Custom holidays by Indias journey startups for seniors, ladies, folks with disabilities

World on wheels @ Embarq

Sujal Patwardhan and Medha Joseph went on a self-drive expedition from India to Morocco a decade in the past. The duo coated 23,000 kilometres throughout 15 nations in 57 days. They returned and began Embarq to organise comparable highway journeys.

“We have been enthusiastic about self-drive journey… the sheer pleasure of experiencing a spot whereas driving via a rustic, the native tradition that one encounters, the assorted issues one experiences and the way you uncover your self throughout this journey,” says Sujal, a former funding banking skilled.

Medha, a former finance knowledgeable, says their journeys are designed for a variety of individuals together with households, solo travellers, younger adventurers, and girls. The latter, she says, comes beneath The Bold Route sequence, a latest initiative of Embarq, kickstarted to cater to the rising tribe of girls travellers. Upcoming journeys within the sequence embody Hornbill Festival in Nagaland in December, and a drive from Kutch to Kibithoo in Arunachal Pradesh in early 2026.

Taking us via the method of curating a visit, Sujal says analysis entails curating offbeat experiences, highway situations and connectivity, logistics of arranging self-drive vehicles, amongst different components. “Once the vacation spot is finalised we totally recce the route which incorporates evaluating stays, pit stops, experiences and different necessities earlier than we announce the journey,” she says, including that they’ve performed roughly 20 journeys in India to date, and over 75 internationally.

At the second, Zanskar, Northeast India, Mongolia, Scotland and Peru are excessive on the recognition charts, says Medha. “We just lately accomplished our first version of the All Women K2K 2025 expedition, the place a convoy of 25 Skoda vehicles and 50 ladies throughout India drove from Kashmir to Kanyakumari in 10 days,” she says. Upcoming worldwide journeys at Embarq embody Kyrgyzstan, Peru, Patagonia, New Zealand, and Russia.

Luxury self-drive expeditions in India start at 1.5 lakh per particular person, and worldwide expeditions start at 2.5 lakh. Details on embarq.in

Travel for all @ Planet Abled 

“I by no means went for a vacation as a toddler,” says Neha Arora, “Both my  dad and mom, now of their 70s and 80s, are individuals with disabilities, and even they’d not gone on a vacation till just a few years in the past.” 

Neha shares that when she began working at an IT firm in 2007, she saved cash, and went for her first household vacation to Tamil Nadu and Kerala. “Only to understand that there was poor bodily infrastructure, inaccessible communication channels, zero digital accessibility, and societal stigma. No one expects disabled folks to journey assuming they don’t work or they don’t have cash. After a sequence of such disagreeable experiences, my dad and mom refused to journey once more however I began searching for options.” Prompted by her private journey, Neha began Planet Abled in 2016 to make sure folks with disabilities can journey sans restrictions with non-disabled people. 

For analysis, Neha discovered herself spending nights at a number of airports to rely the variety of travellers with disabilities. While she discovered journey firms that have been single disability-focussed, Neha wished to create an inclusive platform. “If your incapacity decides who you journey with, once you journey and the place, it’s discrimination. Why shouldn’t an individual with a number of disabilities have the liberty of alternative in terms of travelling?” asks Neha, who has catered to travellers with mobility impairments; visible impairments; cognitive, psychosocial, mental and hidden disabilities; people who find themselves neurodivergent or folks with dementia, amongst others. The organisation additionally gives coaching and consulting to tourism business stakeholders to change into accessible by design for every type of disabilities.

Top locations in India embody Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Rajasthan, Srinagar, Punjab, amongst others, and worldwide favourites embody Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Europe, and China. 

Neha explains how, as a society, we’re both too sympathetic in direction of disabled folks or apathetic. “Non-disabled have their internalised biases and prejudices and naturally there may be little consciousness in our society in regards to the applicable physique language and verbal language. Being in an inclusive group makes them realise that speaking with them in a dignified and empathetic method is what issues to make everybody really feel included,” she says, including how just a few non-disabled travellers have come again to Planet Abled to make their places of work accessible and rent folks with disabilities.

Today, Neha operates the corporate from places of work in India and Austria, and provides travel-related companies together with designing journeys, resort bookings, storytellers and guides, transport companies, and educated service buddies “to help travellers with their routine actions”. “We keep in mind accessibility wants of every particular person and design the journey accordingly. Destination improvement contains auditing the vacation spot for accessibility standing of numerous accessibility wants, coaching the employees, guides, drivers and stakeholders in any respect contact factors of a traveller’s journey,” says Neha, who has additionally catered to organisations equivalent to Cricket Australia, Human Rights Watch, and Indian Paralympic Association.

Travelling in India with a incapacity could be very a lot doable, however is certainly very costly, she shares. “You want to remain at 4 or 5 star inns as a result of solely they’ve wheelchair accessible rooms, and you may e book a non-public disabled-friendly automobile, and now have educated employees out there.” The Colosseum in Rome, and The Acropolis in Greece are wheelchair accessible, however “our Taj Mahal remains to be not. The tourism business doesn’t want separate journey firms for disabled folks. We should mainstream accessibility so that individuals with disabilities have the liberty of alternative,” concludes Neha, who has upcoming journeys deliberate to Ranthambhore, Kerala, Bali, and South Africa.

planetabled.com

Senior spree @ WalkAbout

If you’re a senior citizen, or know somebody who’s, this digital social studying platform organises far more than holidays. Launched in 2019, WalkAbout, beforehand often known as GetSetUp, was launched in 2019. “We assist older adults use know-how in ways in which improve day by day life and open new prospects,” says co-founder Deval Delivala, who began curating holidays in 2023.

In India, Deval says, they give attention to locations that provide a mixture of heritage, Nature, and wellness. “Internationally, we prioritise places welcoming to older travellers, factoring in direct flights, senior-friendly lodging, and well-paced itineraries,” she provides. “Dubai stood out for our neighborhood; sightseeing spots throughout town had wheelchair entry, well-maintained restrooms, and easy transportation choices, making it straightforward for older grownup travellers to maneuver round comfortably. Our upcoming journey to Japan in 2026 has been curated to prioritise an analogous expertise.”

Given the shortage of satisfactory infrastructure in India for such teams, how does the group navigate these challenges? “Our journey curation course of begins with complete analysis into every vacation spot, figuring out potential accessibility limitations in lodging, sightseeing spots, and native transportation. Hotels with senior-friendly facilities are chosen, and the itineraries are well-paced with ample relaxation intervals.” For instance, their vacation to Bhandardara, Maharashtra, to see the fireflies was tweaked for seniors. “Typically, this expertise is designed for youthful travellers who keep in a single day in tents. We ensured our travellers had lodging off-site with correct restrooms.”

The journey business has slowly begun recognising that in the present day’s 60-plus travellers are essentially totally different from earlier generations, she says. “Many locations and repair suppliers now provide age-friendly facilities equivalent to wheelchair-accessible amenities and specialised medical help. However, to really serve this demographic, tour operators and hospitality companies should transfer past generic choices and create curated journey experiences which can be aligned with the evolving expectations of this era,” says Deval, who’s now planning journeys to the Andamans (October 10-15) and Tadoba (November 15-17).

Unlike different teams, such journeys are extra than simply holidays for seniors. “At a stage in life when many really feel more and more remoted, our journeys provide an opportunity to belong, discover, discover new connections, and embrace new prospects,” provides Deval, recalling their all-women’s journey to Sikkim in 2023. “A visitor joined us after dropping her husband in 2019, having spent months in isolation. On this journey, she linked with a number of ladies who had skilled comparable losses. What started as a visit remodeled right into a therapeutic expertise of rediscovering pleasure, companionship, and shared energy,” she says.

India journeys begin at ₹25,000 for three-day experiences, whereas worldwide journeys are priced upwards of ₹1,00,000-plus for week-long adventures. Details on mywalkabout.in

Women first @ The Soluna Experience 

It was in the course of the lockdown years that Mathai George Tharakan — who had just lately moved to Goa — began internet hosting exercise classes for family and friends. A former advertising skilled, Mathai and his spouse Ruth D’Roza discovered these classes as “a approach for us to attach with others and beat the cabin fever all of us skilled in the course of the lockdown.” Through phrase of mouth this motion rapidly grew into Mathai professionally teaching folks. “Talks about future journey plans have been a frequent topic of dialogue with purchasers, particularly ladies who wished to journey solo,” says Mathai, including that busy schedules, security considerations posed challenges for them. 

“For us, journey has been our greatest trainer. It broadened our minds and gave us perspective on learn how to be international residents,” says Ruth, a former HR skilled. The duo kickstarted The Soluna Experience (Sol which means solar, Luna is moon in Latin) in 2023 to fill within the hole for girls travellers. “For years, most group journey organisations catered predominantly to the 50-plus age group. Meanwhile, youthful travellers in the present day have embraced the backpacking tradition, redefining exploration as an immersive, impartial expertise,” she says. 

The duo at the moment provides journeys in Goa and Kenya, and through a latest journey to the latter, Mathai remembers one of many highlights was “a airplane that we chartered to fly out of Maasai Mara on to the shoreline of Kenya. It was really a one-of-a-kind expertise.” Over the previous three months, the duo have been curating personal journeys for solo travellers, {couples}, and households throughout Kenya and Tanzania. “Thus, giving our visitors entry to one among Nature’s most spectacular phenomena, The Great Migration, from wildebeest river crossings in Maasai Mara to witnessing lion prides on the hunt,” he provides.

Mathai says they’re seeing a rising demand for bespoke holidays. “In July, we hosted a monsoon getaway in Goa, and in October, we return to Kenya with a bunch of 10 solo ladies travellers.” With plans to incorporate extra locations over the following few months, Mathai explains how each facet of their curation is personally examined and skilled by the duo. “We spend time staying within the properties we select, analysis and vet the eating places we embody, expertise the journey actions, transport companions and health or wellness suppliers we select to work with,” he says.

While Southeast Asia and Sri Lanka “proceed to have a giant second”, Ruth says their focus is to unlock locations equivalent to Brazil, Japan, and Morocco “which can be typically arduous to entry for solo ladies travellers”. 

Having mentioned that, has India’s poor fame by way of ladies’s security made it more durable for them to persuade travellers? “As ladies we’re used to trying over our shoulders, double checking the locks on our doorways, and studying each evaluation earlier than we make a journey determination regardless of the place we’re on this planet. At Soluna, we’ve created quite a few touchpoints all through our course of — equivalent to personalised group calls previous to the journey — in order that travellers know we’re actual folks.”

The duo has two extra journeys to Kenya (₹3.75 lakh per particular person) lined up this yr, and about six journeys to Goa (₹70,000 per particular person) in the course of the monsoon. thesolunaexperience.com/

Kid central @ Heart and Soil 

When Mumbai-based Nehal Shah’s son was two-years-old, she realised how “disconnected city childhood had change into from Nature”. “I wished him to have the childhood I had; sans devices,” says the previous media skilled who put out a submit on Facebook in 2016 looking for like-minded dad and mom to organise an outside journey with their youngsters. “Soon, the neighborhood grew and I started organising journeys within the State, Goa, Gujarat, and neighbouring areas. Our experiences are constructed round 4 key pillars: Nature, tradition and life-skills, journey, and wildlife,” says Nehal, whose widespread journeys embody astronomy and star gazing, hikes, treks, campouts, flamingo safaris, farm excursions amongst others. 

Detailing their quest to curate offbeat journeys, Nehal says their Goa vacation is widespread even in peak summer time. “The itinerary has no seashores. We get travellers to remain near a wildlife reserve and all of the actions equivalent to hikes, trails, and so forth. are organised there,” she says. While group excursions at Heart and Soil have had as much as 40 members, hikes are capped at 20 as they want personalised consideration, says Nehal.

This May marked their first worldwide journey to Bhutan. “This wasn’t the standard itinerary the place you test off sights out of your to-do-list. We included forest hikes, monastery visits, conventional music and dance performances, hands-on cultural actions, and farm stays,” says Nehal, who give up her full-time job final yr to dedicate her time to Heart and Soil.

When it involves age, Nehal believes the sooner, the higher. “We’ve had toddlers as younger as 1.5 years be part of our hikes and even a six-month-old camper. This has strengthened our perception that youngsters are extremely adaptable, and the true apprehensions typically lie with the dad and mom. While a few of our experiences have age standards primarily based on security and feasibility, crucial issue is the dad and mom’ willingness to embrace the outside with their youngsters,” says Nehal, who has upcoming journeys deliberate to Pench (October 2-4), Meghalaya and Kaziranga (October 18-24), and Little Rann of Kutch (November 1-2).

Day journeys begin at ₹2,000; and multi-day immersive journeys are priced upwards of ₹20,000 for a mum or dad and youngster. @heartandsoil.in on Instagram