Looking To Find Travel Companions? This Website Connects Passengers Across The World

How Desi Travel Companion was born

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Written by Anu Prabhakar

Posted: Fri, Mar 17, 2023 12:31 pm

Shailaja Baddu will not soon forget his journey between India and the US in 2016. She traveled with her husband, Ravi Kaminini, and their four-year-old son, who, like most young children, did not like long-haul flights. “It was difficult for me because he didn’t want to eat the food served on the plane and he was in a bad mood. Ravi was with me, so I managed to do it, but I was wondering how mothers of small children, especially one and two year olds, travel alone with them. He has experienced first hand the difficulties that nervous non-English speaking passengers face when flying overseas, such as boarding. B. Difficulty connecting flights and filling out forms. “When my parents visited us in the US in 2011. she recalls when we chatted on Google Meet. “So we trained her and told her what to do at the airport. She was able to seek help from other travelers in India.” Ravi added that his father-in-law speaks some English, so it's a little better: "It's very difficult for parents who want their children to go abroad but can't read or write English, to travel alone."

The experience of the trip stayed with them for a few days after they returned home, and they both discussed what to do about it. “This is a big problem for the native population of the United States,” Ravi explains. “People are pinging each other on whatsapp groups asking if they know anyone on the same flight as their parents and if they can help.”

They began to read and study. “Websites help travelers find travel companions across a variety of services, but I wanted to create a website that would fill that need,” Sailza says. They discover that even online platforms and travel sites are not working as planned. "So I asked Ravi, 'Why haven't software professionals built websites like this before?' Thus, Desi Travel Companion was born.

Launch preparation

Sailaja, the founder of the site, grew up in Andhra Pradesh, India, and studied medicine. She currently works as an ultrasound technician in Phoenix, Arizona while Ravi works as a software engineer.

The site, launched in January this year, is almost six years old. Sailza works an hour a day, often working 12-hour shifts and overtime. My son is now 11 years old, he helps him with his homework and picks him up after school. In the midst of all this, there was also a global pandemic to survive, and yet he stuck to the goal of launching a website. Ravi says he supported his dream by lending his technical expertise on the weekends, but they quickly realized it wasn't a job for a two-man team, no matter how determined they were. They soon began approaching tech companies to start the project. “It took us years to find the right company and team,” says Ravi. “I got back in touch with my engineering classmate, the founder of Oxtomate Technologies (Hyderabad, India). We had a meeting with the team, and, finally, things went well.”

Solve problems with technology

The site serves as an online space where travelers who need help and want to connect can connect with each other.

Travelers who are looking for fellow travelers can post information about their trip or request someone on their behalf. Volunteers can post travel information and offer to help someone on the same flight as them. The site allows travelers to tip volunteers, which is considered a good way for young travelers such as students to earn some money by helping someone.

Sailza admits that he is not an engineer, but he can provide valuable information about website design. “For example, the original idea was to show passengers' email IDs, their ages and phone numbers, but I realized that sharing this data might be awkward for most people. Travelers and friends now communicate with each other after they have agreed and decided to move on. Share. And we have an age range, not a specific age."

"You'll also receive travel notifications that match your trip," says Ravi. “And if you canceled your trip or changed your flight, you can edit your post on the website and your friend/traveler will be notified of the change.” He added that the word "desi" could refer to people from countries such as India, Pakistan, etc., but the site is open to people from all over the world, including the Middle East. "All airports and modes of transport are listed on the website," he said.

As they explained, the site has had 80,000 visits so far - 55,000 of those clicks were from the US - and 1,200 trips have been posted on the site. Also, they added, 220 people got in touch. “You can post your selfie when the trip is over, but otherwise we don’t know if the trip is over,” Sailya explained.

The whole idea, he continued, is to use technology to solve these problems of Indian communities around the world. “The tech giants won't solve problems like this because they think they're too small,” Roby says. They say they may expand the site later to include other features, such as ticketing, based on user feedback. “But now I'm happy,” Sailza smiles. "Finally, we can rest."

wknd@khaleejtimes.com

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