Resorts near Mumbai – Page 3 – Award-winning eco-friendly resort in Lonavala

Road trips: Socially distant by design

With aviation services not being considered as a safe mode of travel due to the pandemic, it gave a push to road travel as travelling in personal vehicles and rented cars emerged as a much safer option. Lately, we have found that most of our guests are locals, who live close to our luxurious treehouses in Lonavala.

This trend is most likely to continue in 2021, as a traveller will continue to choose road trips rather than flights. It is excellent for couples, families, and is socially distant by design. At The Machan, most of our guests plan a road trip to Lonavala from Mumbai or Pune. Most resorts near Mumbai are currently not operational due to Covid-19.

In this issue of the travel bug, we would like to help plan your perfect road trip, with our ultimate tips and trends, it would certainly be a one-of-a-kind experience. Here are our promising tips to plan your perfect road trip.

Budget: The initial thing to define is the budget for the road trip. This analysis affects the choice you make, and it has to be revised once you’ve chosen your destination, and have started to make your bookings. Hence, planning out your overall budget, and your daily expenses can help you make better options.

Choose a destination: Every road trip should have an objective. It shouldn’t be wherever the road takes you! That’s just wandering around. Have a place in mind that you want your road trip to end in. We urge you to choose the machan!

Build your itinerary: This means picking out interests that you want to see during your road trip. You must spend time looking at the maps, reading, and trying to understand what is possible and what is not. Download offline maps, or have paper maps with you. At the machan, we will provide you with a map of the entire property.

Stock up on water and fuel: Driving in remote locations can have its cons, hence carrying sufficient water and fuel is always important. Don’t rely on buying water bottles. 5-6 plastic water bottles a day don’t help the environment.

First aid kit: Never leave for a long road trip without a first aid kit. Some of the key things to pack include compression bandages, Band-Aids, antibiotics, eye drops, moisturizing cream, hand sanitiser, sunglasses/safety glasses, and mosquito repellent.

Take a break: Driving tired is one of the most dangerous things anybody can do. It is highly advised to stay well-rested, hence taking a break from driving is important.

Workation: Finding the best office view.

The lockdown and the social distancing norms have disrupted livelihoods and changed behaviour. Many industries are currently facing existential challenges. However, the silver lining is that it has allowed many people to aim for a better work-life balance. As office blocks remain partially open for the foreseeable future, many have embraced the opportunity to combine work and travel. What is a workation, and how do you take one? What are the things you should carry, and what are the best destinations for a workation? This issue of the travel bug will guide you through your workation planning.

What is a workation?

‘Workation’ as the word spells, means to combine work and vacation. It is a trip to a location of your choice combined with working remotely. Have your virtual business meetings under palm trees, and inspire your colleagues to explore. It is an opportunity to clear your head and enjoy a change of scenery without falling behind on your work. Utilize the time to relax, and explore. Workations can help you find a healthier work-life balance and has numerous other benefits.

What to carry for a workation?

There are a few additional requirements that you need to pack while going on a workation as compared to a regular holiday.

You need to think about the clothes and accessories you need for your leisure time, but also the requirements for your working setup. A basic workation setup is:

A good lightweight laptop.
Headphones with mic.
Wi-Fi dongle.
Personal planner.
Travel lock.

5 reasons why Workations are a great idea

You save your office vacation days.
Your workflow proceeds seamlessly
You are more productive
You find time to think of the bigger picture
You are excited to return to work

How to have fun and be productive?

The first rule of having fun in a workation is balance, hence make it clear to yourself and your friends. It is very easy to create a trap for yourself by either working too many hours to prove that you are still being productive or not working enough and just having an amazing time.

Hence, it must be clear that you are still working, and be firm about when you will stop working. Take periodic breaks to enjoy yourself, and try finishing a big chunk of your daily work in the first half, by getting up early. Be sure to change locations frequently. Nothing feels worse than sitting inside your hotel room in front of your computer. Hence, switch it up! Work by the pool or in the balcony, or by inside a treehouse in Lonavala amidst the wilderness. Find a new favourite coffee shop and explore the local cuisine.

Best Locations for a workation

Alleppey

Hire a houseboat for a day or two and sip some soul-refreshing filter coffee while making your presentation and explore what God’s own country has to offer.

Mussoorie

Mussoorie, Queen of the Hills, located some 290 km north of New Delhi, is among the most popular hill stations of the country. It is a captivating paradise for leisure travellers and honeymooners.

Uttarkashi

Uttarkashi that literally suggests ‘Kashi of the North’ is also nicknamed as ‘Somya Kashi’ and ‘Shivnagri’. Like Kasi, the town of Uttarkashi also houses the sacred Vishwanath temple. This holy shrine features a copper trident, having a circumference of 1 meter.

Lonavala

This quaint hill station near Mumbai is the perfect getaway from the hustle-bustle of the city and to enjoy the purest, freshest air possible.

Shillong

The northeast is a tranquil, untouched, pure region in itself. Shillong has the most gorgeous surroundings and lots of greenery to relax and rejuvenate and to lose yourself in.

Book a workation now!

Capturing the moon

We at the machan have always tried our best to inspire and initiate the creative journey of artists and explorers. We thank and congratulate 16 year old Anvit Khade for validating that belief by capturing the moon at the machan from his homemade telescope.

Our curiosity paves our future and having said that we wish Anvit a bright and starlit future.

This refractor telescope was made by Anvit on 19th December 2020. This was his first attempt at making one from scratch. Anvit is studying 10th std Euroschool -Airoli Navi Mumbai. He has a deep passion for the subjects physics and Mathematics. Mr. Udayan Sathe (HOD physics at Euro school) has inculcated an interest in this subject in Anvit from 7th std. The astronomy club at the school also helped him to get more knowledge in stargazing.
Stargazing was the main attraction of visiting Machan. As the location of the resort is just perfect.. away from city light pollution and truly in laps of nature. Anvit could explore his photography skills from macro photography as well as astrophotography.
For our family, this was a very good break and a lovely experience at Machan. Apart from stargazing we really enjoyed nature trail, forest bath, private bonfire, night walk studying insects (I forgot the name of an expert who guided us for these activities..she was wonderful). We liked literally everything at the machan. Actually, we were looking out for Starlight machan experience, but unfortunately as per our schedule, it was not available.
Thank you for giving us this opportunity to share our experience.
Ar. Swapna Navin Khade ( M/O Anvit)

We are glad the machan was a part of this creative process. Let’s also hear a few words from the Anvit himself about his creative journey.

I referred 10th std Physics ICSE text book.. did all necessary
calculations of focal length etc. Apart from pvc pipes from local shop, everything else was recycled from old stuff at home.
I was quite excited to watch jupiter saturn conjunction for which I assembled this telescope.
Anvit Khade

Isn’t it exciting to see the new generation being so much more concerned about the environment!? We are glad that the machan philosophy of preservation, conservation and community reflect in Anvit’s work.

The treehouse dream of an artist

Creativity is the power to connect the seemingly unconnected. We live in a society based on production, where we are indeed very productive, but we often forget to be creative. The people who are building the future, they need poets and artist to make sense of what the future actually is. And somewhere between the traffic, and fast-moving city life, many talented artists often fail to find the time to create something magical and everlasting.

One of the main reasons why we believe in offering a disconnect is that so that many artists can find the peace and quiet to reconnect with their inner self and let their imagination paint the canvas, with colors and poetry. The results of our efforts have truly been fascinating and extraordinary. We are extremely flattered to have been a small part of the creative journey of these wonderful artists.

We would like to share some of these beautiful creations that make us think of a simpler, quieter time. Here is a poem about being in the state of true presence, where all your senses are elevated by the sound of birds and fresh air, a moment where we don’t think about the past, or worry about the future, a moment where we are truly present.

“Sunlight filters through the canopy of leaves,
Leaves crunch beneath soft feet,
Birds sing and gentle winds whistle,
And the trees sway in unison, as one,
And as they sway, the forest dances,
Pulsating with life
So I let nature speak
I close my eyes…
I breathe
I listen
I feel
Till I can hum with the birds,
And dance with the trees,
And hear my heartbeat fall into sync with the movement of the winds through the branches

And I feel calm
I feel at home
I feel alive”
picturing_poetry

Here is a painting of the reception area at the machan, painted by our talented guest Darshana Thatte

Flip through this wonderful machan sketchbook created by our guest @siddhisurte about her machan experience.

Sharing beautiful moments when art and beauty are born is always inspirational. We hope this short compilation inspires the artist within you to create.

10 perfect tree house moments: The Machan Gallery

“With a treehouse and a little imagination, you can go almost anywhere. “
Anonymous

Keeping this in mind, we launched the machan gallery to celebrate the best photographs clicked by our guests at the machan.

The Machan Gallery Vol 2

We defy impermanence with our films, poems, and photographs. Each photograph has a hidden subtext that says ‘I will not let go!.’ Every month we get to see so many amazing pictures clicked at the machan. And a few of these amazing pictures are truly extraordinary.

“Vision is the art of seeing what is invisible to others.”
Jonathan Swift

Hence, we decided to support their creative vision by nominating them for an award. We believe even a small event like this could lead to greater things for our talented guests.

We have managed to conduct two contests so far, and the response has been beyond our wildest imaginations. We are glad that a small tree house resort in Lonavala can inspire people to be creative, and they help us see the world through their colorful lens, changing the way we perceive things. The winners of the contest receive vouchers and goodies for their next machan visit.

Let us hear what a few of our winners have to say about their victory.

Thank you so much for nominating me. This made my day.’ –
Priyanka Deshmukh

Thank you
Kreetika Sharma

‘Thank you so much for the appreciation, when I was clicking this picture, I didn’t realize it will reward me back in such a pleasurable manner. As they say, you do good and good things comes back to you. My stay at machan was one hell of a great experience and now this is like a cherry on top.’
Mukul Vaswani

A creative moment occurs when something bigger than ourselves finds its way through us. Creativity is the interconnection between disparate concepts or ideas to reveal something new.

We hope that the machan continues to inspire people to be more creative, which will further spread our message of conservation, preservation and community.

Don’t wait for the perfect moment, take a moment and make it perfect. Check out the other nominees in the gallery below.

Machan resorts in Lonavala: Words can’t describe it’s beauty

It was such an amazing experience staying at Machan resorts in Lonavala. Words can’t describe its beauty and the way it is designed in between the forest. It is all away from ear-splitting traffic horns and the buzz of the city. It is so good that there is no network which is an add-on to the peace and calmness of the place.

There are narrow pathways covered with trees and plants all around connecting each area of the resort. All the patches around the pathways were covered with lovely flowers, hedges, and green ground covers. I really enjoyed open to sky breakfast with the chirping of birds to the dinner with forest darkness.

There were so many sitting and get together spots all around. I enjoyed sitting near the bonfire and the area overlooking the pond.

We had a mesmerizing stay at starlight Machan which is the premium of all the Machans, having duplex bedrooms with a bathtub on the deck, morning view from the private deck was breathtaking with the hills in front and the forest as we see down, open to the sky shower area and a private plunge pool. The most amazing feature of this Machan as the name suggests is a translucent, retractable roof to enjoy the monsoon rains in between the forest and starry sky of summer nights.

Every category of Machan is distanced from each other. Perfect care has been taken of privacy by separating each Machan by thick forest cover, trees, and nature acting as a visual barrier giving complete privacy. To bring you more close to the nature, Machans are constructed using wooden planks, bamboos, stone, etc giving a woody colour and texture everywhere. The resort is beautifully planned without disturbing much the natural terrains and slopes of the area.

I wish to visit the place again and even suggest people to visit the place.

And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul. – John Muir

-TARISHEE KUMAWAT