Ghoomophiro Interview: India Travel
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From Nigeria to Boston
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VNkCazT_T4&feature=youtu.be
When you first meet Oluwagbeminiyi Osidipe, you encounter a very vibrant, friendly, and unique personality. Oluwagbeminiyi or Niyi – as she shortened her name for simplicity – was named by her mother, who had a “very personal experience” when she had her, Niyi explained. Niyi is a Yoruba Nigerian transplant who arrived in the U.S. in 2006. As one of the most densely populated (West) African countries, Nigeria derives its name from the river that spans its land. To the South, it borders the Gulf of Guinea to the Atlantic Ocean. Originally colonized by the British, Nigeria gained independence in 1960. Its main ethnic groups are the Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba, who speak English and their own respective languages, while major religions include Islam, Christianity and indigenous beliefs. Niyi shares her story, her views on politics, cultural differences she’s embraced with humor, and what we can learn from each other by expressing curiosity. Her message is simple: travel enriches us through its exposure to new cultures, and enables us to grow.
Mark Twain on Travel
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Have you had the opportunity to travel (extensively, within your country, or even once abroad)? Can you relate to Twain’s sentiments? How does travel enrich us?
Pleasing The Taste Palate
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Coffee's Uniting Power
A cup of coffee can bridge cultural gaps. At least, that’s what Gizem Salgicil White, founder of Turkayfe.org, believes. Her organization aims to create awareness of Turkish culture, particularly within America. Gizem is a Turkish native,
Today’s post is an interview with the Founder of Ghoomophiro, Prachi Garg.
Prachi Garg is a writer, traveler, and an entrepreneur. She started ghoomophiro.com, an enterprise where the team organizes corporate tours based on the customers’ requirements, budget and provide them bouquet of options. This initiative was taken up by her during college days. She has also delivered workshops on entrepreneurship and her start-up has been covered by yourstory.com, IndianExpress, and Femina. She authored a book, Superwomen.
She also kick started a journal “Managing Minds,” that caters to the need of Tier II & Tier III MBA aspirants. She has been associated with eetindia group, DDNews and has been freelancing for HT Horizons for quite sometime. She likes traveling, theater, and writing. Besides being a Computer Science graduate from Miranda House, University of Delhi, she also has an MBA from Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai.
Without further ado, here’s the Ghoomophiro Interview:
You are an entrepreneur through and through, so what inspired you to create Ghoomophiro? Tell us more about the story behind the company.
Prachi: After my first unsuccessful stint at Managing Minds, I started working with an organization, but starting something of my own was always on my subconscious. Traveling has always been my passion; I think it is in my genes. I have been traveling with my family since childhood, and Ghoomophiro happened accidentally during one of my trips to Pachmarhi some 7 years back. It is beautiful hill station in Madhya Pradesh, India, wherein I was satiating my wanderlust with my sister and during those introspective moments, I discussed Ghoomophiro with her. I came back from my vacation, thought through it, and gave this a shape to it some five years ago.
Why did you focus specifically on corporate customers with Ghoomophiro?
Prachi: Having worked for corporate for sometime, I realized, this market has lot of potential, and none of the traveling coming is catering it extensively. Services to this market are yet to be streamlined the way people expect. Hence, through Ghoomophiro, we tried filling that gap.
What types of (custom) activities do you enjoy highlighting in the curated tours?
Prachi: In curated tours, I personally like activities like adventures and interaction with locals, but this totally depends on the exact client requirements, and people’s intentions.
How do you work with locals on creating the custom tours? Why is involving the locals so crucial to making it a true experience?
Prachi: All the places that we recommend are places I have personally visited. During these visits, we contact locals and discuss and experience the various options available for upcoming tours. Once we receive the query, we analyze and speak to the locals and plan the trip accordingly. Locals are the true representatives of any place. Their involvement in the trip gives them a unique experience to travelers and keep them glued to the places. Feedback that we receive from our clients are amazing and large part of this feedback includes their experiences with locals.
[bctt tweet=”Locals are the true representatives of any place. Their involvement in the trip gives them a unique experience to travelers” username=”prachimadri”]
Tell us a bit about yourself as a traveler. What compels you to travel and discover our world?
Prachi: I am passionate about travel. The wanderer in me doesn’t let me sleep. I am firm believer in the quote, “if traveling was free, you would have not found me at home.” However, I am not a tourist. I prefer exploring the unexplored. I am predominately an adventure traveler, who loves to get lost in the nature. The experiences and solace that I get while traveling motivate me to plan for my upcoming travel.
[bctt tweet=”However, I am not a tourist. I prefer exploring the unexplored” username=”prachimadri”]
Where was the most interesting place you personally recently visited? Why was it so special?
Prachi: I would say the every first experience is special. Be it my first snorkeling experience, or my first trek, or for that matter, my first-ever solo trip. Every travel experience has taught me something or the other. Travel indeed has inculcated gratitude in me. Experiences are wide, and naming one special travel experience would be like doing injustice to the rest.
What about exploring a local culture is so fascinating to you?
Prachi: Exploring local culture gives me the true feeling of being a traveler. It lets me getting into locals’ shoes and experience their lifestyle. It widens your horizon and perspective towards life.
[bctt tweet=”Exploring local culture gives me the true feeling of being a traveler.” username=”prachimadri”]
If you could give three pieces of advice to a budding entrepreneur, what would you tell this person?
Prachi:
- Never get disheartened by the small hiccups of life; just keep moving.
- Don’t listen to everyone who is trying to bring you down. You are not here to shut millions of mouths. Just listen to your heart, and to all those who matter.
- You have one life, make the most of it.
I’ll be featuring more interviews with “travel preneurs” on Culture with Travel in the future. Know someone great who should get interviewed? Reach out to me!
Hi! I'm the founder of Culture With Travel and #CultureTrav. Please chat with us on social media and contribute in the comments! Follow @Nicolette_O
