Began in 2012 by Guinness World Report Holders Sanjay Madan & Tushar Agarwal, Adventures Overland has emerged as India’s main highway journey firm, which presents specifically curated driving expeditions all internationally. With the Covid-19 pandemic within the rearview mirror, the journey business is witnessing a giant growth, seemingly unaffected by the looming recession fears. This contains an enormous enhance in curiosity amongst journey lovers for overland, self-drive expeditions. We had the possibility to talk to Adventures Overland’s co-founder, Tushar Agarwal, the place we requested him concerning the firm’s journey during the last decade, the flagship “Highway to London” self-drive expedition, the corporate’s enlargement plans, and much more. Right here’s what he needed to say:
The idea of overland expeditions crossing worldwide borders may be very new in India. Your organization being the primary and solely of its type, are you able to share your expertise so far and the response obtained within the nation?
Adventures Overland has emerged as India’s greatest highway journey firm. We have now prior to now efficiently organized over 100 expeditions in 80 nations with over 1000 visitors travelling with us on self-driven highway journeys throughout 5 continents. Our flagship journey, ‘Highway to London, ’ not too long ago culminated its fourth season.
Over time, with repeat travellers and a constant surge in queries, we began our upward climb. We have now not too long ago raised funding at a valuation of 10 million USD, and the funding will gas our enlargement as we goal 1000+ journeys globally over the following three years.
The annual development fee on this phase, particularly inside the age group of 25 to 35, is continually rising. Many Indians go for worldwide locations and are open to experimenting with self-drive journeys by renting a automobile on the vacation spot of alternative or by selecting an providing like ours that takes care of all journey nuances. In distinction to households making journeys to hill stations inside a spread of 500 km a decade in the past, we now have witnessed a steep enhance in cross-border journeys to far-off lands. Whereas traversing the size and breadth of India stays standard, offbeat worldwide locations are getting extra curiosity from journey lovers.
There are a number of nationwide and worldwide information set by each of you. Did they’ve a task to play in inspiring you to start out India’s first driving expedition firm?
It’s undoubtedly our personal ardour to journey and discover the world that has led us to type Adventures Overland. We set off on a world highway journey in 2012, overlaying 90,000 km throughout 50 nations and 06 continents, setting 1 Guinness World Report and 15 within the Limca E-book of Information. This journey was filmed and aired on the TLC channel as ‘The Nice Indian World Journey’ and is at the moment streaming on Discovery+.
Quickly after this journey, we determined to arrange Adventures Overland as a platform to supply discerning travellers the choice of an all-encompassing luxurious tour package deal, which fulfilled their desires of exploring the world with out the concern of journey nuances akin to lodging, meals, language boundaries or breakdowns. Our maiden industrial journey to Ladakh within the Himalayas was a hit, and we’re comfortable to share that at present Adventures Overland is a frontrunner within the luxurious journey journey phase, providing mounted and customised journey experiences, each nationwide and worldwide.
India shares borders with nations which are both closed to Indian residents or have been crippled by political turmoil. The pandemic dealt a large blow to the entire journey business, as effectively. How did Adventures Overland take care of these challenges?
Geopolitics influences how companies form and locations function; visa restrictions are the largest hurdle, making it tough for inbound travellers to enterprise from a particular vacation spot or area. Nonetheless, relating to the COVID-19 pandemic, tourism is the one approach to encourage normalcy and financial well-being. Reopening points of interest can achieve nationwide and worldwide media consideration and stimulate demand in the course of the restoration stage of a once-suffering nation.
Since we specialise in cross-border journeys with closed borders, we needed to revisit our itineraries with out compromising the journey expertise. The permissions and visa approval processes took longer, with a number of layers of checks added. This 12 months the ‘Highway to London’ journey took a barely totally different route than the previous three journeys as a result of some border crossings being closed and commenced from Iran to achieve London by way of a brand new route for the primary time. The highway journey began from Bandar Abbas in Iran. It traversed Turkey, Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium and France, culminating in London. We’re delighted that the journey created so many memorable moments and the expertise of a lifetime for our travellers.
What prompted you to recreate the legendary London to Calcutta bus service, and may you discuss a bit of concerning the challenges met whereas planning and executing such a grand overland journey? Additionally, how totally different is the expertise when in comparison with a self-drive highway journey?
London to Calcutta bus service was a motivating journey again within the Nineteen Fifties when the world was restricted by know-how and web connectivity. We at Adventures Overland are all set to launch our very personal dream bus, ‘Bus to London,’ which can recreate that vibrant period passed by with utmost consolation and luxurious. This would be the longest bus journey on this planet, spanning 02 continents and 18 nations and overlaying 20,000 km. After reaching London, the bus will embark on its maiden voyage again dwelling, taking the identical route to achieve India.
Organising highway journeys takes meticulous detailing to make sure travellers take pleasure in their journey, and we hold our promise of providing carefree journey. One of many vital journey challenges is managing reservations and bills in maintaining with itineraries and journey laws; last-minute blows can have an effect on all the group and trigger delays, including to panic and frustration. Happily, we now have large expertise and are well-connected to handle the nuances of the highway; every route is completely vetted, and contingency plans are at hand. For brand new travellers, physique clocks might take time to regulate to the assorted zones they traverse; it’s a momentary drawback typically accompanied by fatigue and irritability. We stock our medical and first-aid kits and have medical doctors on name accessible in any respect stops; we even have an inventory of medical emergency go-to, simply in case.
Bus journey and self-drive highway journeys are distinctive experiences; it is just a matter of non-public alternative. Our drivers are professionally educated and normally keep on with the designated lane as per the region-specific guidelines. Additionally, in a bus journey, the pace tends to be slower since traveller consolation is paramount; fewer buses than vehicles are wanted to move the identical variety of individuals on the deliberate routes. From a traveller’s perspective, it’s economical in comparison with self-drive excursions, and one can benefit from the journey in consolation with out tiring oneself.
Are you able to inform us a bit of about your upcoming expedition excursions, together with the self-drive expeditions in Brazil and Jordan? How are they totally different than the earlier overland drives provided by your organization?
We have now fairly a couple of journeys deliberate, the forthcoming being one to the Kingdom of Time, Jordan, some of the iconic historical cities within the Center East; it shares borders with a number of Center Jap nations – neighbours being Syria, Iraq, Palestine, Southern Saudi Arabia, and Egypt’s Sinai, and is wealthy with archaeological, non secular and vacationer websites. Our guided, small-group self-drive journeys enable travellers to expertise new locations whereas driving in convoys. We’re excited to convey a superlative journey vacation spot akin to Jordan to our travellers. They will benefit from the Jordan expedition with out worrying about breakdowns, language boundaries and navigating rugged terrain. Our Boundless Brazil Drive to the fifth-largest nation on this planet, which occupies virtually half of South America, will take you thru Brazil’s cosmopolitan cities, glamorous seashores, and tropical rain forests. Brazil’s wildlife on this planet’s largest tropical rainforest, famed for its biodiversity – The Amazon Rainforest – which is crisscrossed by 1000’s of rivers, might be an expertise of a lifetime.
Yet one more thrilling expedition deliberate is to Laos, a rustic traversed by the Mekong River and identified for its mountainous terrain, French colonial structure, hill tribe settlements and Buddhist monasteries. This might be adopted by the expedition to Iceland, a pure surprise like none different; the magical and mysterious land of lava rocks, mesmerising seashores, larger-than-life mountains, historical glaciers and rugged fjords – certainly a rustic of maximum contrasts and ideally suited for travellers on the lookout for a vacation spot that provides a plate filled with range.
We consider in providing distinctive journey experiences to passionate travellers. Every expedition is curated protecting in thoughts the pure bouquet of experiences the locations supply; every journey is an expertise in itself and therefore, totally different in its personal approach. Whereas travellers embark on this journey in a person capability, they typically find yourself befriending co-travellers, and by the top of the journey, the reminiscences made are unforgettable. Add to this, the joys of a self-driven convoy-style journey throughout diversified terrains in Land Rover Defenders or Ford Raptors makes it worthwhile. Our perception in accountable journey takes care of all obligatory security checks and terrain vetting, making certain a carefree journey expertise.
How ought to one put together himself/herself each mentally and bodily for an overland expedition that normally lasts at the least a couple of weeks, particularly if the idea may be very new to the individual?
It’s important to arrange your physique and thoughts when taking cross-border journeys so long as Adventures Overland presents; lengthy durations behind the wheel require complete focus and may be tiring however being mentally ready can assist with a secure journey. It’s straightforward to get distracted whereas traversing lovely terrains, however since every automobile has a gaggle of 4 travellers, the drivers can change driving wheels every time drained and hold one another alert. Consuming balanced meals and sleeping effectively is the important thing to protecting the physique and thoughts wholesome to benefit from the length of the journey; we guarantee luxurious lodging and scrumptious meals. When driving to an unknown territory, features akin to bathroom amenities, meals choices, hygiene requirements, parking areas, vary nervousness and security, to call a couple of, add to the stress of looking for the bottom. However we handle all of it and extra akin to documentation, paperwork, visas and permits to make sure that all the focus of travellers is on experiencing the journey. We share all particulars of the terrain, climate, and different important components so that every traveller may be well-prepared. We’re captivated with customer support, and our group is current to assist the travellers at each step of the journey.
As an avid motorcyclist, I’ll personally prefer to ask if Adventures Overland has any plans to provide you with one thing for these trying to discover the world on two wheels
Presently, we’re extra focussed on our enlargement plans of establishing places of work across the globe, participating with enthusiastic travellers, and dealing in the direction of extra customised choices in tandem with the demand of the hour. Charting out such prolonged routes by way of nations which are offbeat decisions for vacationers is unquestionably not straightforward. Getting visas for numerous nations with out flight tickets is yet one more problem that always arises. Insurance coverage, automobile visas, explaining the rationale behind happening a motorbike, and the logistics and planning concerned in an expedition of this magnitude might be a special enviornment altogether. The planning and executing of every large expedition we undertake take a lot understanding of the laws of the nations we traverse, and that is an space we now have but to consider.