{"id":337043,"date":"2025-12-10T02:17:39","date_gmt":"2025-12-10T02:17:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/uncategorized\/my-journey-with-community-tourism-and-climate-action-films\/"},"modified":"2025-12-10T02:17:39","modified_gmt":"2025-12-10T02:17:39","slug":"my-journey-with-community-tourism-and-climate-action-films","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=337043","title":{"rendered":"My Journey With Community Tourism and Climate Action Films"},"content":{"rendered":"


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I distinctly remember walking on an empty stretch of beach in Goa<\/a> a few years ago. The setting sun had streaked the sky in pastel shades of orange, red and pink. The soft glow of the evening light, dispersed by the stratocumulus clouds, reflected on the waves of the Arabian Sea. On the other side of the beach, a reddish-yellow full moon was rising.<\/p>\n

Normally I would have taken some photos to immortalize the moment, and noted down the words rising through my body like the tides rising up in the sea. But I consciously decided not to. Instead, I rotated my phone vertically and captured a short video clip. It was my first attempt at making an Instagram reel \u2013 and I failed miserably.<\/p>\n

Also read: Ideas of Love and Life from the Tribes of Chhattisgarh<\/a><\/em> <\/p>\n

\"Goa\"Goa<\/a>
Immortalizing a Goan sunset.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I had no idea why <\/em>I wanted to capture that moment, how <\/em>I intended to use the clip, or what <\/em>my accompanying message would be. More importantly, deep down, I didn\u2019t want to do this. <\/p>\n

Since my early days of travel blogging (~2011), I had known that I loved telling stories through writing<\/a>. I took photos yes, but more as a way of remembering or accompanying. I never thought myself a visual storyteller.<\/p>\n

But as Instagram evolved and became a primary income stream<\/a> for me, it became abundantly clear that I needed to create video stories\u2026 or quit. Over the next few months, I struggled and stumbled through the video creation process. Then a vision finally began to emerge on how I could tell meaningful stories through video, without putting myself in front of the camera. I was lucky to have an ace editor (looking at you, Dhruv) who understood the \u2018feeling\u2019 I wanted to create through my reels.<\/p>\n

Fast forward to 2023, and I won Silver at the prestigious Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Awards for video under two minutes, and an honorable mention for Instagram Storytelling! I worked on multiple brand collaborations around sustainable tourism and beyond, of which reels were a key component. By now, I was not only absorbed in the rhythm of creating short videos, but also loving the creative process.<\/p>\n

Also read: How to Get Paid to Travel the World<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

A new challenge<\/h2>\n
\"community\"community<\/a>
I had no idea where \u2013 and to who \u2013 this challenge would lead me.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Time and again, the impulse of creating longer videos and films visited me. I shoved it aside, for my plate was already filled with writing, short form video, a virtual Master\u2019s program, and building two new entities: The Shooting Star Academy<\/a> for self-paced storytelling courses, and Climate Conscious Travel<\/a>, for sustainable tourism research and education.<\/p>\n

But some creative ideas don\u2019t take no for an answer. <\/p>\n

So in 2024, I threw myself a new challenge: To create a series of short documentary films on community tourism and grassroots climate action.<\/strong> This passion project had multiple goals:<\/p>\n

Centre community voices<\/h3>\n

As a travel writer, when I pen stories on community tourism, the voice and perspective remain mine. I\u2019ve tried to challenge this through collaborative community storytelling, where a story is penned by community members in their own language, translated, and run alongside my perspective as a traveller. <\/p>\n

For the Singapore-based publication Our Better World, my story<\/a> about Uttarakhand\u2019s Himalayan Ark was run alongside two stories by Bina Nitwal<\/a> and Trilok Singh Rana<\/a> from the local community in Sarmoli. All photography for the story was done by community members. It was a beautiful experience to work together and have our voices published together, but as it turns out, not many publications or editors are interested in this approach. <\/p>\n

With these documentaries however, I could interview community members on camera, and centre their powerful, emotional, real voices.<\/p>\n

Showcase the power of conscious travel<\/h3>\n

We often hear that conscious travel can impact local communities, especially women, through the creation of alternate livelihoods and the celebration of their living culture. Through these docufilms, I could showcase the power of our travel choices from the perspective of the people they\u2019ve directly impacted in a community.<\/p>\n

Highlight the impacts of climate change on local communities<\/h3>\n

These short documentaries (under 10 minutes) are not climate films per se, but they highlight the impact of climate change on vulnerable communities, and show what grassroots community action could look like \u2013 from investing in initiatives that empower rural women, to community-led waste management.<\/p>\n

Also read: Everything You Need to Know About Community Tourism<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

The Routes of Resilience Series <\/h2>\n

Thus was born Routes of Resilience<\/a> \u2013 a series of travel documentary films highlighting community tourism and grassroots climate action, shot across India and Peru!<\/p>\n

Film #1: Routes Of Resilience (India)<\/h3>\n

The journey of the first collective of rural women guides in the Tirthan Valley, Himachal Pradesh \u2013 supported by Himalayan Ecotourism.<\/p>\n

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