Travelling alone is not for everyone but it can be difficult to align schedules and time off with friends and family when you work a 9-5 job.
Two longtime friends, Tanaya Deb and Sharan Chawla decided to start a new travel company, The Out Of Office Club, that takes those itching for an adventure on a week long-trip to explore a new city, with a small group of like-minded, yet diverse, people. After two successful trips ealier this year, The Out of Office Club will be visiting South Africa in November.
“Our mission is to get participants to step away from their laptops, break their 9-to-5 routine, and travel with people outside of their circle. We achieve this by taking an intimate group of like-minded individuals and immersing ourselves for 1 week in a new city around the world!” said Deb.
Founded in January 2019, The Out of Office Club was created out of Deb (29) and Chawla’s (30) frustration of trying to plan holidays that never happened.
“Previously, we were always waiting for our friends’ schedules and interests to align before we went on international trips. We got so tired of the excuses, we both caved to doing solo trips, only to find each other at the same place and same time. We quickly realized there is no platform for people in our extended networks, aka our friends of friends that we equally trust and have the same travel interests, to find each other,” said Deb.
Eventually the pair found a community of people looking to take periodic breaks from professional life. Their hope was to bring these individuals together through The Out of Office Club, as travelling alone is not for everyone.
The travel start-up has had two successful trips this year. The first was to Mexico City to see the pyramids and the second to the islands of Croatia. Their next adventure is to our very own Mother City from the 23 to 30 November.
“We chose Cape Town for its history, diverse culture, wildlife, and access to nature. The hikers of the group plan to trek the iconic mountains to set their eyes on picturesque sunsets, the animal lovers plan to walk along side the urban wildlife, and the beach bums – well they cant wait to get their tan on. Cape town has a good balance to having a full travel experience.
“This is the biggest adventure we have planned to date, and our members are extremely excited (with a healthy dose of fear of the unknown). Some of them are traveling to a new country for the first time, and many have never been to Africa! Some have been waiting for years for the right people to go to South Africa with, so as you can imagine the build up is very high. To us, South Africa has a level of mystery that The OOO Club plans to discover.
“Instead of expecting a perfect experience, we’re coming in with a completely open mind to really learn and see what Cape Town culture is like, build relationships with locals, and enjoy a nice sunset on Signal Hill. There is a lot that people don’t know about Cape Town, and what we may have seen on TV or social media will never do it justice. We’re hoping to leave Cape Town with some new friends and some good stories about what South Africa is truly like. Our members are really excited to hike Table Mountain, visit the Penguins, and enjoy local food,” said Deb.
There are 15 spots available on their trips, allowing everyone to have individual relationships. The flexible itinerary allows those who are interested in similar things to go off and take in the experience they wish to have.
Next year, Deb said that they plan to expand OOOC to take travellers to destinations packed with adventure. “We hope to change the way working professionals think about travel and choose to spend their time off,” she concluded.
Visit theoooclub.com for more information, or to book a spot on the Cape Town adventure, there are a few spaces left.
Follow OOOC on Instagram @theoooclub
Image: Instagram
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