Kalyan is a traveler who loves routes outside the traditional circuits and believes (with good reason) to discover real gems just away from the crowds of tourists in the queue. He always looks for WOW moments around the world among the local people, cuisine or across the streets to share with travel freaks everywhere. He loves traveling and telling stories through the images, showing the different cultures of the places that he visits.
Kalyan has learnt to control a horse all alone in his first horse ride through the hilly terrains of Himachal, explored the mysteries and cultural taboos of Northeast India. He hiked the Tigers Nest in Bhutan, sailed in a ship across Bay of Bengal to Andaman & Nicobar Islands with no sight of land for three days, and sipped his way through the ice covered Dal Lake in Srinagar.
Kalyan saw the elusive shining eyes of the hidden tiger in Kaziranga, shared the night under a sky full of stars and galaxies in Rajasthan, followed the footsteps of Shah Jahan though Agra. He communed with nature as the sun rose over the Kanchenjunga from Tiger Hill, found his center on the summit of the rocky hilltop of Darjeeling, and soaked up an exquisite sunset over the Indian Ocean.
Kalyan has traveled through hundreds of buses, boats, trains, airplanes, hitchhiking, motorbike and bicycle and above all more than 3000 kms by foot! He met beautiful people in each country. Traveling has been a truly MAGICAL adventure with so many animals that accompanied him on the roads, countless flavors and dishes tried, laughs, accidents, robbery attempts, moments of madness, others of deep reflection!
After thousands of decisions at every step, many mistakes, many more successes (luckily), he lost money, he lost flights, he found money, he found people who helped him a lot. He broke backpacks, was on TV, in the newspaper and on radio. An orangutan chased him in the jungle. Kalyan slept for free in 5-star hotels and also in the jungle, flooded with insects. He slept in hostels, shared apartments, in buses, trains and in capsules.
Kalyan realized that the world is a MUCH more generous and kind place than he thought, 99% of those who approached him was to help him or to know him. He met so many cultures, SO different from 'his' and all SO beautiful. He saw temples of ALL European and Asian religions, dream beaches and cities of the future, unimaginable.
Kalyan climbed the tallest building in the world and descended to the depth of a shipwreck in the ocean, added wonders of the world to his list, a natural wonder too, and climbed volcanoes. He learned more geography and a lot of history. He fell, he got sick, he recovered, he got exhausted and above all he fell in love with this world and he lived the way he wanted.
Carefree but observant, each trip leaves him more questions than answers. Still, the desert taught him that haste kills. The jungle, that the whole and the nothing are the same things. The mountain, that the impossible is achieved by putting one foot in front of the other and the sea taught him that he still needs a lot to learn. All along this, he walks, while he photographs and writes in this blog.
Kalyan has also topped many pan-India blogging competitions. He has more than 30000 fans on his social media channels with good organic engagement on his posts in instagram along with facebook, twitter, pinterest, google, youtube and others. Kalyan's reviews have been published in notable magazines like Femina and popular books by leading authors.
Interviews & Features
His photographs and articles have also been featured by the Lonely Planet, National Geographic, Google Travel, The Huffington Post, Yahoo, Travel Pulse and World Bank among others.
Awards & Recognition
Twinkl - https://www.twinkl.co.in/blog/top-indian-travel-bloggers
Lonely Planet - https://web.archive.org/web/20190804200947/https://www.lonelyplanet.com/blog/2019/03/05/pathfinder-spotlight-kalyan-panja-travtasy
Godrej Aer - Inspire a fragrance Winner - https://www.indiblogger.in/topic.php?topic=114
Ambi Pur Perfect Road Trip - https://www.indiblogger.in/topic.php?topic=83
Kotak Jifi Is Here - https://www.indiblogger.in/indistuff/12/
Nissan Safety Driving Forum - https://www.indiblogger.in/topic.php?topic=125
Blogadda Delhi Manifesto Contest winner: http://blog.blogadda.com/2013/11/14/winners-for-delhi-manifesto-contests
Club Mahindra Dreamtrails Winner: http://blog.blogadda.com/2016/09/01/winner-announcement-travel-on-club-mahindras-dreamtrails
Women and the Taboo of Power: http://shethepeople.tv/women-and-the-taboo-of-power
Check out the campaigns executed by him here: Media Kit
If you want to be in touch with him to know him more or to say a little hello, feel free to mail him at
travtasy@gmail.com