The social media journey for Destiniumworld began in 2015-16 as an experiment to test waters and there has been no stopping since.
Destiniumworld is a team of five persons who have day jobs but consider travelling to be their oxygen. They only undertake road trips across the country, hoping to inspire travel enthusiasts to re-discover India. A few years ago when they documented their trip to Lahaul & Spiti, the response made them realise the potential of being travel influencers.
Looking back, where did it all begin?
We have been travelling together since 2011. We used to go Old Manali (very few people used to know about it), been to Goa (for the Sunburn Festival). Our friends and acquaintances used to know about it, but we never thought about sharing our journey on any of the social media platforms. During 2015-16, we realized that a lot of people were travelling and sharing some beautiful images on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook from the road. Our social media journey began as an experiment. We wanted to see if it could work for us as well.
We planned a road trip to Lahaul & Spiti. For the trip, we carried a few gears to capture images and videos. We started posting images from our journey using a few hashtags. After we posted around 10-15 images, we noticed that people began to talk about it. They started to like the images and the number of our followers grew. It was the time when we realized that we have the potential to be one of the travel influencers. We love travelling and we love to inspire people to hit the road. If not long distances, we believe that even a short vacay is essential to rejuvenate the mind & soul.
Most travellers plan their itineraries to a T. However, our plans are quite the opposite. In fact, we believe in impromptu trips and we go wherever our hearts want to go.
I still remember, December 2017, we planned to do a road trip to Daman and Diu, but while driving we began debating about our destination and we turned the car. Lo and behold! We were in Kashmir with just one jacket per person and the ubiquitous spare pair of jeans. Kashmir was worth all the argument and missed turns. Visiting Kashmir was our travel destiny, although we were not aware of it when we left town. It is our destiny that takes us to such beautiful destinations. We also tell our fellow travellers how the place “happened” upon us and what experiences we had while travelling.
What is your USP in this cluttered space? How does your content give you an edge?
We are some of the few travellers, who only do road trips across India. We have travelled from Delhi to Kerala - 6475 Kms, Nepal- 3500 Km, Mumbai-3200 Km, Goa-5000 Km, Varanasi- 1700 Km, Kashmir - 2200 Km, Spiti - 2250 Km. And we hope to cover many more miles in the next few months. People who follow us know it well that we are a team of 5, who have day jobs, but travelling is our oxygen. We tell our followers how to prioritize their passion and find time to travel even when work and life seem to bog them down. Our stories inspire many such travel enthusiasts to take the first step towards re-discovering India.
Please take us through your content creation process. How do you stay relevant and relatable?
We are full time working professionals and take out time to travel as much as we can. Since we don’t believe in planning for one vacation for years, our spontaneity keeps us relevant to our current followers. Our followers love our storytelling style — a combination of pure blogging, images, drone videos and live streaming sessions, where we try and inspire people to travel, head up see the beautiful places and breathe and relax.
We don't put efforts to earn money out of our travel, but a few brands who love the work we do. We often get sponsored stay and commute for our trips. Travelling is impossible without dough, but as long as we have the tank full and the possibility of finding a roof over our heads in a foreign place, we are ready to step on the gas.
How do you maintain editorial objectivity with the influx of brand briefs?
When a potential sponsor reaches out to us, we consider if they share our views and goals of travel and life. Unless the terms are conducive for our followers, we always give a potential partnership another thought. Maintaining editorial objectivity is quite straightforward when a team of travellers find a brand that shares their ideals and long-term goals.
One instance/experience that made it all worthwhile
Every trip brings for new experiences, but there is a particular experience that has stuck with me. I was out to conquer Goa on my own without a confirmed train ticket. During those 2-and-a-half days on the train, without a berth or enough space for my luggage, I finally learnt how kind and cooperative complete strangers can be. I had the best chai and gossip sessions with college students from Kerala, sang along with Kirtaniyas from Bengal and shared food with my co-passengers. It was the first time a person of the third-gender opened up to me about their travel experiences, life struggles and future plans.
It was definitely a turning point in my life, and I once again began to realize the perks of travelling without a plan (or a confirmed ticket).
Although we are a team of travel bloggers, an agency wanted us to cover a fashion brand. For a change, we thought it’d be fun and, somehow, the brand people loved it. We still don’t know how, but after this experience, we have come to believe that becoming a fashion blogger cum influencer is not an easy job.
If not blogging, you would be?
Chai wala, hahaha..we love socializing and have the idea of opening a tea shop for a very long time. The addas are the perfect place to meet like-minded people and hold debates & discussion on every topic imaginable.
A day in your life…
Our day jobs take up the time between 9 am and 6 pm; Traffic takes up another two hours at least. Between 8 to 10 we try to work out (because...we post our own pictures on the blog!) and from 11 pm till 1:00 am we have all the freedom to work on the stories/images/videos without our bosses calling us every two minutes!
Message/tips for upcoming bloggers-
Keep travelling and inspire us as well. :)
Your Favorite Influencer
Akanksha Redhu is one of the most versatile and smart fashion bloggers we have met till date. She is a true lifestyle blogger, who dares to inspire.
The Future you foresee for your Personal Brand
We want to sponsor travel enthusiasts, who can't afford to finance their travel plans. Our aim is to be the travel publications like Conde' Nest
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