Disclosure
I started traveling full time in 2008 and since then, I have spent a lot of my own money to fund these many years of travels. Sometimes, I have also funded my travels through sponsored trips, sponsored stays, affiliate links, brand partnerships and other collaborations. The idea behind this disclosure page is to be honest and transparent with you about all my external collaborations through this blog.
Sponsored Trips
95% of the time, I travel on my own. The reason being, I fiercely love my independent style of travel. However, there are times when I collaborate with government tourism boards if our goals are mutually aligned. At all such cases, I do tell everyone that I have been invited by so and so tourism board and I simply talk about the places I visit through my photos, blog posts, social outreach and experience stories. This is something that I normally would have done even if I had traveled on my own.
Sometimes, I get similar sponsored trips through hospitality chains, airlines and travel companies. The result is always the same. I write about my honest experience with them and about the destination.
Partnerships with Brands
Through the blog, I partner with many brands. I partner with them only if their mission and my blog focus areas match. I could get money, get goods and/or get services through this partnership. This could be a gear review, gadget review, service review or property review. Like always, I disclose the partnership in the article and write my fair and honest review about the product and/or service experiences.
Sponsored Stays
I am a big fan of hostels and that is where I end up staying when I am paying from my own pocket. If not a hostel, then a budget hotel. But, there are times I get invited by 4 or 5 star hotels, luxury properties or sometimes even budget hotel chains and hostel chains. I don’t do property specific reviews. Rather, I do a destination review or an experience review that has been arranged by the hospitality group who invited me. If it is a property only review, I don’t accept the invite, but if it a experience or destination related invite, I accept it and disclose the details in my post. If I do write reviews about these properties, they generally tend to be nice reviews as these properties are so goddamn nice. Most of my bad experiences have been with hotels where I have paid from my own pocket.
Affiliate Links
Some of the links in the blog are affiliate links, and at no additional cost to you, I earn a commission if you make a purchase. These links could be of products in Amazon or Flipkart, a room or bed in Booking.com or hostelworld.com, a flight booking or any of the companies that I think will help you with your travels. These are trusted brands and like most of you, I also have used their services many a time during my travels. If you would like to support this blog in some way, using these links will help do exactly that. Everybody wins!
The bottom line is that I disclose all my relationships, write truthfully and honestly. No one tells me to write in favour of them and if they do, I don’t work with them. What I write is what I honestly feel after experiencing their service or product. This blog is because of you and I will uphold this trust forever.
