Dr Varun Vagish aka Mountain Trekker is a travel vlogger/blogger and a travel influencer from India.

Varun is also a National Awardee (Ministry of Tourism, Government of India in 2006), A PhD in Mass Communication, a full-time traveller, an ex-Journalist, news reader – (AIR) and Academician.

He started travelling from 2003 but started uploading his videos from 2015 on YouTube.

He hosts ‘MountainTrekker’, the popular Travel channel on YouTube with more than 1 million subscribers globally.

Varun has also done several collaborations with International Tourism boards, Airlines and brands. His videos influenced people to come out of their comfort zone and explore the world on their own.

He uses the power of storytelling as an art to bring people from diverse backgrounds together. The themes revolve around the socio-economic fabric of a place, eco-friendly tourism, exploring cultural and linguistic pluralities with experiential learning.

The goal is to aware and empower people about the role of the travel and tourism industry to curate budget-friendly travel plan and promote living an aesthetic, conscious and rustic life.

Full Name:	Varun Vagish
Profession:	Travel Vlogger & Traveller
Famous for:	Minimum Expense on Travelling
Active Since:	2015-present
Countries Visited:	Currently in Serbia (Oct 2020) Bhutan, Nepal, Bangladesh,

Varun Vagish’s Personal Life & Family Background:

Varun was born and brought up in New Delhi, India with their parents. He spent his most of the time in Mumbai, Maharashtra for his schooling and education.

He did his bachelors, Masters and job in Delhi itself. He lives a very simple life, still lives in a rented apartment in New Delhi and own a single vehicle Tata Nano.

Date of Birth:	29th March 1982
Nick name:	Varun
Family Background:	Both his parents were from government sector. So he is inclined towards travelling since he was a kid whenever his dad get LLC
Mother’s Name:	Mrs Vagish, government employee
Father’s Name:	Mr Vagish, government employee
Marital Status & Spouse:	Unmarried
Kids:	N/A
Partner:	Not Known
Height:	5.8ft
Weight:	63kg
Eye Colour:	Black
Hair Colour:	Black
Shoes Size:	UK 8
Place of residence:	New Delhi, India
Hometown:	Delhi, India
Religion:	Bihari, Hindu
Citizenship:	India
Nationality:	Indian

Varun Vagish’s Education:

• PhD (M.Phil) in Mass Communication from MD University (2012)
• PG Diploma in Mass Communication/Media Stories from IIMC (Indian Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi) from 2003-2004
• Bachelors in Communication, Journalism from Delhi University (2000-2003)
• Schooling from Atomic Energy Central School, Tarapur, Maharashtra, India

Varun Vagish’s Careers:

• A National awardee Travel vlogger/blogger/writer having experience of more than 15 years in the promotion of travel & tourism.
• Founder of travel YouTube channel: ‘MountainTrekker’
• Worked as a
• Journalist at Navbharat Times in 2004
• Radio News Reader and
• PR professional.

How he thought that travelling can be a job too?

Since both of his parents were from Government job. So, he used to travel a lot with his families whenever his dad gets his LLC.

He spent many places in India to complete his schooling like UP, Maharashtra & Rajasthan. When he came back after his schooling of Class 12th to their parents in New Delhi, he completed his graduation and PhD from New Delhi in Mass Com.

Travelling so many places make him inclined towards travelling and tours.

Varun was a wanderlust in his school days, he used to bunk his classes to travel on hills near his house.

In every 2 months, he went on going new places using his bikes or some public transports to some nearby places.

It was in 2004, he started working to bear his expenses. Worked in Navbharat Times. His salary was enough to survive and to bear his travelling expenses.

He saw foreigners travelling for 5 to 6 months with lowest budget and a single backpack and basic essentials only.

Varun was so much influenced by foreigners that he decided to do foreign trip after 2015. Before 2015, he used to travel only Indian states, hills, & small villages.

He made up his mind that he will focus more on travelling and on low budget.

Though it was very challenging for him in his initial days, after trying so hard and gaining much experiences in travelling. He now advises youngsters on how can replicate the same.

Varun’s YouTube Journey:

His first ever outside Indian trip was to Bangladesh in 2015.

In Jan 2017, he went to Thailand for touring. He decided to document everything on his mobile phone and uploaded it on YouTube. People started liking his Thailand trip series and decided to upload more his upcoming journeys.

He now does 5-6 yearly foreign trips with same amount of money that we as an Indian used to spend in only one vacation.

Varun’s Travelling Experience & Expenses Management:

There are only three basic category where there is a need of spending money on travelling:

• Acommodation
• Foods
• Transportation

Acommodation & Stay in any foreign countries:

He prefers Hostels and Dormitaries when he travels abroad as compared to Hotels. Because in Hotels the cost of staying for one night is far less than the Hotels.

Next in some areas he uses couch surfing services, where he stays in house of locals, which is completely free. Couch surfing is a hospitality exchange platform where you exchange guest experience free of cost based on your profile.

You tell your own experiences and they will take care of your foods and stay. Using these modes will help him acquire more knowledge of their locals and their cultures.

Also he get to hear experiences from other hostel mates and friends. Varun also encourages to stay with the locals and not in hotels.

Travelling:

He prefers travelling in rails, government buses and hitchhiking. Varun always find the cheapest mode of travelling in foreign trips, public transport is much cheaper option of travelling in any country.

He also uses hitch hiking to travel from one place to another. Hitch Hiking is a process of taking lifts from stranger vehicles, cars & trucks on the roads.

Varun prefer hitch hiking over hiring any taxis, first it is totally free and second you get to share experiences with each other

Food:

As Varun is a vegetarian, so he finds it a little difficult to find veg foods outside India.

He used to search for the vegetarian restaurants, but it is not budget friendly and he cannot bear his daily expenses on restaurant foods So, he choose local supermarkets to buy raw uncooked foods and used to cook them their own in their hostels.

As the food is taken care of if he finds any local who provides couch surfing facilities.

Varun Vagish’s Contacts & Social Media:

YouTube:	Varun Vagish [1.3million] Tourist Helpline [11K] Mountain Trekker Behind the scenes [8K]
Instagram:	@varunvagish [160K]
Facebook:	Varun Vagish (34K)
Twitter:	@varunvagish [6K]
LinkedIn:	Varun Vagish
Email:	[email protected]
Website:	https://www.touristhelpline.com/

Varun Vagish’s Travelling Gears & Cameras:

Camera & accessories

• CANON Power Shot G7X Mark II (ONLY Camera with 16GB Card & Cover)
• GoPro Hero 6 Camera (Black)
• BOYA BY-M1 Lapel Microphone for Smart Phone, Action Cameras, DSLR and Camcorders – JSD Pro®
• FeiyuTech WG2 Wearable/Mountable Gimbal for GoPro HERO6, HERO5, HERO Session and More Action Cameras
• Yunteng YT-9928 Tripod Selfie Stick Portable Bluetooth Handheld Lightweight Selfie Pole Destk Top Tripod 3-in-1 with Remote Shutter and Phone Holder for Smartphone – Phones – iPhone 8 7 Samsung Huawei LG GoPro
• Canon G7 X Mark II (WITH Accessories)
• Samsung Galaxy S7
• Apple MacBook Air (Laptop)
• Seagate External Hard Drive Portable
• Seagate 4TB External Hard Drive
• Extra Battery for Canon G7X Mark II
• Spare Battery & charger for Go Pro HERO 6
• Google Pixel 3a
• Borosil Stainless Steel – Vacuum Insulated Flask Water bottle, Black

Essentials:

• Quechua Rucksack
• Quechua Hiking Boots (Waterproof)
• Casio Outdoor Digital Black Dial Men’s Watch – PRG-240T-7DR (SL49)
• Quechua SH 500 Men’s Warm Waterproof Hiking Jacket – Blue
• QUECHUA FORCLAZ 20 MEN BLACK
• QUECHUA X-LIGHT MEN’S DOWN JACKET – BLACK
• Quechua Gloves

Varun Vagish’s Hobbies & Interests:

Hobbies:	Travelling, Music & Writing
Favourite Food & Food Preference:	Vegetarian
Favourite Place:	Every place he visited

Some Lesser Known Facts About Varun:

• His dream is to inspire people to explore this beautiful world and learn the best things to make our world a better place to live in.
• Varun was also awarded the prestigious ‘National Tourism Award’ by the Government of India for my contributions in the field of promotion of Tourism.
• He is the most humble and dedicated towards travelling. He had to trust any strangers on the road of any country for hitchhiking.
• Varun also advises to his Indian fans to not watch crime patrol before you sleep to develop the elements of trust with someone. He doesn’t watch it too.
• Untill 2015, he was only touring and travelling in India only.
• Varun wants to try new places in future, where he finds more experience like that.
• He still lives in a rented house in New Delhi and own a simple Tata Nano.
• Varun lives his life as a minimalist and prefer living in a rented house and not having more than 4 furniture in his house.
• He also gave his TED talk at TEDxUPES, at Dehradun University in 2019. Where he told about his journey on how he started travelling and his love for travelling.