Looking Back, Moving Forward
Hope you are doing well… and are having a happy new year, folks! Good to speak with you again— it’s been a while and over the last few months, we have been reflecting and putting our house in order.
As we stepped into December of 2024, we quietly crossed a significant milestone—five years of operations. It’s been an incredible journey filled with growth, learning, and evolution.
In the months leading up to this anniversary, we found ourselves at a crossroads.
Spending months on the road for around five years affected relationships, and as happens with all growth and development, there were ups and downs, discussions, and deliberations. Eventually, in September 2024, we decided to take a step back from our marketing efforts—we needed to recalibrate: we are a brand that facilitates taking a break, switching off, resting, and letting the mind relax, but we had slowly stopped practicing it ourselves, in our own lives.
So, why are we telling you all of this? Well, we felt it would be nice to share with you a little bit of what is under the hood of the "job" that we are privileged to have, where we can facilitate fun and freedom for our patrons. At the same time, we also get the opportunity to travel, explore, meet people, and learn new things. We are glad to report that we are now mindfully moving away from a cycle of constant hustle, and back towards our roots of exploration and ease for ourselves and for all people who journey with us.
Perhaps as a reflection of people’s happiness with the work that we have done over the years, the relationship we have built with our community of guests and hosts helped keep our boat afloat even through these turbulent times. So, we would like to say a big thank you to all who trusted us!
Realigning, Rebuilding, and Looking Ahead
As we move forward, we’re shifting the direction of our communications. We want to be more authentic and aligned with our values. You’ll begin to see changes in how we engage, what we share, and the conversations we foster. We are planning to slow down from the frantic pace and fragmented attention of the modern internet and focus on offline media a little more. We’ll be toning down our social media efforts—not disappearing, but being more selective and intentional about where and how we show up. Instead, we’re diversifying into offline channels, focusing on deeper, more meaningful interactions that are less affected by algorithms and fleeting trends. We are working on richer documentation, better storytelling, and the integration of citizen-science and citizen-reporter models. We feel that this will ground our work and the experiences that our patrons have into a more living, authentic reality.
We’re excited about this next chapter, and we’re grateful to share it with you.
We’re going to build our Knowhere Travel Company shop, and we’re keen to make it a true reflection of our ethos and vision. We are also putting renewed energy into updating our curated tours, and you will see some updates on our Journeys page over the next six months.
Another priority for us is rekindling old partnerships with incredible individuals and organizations. We are also considering offline events and spaces, fostering connections and conversations.
Internally, this phase is also about organising the backend of the company, and making it a more well-oiled system. We are improving our document management and booking processes, and generally making our workflow more human-centered. We’re also building a new team— we are open-minded and welcome folks who bring fresh perspectives and novel approaches.
Balance and Gratitude
We learnt firsthand that burnout can slowly but easily creep into our lives, and hence balance is crucial. We want to encourage others—colleagues, peers, friends, and patrons—to step away and take a break from time to time and to focus on what truly matters. Above all, we move forward with immense gratitude—for the opportunities, the challenges, and the privileges that life has offered us. And as we rebuild, we hope to do so with kindness, generosity, and compassion at the core.
Thank you for being part of this journey. More to come.
Information about our tours can be found below; please check them out at your convenience.
Learn more and book your seat directly with us using the links below:
We are also happy to announce that the Brahmaputra Drift for the 2024-25 season was highly successful! We are very grateful for being able to facilitate these journeys, and we are deeply thankful towards our patrons, collaborators, and towards everyone involved. Please stay tuned for the dates for the next season!
Join us on our Ladakh Journeys, open from May to September!
We carefully curate the entire journey so that you can relax through and take in the stunning scenery, dig into sumptuous meals, soak in the culture and heritage, and see some wildlife, too!
Here are the links to learn more about and book your Ladakh travels:
We would also love for you to check out our stays on our website! We have a hand-picked collection of over 75 spaces across the country, in beaches, hills, forests, and organic farms!
Thank you for reading the Knowhere Knewsletter! We look forward to traveling with you… hopefully soon!
So happy to see travel companies that are taking the time to step away from the constant grind, and align themselves with a more natural pace. Love it!
I am filled with a kind of sadness, but also immense joy. It's like something old is dying and you don't want to let it go, and yet something new is being born and you want to welcome it with bated breath of all that it promises to be. I'd love to work with you folks in some way. I haven't had the good fortune to travel with you, but the intention has always been there. I'm just glad that I found you and from the way you write, to how you communicate your ideas, to the kind of travels you curate, truth be told, it's like you all are a part of me. Just let me know how I can collaborate, work with you, travel with you, no cut that out, journey with you. It'd be a pleasure. And all the very best.