"Traveling Is a Big Part of My Life and Helps Keep the Spark Alive"

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1. Tell us about your background and journey.

I come from a defense background. My entire family has served in defense services and my father is a retired Army officer. We used to get transferred every few years so even as a kid, I traveled around a lot; lived in different cities and studied in several different schools.

The idea of living in the same place started to sound boring and I wondered how people did it. I think that is where my passion for traveling took birth. But it was never really road trips. My travels until the end of college were mostly all family outings, moving from one city to another or coming back home for vacations. Traveling always interested me but I never really knew the true meaning of it.

About a decade ago, just out of college, I made my first trip to Mcleodganj with a group of friends. This was the trip that was not with my family and in many ways, my first road trip. It really helped define what I am today. What was merely an interest earlier became a hobby and later a passion. Within 2 weeks of returning from Mcleodganj, I was out on another road trip and had not stopped since then. Traveling is a big part of my life and helps keep the spark alive.

2. When did you first decide that you wanted to be a travel blogger and how did you start?

The credit for this I must give to another blogger, who unfortunately is now dead. His name was Yogesh Sarkar. I was planning a trip to Ladakh. Back in 2007, not many people had been there. Yogesh's blog was the only and largest source of information on Ladakh. I read through it, exchanged a few emails with him and that is when this thought first occurred. I was traveling a lot myself so I thought of starting a blog of my own. The only problem was that I knew nothing about it. Sure I knew how to use the internet and surf websites but to create one was a concept completely unknown. Once again, I relied on Google. For the next 6 months, a lot of self-learning took place. I read articles after articles trying to figure out the best way to create a website. Then finally when I had some confidence, I registered my domain and purchased a copy of Adobe Dreamweaver.

Yes, my first website was in HTML like all others back then. It was a simple set up really with some pictures and my travel tales. It took a lot of hard work to be honest and the learning has not stopped even now. Since then, I have changed both the domain name and the set up a couple of times before finally settling on VargisKhan.Com and Wordpress.

3. Is vlogging and YouTube content creation a financially sustainable career?

It can be if you are dedicated to it. Like any other profession, even Blogging, Vlogging and posting content on YouTube will require knowledge, hard work, dedication and patience. You will not get views or earnings overnight. It may take years before you finally are able to earn a respectable amount. You really need to have a plan and path to execute it. My best advice is to keep it as a passive income until you reach a point when you are confident that it can be your only source of income.

4. Who is your favorite creator and why?

This will once again be Yogesh Sarkar. My writing, photography and even the blog are highly influenced by his. Before I wrote a single word of my own, I used to follow and read his articles. So yes, when I first decided to write about my own trip, his articles became the source of inspiration and a rough draft to shape my own in.

5. How and where do you find inspiration to churn out content/ articles?

My inspiration lies only in my travels. I pick a place that I have not been to and then I write about it after I have been there. When I write, I try to cover as many details as possible in order to help others.

6. What does your typical day look like?

I am into a regular job so my day really looks like a typical one. I get up in the morning, go to work, return, spend time with family and then find some time to write before I go to sleep. In between, whenever I can, I try to squeeze in a few days to travel which sometimes even happens to be a quick weekend ride or drive.

7. Which is your favorite book and why?

To be honest, It has really been a long time since I read a story. Between job, traveling, blogging and photography, there is hardly any time to pick up a book. But before traveling became my passion, I did read a lot. Agatha Christie would be my favorite author followed by Michael Crichton and Danielle Steel.

8. What piece of advice would you like to give to future and aspiring travel bloggers?

New blogs appear everyday and by the same day next year, the majority of them are gone. The reason why that happens is because they are all born out of momentary excitement and inspiration. If you do not want yours to fall into the same category and sustain, then you really need to have a plan. Decide what you want to do with your blog. Is it just a platform where you want to share your ideas and life in general or do you want to turn it into a source of income. If you want your blog to be famous and rated high, then you need to update it regularly. Ensure that you are writing one article everyday or every other day. If you want to also monetize your blog, choose a niche and then find out what is trending.

My best advice would be to let your blog be a passion of yours, a platform where you can share with the world your creativity. If you are not passionate about it, it will never last long.

Interview by - Sanjana Jain