With a little over 100 posts in their kitty, the ChaiHighwayAurHum couple has been living the dream for the last two months. Here's more about their lives, travels and love for mobile photography.
Josh and Rajkiran met while working at a Bangalore IT Company, a decade or so ago. Every couple story rests on one crucial detail of what brought them together — for the ChaiHighwayAurHum couple, it seems to be travel. Until towards the end of last year, their travels included vacations they took away, together. Then came the big decision.
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To take up exploring the world, one picture at a time was long in the making. To do so with photos clicked by low-end phones, an interesting choice. "When we sat down to look at the images from our travels, we realised that the best moments were, in fact, the ones clicked by our phones, despite the fact that I had a DSLR on some of these trips," Josh tells us.
In a space where most bloggers are working towards creating a crisper experience for their followers, this choice is perhaps what helps them cut through the clutter. Josh explains, "I feel the average Indian traveller always has a sustainable budget in mind and that it is possible to travel with whatever you have, instead of splurging on these experiences."
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However, in the digital space, can you really afford to be simple when everyone is chasing the edit bandwagon? "The decision to not go for specialised investments was a conscious one. All our pictures are clicked and edited on basic smartphones," says Josh, explaining that the advantage of budget phones is that they can be changed often.
In every post on their handle, the device on which the picture was clicked is mentioned. Josh feels it's an important detail. "Since the phones we use are about 10-15K, mentioning the brand details help add authenticity. It is in sync with our idea of budget travel," he says, adding that they have not partnered with any phone brand in such descriptions.
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So far, their efforts have been appreciated. Indeed, if you were to look at their feed, the aura is one of a couple-next-door, sharing their stories and not of professional bloggers. The choice of places is an interesting factor in their tale. "We spent a majority of our time in Southern India, so with this project, we decided the right way to go was up north."
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"The idea is to visit places that are not as widely explored by travellers and give a glimpse of it to prospective travellers." On the topic of funding, Josh is clear that it's too soon for them to indulge in contracts. "We don't want to immediately tie-up. For now, it's a personal thing and we want to enjoy it as we grow and the handle builds up," he says.
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