen, the other co-founder of the Living Stone group, another enthusiastic response came in the form of Mie, who wanted to open a Via Via café in Indonesia. That was the first of many Via Via spots, positioned on opposite sides of the world.

“It was always our goal to develop the Via Via concept into a worldwide network of locations,” says Baeten. There are now cafes in Belgium, Central and South America, Africa and South Asia, all run by Belgians. Soon, two new cafés will open their doors: one in Chile in November, and one in Ecuador sometime next year. This will bring the total to 14 Via Via cafés, only two of which are based in Belgium.

The other is in Antwerp, run by Marlies and Jeroen Van Dijck, brother and sister. Appropriately, when I tried to reach them, I heard that Jeroen is travelling through Portugal. But Marlies is available, in between her shifts in the kitchen of their Via Via, where she creates the trademark world cuisine that make the place so popular.

“I started working here as a student, and I fell in love with the place,” she remembers. “When the previous owners decided to pass on their business, I jumped at the chance.” Marlies started taking cooking classes and took over the role as chef, while her brother takes his place behind the bar.

Via Via cafés provide a casual atmosphere, where travellers can meet each other. But, according to Marlies, it’s also “somewhere little old ladies come and have a coffee, and where students drink a beer. A lot of people come for the food, which is high quality but reasonably priced.”

It seems a far cry from the café’s original goal to educate people about world travelling and enable them to connect with like-minded globetrotters. In Antwerp, customers still sometimes venture to the back, where they can find a large selection of travel guides. But it’s obvious that planning their next trip is not their main concern.

“The Belgian locations are different,” explains Baeten. “In Leuven, we still frequently host evenings when Joker presents slide shows of foreign destinations or organises informative sessions about travelling with kids, for example.” But it’s up to the café manager to decide which cultural activities take place. Living Stone group owns one-third of the Via Via cafés, so each café owner has a certain amount of autonomy.

“Of course whenever we meet someone who is genuinely interested in starting a Via Via café, it automatically means they adhere to our philosophy,” Baeten says. Living Stone group never starts from a certain location where they would like to open a café, but rather, waits until the right person with the right plan comes along.

“The goal behind Via Via is to enable and support Belgians to start their own business, either abroad or in Belgium,” says Baeten. By opening a café in Africa or South America, Via Via not only creates a job for one or two Belgians – an average of 18 people are employed at each café.

The goal of the Belgian-based cafés is to broaden their clientele’s horizons and introduce them to world food and cultures. In Antwerp, Spanish classes are offered; in Leuven, you can learn Spanish or Indonesian.

At the foreign locations, Via Via are more a meeting point for travellers, a source of information about the local destination. And many of them also have a bed and breakfast. “Many of our applicants already have a strong bond with a country and know a lot about the local region, and that is their main motivation to want to open up a café there,” concludes Baeten. “To us, that’s the best guarantee they are the perfect candidate.”

www.viaviacafe.com