Travelmynation is run by Archana and Vidur and both are professional travel bloggers since 2015. Their niche is focussed primarily towards off beat travel and luxury experiences. Almost all their travels are road trips and the longest one was about 13,000 kilometres long from Bangalore to the northern states in 2018.
One of your most memorable journeys so far and why?
It definitely has to be the 6 month long road trip we undertook from Bangalore to Himachal and J&K region. During this tour, we covered numerous destinations in Himachal, Srinagar, and Ladakh regions. It was an experience like no other as not often do we get an opportunity to travel for such a long duration.
It was memorable as we got to see new places like Spiti valley, Ladakh, Srinagar, Kargil, Palampur etc and met so many amazing people along the way, who became our friends. From the crazy paragliding experience to crossing treacherous mountain passes in Ladakh, our journey took us through a barrage of different experiences and emotions. And these memories are what we will cherish forever.
Along with blogging, we have recently launched a travel startup, Moto Overlanders which focusses primarily on adventure, off beat motorcycle and SUV tours to destinations like Arunachal, Nagaland, Manipur, Uttarakhand, Spiti and Ladakh. There are a lot of exciting and unique trips planned and we are in the process of announcing them very soon!
What are the various things you keep in mind, when you decide for a trip?
It’s really the basics that we follow. First of all, we look for a destination where not a lot of people go. Anything that is very touristy is usually avoided by us. Even if we visit a tourist destination like Coorg or Ooty, we look for accommodations that are off the beaten path, where we know we will find solitude and tranquillity.
The next thing we look for is how good a local experience we can get. Our travel preferences revolve around experiencing local cuisines, interacting with the local population and how well we can present their story through our content.
What kind of food/snacks you have during your trip and music on your travel playlist?
Any kind of unhealthy food is usually not a part of our travels. We avoid carrying junk food and instead prefer to carry home made preparations with us. We have also shunned consuming chocolates, chewing gums, energy bars, cold drinks etc as they are not only bad for our health but also generate a lot of plastic waste.
While driving we love listening to peppy songs and songs that gel with the destination we are traveling to. Our playlist usually has songs from the 80s and 90s and we have a large collection of Bollywood classics as well. It’s all a mix of classic English, Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, Assamese songs.
How has your lockdown been?
It has been fantastic. It sounds a bit odd to say that we have made the most of the lockdown periods. The extra time has resulted in us completing our long pending writing projects and we have been publishing a lot of blogs on our site. It was also great to have time to spend with our family, cooking us yummy dishes and playing board games. During normal times, we travel extensively and don’t get to spend with our parents and pets but the lockdown has blessed us with extra time on our hands!
We also used this time to launch the website for our travel startup, Moto Overlanders and even without any marketing we have got numerous enquiries about our tours!
Your first trip post COVID 19?
It took us 5 months to finally get going but in August we travelled to Kushalnagar with our parents and pets. The experience was so liberating after being confined to our house for a long time! We took all safety precautions and ensured that the homestay took all necessary precautions as well.
5 tips for travel enthusiasts?
- Travel responsibly. Leave the destination the way it was when you got there. If you can clean it up a bit!
- We need to come out in support of local travel companies and take part in the VocalForLocal campaign. Stay in homestays rather than chain hotels and use smaller organizations for your travel needs. Travel domestically rather than going on international trips
- Even though travel restrictions have been lifted, we request travellers to take all precautions while traveling. The pandemic threat is still very real so please don’t let your guard down
- Eat local food. It’s a good way to get to know a place better and as you try newer things, you can take some of the recipes back home!
- Get your children involved in the travel process. It’s important to get them excited about traveling and to make them feel that they are part of the entire process. If they end of having fun, your family travel experiences will turn out much better!
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