How Sustainable Travel Can Contribute To One's Overall Well Being
When humanity was perforce stuck indoors during successive pandemic-induced lockdowns, what did everyone miss most? Travelling of course. It is no wonder then that as soon as borders opened, the travel industry slowly but steadily picked up its pace. However, there is a downside to this situation – the worsening carbon footprint of humans, which seemed to have received some respite during the pandemic, is growing in full force once again. Whether we admit it to ourselves or not, the status of the future of our planet affects our wellbeing – both physical and mental. Hence, if we are to work towards our overall wellbeing while still enjoying travel in all its glory, we must adopt principles of sustainable travel.
A company spearheading this noble cause is the Indian hostel chain goSTOPS. They have joined hands with Shoshin Tribe for a novel initiative to create awareness and promote responsible and sustainable travel in India. Through their ‘Odyssey Travel Scholarship 2022’, they offer an all-expense paid trip to six individuals from different walks of life, across some Indian cities known for their rich cultural heritage, over a period of 35 days.
“Today, the new generation is more concerned about sustainable, responsible, and environment-friendly travel. Therefore, goSTOPS - India’s fastest-growing backpacker hostel brand has joined hands with Shoshin Tribe in their novel initiative Odyssey Travel Scholarship 2022, to create awareness and bring stories on sustainable and responsible travel in India to the forefront. With this initiative, Shoshin Tribe, a unique travel start-up, provided a transformative opportunity of a lifetime by encouraging thoughtful and responsible travel,” explains the Founder and CEO of goSTOPS, Pallavi Agarwal.
Her co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer Pankaj Parwanda adds, “This super-thrilling initiative allowed shortlisted individuals to travel across the culture and heritage rich tourism hubs of India. After commencing from Delhi on 10 April 2022, this 35-day long expedition covered destinations such as Patiala, Amritsar, Mcleodganj, Dehradun, Mussoorie, Rishikesh, etc. and the unexplored villages of Rakhigarhi and Devalsari. With the endeavour to promote transformative and holistic travel, the trip included experiential and recreational activities such as meditation drives, photography walks, Triund Hike with Waste Warriors, village walks and visits to culturally rich attractions like Golden Temple, Wagah Border, a historic Harappan excavation site, Norbulingka Monastery, and others.”
The six tribers were filmmaker Srijan Deep from Raipur, foodie Aparajita Singh from Guwahati, aspiring architectural historian Athulya Jeevi from Trivandrum, sustainability advocate Parag Satardekar from Mumbai, author and inveterate tourist Ananya from Bengaluru, and photographer Naval from Ahmedabad. They were chosen as responsible ambassadors who would inspire other Indians to follow their footsteps. Thus, they readily shared their responsible travel experiences through documentaries, travelogues, videos, posts, and other pieces of insightful content with the world. The entire initiative focussed on themes and insightful conversations around topics like India’s unique and rich cultural history, social entrepreneurship, climate crisis and conservation, world peace and inner joy, among others.
goSTOPS is India’s fastest-growing backpacker hostel brand. Since inception in 2014, it has wholeheartedly supported the concept of sustainable travel. Over the years, the company has garnered a geographical footprint in some of the major tourist spots in the country and hosted more than 5,00,000 travellers across its 32 properties with over 3000 beds. Their patrons are usually between 18 to 30 years of age and comprise a cross-section of solo travellers, group travellers, backpackers, digital nomads, and individuals seeking interesting stay or work from hostel options. Their USP is to lease and transform budget hotels and operate them as backpacker hostels. The aim of goSTOPS is to focus on Gen-Z and create an accommodation brand they can call their own.
Their focus on sustainable travel resonated deeply with Shoshin Tribe, a travel startup that began in 2021 with a vision to create the largest community of responsible travellers in the world. They serve this community by providing travel products and teaching travel practices that promote sustainable tourism. “We design unique products like travel scholarships, responsible tours, eco workshops, and work with sustainable travel brands to share stories of these journeys through mediums of videos, podcasts, blogs, and social media,” explains Founder of the brand, Himanshu Shekhar.
With brands like these educating and encouraging young travellers to make the right choices, we can all rest assured that there is hope for humanity to preserve our planet and in turn their overall wellbeing.
