Be it the beaches of Goa or the valley of Kashmir, traveling makes you live in surreal moments that you would cherish for the rest of your lives. It provides you solace; it offers you an opportunity to grow and to learn, and get acquainted with people from different corners of the world. Chinmay Dhamne is a travel blogger. His profession as a marine engineer provided him with the opportunity to travel all around the world and he grabbed it eagerly, after which he has never looked back.
Chinmay, in his interview with Storiyaan talks about his various travel experiences, travel film–making and his dream to make a documentary of the lives of people living in rural villages. Have a look at his interview if you love traveling and want to fall in love with it even further.
Interview
Questions and answers
What is your earliest memory of traveling? Tell us about the travel expedition that would make wanderlust your hobby.
My whole family loves to travel. Collecting coins is my dad’s hobby and traveling became mine. My first memory is that of my childhood when I went on my first lake expedition and it ignited the wanderlust in me.
Traveling is not always about having fun and taking pictures. Tell us about the most difficult glacial trek that you have undertaken to date.
I took a trip to Brahmatal in the last week of December. It was one of the most challenging trips as it was snowing heavily and it became very difficult for us to navigate our way through it.
What kind of holistic impact do you believe that traveling has on your psyche?
I don’t travel to places that have a particular specialty or feature. The thing about me is that I love to explore different places with different features and specialties. Diversity is what helps me and brings so much positivity with itself that it has had a holistic impact on me.
There is a whole new genre of intra-city travelers and city-bloggers. What is your opinion on the possibility of being a traveler within the city?
I’m from Nasik and if you really want to explore every corner of my city, it will take at least a month. Exploring your own city at first to start your travel blogging is a very good idea in my opinion.
Sustainable and eco-friendly travel is the most underrated and least-propagated travel form. Why do you think that is?
Precautionary travel should always be our priority because it involves our lives as well as the environment. It’s very underrated as of now but it needs to flourish more.
When did you first cultivate a fascination for film-making and what kind of training did you undergo to master it?
I went on a trek and recorded time-lapse videos on my phone. One of the videos went viral and I received an overwhelming response. It motivated me to buy gadgets and film my journey. I have learned everything about film-making from YouTube.
Apart from travel shoots, what are the other areas of film-making that you plan to delve into in the near future?
Apart from travel, I would like to film documentaries. I want to present to the world, stories of people living in different corners through my lenses. It has always been a dream of mine and hopefully, I will achieve it one day.
What initiated your dream to pursue your career in marine engineering and what travel perks does it offer?
I was in the fourth standard when I came across an advertisement for Merchant Navy and I have been hooked since then. As I kept hitting milestones in my life, I decided to give it a shot as well. Travel perks are great and I never miss out on the chance of exploring a new country whenever I’m on the ship and stops at the shore.
Tell us about your first experience of first beholding the sunrise from Sandakphu?
That moment was heavenly. Seeing the sun peeking from the clouds is so serene and what I felt at that moment is indescribable.
You have undertaken two expeditions on two different parts of the Himalayan range- northern (Kedarnath) and north-eastern (Sandakphu). What was the main distinction between the two?
The main distinction was mainly the views. In the Kedar summit, there were mountain ranges and in Sandakphu, you can see mountains in front of you. In Kedarnath, you see the ranges which are in different directions.
What is the one thing about the Indian tourism industry that you would like to change?
Plastic pollution. I’ve visited many countries and they are very particular about the usage of plastic and we should look out for excessive usage of it because it is harmful and causes a lot of pollution.
Quick 5
a. Your go-to weekend get-away : Lonavala
b. One thing in your backpack you cannot travel without : Camera
c. Best local cuisine tried during a travel : Pahadi Maggie
d. Greatest travel experience? : Visiting Marseille France
e. Your dream film-making project? : Making a documentary on villagers.