Keeping up with content creation and doing it well while holding a full-time job is not an easy task. Kevin Pinto has mastered maintaining a balance between being Goa’s famous travel influencer, a food reviewer and a full-time digital marketing manager for a Dubai-based agency.
His desire to let people travel with him virtually encouraged him to document his travels since 2019, allowing his viewers to engage with information as well as the spirit of the place.
He says, “There are two reasons why I am into content creation. Firstly, because it helps me explore my creative side, and secondly, because I want to show people what the world has to offer.”
Recollecting his past, he says, “The first time I started I was so unsure if I was going in the right direction. I barely had any gadgets. I used to shoot on my OnePlus phone which I had during college and shot very mediocre content. But my strongest quality is that if I start something, I will make sure I complete it.”
He continues explaining, “I believe we all need to take baby steps, at least somewhere. This kept pushing me, even through the tough times, and here I am – a renowned travel influencer, not only across Goa, but across India too. From personally pitching to small brands, to big brands like Samsung and Google reaching out to me themselves, this little traveller became big. But I always believe that there is scope to learn, no matter your age, and I know that there is still a long way to go.”
The viewer today has become smart, and therefore, needs not just beautifully created videos or beautiful locations but also informative content. Thus, Kevin says, “I make sure I share all the information needed for someone to travel to a given place. I mean, that is my whole goal. I create videos on budget stays, budget places to travel, budget travel tips, which places to visit in which season, etc. Everyone is looking for information on the internet.”
Kevin believes that travel nurtures our minds and souls. He says, “Travel makes us the happiest, especially solo travel. It gives me an opportunity to be with myself and to love myself which is very, very important. It makes you independent, it connects you with new people, connects you with your inner self, helps you understand your strengths and weaknesses and most of all, travel makes you grateful.”
“Because when you travel around the world, you will come across different people who live, speak and eat differently, and that’s when you will understand how fortunate you are to see all this in one lifetime. It makes you a grateful person,” he adds.
Kevin aims through his travel blogs to show Goa beyond its beaches and share helpful information. In an earlier interview, he said, “Be a responsible traveller, do not litter and destroy what doesn’t belong to you.” For this, he was called a sustainable traveller.
To this epithet, he replies, “I don’t know if I would title myself a sustainable traveller, but I strongly believe if we enjoy the beauty of the place, we, in return need to keep it clean. It is each one's responsibility as a traveller to make sure you respect the place you visit and do not turn it into a garbage hotspot (which has been happening lately due to irresponsible travellers). I make sure I promote eco-friendly and responsible travel wherever I go.”
Aakash Malhotra (@wanderwithsky) and Aakanksha Monga (@aakanksha.monga) inspire and motivate Kevin. Kevin says about Aakanksha, “She is also a traveller who does budget travelling and shares a lot of travel tips and tricks. She is my travel idol, and I have huge respect for everything that she does.”
Being a travel influencer, one gets to collaborate with brands, but there is the difficulty of brands paying less or not paying at all, and also whether or not this collaboration will offer a constant flow of income.
Kevin started collaborations for barter, but he says, “It is very important to understand and draw a line between how important a brand is to you and how important you are to the brand. What I mean is, barter is not wrong. All of us have done it at some point, and I sometimes do it. But, it's 10% of my total collaborations, and I only barter with brands I feel will enhance my value or help enhance my portfolio.”
He also adds that he is still not at the phase of a stable income through content creation. Hence he still holds a full-time job. He claims that the top tip that he received as a travel influencer is to, “Always be humble. No matter how high we go, it is very important to be grounded and grateful.”
Kevin also speaks of the effort and difficulty involved in getting to the destination and content creation.
He says, “People see good things on the internet, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. There are times when you really need to hustle to get there, and there are times when you need to stop being hard on yourself and give yourself a break. Each content creator needs to understand how to draw a line to attain a balance in the content creator phase.”
“There are times when I feel like giving up. But then I look at my end goal and identify the reason why I am doing all this. There are sleepless nights, creative blocks, health issues and a lot more, but it comes as a part of it. I believe that I will be rewarded with 10x more. Also, there will be many people to demotivate you when you’re in this industry. But you need to remember just one thing, that is if one person demotivates you, 10 people love what you do. Do it for them. Keep working hard and you will see the result,” he goes on to say.
He further states, “There are times when I run out of ideas. We just need to step back and relax. If that happens to me, I make sure I take a good break to avoid FOMO. Then I spend a lot of time in research, to understand audience behaviour, trends, topics, etc, and make sure I create content as per that.”
Kevin doesn’t feel it is necessary to follow a trend or try to be someone he is not. And thus, he advises young travel influencers by saying, “Be genuine. Be yourself. Moreover, don’t let someone tell you that you cannot do it.”