As a travel writer and sustainable tourism consultant, I work closely with travel businesses, tourism boards, non-profits and sustainability-minded brands to help achieve their environmental and social impact goals.

Why collaborate?

I believe in the potential of tourism as a tool for sustainable development, environmental conservation and meaningful cultural exchange. I’ve spent the past decade developing digital storytelling techniques, writing about environmentally and socially conscious travel experiences (without necessarily using the word ‘sustainable’), and creating market linkages for social enterprises from Guatemala to Goa.

Every post on my travel blog The Shooting Star and my social media channels, especially Instagram, is crafted from personal experience, and tries to bring out the essence of travel.

I attempt to travel differently – often solo and beyond tourist spots to find the soul of a place – and bring stories from the road in an honest, experiential, aspirational and relatable way to my readers. My blog and social networks are filled with readers expressing their intention to follow in my footsteps wherever I go, and every week, I receive 30-40 emails and personal messages seeking recommendations and tips.

Recent media coverage & awards

  • Featured among 15 travel trailblazers of 2021 by Travel+Leisure (2021)
  • Featured among 30 global champions of environmental sustainability in hospitality and tourism by International Hospitality Institute (2021)
  • Winner – Best Communicator at the WTM Responsible Tourism Awards India (2020)
  • Featured by National Geographic Traveler among travelers of color smashing stereotypes (2020)
  • Featured by Conde Nast Traveller among Instagram accounts to follow if you care about the planet (2020)
  • Featured by The Washington Post among travel influencers changing the way we think of the world (2019)
  • Featured by Travel+Leisure among Indian women to follow on Instagram (2019)
  • Silver winner – “Best writing in a blog” at the TBC Asia Awards (2018)
  • Featured in Vogue magazine among the best travel Instagram accounts (2018)
  • Featured on Passion Passport among Instagram’s most inspiring environmentalists (2018)
  • Featured on the cover of National Geographic Traveller India magazine (2017)
  • Speaker at TEDx (FMS, New Delhi) on living a nomadic life (2016)
  • Interviewed by Responsible Travel on making conscious travel choices (2016)
  • Featured on Huffington Post for one of India’s best Instagram accounts (2016)
  • Featured as an intrepid traveller on The Times of India (2015)
  • Voted India’s Best Travel Blogger by Vogue (2015)
  • Awarded India’s Best Young Social Media Professional at CMO Asia Awards (2014)
  • Featured on BBC Travel and NDTV (2014)
  • See all my media coverage and awards here.

Statistics: Blog and social networks

  • Monthly views: 60,000+
  • Unique monthly visitors: 30,000+
  • Blog subscribers: 20,000+
  • Instagram followers: 105,000+
  • Facebook fans: 28,000+
  • Twitter followers: 27,000+
  • Audience demographics: India, US, Europe, Southeast Asia | 25-45 years

Recent campaigns

Testimonials

“I have worked with Shivya on multiple projects over the past 4 years. She is a thorough professional, a powerful wordsmith and a partner in the true sense. In fact, her open-mindedness, commitment and self-initiative take every project to a higher level.”
~ Sangeeta Sharma, Lufthansa

“Working with Shivya has been smooth and easy – she is a professional travel blogger and influencer and she efficiently sees to getting the job done on her own without any problems. Getting off the beaten track in Copenhagen, Shivya has successfully showed her audience the great adventures and sceneries awaiting visitors that dare to take city exploration to the next level. The result of Shivya’s stay in Copenhagen has been beautiful photos and well written blogs, and her followers have truly engaged with each post in her feed.”
~ Sanne Olsen, Copenhagen Tourism

“At a time when anyone who wants to pursue their passion to travel at someone else’s expenses and call it travel blogging, The Shooting Star is from another planet. If you have an authentic experience and you want to position your business in the sustainable tourism space, she’s the investment you might want to make. Worth every dollar!”
~ Gopinath Parayil, The Blue Yonder

“For the GNTB it was a pleasure to work with Shivya during the #NotJustBeer campaign in August 2015. She took over our Instagram channel for two weeks and shared live updates on her own Twitter, Instagram and Facebook channels about her experiences with the German wine traditions. The reactions on Shivya’s work were overwhelming. She totally got the followers fall in love with Germany’s wine regions via social media. We’re hoping, that there will be another chance to work with Shivya again.”
~ Elif Kablan, German National Tourist Board

“The SATC was very pleased to work with Shivya. She was genuinely interested in our destination, people and culture and showed a real passion getting off the beaten track and getting “under the skin” of Adelaide. All this resulted in some very well composed content and exposure through more websites and networks than we initially anticipated.”
~ Martin Kaesler, South Australian Tourism Commission

“Shivya travelled with me last year to Seychelles. I respect her professionalism and the fact that she is so keen on making the most of each minute she spends in a new destination. She is always looking at off-beat experiences which involve lot of interaction with locals and understanding their beliefs, customs and way of life. This is why her stories are full of meaningful experiences which makes them a pleasure to read because you always learn something different about a place. Her blogs and articles on Seychelles were great and brought out some unknown aspects about the islands.”
~ Aswini Krishna, Seychelles Tourist Office 

“We were amazed by the instant impact that Shivya’s endorsements create. Those who keep track of her footprints, actually follow them. A decision to engage with her is not one you will regret.”
~ Sumant Batra, Te Aroha 

How can you work with The Shooting Star?

Through my blog and writing, I aim to inspire people to follow their own travel dreams, seek new adventures and embrace a sustainable way of life. Here’s how I help connect my readers with the right travel destinations and brands:

Sustainable Tourism – Collaboration and Consulting

I work with travel enterprises to measure their impact, adopt environmentally and socially beneficial approaches, and communicate their offerings in a compelling way to travellers.

I’m currently part of WWF Voices and an advisory board member at Positive Impact Travel.

My recent projects include:

  • Voices of Rural India – An initiative aimed at developing digital storytelling skills among rural communities across India. Powered by a curated platform, online storytelling modules and one-on-one mentoring. An alternate livelihood stream created through digital journalism during the pandemic which decimated tourism incomes.
  • I Love Spiti – A collaboration with social enterprise Spiti Ecosphere, aimed to create awareness about the single-use plastic crisis in the Trans-Himalayan region of Spiti. Engagement with local tourism establishments, women’s self-help groups and art-based communication.
  • Reforestation with Alaap – A collaboration with Alaap to create and maintain two native forests in the Kumaon region of Uttarakhand, using the innovative Miyawaki technique. Community engagement, crowdsourced fundraising and fundraising through a clothing collection.
  • Voices of Munsiari – A collaboration with Himalayan Ark in Uttarakhand to enable India’s first Instagram channel to be run entirely by a rural village community. Creative photography and storytelling workshops and crowdsourcing used smartphones.

In the past, I’ve been involved with SankalpTaru Foundation as a marketing and PR advisor, Visit.org as an ambassador and India Untravelled as a responsible travel consultant.

Please email me at [email protected] to discuss your goals and scope of work.

Blogging Campaigns

I partner with tourism boards and relevant travel / lifestyle brands to deliver engaging blogging campaigns, showcasing your destination, accommodation or product to my readers in an experiential way – with a focus on local experiences and sustainable travel. I offer short stories on my social networks, blog posts featuring my experiences, short travel videos and post-trip giveaways.

As a professional blogger, I charge a blogging fee to compensate for my time and effort. I’m available to work with you to build a new campaign or join an existing one.

Please email me at [email protected] to receive my media kit.

Travel Instagram

With an engaged organic following of 100k+, I’m passionate about the travel content I share on Instagram. I don’t believe in perfectly curated travel shots, but focus on authentic travel through human stories, debates and discussions around solo, sustainable, vegan and offbeat travel. I work with like-minded brands to help them reach out to my curious audience.

Recent collaborations include:

Speaker at motivational, sustainability and tourism events

I’m available to speak at events, meetups and workshops on sustainable travel, making a living from a passion like travel blogging, and leveraging social media to propel organizations, brands, professionals and individuals in the online space.

My recent speaking engagements include:

  • Sustainable Tourism Summit, Turkey
  • Dubai Expo 2020 (Panel on dignified storytelling)
  • Economic Times Women’s Forum
  • World Travel Writers Conference, Maldives
  • World Food Summit
  • Mountain Echoes Literary Festival, Bhutan
  • Responsible Travel Forum India
  • TEDx
  • National Geographic Travel Confluence
  • Vegan India Conference
  • See more on my Speaking page

Brand Ambassador

I work on a long-term basis with select travel brands that fit in with my travel focus: responsible, solo and experiential travel.

Freelance travel writer and storytelling strategist

I am open to challenging freelance projects with brands and initiatives passionate about sustainable tourism, community-owned travel and regenerative travel.

Please email me at [email protected] to discuss your requirements. My charges vary with the scope, duration and challenges of the project.