What led you to join the Volunteering Travel Solutions (and now the Go Discover Abroad) team?
Back in 2008, I was in my final semester and looking for a job in the IT sector. It was then that I came across Volunteering Travel Solutions, which was in its infancy. The concept was new in India at that time and something totally unique for me. Honestly, it was out of curiosity that I thought about getting into this job with the intention of understanding why someone would pay and travel overseas to work for others.
Enjoying Go Karting in Malaysia
As the months passed, I started to realize that there was goodness amongst the people who were wanting to work with us, and I grew fonder of the work I was doing. Over the years, I have seen people from different parts of the world, joining us with the hope of spreading light in the lives of others. Go Discover Abroad is the newest addition to our efforts, and it has a much wider scope on which I can work. I'm pretty excited and looking forward to what the coming days might hold.
Describe a typical day as the Senior Web Developer.
My daily tasks involve maintaining the websites, ensuring secure payment coming from the clientele base across continents, and checking on everything to confirm that the websites are functioning properly. There is a lot to be maintained, and I'm always at it, doing my best. I'm also responsible for checking customer relationship management (CRM) which gives us all the data of the people joining us, and also looking after the content management system (CMS), and coordinating with my team.
How do you make sure to keep up with technological updates and current trends?
It's one of the most difficult things to actually keep a track of all of the technological updates, as everything is constantly changing. Every second day, you'll find that something new has come up, that can be added to make our website function better.
I love doing this, and that's what helps keep me going. Whenever I get time in between my work, I'm reading articles and blogs about recent developments and also focusing on the latest tutorials, so that I don't miss out on anything. Evidently, 10 years is a pretty long time and I've actually seen things grow and bloom from almost nothing.
What challenges do you face in your job and how do you overcome them?
Like I said, the technological changes and constant updating poses challenges, and there's no better way to deal with it than to learn the tips and tricks of the game!
Lunch with Office Team
What qualities are important in a user friendly website?
In today's date, people are more keen on using their smartphones to plan a trip or make a booking. There's a lack of patience among millennials, and speed is what they need! Hence, first and foremost, the thing that defines a user-friendly website is its speed. Also, the website should be readable and reachable. Navigation should be smooth, hassle-free, and informative.
Over the past ten years, have any new developments surprised you in your work?
There have been a lot of things that surprised me on and off. But if I have to mention one: the CRM panel that we use, which has been one of the biggest achievements of the organization. It’s the tool through which we keep a track of everything, and it’s probably one unique thing in this entire volunteering industry that we have been using for quite some time now!
What excites you about Go Discover Abroad (GDA)?
It’s a platform that has the best of everything! GDA covers a wide selection of opportunities for when people are not just looking for random holiday trips and are more keen to experience something different. Whether it’s volunteering or language learning, surfing or diving, road trips or adventure sports—we have tried to put everything together, to provide an overall enriching experience for our clients.
What does meaningful travel mean to you?
It’s a way in which one can directly make a difference towards the host community, as well as feel a newness within oneself. For me, if I’m traveling to volunteer, I would also inculcate certain values within myself that can make a difference in the way I travel.
Why do you think it is important for people to go abroad and discover?
No good has ever happened within the boundaries of one’s comfort zone! Until, and unless, one takes the effort to step outside of their comfort zone, it’ll all be blurred and boring! Just think, would we have known that America exists if Christopher Columbus hadn’t set out to discover it?
What hopes do you have for the future of Go Discover Abroad?
Go Discover Abroad has immense potential to grow, and I shall put in my best effort to ensure that we can reach out to more people. Things will probably grow rapidly once we get more affiliates and focus on business-to-business growth. Being a unique concept, I hope we can become a flag-bearer in the industry.
