We’ve partnered with the awesome folks at Urban Climbers to create a day trip at the Nachikuppam Campsite where it’s not only a great picnic, but an introduction to multiple life skills, team work and a huge booster dose of independence and confidence.
What : A day out for the kids for getting them that little bit readier for life. Yes, including handling a knife as a tool!
Where : Happening at our Nachikupppam. Campsite, 75 km from Bangalore.
When : On 20th Feb 2016
For Who : Kids only, 8yrs and above.
We’ll pick them up near Total Mall Sarjapura Road around 6am and drop them there starting back at 5pm.
8am: Breakfast at Camp Linger, Alhonso By The Lake, Nachikuppam
9 am: Introduction (instructors, campsite, LNT)
Activity-1: Trek, Rock Climbing & Rappelling
Activity-2: Signalling and Orienteering
12:30 pm: Lunch and break
Activity-3:
Intro of safety and equipment’s
Knotting
Prussiking
Tent Pitching
3:30 pm: snacks
Activity-4:
Team Building Activities
Reflection
5pm: Head back to Bangalore
Urban Climbers have been running walls, and run events for both adults and kids. Their trainers are certified and very capable, and we’ll take good care of your kids.
Do write in or leave a comment if interested and share with friends too. Thanks!
The startup world is going crazy. Even in the travel space. Mad growth – often with poor service and no soul, crazy valuations, and increasingly unsustainable models, pricing and discounts to drive numbers that justify this frenzy for a little longer.
Can’t deny the pressure doesn’t get to us, despite all the things we hold dear and believe in. But nope, we’re not changing all that.
So we decided to recount our blessings. And realized our valuation comes from all the trust, love shared and the true value that people see in us. Here’s a short list of some of the stuff that’s happened in the past that gives us courage to hold on to our beliefs in this sea of insanity:
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One of our regulars helped setup rooms and moved furniture with us!
Someone came back to the same place and got gifts for all the staff there.
Another made a lovely painting.
A guest made and sent us a custom-made calendar as a thank you note after the trip. That was super sweet!
A regular and now our art mentor came and painted a wall at Coorg. Plus lots of gifts.
We regularly get loads of books from folks who’ve been to our places – “for your libraries”.
We get lots and lots and lots of used wine bottles in support of our stand of not using plastic bottles for water.
A regular made a poster for us.
(The awesome capture of what Gokarna is, thanks to Maitri)
Another sends us beautiful poetry regularly.
Folks keep sharing instances of “do nothing” now getting used regularly by others, with a sense of pride about Linger!
We get ideas, connects, advice from all of our guests on a regular basis.
Our guests have been our strongest brand ambassadors, and keep telling other like minded folks they should try out a Linger vacation.
Many, many have become friends now 🙂
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We feel blessed, and highly valued by those that really matter. And that is the single most important thing that keeps us going, sticking to the path we’ve picked.
Cycling is a fun activity at our locations. And for this, and for the awesome event it is, Linger was proud to partner with TFN Edition 7 as a prize sponsor, and as a host for the volunteers team. These guys are the backbone of this awesome event, and do this completely selflessly.
Team TFN, we’re delighted to have been associated, and honored to have hosted the kickass volunteers team. Look forward to more such over the coming years. Keep riding, and have fun!
Sep 7th-8th is Climbing-101 at CampL inger in the Devarayanadurga Hills, 90km from Bangalore.
We’re partnering with the folks at Urban Climbers who are organizing Bouldering training sessions – both theory and practical – on real rocks and boulders! A pro trainer, the right equipment and a great location guaranteed 🙂
The Weekend 7th-8th September, 2013:
7th Sept – Arrive. Breakfast at 9am, followed by an initiation into climbing basics at a beginners’ rock. Some theory classes will follow. Lunch, maybe a splash in the tank, followed with a short walk to some boulders and trying out stuff you learned.
Campfire and tuck-in by 11 – there’s an early start on day 2.
8th Sept morning – early tea and snacks, and then a trek up a hill behind the campsite. The trainers will identify a good rock or two to try out some of the techniques you’ve learned so far.
Back for a heavy brunch, time in the pool, tea and off we go.
Who : Anyone 8 and above
Gear : All equipment needed will be provided. Be in comfortable sports clothing – Track & T’s. Avoid denim.
Cost : 12 and Above : Rs.4213/- inclusive svc taxes, all food, activities, everything. Kids 9-12 – 1150/- inclusive of all.
To book your slots, stay@linger.in or call: +91-95900-50001.
If you’re travelling as a family, it’s ok if a couple of people sign up to do this and others just spend the weekend camping (our usual rates apply). Of course, we encourage everyone to give this a shot!
Linger has been a very niche, and amongst-the-community brand, and many of our guests are friends now. We have grown slow, and avoided the usual travel agent route thus far. We did try working with a couple of travel agencies a few times, but except one, have not had a good experience yet.
In our view, Travel Agents need to solve something concrete for us. Online, offline, experiential, whatever.
Somewhere in the Nilgiris – soon!
Problems?
We are primarily a weekend business, and run empty on most weekdays despite significant costs for the same. Some weekends just before and after popular long weekends also see a lull. These can be solved.
There are so many folks who would love the idea of Lingering that we’re unable to reach out to quickly enough through our existing
connects. Travel Agents can play an important role for us here, and one has, for a specific niche.
If we’re able to run at better volumes, we can pay folks better (like we always keep trying to), become sustainable financially for all stakeholders, ecologically and socially for the community around, and grow.
We also ran into issues like the wrong price being communicated to our guests, and our properties themselves being mis-sold as something
they were not. We’d rather run vacant than have wrong expectations set, and eventually hurt our brand. There also have been stories inthe media about unethical practices on the part of OTAs that seek to merely maximize the commission they make, and has little to do with representing a property and making a guests’ experience the best aligned with their interests.
If Travel Agents help us crack these problems, we’re more than happy to share with them. Doing it only for holiday seasons and long weekends when happy guests themselves refer enough folks seems pointless and is a little unfair on the part of the travel agent industry.
We’re sure they provide a valuable service and a nominal service charge added transparently to their clients’ bills will be accepted as a fair charge.
Who We’d Love To Work With. And How.
We’d be happy working with travel partners who’re interested in more than the transactional value of their clients – and care about their experience, their vacation, interest as well. We want to work with people who care about the idea of travel itself, and want to further interesting ways to travel, believe in different reasons for which folks travel, and without merely addressing the common (including the easy “luxury” way out too) denominator of the industry – deals, standardization and the comfort zone of the same old. We’d love to connect with folks who are focused on more bang, not just less buck.
We truly believe that reasonable value for all, and healthy symbiotic relationships do much better in the long run.
On our part, we thought the following would be a better, fairer way to share transparently:
Solve Volumes : We offer 1 free room night for every 10 nights booked with us. After 20 room nights, we’ll offer 2 room nights for every 10 room nights booked with us, or 1 after every 6 as desired. Since this involves multiple properties at various times, the value offered free will be the average of the room nights booked with us.
Solve Right-Selling : We also feel we should create Long Term Value for Travel Partners who we work with – so for any guest that comes through a travel partner, we’ll share 4% on ALL subsequent reservations by a returning guest with the partner over the next 3 years after the firs trip, even if the same are made directly by the guest with us. We also pass on a benefit to returning guests – this is on top of that. And those who work with us know we are transparent and ethical about this!
The above will, of course, make sense only if we’re not being mis-sold in terms of the offering or promises made. We like speaking to our guests and being as transparent as possible before they confirm with us, and would like to be able to do that even as we work with travel partners.
Doesn’t this make more sense? We’re taking this stand for now, and perhaps will start working with those travel agents willing to question norms and change the industry to be friendlier, more transparent and ethical.
If you are a travel outfit who shares our ethos, and thinks the above can be explored (or if you know of one), we’d like to connect for sure.
We’re also looking to partner with folks who design & operate travel around specific themes and activities (history tours, coffee tours, cycling, hikes and treks, bouldering – you tell us!) for the same around our locations.
We’re at hey@linger.in OR at +91-95900-50001. Look forward to hearing from you.
