π©π½ (Listen up, men) Can we talk about travel being safe for women? π©π½
No-brainers, some light reminders, and facing reality. (+ The Brahmaputra Drift completes its maiden expedition, and proof that our Walking Holidays are the most magical way to travel)
[Note: This is not intended to be a rant. We would β€οΈ it if the men in our travel community also took the time to read this - after all, safety is a universal responsibility!]
Weβre always (pleasantly) surprised each year when we see one thing: the number of women guests who join our adventures and continue to do so.
75% of travellers who join us are women of different age groups - from 25 - 60 years of age. Weβve never actively positioned ourselves as a company that prioritises safety for only women - in fact, βsafetyβ and βsecurityβ tie for the #1 position in terms of literally every experience we facilitate, for everyone, regardless of gender.
Women with means have always travelled - and in India, especially in metropolises like Delhi, Bangalore, Madras, Bombay, and Hyderabad, more and more women in the workforce are investing in travel experiences.
Travel destinations in the West are considered safer, with infrastructure that better supports tourists, including women travelling solo. We canβt argue with this. If you go by almost any safety index, India consistently ranks up there with the most dangerous countries in the world.
Lads, a small request: ask your girlfriend, wife, partner, girl-whoβs-a-friend, sister, cousin, or mother this, βHave you ever had an unpleasant experience on a bus or a train in India that made you feel unsafe?β
Watch the stories pour in. Itβs not fun to hear, let alone go through.
Here are a couple of things that most women consider before going on holiday:
Not taking a late night/early morning flight to the airport (therefore having to take more expensive day flights and cabs during peak traffic hours)
Being wary of any stranger who comes and talks to you because of ingrained trust issues
Avoiding being alone at night/in public spaces
Stressing out if the room locks arenβt secure (this happens quite often)
Being completely out of network and unreachable
Skipping that solitary drink at the bar because in our country, nobody is culturally attuned to seeing a woman out on her own, having a good time
Being hyperaware of being one of few women on a hike/trek in the middle of nowhere, or being one of few women occupying public spaces at all
Planning trips that include male friends because thereβs an βadded layer of protectionβ
Planning trips that include many friends because there is βstrength in numbersβ
Changing our entire body language when we find ourselves alone in a car or a bus, or even on the road
How exactly can women have their fun on holiday - the one time that we take to rest and relax - when weβre sitting and considering all the above?
#2 on our list of priorities is that our guests get to explore and travel in peace. Without stress and worry. Weβre here to absorb that for you and facilitate a hassle-free experience, as much as we can.
As a team, we often discuss what we do and can do to give our female guests the same sense of safety that men (more often than not) have the privilege of feeling!
Hereβs what we do to grant a certain level of assurance to the women who travel with us - along with a few facts about our company!
β€οΈ Our core team of 3 has two women
and weβre on the verge of welcoming two more women to our team! This helps us have important conversations with each other and be attuned to the needs of our female guests. At Knowhere Travel, thereβs no restriction on the kinds of things we need to talk about - and we do not shy away from societal realities.
β€οΈ More women are joining our extended teams - by design
We are making an active effort to build more women-centric extended teams. In our recently concluded expedition, The Brahmaputra Drift, the support team had a ratio of 5 men to 4 women. We had Arunachal Pradeshβs first female river guide (Devi Dada - check out her Instagram here) along with 3 women from a Self Help Group who helped design the menu and prepare the food during the expedition.
β€οΈ We have very strong personal relationships with all of our hosts, guides, drivers, and tour operators.
We are in regular contact with tour teams on your holiday and do not recommend places we havenβt visited personally or individuals if we donβt have a previous working relationship.
All of our spaces and journeys are personally verified, referenced, and audited by us. We keep an eye out on your last-mile journey to the destination and receive updates when youβve made it there.
β€οΈ Our communication is as detailed as it gets
Many of you know that we are extremely detail-oriented, be it with our websites, brochures, our Instagram posts or our newsletter. We want you to have little-to-zero surprises when you arrive at your destination (except the good ones - like seeing an unexpected bird, or seeing a double rainbow!)
β€οΈ Our hosts make sure to vet everyone before a visit
Our hosts are particular that all their visitors and guests are kind and respectful to nature and the people around them. They have also designed their spaces in such a way that they will only be enjoyed by travellers who love peace and quiet.
Some more stats to back us up:
The guests making bookings for our stays are nearly 75% women.
We are fortunate that so many women join our walking holidays - The Binsar Forest Trail and Sweet Valley Crossing <add link>. Many of our groups are all-women groups (unintentionally!) of all ages - and this makes up at least 80% of the guests that book with us!
(We also make it a point to ensure that in mixed-gender groups, the sleeping arrangements are strictly with the same gender.)
Holler if you have any thoughts and comments. Do you feel this is enough? What else can we do?
In other newsβ¦
WE ARE BEYOND STOKED TO ANNOUNCE THE END OF OUR FIRST-EVER RIVER EXPEDITION, THE BRAHMAPUTRA DRIFT!
If you donβt know already, The Brahmaputra Drift is a one-of-a-kind river expedition conceptualised by us in the surreal braided tributaries in Arunachal Pradesh and Assam. We talked about how we planned and tested out the Drift here in November.
For the first expedition, we assembled an invite-only group of some of our Knowhere Travel community. To share something so close to our hearts with them was an honour.
We want to thank you (Tara, Suren, Shreya, Nash, Tarek, Ashish, Srishti, and Shravan) for being a part of this.
In case you donβt know what weβre talking about, hereβs a short film we made about The Brahmaputra Drift, to chronicle our first recce, the vision and idea behind βThe Driftβ and to offer a glimpse into what you can expect on this adventure.
Our mindβs also in the mountains
Our walking holidays (our deep dives into the heart of Kumaon, Uttarakhand) have started again for the winter/spring season!
We announced our dates for both The Binsar Forest Trail and Sweet Valley Crossing for the winter/spring/summer season! If you (somehow) missed it on our Instagram, check out the dates below:
The Binsar Forest Trail dates
Spring and rhododendron blooms:
Mar 08 - Mar 14: full
Mar 24 - Mar 30: 3 slots remaining
Summer season:
Apr 07 - Apr 13: 2 slots remaining
Apr 14 - Apr 20: fast filling
Apr 28 - May 04: fast filling
May 10 - May 16: fast filling
Jun 15 - Jun 21: fast filling
Sweet Valley Crossing dates:
Spring:
Mar 22 - Mar 30: 2 slots available
Mar 23 - Mar 31: fast filling
Apr 06 - Apr 14: fast filling
Apr 13 - Apr 21: fast filling
Summer season:
Apr 27 - May 05: fast filling
May 10 - May 18: fast filling
Jun 09 - Jun 17: fast filling
You can read about both our walking holidays here.
The Ladakh season begins in May
Weβve already started preparing ourselves for the upcoming Ladakh season (May to September). What about you?
Check out the fun times that some of our guests had last year!
And if youβd like to revisit our catalogue of stays across the country, check out our website.
Thank you for reading this and weβll see you next month!