What if you could not just travel to a new place, but also make a bunch of new friends in the process? The Bonding Boulevard’s staycations with like-minded strangers promises exactly this. Their next retreat happens in Goa on July 9
CHRISTINE MACHADO NT BUZZ
A little more than a year ago, Junaid Khateeb, a professional in the education sector for almost 15 years, decided he needed to take some time off.
Thus, he and Siddharth Rasal began contemplating on how they could create an ecosystem for people just like them who wanted to properly take some time off for themselves, especially those who were dealing with burnout.
This laid the foundation for The Bonding Boulevard which offers experiential retreats that allows participants to connect with strangers and leave as friends.
“There is an element of excitement when one meets with strangers. But these are not just any strangers. What happens here is that prospective participants have to first fill up a form where they include their social media profiles, their professional background, etc. We then pick around 12 people who are like-minded to invite to the retreat,” explains Khateeb.
These staycations have a curated programme which includes poetry, storytelling, art, music and dance.
“These are just very little things done in a cozy environment that can bring joy, nothing extravagant. The magic is the people. When the right kind of people come together, you automatically become happy. And the whole process restores the soul,” says Khateeb.
He adds that there is time set aside for people to explore the destination by themselves as well. “In between the sessions if anyone wants to do anything specific, they can always do that, but sightseeing is not part of our retreat,” he says.
Having done retreats in cities like Rishikesh and Jaipur, and also Goa in the past, The Bonding Boulevard is now returning for a new staycation in the state next month. The retreat will be held in Mandrem and registrations are open till June 26.
“Usually, at first people are a bit hesitant but by the end of the retreat they are reluctant to leave. And people who have attended retreats almost a year back are still in touch with us,” says Khateeb, adding that as they move forward they hope to keep adding new destinations to their list each year.
He further adds that although it is not the intent, business collaborations have also happened.
“The moment you network with the right kind of people, business collaborations can also happen, which is always the byproduct,” he says.
