Meet Pulkit & Swadha of Santa Barbara

Today we’d like to introduce you to Pulkit & Swadha

Hi Pulkit &, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
We’ve always been passionate about travel. Back in college, Swadha dreamed of buying a camera with her first salary, but life got busy, and that plan never materialized. It wasn’t until the COVID-19 that the idea resurfaced—while scrolling through Instagram and seeing travel bloggers, she decided it was finally time to get a camera.

Once the pandemic eased, we took our first trip to Yosemite National Park in July 2021. On the drive back home, we decided to share our travel experiences on Instagram through photos and videos. Honestly, we’re still amazed at how far we’ve come. We simply shared our journeys, hoping the Instagram algorithm would work its magic and connect us with the right audience. But it wasn’t that simple—it took over a year to hit 1,000 followers.

Our big break came during the summer of 2023 with bioluminescence. Night after night, we chased the glowing waves after dinner, sharing real-time updates about where and when they could be seen. This consistent effort captured a larger audience and significantly boosted our reach. Beyond that, staying committed to sharing our travel experiences regularly has been key to getting us to where we are today.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It hasn’t been a smooth road at all. Before starting our content creator account, we had barely used Instagram—we had personal accounts but rarely posted anything, using them mostly to stay in touch with friends. Shifting to creating content and trying to connect with a broader audience was a huge challenge, and it’s something we still struggle with. As introverts, sharing our journey on social media doesn’t come naturally to us, and putting ourselves out there has been one of the hardest parts of this experience.

In the past, it would take us a lot of time to decide what to share. We’d constantly second-guess our ideas, delaying posts while searching for that one perfect photo or reel that could help us stand out and grow. However, with experience, we’ve definitely picked up some essential techniques for taking better photos, recording quality videos, and sharing content. That said, it doesn’t mean we don’t face challenges anymore. We still face challenges when sharing a new travel experience, trying to make it more engaging and captivating, but now we’ve learned to trust ourselves a bit more

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
We are both working professionals—Swadha is a product manager in the software industry, while Pulkit is a research scientist specializing in materials science. We bring our professional skills into our travel content creation—Swadha’s expertise in strategy and organization helps us plan and curate engaging content, while Pulkit’s research background allows us to dive deep into the science and history behind the places we explore.

One of our biggest accomplishments outside of work is visiting 21 national parks across the U.S. We are also incredibly proud of witnessing the northern lights in Alaska and a volcanic eruption in Hawaii—both truly once-in-a-lifetime experiences. As introverts, we prefer to keep things simple and relatable rather than over the top, which sets us apart from other content creators. Our goal is to share authentic travel experiences in a way that feels approachable and inspiring for others. Coming from different professional backgrounds, we had never been active on social media before starting our travel account, but our unique blend of analytical and creative approaches allows us to share our adventures in an informative yet visually compelling way. We focus on meaningful storytelling, capturing the beauty of nature, and providing valuable insights to help others plan their own journeys. By combining our love for travel with our professional skills, we aim to create content that is not only engaging but also educational and inspiring.

We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
Luck has definitely played a significant role in both our business and personal lives, but we’ve also worked hard to improve our chances and keep a positive outlook. We believe that if we put in enough effort and maintain positive expectations, we can make our luck work in our favor. For example, when we visited Alaska, we specifically planned to stay in Fairbanks for three nights because research showed that the odds of seeing the aurora borealis were 1 in 3. When we arrived, it was cloudy and rainy, but since we booked a hotel outside the city, we were able to see the northern lights after midnight—even though the forecast said it was too cloudy. So, while luck played a big role in us witnessing the auroras on our first night, we also took steps to increase our chances. We could have stayed in the city for cheaper rates, but by choosing a more remote spot away from light pollution, it made all the difference. We didn’t see the auroras again during our remaining trip, which just shows that luck is unpredictable, but our efforts made sure we gave ourselves the best shot.

A similar situation occurred in our personal lives when we spent about 8 months working in different cities. Then, in 2020, we both received job offers to move to LA. We made the move in the last week of February, just before COVID-19 hit. At the time, we had no idea the pandemic was coming. Looking back, it was surely a stroke of luck that we both landed jobs in LA right before everything changed, allowing us to move to Southern California together just in time.

Pricing:

• N/A

Contact Info:

• Website: https://travelworldps.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/travelworld.ps/#
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PulkitSwadha/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@travelworldps

Image Credits
All photos are our own photographs 🙂