“Having been born and brought up in the hills of Nainital, my affinity is always with the hills.”, says Mohit Joshi, Managing Director, Havas Media Group India

After having conquered Mount Kilimanjaro, Mohit Joshi, Managing Director, Havas Media Group India, has Everest Base Camp, Kailash Mansarovar, Tungnath on his bucket list. With an evident inclination towards high altitudes, he believes that the Pole-Pole (i.e. slowly-slowly) philiosophy used to ascend mountains is a great philosophy for life. In this interview, he talks about his travel experiences, bucket list, travel mantra, and more...

Excerpts:

Out of the four which one would you choose for a vacation - Hills or Beaches or City life or something else?

It would clearly be the hills. Having been born and brought up in the hills of Nainital, my affinity is always with the hills.

What has been your most unique experience while on a business trip?

There are so many of them. In fact, each trip has some uniqueness. However, one trip that comes to mind is my trip to China in March 2007. It started snowing on the Chinese New Year day (which is supposed to be very auspicious) and as a result of that, there were widespread celebrations. It’s a different story that our flight back got delayed by more than 6 hours and we were inside the aircraft (waiting for it to take off) for more than 2 hours.

What would be the top three places on your travel bucket list and the top three on your professional list?

In my travel bucket list, it would be - Everest Base Camp, Kailash Mansarovar, and Tungnath.

In my professional list, it would be - Japan, Australia, and Korea.

What is your favourite travel story from a personal trip?

I scaled Mount Kilimanjaro (19000+ ft) in September 2017. That has been my biggest personal achievement till date.

It was a very tough trek (with an average success rate of 80%) but was totally worth it.

Pole-Pole (i.e. slowly-slowly) is the philosophy that is taught while walking and climbing at such high altitudes as it allows one to acclimatise with the decreased oxygen and pressure in the air.

I think Pole-Pole is a great philosophy that should be taken in all aspects of our lives. To me it means:

•Don't rush into solutions/assumptions.

•Take one firm step at a time.

•Don't stop. Keep going no matter how hard it is.

•It's not about being slow but about being persistent and consistent.

Have you ever taken a trip while broke?

No.

Travel stimulates the mind. What stimulates you in your workplace?

The crazy pace of work and the pitches stimulate me a lot.

How often do you travel? Are you impulsive when it comes to travel plans?

For work, I travel practically every week. On the personal front, I try to take two trips a year.

Share us your travel mantra which can also be a work mantra (for e.g.- Never go solo)

My travel mantra is “Document it well” - ensure you take enough snaps/videos that act as memories later, which you can use to refresh yourself anytime.

(In line with its new show, 'The Calling', TLC has partnered with afaqs! to interview media heads to know about their experiences combining work and travel)