About Traveler Tales
Dear Visitor,
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Thank you so much for taking out the time to stop by!
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Traveler Tales is an innocent attempt to bring out the vivid travel moments through the eyes of an ardent traveler showcasing best of India through its beaches, hills, forts, palaces and various food experiences.
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​A travel blog and travel photography website.
All About Me
Hi, I'm Subhashish Chatterjee, the face behind this website.
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Travelling, for me, is a profound journey of self-discovery. It all began as a newborn, embarking on an 800 KM voyage with my family. Thanks to my father's transferable job, this voyage became a way of life, taking me from one remote corner of the Indian subcontinent to another.
Years later, my corporate career carried forward this legacy of constant relocation. By my mid-twenties, I had called 15 cities across 10 states in India home. My affection for travel extended beyond mere sightseeing; it embraced landscapes adorned with mountains, beaches, and forests.
However, it was in 2016 that my identity as a traveller truly solidified. It was the moment I embarked on my first solo adventure, venturing into uncharted shores along the Konkan coast. This solo expedition marked a pivotal turning point in my life. It revealed that travel isn't merely a passion for me; it's my paramount love, an inseparable part of my identity, and the essence of my life's purpose.
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Note: Click any image below to see it in full-screen mode and explore every detail up close.
I had a flair for writing since high school. I wanted to document the compelling solo travel experience. This took me to the world of blogging. Here's the link to my first travel story.
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The year 2017 began with another transfer. My new corporate job took me to the city of dreams Mumbai. This marked the beginning of marathon solo trips. I am drawn to natural escapades that are less frequented by tourists. These solo trips took me to the unexplored corners of the northern and western states of India.
Drawn between a full-time job and smitten by travel, writing took a hit. I managed to add a few blog posts about the places that moved me. The never-ending trips brought me close to photography, a skill growing inside for so long.
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In the early days, photography to me was a way of documenting the travel experience. It all began with the camera on the back of the mobile. I got enthralled by the surreal landscape of Spiti Valley. The frames captured helped me debut on Instagram. My definition of a good photograph was simple. It has to look balanced. This guiding principle helped me hone my photographic composition skill.
I had great travel plans for the year 2020. With the world coming to a grinding halt due to the COVID-19 pandemic, things turned turtle. Mumbai bore the biggest brunt of the virus. As a result, I got stuck all alone in my apartment for over six months.
I was lucky enough to have a job that helped me sail through the tough time. The time that would've gone in travelling started pilling up. I utilised this extra time for reading and learning about photography. My belief in getting the basics right helped me hone the new skill. Great books and YouTube videos proved handy.
The idea of gaining this precious knowledge was simple. I wanted to improve the quality of my travel and landscape photography. At this point, I was clear about building a career on this skill. In fact, this was the impetus behind quitting the lucrative corporate job. My corporate journey of 12.5 years saw its dawn at the end of 2020.
Getting a professional camera was my next goal. This was sacrosanct for the quality aspect of photography. My investment in gadgets follows a long-term usage approach. Thus, getting a mirrorless camera was a clear choice. I went through a rigorous exercise to pick the full-frame mirrorless camera Nikon Z7. I'll compile a post on my camera selection process. Let me know if this sounds interesting to you.
I lead several digital transformation projects during the corporate days. I chose this competence to revamp my existing travel blog. I aspire to build a website that will bring out the best of my travel experiences. For the initial phase, I wanted to focus on blog and photography.
The new website embodies values that were personally important to me as a consumer of travel information online. I found pop-ups and intrusive ads on travel sites irritating, and avoiding them became a top priority. Traveler Tales is committed to being a completely clutter-free website. This means you won't encounter any disruptive pop-ups or annoying ads here.
I am a big believer in simple yet effective design. I chose a simple theme with sober colours for the website design. This value of simplicity compliments the content you see on the site.
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I enjoy reading travel writeups that conversate. You'll find this core theme in my writing. I work hard to present the text as if I am holding froth my trip experience. Images play the crucial role of adding visual effect to the narration. I tend to create a symphony between the pictures and the words.
Good writing can never be good without good quality. The text undergoes many lexical and grammatical checks. Uniform formatting across the website makes the content look elegant.
My childhood days spent in Himachal hooked me to mountains forever. This was the inspiration behind the adoration for landscapes. My fondness for beaches grew after my first solo trip. During this journey, I saw the beauty of three lesser-known beaches on the west coast of India. I've got a penchant for locating offbeat yet beautiful destinations.
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I prefer staying in backpacker hostels, homestays, and budget hotels. I am a big fan of exquisite views of the landscapes. I don't mind stretching the budget for a sojourn with a promising vista.
Two such memorable places include a room in a wooden homestay. This turned the childhood dream of a home amidst the mountains with a riverfront real. The other one was a state-owned tourist rest house. The windows here had an enticing view of five snow-laden Himalayan peaks.
Living and travelling across the country burgeoned the love affair with food. Subtle flavours of Indian cuisine often compliment my travel stories.
I became a digital nomad in 2021. Travel writing and landscape photography are my primary focus areas. Other areas include digital marketing, SEO, IT program management, cloud, etc.
The Nikon Z7 helped me capture decisive landscape moments. Watching a leopard on a rocky hill in Jawai during winter 2022 was fascinating. It marked the dawn of my professional wildlife photography journey.
This inspired marathon trips across Madhya Pradesh’s sanctuaries in 2023 and 2024. I documented the adventures in detailed posts covering Bandhavgarh and Pench National Parks.
The Z7 produced strong images and shaped my wildlife storytelling. During a 2024 safari in Gir National Park, the camera could not keep up with the fast movements of Asiatic Lions. I saw remarkable wildlife but returned without a single usable lion photo.
I recognized the need for a faster, more responsive camera. The upgrade to the Nikon Z8 brought advanced autofocus and high-speed shooting.
The Z8’s performance in Kanha, Panna, and Satpura National Parks exceeded all hopes. It opened new creative possibilities in the wild. Mastering its features, I captured rare, striking wildlife moments.
Armed with new skills and the Z8, I returned to Gir National Park in April 2025. Experience and preparation met the power of the Z8. This helped me reveal the vibrant life of the Asiatic Lion in its habitat.
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I adopted Generative AI early and began using ChatGPT when it launched in November 2022. I improved my prompting skills through focused online courses. In my previous IT role, I led efforts to develop Generative AI strategies.
I created a blog post on Gir National Park, blending my skills in AI and photography. Using ChatGPT, I shaped the park’s history into a strong visual narrative. Nikon Z8 frames brought stunning wildlife visuals. The post recently published and is available here.
I combine AI and visual storytelling to craft immersive, informative narratives. My work aims to engage and inspire diverse audiences.
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Where to go from here? If you're looking for travel stories across India then visit the Where I've Been page. The interactive map on the page will help you explore tales from the various Indian states.
If you like travel pictures then visit the Gallery page. Handpicked photo frames from my travel journeys got presented here.
You can reach out to me through the contact form on the site. I am active on Instagram. My feed sees regular updates on upcoming/current trips.