From storytelling through food and travel to creating immersive mountain retreats, the founders of The Masala Trails and The Trails Retreat are building a journey that connects travellers with local cultures, hidden destinations, and authentic experiences.
Food and travel have a unique ability to bring people closer to different cultures, traditions, and ways of life. For some, they are a means of exploration; for others, they become a way to tell stories, build connections, and create lasting memories.
The Masala Trails and The Trails Retreat are bringing these ideas together through two complementary platforms. What began as a passion for discovering new destinations and exploring diverse cuisines gradually evolved into a digital storytelling platform and, eventually, a hospitality venture focused on meaningful travel experiences.
Founded around a shared love for food, exploration, and discovering places beyond the usual tourist circuit, The Masala Trails has built a community through engaging food and travel content. The journey took another significant turn in 2025 with the launch of The Trails Retreat – Sittong Cottage, followed by the expansion into homestays in Sittong, Peshoke, and Charkhol in the Darjeeling hills.
Behind these ventures are Tannistha and her co-founder, who have been building their vision with a small team, hands-on involvement, and a commitment to authentic storytelling and thoughtful hospitality.
In this exclusive conversation with A2Z Insider, they share the inspiration behind their brands, the importance of preserving the stories behind food and destinations, their approach to mountain hospitality, the challenges of building a business from scratch, and their vision for creating meaningful travel experiences across India.
Q.1: The Masala Trails and The Trails Retreat bring together the idea of exploring food, places, and experiences. What inspired you to build these two platforms, and was there a particular journey or experience that made you realise you wanted to share these discoveries with others?
The Masala Trails & The Trails Retreat: The story of The Masala Trails began with two things we genuinely loved exploring new places, or the “Trails,” and discovering different cuisines, or the “Masala.” We wanted to bring these two passions together and share our discoveries with people.
Initially, it started with blogs and photographs. But as social media evolved and Reels became popular, we began creating food videos, particularly Bengali food content, with a storytelling style and rhythm that made every detail engaging for our audience.
Over time, we realised that our audience was equally interested in discovering new destinations. While our Instagram community grew around a mix of food and travel, our Facebook community became entirely travel-focused. We started showcasing offbeat destinations, unique resorts, beach camps, and weekend getaways. Our Facebook page grew from zero to 100,000 followers in just six months, which was a huge milestone for us.
As Tannistha and I continued travelling, especially to the mountains after 2024, we became increasingly curious about the places beyond the usual tourist attractions. We began learning about local communities, their lifestyles, cultures, and the experiences that made each destination unique.
That curiosity eventually led us to take our first step into hospitality in 2025 with The Trails Retreat – Sittong Cottage. What began as a passion for exploring and sharing experiences gradually evolved into something much bigger.
Within the first six months, we expanded to three homestays across Sittong, Peshoke, and Charkhol, each welcoming around 150–180 guests every month. This was a significant milestone for us and reinforced our belief in what we were building.
For us, it was a natural progression. We started by showing people places and food through our content, and eventually, we wanted to create experiences where people could discover those places for themselves.
Q.2: Food and travel are often about much more than what we see or taste they connect us to people, cultures, and local traditions. How do you ensure that the stories you share through The Masala Trails capture the people and emotions behind each experience, rather than just the destination?
The Masala Trails & The Trails Retreat: For us, food and travel have never been just about showcasing a beautiful location or a delicious dish. They are about the stories that make those experiences memorable.
Whenever we explore a new place or try a local cuisine, we try to look beyond what is immediately visible. We want to understand the people, their traditions, their way of life, and the stories behind what they do.
A dish, for instance, is not just about its taste; it can tell you a lot about a region’s culture, its ingredients, and the people who have preserved that tradition over generations.
The same applies to travel. We don’t want our audience to see only a beautiful mountain view or a picturesque resort. We want them to understand what makes that place special and what they might discover if they visit it themselves.
Over the years, our travels have taught us to appreciate the smaller details conversations with locals, traditional food, unfamiliar customs, and the everyday lives of people who call these destinations home. These are the elements that bring authenticity to our storytelling.
Ultimately, we want people watching our content to feel curious enough to explore, appreciate different cultures, and connect with a destination beyond its photographs.
If our content inspires someone to discover a new cuisine, visit an unfamiliar place, or appreciate a local tradition, we feel we have achieved something meaningful.
Q.3: With The Trails Retreat, the experience goes beyond simply visiting a place. What do you hope people feel, discover, or take back with them after being part of one of your retreats?
The Masala Trails & The Trails Retreat: One of my biggest goals with The Trails Retreat is to change the way people experience the mountains, particularly travellers from Bengal.
For many people, a mountain holiday revolves around getting a room with a Kanchenjunga view, visiting a few popular viewpoints, and eating familiar Bengali food. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that, but we believe the mountains have so much more to offer.
There is an incredible world of local culture, language, cuisine, traditions, and natural beauty waiting to be explored. From traditional dishes like gundruk and rai saag to locally grown vegetables such as squash, every experience offers a glimpse into the lives and heritage of the communities living there.
Through our properties in Sittong, Peshoke, and Charkhol, we encourage our guests to step beyond conventional sightseeing. Depending on the location, they can explore tea gardens, pine forests, monasteries, caves, rivers, and beautiful viewpoints, many of which are accessible through short walks and local trails.
But beyond sightseeing, I want our guests to experience something that is increasingly difficult to find in our busy lives silence, simplicity, and peace.
I want them to wake up to the sounds of nature, walk through the mountains without constantly rushing towards the next destination, interact with local people, and experience the quiet beauty of life among the clouds.
If someone leaves The Trails Retreat feeling refreshed, more connected to nature, and having discovered something new about the mountains and their people, then I believe we have done our job.
Q.4: Building a creator platform while developing a separate experience-led business requires balancing storytelling with execution. What has been the biggest challenge in turning your passion for exploration into something that others can experience and connect with?
The Masala Trails & The Trails Retreat: Honestly, the biggest challenge has been building everything from scratch while managing multiple responsibilities with a very small team essentially just the two of us, Tannistha and me.
We have always considered ourselves one team. We haven’t had a business partner or a large team supporting us throughout this journey. Every stage has involved learning, experimenting, and figuring things out ourselves.
While Tannistha managed bookings and guest communication, I had to focus on content creation, storytelling, editing, and growing our digital platforms.
At the same time, we were learning the operational side of hospitality understanding guest expectations, managing properties, maintaining service standards, and ensuring that the experience we promised online matched what people received in reality.
Balancing these two worlds has not always been easy. Creating content requires creativity and consistency, while running a hospitality business demands attention to detail, reliability, and constant involvement. Both require time, energy, and commitment.
Of course, the journey has also come with criticism, negative comments, and moments when people questioned what we were trying to build. But I have gradually learned that this is part of the process. When you choose to build something of your own, not everyone will understand your vision from the beginning.
What has kept us going is our belief in what we are creating. We started with a passion, built an audience through our content, and then took the risk of turning that passion into a business.
We are still learning every day, and I believe that willingness to learn has been one of our biggest strengths.
Q.5: Looking ahead, what is your larger vision for The Masala Trails and The Trails Retreat, and what kind of impact would you love these platforms to create for travellers, local communities, and the people whose stories you share?
The Masala Trails & The Trails Retreat: Honestly, I haven’t planned every step of the future, and I prefer to let some of the journey unfold organically. But I know what these two brands mean to me.
The Masala Trails is my first baby. It is where everything began our creativity, our audience, our storytelling, and our journey as creators. I want to continue growing it, keeping it relevant and authentic, and taking it to even greater heights without losing the connection we have built with our audience.
The Trails Retreat is my second baby, and my vision is to build it into a chain of properties across India that offers a premium experience at an affordable price. I want people to enjoy thoughtfully designed stays, warm hospitality, and meaningful local experiences without feeling that such experiences are beyond their budget.
Beyond expansion, I would love for The Trails Retreat to create opportunities for local communities. I believe hospitality can do much more than provide accommodation. It can help travellers discover local food, culture, and traditions while creating opportunities for people living in these destinations to benefit from tourism.
I want our properties to become gateways to the places they are part of, rather than just another place to stay.
And yes, there are plans to take The Trails Retreat beyond West Bengal. I will keep the details a secret for now, but hopefully, there will be exciting developments to share soon!
At the end of the day, I want both brands to stand for something meaningful: The Masala Trails inspiring people to explore the world through food and travel, and The Trails Retreat giving them the opportunity to live those experiences themselves.
If we can build successful businesses while creating genuine connections between travellers, local communities, food, and culture, that would be the biggest achievement for us.