Excitement and adventure are 2 major ingredients of a happy life. Not for everyone of course but I am one of those who gets easily bored with the “routine”. I need something new and crazy every time.
“Normal” is not really normal for me.
Let me tell you straight about what experiment I did this time.
Just a little background: Travel Affairs used to organize group trips (with random strangers) and travel meetups. After organizing 18 trips and 7 meetups, I thought of experimenting and combined a trip and a meetup.
Ok let me tell you in detail:
I got an invite for the review of Banlekhi Resort. After the detailed conversation with Mr. Praveen (owner of the property), we came up with the idea of organizing a creator’s trip there.
I have been to a few such trips before (and I loved the ones with Stay On Skill), but this was the 1st time I had to organize one such trip.
What was the idea?
The traveler in me always keeps on searching for offbeat and lesser-known locations. Banlekhi is one of them. I wanted to experience it and share it with you all.
And more people sharing it with their social media audience, more the reach. As simple as that.
Creator’s onboard:
It was not an easy task to get the right set of people on board. I invited the applications on Facebook and Instagram for the same and the response was so overwhelming that I got tired already just by looking at the number of applications received. I then decided to approach people I already knew and doing good with respect to their social media.
Ok let me introduce them all:
Rijul Sehgal (Cinematographer)
Our superstar. He is one of the most important members of the travel affairs family. He joined us as an intern last year. The most dedicated, sincere and hardworking kid I have ever met during my professional journey. He adds life in the pictures and videos and never fails to amaze with his creativity.
No trip is complete without having him onboard. Check out his Instagram to know more about him.
Devansh Kamboj (Fashion Influencer)
I met him on Instagram long back. He shares no-filter stories on Social media and achieved a lot at a pretty young age. Again, one dedicated and creative content creator. He has some good stories to tell. I was lucky to hear a few on one of the travel affairs meetup. You can definitely go and check out his Instagram.
Himani Dhall (Digital Marketer & Social Media influencer)
She is well known as Maggi among her friends and family and Social media. She is an architect by profession and a travel enthusiast.
” A twenty-something architect with an insatiable lust for TRAVEL? ” as her Instagram bio says.
Her pictures will give you some serious goals! Every single picture is curated so well, with lots of effort and yeah, she is a dedicated content creator. Oh, not to miss, her stories are equally informative and well thought.
Do check out her Instagram for more details about her.
Chandni (Digital Marketer & Social Media influencer)
I found this pretty lady on Instagram. She has in-depth knowledge and a sense of Social Media, blogging and influencer marketing. The best part about her is, she is always ready to share her pool of knowledge with everyone. Connect with her on Instagram.
And yes, she has a merchandise store with the name – The Talk Studio Designs and we were lucky enough to get our share of her beautiful designs
Dheeraj Soni (Photographer)
Met him for the 1st time on the trip. His simplicity is magnetic. He is one of those people who don’t talk much but his work makes all the noise. To validate, you got to check his Instagram.
Heena Raheja aka me (Travel blogger)
Meet me. I am someone who talks to my camera. And I talk a lot. Kabhi bhi, kahi bhi, kitna bhi. I believe in documenting my life and save it all for my future. Do check out my Instagram for a regular dose of random things I share there.
Rovin (Musician)
He is a street singer and he kept the momentum high on the trip. Devansh met him randomly on the streets of Delhi and suggested to get him onboard. This guy is on his own trip all the time and is one talented person. You can connect with him on Instagram.
Last but not the least Neeraj and Vivek who are apparently the part of team travel affairs. Neeraj is a full-time CA (by mistake, as he claims), and Vivek is a digital marketer by passion and works full time in KPMG into finance. But you will find both of them more on random roads than at the office.
Yeah, hashtag wanderlust.
Brands we collaborated with:
Ok before I share the list, let me tell you how random it was. We all were going for a trip, majorly for the promotion of the banlekhi resort. Then few brands approached and they willingly offered collaboration opportunities. It was so last minute and we got so overwhelmed with the response.
And we collaborate with:
Initial adventure:
Needless to say, we all were very excited about the trip. We started our journey with 24 seven, Connaught place, at 11 pm. We all were given the budget challenge of 300 Rs. each and had to purchase something which we could use on the trip. Can you imagine, we all completed our task in 3 hours. Yes, it took us 3 hours. What else do you expect when there are so many creators together. For all of us, content is the king. I remember the scene there, everyone with their GoPro’s, DSLR’s and cell phones, running here and there in the store.
It was fun.
The trip:
We spent 1 night and 2 days at the Banlekhi resort. Banlekhi is a very small village in the middle of Nanital and Bhimtal. And the resort is situated on the mountain top, valley facing cottages and enjoys pleasant weather for the whole year. Since almost everyone in the group was a content creator, no one wasted a minute and was busy creating content.
Everywhere you see was someone holding a GoPro for someone else or capturing that perfect timelapse of the clouds, or posing in the jungle or capturing the locals, day shots, night shots, interior shots, exterior shots, food photography and what not!
It was all content, content, and content.
We didn’t even realize when did the trip come to an end.
You can sure check out the content created an all the creator’s social media accounts (mentioned above)
Social Media Reach
As shared before, the whole idea of this trip was to promote Banlekhi Resort on social media. Everyone posted pictures on their respective Instagram and Facebook accounts regularly for a few days after the trip ended.
Combined followers base of all the accounts is approx 1.5 lakhs and the combined reach is more than 5 lakhs, which in turn gave a boost to the social profiles of Banlekhi Resort.
All in all, it was an “experiment went well”. I am on my constant search of finding something different to do next time, in the next meetup. And trips like these, they are fun of course, but more than that, these are learning. I got to work with so many different kinds of creators, everyone skilled in their own fields and the exchange of knowledge is something I seek for every time.
That’s how you grow 🙂
I hope you like this blog. Do check out my Instagram and Facebook for regular updates of my trips and events. Also, don’t forget to share your feedback about this blog in the Comments Section. See you in the next one!
XOXO
