Sustainable and Experiential Travel with Aparna Sanjay

Aparna Sanjay is the epitome of a mindful traveler taking the road less traveled. Very early on in her career she followed her calling as she moved away from a lucrative corporate job to join the non-profit sector. And it is here during her travels to remote and rural parts of India, working with the various craft clusters she learned the essence of sustainable and experiential travel. A learning that she continues to imbibe and apply in all her travels.
A business management graduate (from the prestigious IIM-Bangalore), blogger, trained Carnatic singer with deep interest in yoga and mindfulness, Aparna is truly multi-faceted. 
In this episode titled “Sustainable and Experiential Travel with Aparna Sanjay” of the show Travel Conversations (TC) on The Rustik Travel Podcast we take a peek into her experiential travels through the lens of sustainability.

Podcast Summary: Sustainable and Experiential Travel with Aparna Sanjay
Hosts: Hemant Soreng & Rajesh Nair
Producer: Tanvi Jain
00:00:00 – 00:07:26: Intro. How the passion for traveling start? 
– Traveling as and with kids.
– Varanasi, Bodhgaya
00:07:26 – 00:16:22: Professional Journey & related Work Travel: 
– Move from corporate to social impact sector.
– Traveling to Craft clusters in India. Working with artisans.
– Sustainable Tourism in Bundelkhand, Madhya Pradesh.
– Exploring and experiencing the rural destinations
00:13:59 – 00:39:55: Sustainable Travel
– The dynamics, landscape and the problems of Sustainable Travel
– Peru: How they do it?
– Rajasthan
– Bali, Indonesia
– Declining Art & Craft Traditions: Helping though Patronage vs consumerism
– Problems facing Sustainable Travel
00:39:55 – 01:11:27: Sustainable Travel Experiences: 
Countries/Destinations that are doing it right/wrong. Experiences/stories from:
– Costa Rica: Pura Vida – Pure Life
– Madhya Pradesh, India: National Parks – Conservation & Tourism 
– Sri Lanka: Local experiences.
– India: Kashmir, Amritsar – Doing it wrong
– Varanasi: India as a microcosm.
– Israel: Discovering the place through the lens of food
– Kashmir: Interactions with locals
– Cotswolds, England: Making a human connect
– Virginia, US: Story of Thomas Jefferson: Traveling in a way to become aware of the local and not so dominant narrative
– Over tourism
01:11:27 – 01:16:05: Reactions from travel companions: Friends, family
– How to subtly curate sustainable and experiential travel? 
01:16:12 – 01:17:30: Is sustainable travel expensive?
01:17:32 – 01:20:37: Tips and advise. 
01:20:37 – 01:25:32: Travel & Music: Signing off with a song from the Hindi movie set in Spain – Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara.
Conclusion and Outro.