On the 11th and 12th of January, I attended the Gypsy Travel Festival(first edition) organized in Jio World Drive, Mumbai. The primary purpose of attending this event was to meet new people and also get more involved with the travel industry. I hoped that it will help with my travel blog, Holistic travellers. I flew from Bengaluru to Mumbai to attend this event and I honestly didn’t have a lot of expectations. Just curious about the travel industry and also would like tomake new acquaintances/friends.

At the beginning of the event, I was a little nervous to meet people. There were many influencers who attended the event including Radhika Nomllers, Ankita Kumar, Shivya Nath, Matty Jordan among many others. I initiated conversations where I could (with some of the speakers and attendees) and became more comfortable approaching people and introducing myself towards the end of the day.

Interesting talks from the event

Shivya Nath - Conscious Travel with a Focus on Storytelling

Shivya spoke about her journey of becoming a travel story teller. She talked about being a vegan, and specifically mentioned about vegan food in Japan and Ethiopia. She talked about how she started teaching Instagram to a few talented locals in a small village in Uttarakhand, and how they created a village run travel account (Voices of Munsiari). She also talked about how travel bloggers can have impact on the local communities both for the good and the bad and how one must be conscious of the local communities when they promote a new place/destination.

Kaushal Karkhanis - Fun with Languages: Speak like a local

This was a fun talk where we discussed about various languages and how locals appreciate when tourists try to speak even a few sentences in their local language. Speaking in local language breaks the ice and it enhances the travel experiences ten fold.

Schengen Visa - Jimeet Ved (OutOfOfficeDaku)

Jimeet described the various countries in Schengen region and his experience of applying the Schengen visa through various embassies. He gave tips on which countries to apply to and which countries to be vary of.

A similar, Schengen visa guide is also posted on my travel website, Holistic Travellers

Smart Travel Hacks: Finding Flight Deals - Ajay Awtaney

Ajay talked about how to save money while booking flights, which platforms to book from, and the various credit card rewards and offers.

Panel Discussion - Journeys of a Lifetime

This was a fun panel discussion where the three panelists Ankita Kumar, Björn Pálsson and Manish Sonor shared their travel philosophies, what they currently do and how they travel, etc.

Some noteworthy businesses I interacted with

1. Recharkha - A social enterprise that recycles plastic waste and turns it into useful products like hand bags, laptop bags, etc.
2. Walk With Nine Lives - Tour Operator focused on tours in Northeast India.
3. Crazy Puffin Adventures - Guided trips to less travelled countries like Afghanistan, Syria, Papua New Guinea, etc.

My observations:

1. There is a lot of promotion about Antarctica tourism across the event. This was surprising, as I didn’t know that one can tour there. I thought that there are only expeditions to Antartica.
2. Many people including speakers were selling their products and services. Coming from Bangalore and mostly attending tech conferences, I found this a little annoying.
3. The conference was well organized (given that it was the first edition). Many travel influencers, well-known sponsors and brands in the travel space participated.
4. I would have appreciate more avenues to introduce myself, meet other people during the event. Even though I initiated and met a few people, I found it hard. It could be done organically if there are some events geared towards ice breaking among participants.
5. My primary goal of meeting more people in travel industry is achieved. It was a good experience for me, and if I attend more such events, I can get better exposure to this industry.

Let me know if you have any questions/comments about the event.