Creators in Focus: Saif Omar and Faiza Khan, founders of The Musafir Stories

A conversation with travel podcast host Saif Omar on making an India-focussed travel podcast

I love listening to travel podcasts.

In the last six months, where there has been no scope to travel, these kinds of podcasts have been a great escape mechanism from all the grim news around. Yes, we are living through a major pandemic and it may seem strange to talk about leisure travel but we all need a break. While travelling for fun will still take some time to resume, nothing is stopping you for making plans for future travels. This week’s podcast creators in focus may just help you make some plans to travel within India.

I have been listening to The Musafir Stories for a year now and I really love the fact that they go deep on one Indian destination every fortnight. So let’s dive right into the conversation with the duo behind The Musafir Stories, Saif Omar and Faiza Khan. For the purpose of this interaction, I spoke to Saif. Edited excerpts from the interaction follow

Let's start off with getting to know a bit about both of you. Where are you'll based, what's your day job and how did you'll get interested in podcasting in general?

We are Faiza and Saif, a couple based in Bangalore but have moved to Toronto for work recently. Faiza is a software engineer and I (Saif) am a Project Manager, both working with tech firms. I have been a long-time listener of podcasts as they have been my constant companion during my commute. I discovered podcasts while I was studying/working in the US almost 10 years ago. Faiza was introduced (forced!) to podcasts after we got married, so she’s picked it up over the last 4-5 years. 

How did the idea of 'The Musafir Stories' come about?

Travel podcasts have always been a regular feature on my playlist. I am an avid listener of some great travel podcasts such as Amateur Traveler (our inspiration!), Travel with Rick Steves, The Trip, Extra pack of peanuts and many more. 

After moving back to India in 2016, and being a newly married couple we were looking at projects which we could work together on, that would not only help us spend time together after work but also do something both of us enjoyed. After going through a laundry list of ideas, we finally settled on the idea of starting a travel podcast - the selfish motive being that it would help us discover India in the process.

For better or worse, travel is generally associated with a lot of visuals. With the podcast medium, how do you ensure that the podcast retains the essence of 'transporting someone to a place' with audio?

While it is true that travel is a highly visual medium, storytelling through engaging conversations has its own USP of being able to paint a mental image of the place/destination and the experience for the listener. Even better, each listener paints his/her own version of the place based on the conversation. So rather than being “shown” the image/video of a place, audio, through these conversations, we help “create” an image of the place which I feel is a very satisfying experience in itself. Additionally, the sense of virtually travelling “with" the speaker/traveller is far more with podcasts given the very intimate nature of audio. 

What is your larger objective with 'The Musafir Stories'?

The Musafir Stories is a passion project that aims to create a timeless audio catalogue of places and experiences in India - not just the popular ones that make it to bucket lists but also the less travelled and hidden gems that have their own unique stories. Our goal is to build this though some fun conversations with travellers by not only sharing their experiences, tips and recommendations but also by helping shed some light on the history, culture and people of the place - all while being light on the ear. 

How do you decide on the guests you interview on your podcast? What are the criteria that any guest has to fulfil to be on your show?

The curation for each episode is usually based on either a place that really excites us or a traveller who’s travel style we really appreciate. We’ve tried to have people who travel either full time or close to full time (i.e. travel writers and bloggers) to ensure conversations are fun as well as informative. However, we do invite listeners from time to time to encourage the community as well as add some unpredictability to the line-up. The bottom line is to have an engaging story/account of a place and being able to express that in a descriptive way for audio.

How do you go about spreading the word of your podcast? 

Given the podcast still remains a passion project, the time and resources invested in marketing the podcast are still minimal. The usual suspects like friends/family and social media platforms are the go-to mediums. The one-off coverage in digital media/press does help give discovery a brief boost. Word of mouth and a band of loyal listeners can do wonders in terms of increasing reach. The key is to define your ideal listener and then go searching for your tribe (which is something we are still chasing).

Travel can be a vast segment, but I have noticed that a majority of your episodes are about destinations in India. Was that a conscious decision, to keep the focus on Indian destinations, or are there plans to have international destinations too?

This was a very conscious decision to focus on Indian destinations and experiences. There are plenty of podcasts that cover International travel and it would be very difficult to add value for the listener in that segment. Local content has been underserved to the Indian podcast market and this is true for travel as a genre as well. Given the rich history and diversity of India, there are plenty of places to discover beyond the beaten to death itineraries (which we love too). It was an easy choice to focus on Indian destinations and has the potential of being a life long project.

Do you work with any of the podcasting networks in India or is your operation an independent one? If independent, how big is your team and how did you build it?

We are a completely independent set up, and a two-person strong team (Faiza+Saif), that does everything from recording to editing, publishing and marketing during our free time - mostly on weeknights and weekends! Of course, support from the hosting platform (Audioboom in our case), our guests and the podcast community has been invaluable. 

Could you talk me through your podcast workflow: how long does it take from the recording to the publishing of each episode? 

The process usually starts off by 

• scouring for potential guests (looking at interesting places or people), 

• scheduling recording sessions (prepping the guests with the format, talking points, timing etc), 

• recording (walking through the setup, the interview, backup, next steps etc), 

• editing (don’t even get me started!), 

• publishing (preparing show notes, cover art, posting on the hosting platform, ensuring distribution to right channels) and 

• marketing (creating social media posts, creatives etc). 

The first step is usually a variable, but we always maintain a steady pipeline to avoid any last-minute rush to find guests. The rest of the steps usually take anywhere between 5x-10x for a 1-hour conversation. 

What are some of the challenges you faced while setting up the podcast and could you tell me how you overcame them?

Being complete outsiders to the travel/blogging sphere presented its own challenges while we were starting out. However, thanks to social media and some very genuinely passionate and approachable guests who were willing to experiment, we were able to get off to a good start. Additionally working with influencers meant extending the reach to their audience as well, which greatly helped us while starting out. 

The biggest challenge perhaps was explaining the medium to both guests and listeners. Things have improved significantly now, thanks to some big names taking the plunge and podcasting going somewhat mainstream with streaming apps like Saavn, Gaana and Spotify entering the market. 

(The Musafir Stories has an interactive map on their site, based on the episodes they’ve done. It’s a great way to zero in on the place you want to listen about)

Covid19 lockdowns have made travel impossible over the last six months and there is no sign of leisure travel beginning any time soon in India, how then do you stay motivated? 

While it is true that the pandemic has taken a toll both on travel and the mental sanity of a lot of us, we would like to believe that the podcast offers a great alternative in the meantime by taking you places from the comfort of your homes. Armchair travel FTW!

What has been the listenership trend for ‘The Musafir Stories’ during the lockdown since March?

There has definitely been a jump in listenership ranging from 20-40% across platforms since the pandemic hit. While a lot of us were paranoid about listening times going down due to the lack of commute-time listening, it appears that listening while doing household chores has more than made up for the deficit. The interesting thing will be to watch what happens when things start to open up again.  

How easy or difficult is it to produce your podcast under lockdown? Are you used to recording your interviews remotely?

Almost 100% of our recordings are done remotely given the nature of our guests who are usually on the move. While this is a bit of a handicap given that we’ll never be able to put out studio-quality episodes, the silver lining was that this meant little or no impact to the process and output due to the pandemic.  

What were some of the most mind-blowing things that you remember from any of your episodes about any destination? Something that has stuck with you and you would like to explore it for yourselves?

To be very honest the North East of the country has always been overlooked by mainstream media. Not only are the states pristine and offer a completely different facet of India’s geography, the different tribes and their rich culture and heritage was quite the revelation. Besides the media, it also made us realise how little has been covered even in our academics about the seven sisters and some of their connection to the world wars. We’ve only scratched the surface on the podcast so far but it is something we are eagerly looking to explore. 

What are your thoughts on the Indian podcasting industry and where it's headed?

Compared to five years ago, the industry in India has probably seen one of the highest growth rates around the world. While this is coming off of a low base, we cannot deny the fact that the boom in smartphones and cheap internet lead by Jio has played a crucial role. Pioneers like IVM Podcasts have also helped draw the Indian audience towards high-quality local content. 

With more celebrities and mainstream platforms like Saavn, Gaana and Spotify adopting the platform (each with over 100m MAU), the reach will only continue to increase. We’ve also seen significant investment in original content creation by some of these platforms which helps improve the overall quality on the supply side. However, unless there is a clear cut business model that is financially viable, it is difficult to predict if the growth in listeners and content creation will continue to increase. 

Worldwide revenues are still driven primarily by ads played on the medium, however, these are far and few in the Indian context and most advertisers and marketers are still adopting a wait and watch approach. Other models like patron-supported shows or branded podcasts are yet to be explored at scale and will be limited to the creme de la creme. In short, there appears to be a lot of potential, but monetisation is still a big question mark for a majority of the creators. 

If some reader wanted to start a niche podcast like yours in their area of interest, what are some tips you would give them?

The distributed nature of podcasting means there is room for everyone, unlike radio where only mainstream content survives. 

• Starting with a clear idea and a roadmap in terms of what direction you want to take the show in, definitely helps stay focused right from the beginning. 

• Rather than focus solely on numbers and analytics, one should spend the initial episodes in making incremental improvements to the quality and content. Focus on building a 100 true fans and driving engagement rather than being bogged down by numbers.  

• Keep it simple!

What are some of the podcasts you like to listen to and why? 

This might drag on a bit! 

My listening patterns are ever-changing and I rarely maintain a weekly playlist - my current muse is binge listening on a particular subject which has been related to history, of late. I’m currently catching up on the History of Mongols by Ben Hill before which I was binging on The Story of the Sikhs by Sarbpreet Singh, History of India by Kit Patrick and Islamic History Podcast by Muttaqi Ismail. 

My usual go-to shows besides the travel podcasts previously mentioned include Revisionist History, WTF with Marc Maron, How I built this, The Knowledge Project, Design Matters, Business Wars and some shows from NPR and Gimlet. 

I’m also loving content coming out of India like Seen and the Unseen, NL Hafta, Pragati Podcast, Writer & Geek Show, Cyrus Says, Far From Fact, Passion People podcast, Postcards from Nowhere, Khooni: The crimes of India, among others.

Before lockdown brought our lives to a standstill, how often did you'll travel? Do you record audio/interviews/material for the podcast when you are travelling?

We do enjoy travelling, but our travels are limited by our work schedules and commitments. While we would love to document our travels, something we realised very soon was that we lack the discipline to do so without compromising the experience on our trips. So we mostly stick to talking to like-minded travellers for the podcast episodes and being inspired. We do however enjoy sharing pictures of our travels with microblogs on social media (@musafirstoriespodcast on Instagram).

Finally, if you wanted to ask a brand new listener to try out two episodes from your podcast to give them a taste of ‘The Musafir Stories’, what would those be?

I always recommend listeners to check out the latest episode on the podcast. But besides that, I would recommend  

1. Ep. 71: Landour with Aakash Mehrotra (gives the listener a flavour of our staple destination-based episodes)

2. Ep. 79: Lost in the Caves of Meghalaya (gives the listener a flavour of our experience-based episodes)

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I hope you enjoyed this chat with Saif Omar. Please do subscribe to The Musafir Stories to dive deep into an Indian location you haven’t heard of. I’ll bring another creator next time.

Till then, happy listening.