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The Story of Spirit of Asia

Barbara Sansone--photographer, publicist for the arts, educator--founded Spirit of India in 1997. As a passionate solo traveler for many years, her love of learning about and interacting with other cultures became a priority in her life.

The idea for specializing in India is a bit mystical. "I always say, India found me on the internet." A young man in Delhi operating a travel company found Barbara's public relations website, full of references to culture and art and clients from around the world. He wrote to say he wanted to enter the American market. "I thought he wanted to hire me to market his company, but it turned out he wanted me to sell his packages. He sent me his itineraries and I stayed up all night pouring over them, rewriting the text and design so I could understand what he was offering. A few days later I wrote back and said yes, I could do that!"

Barbara traveled to India for the first time in September 1997 and during that trip came up with the idea for her first group tour: Spiritual India: A Yoga Journey.

The incubation period for group tours takes a year from the time of conception until the time of departure. About two weeks before the scheduled departure, with a full group booked, the media announced that India and Pakistan were launching nuclear tests. Needless to say, that caused a bit of panic among group members and I think we lost five. The group did go and had a wonderful experience and were not at all affected by any of the issues between India and Pakistan. (A team of scientists who later examined the test site reported that both sides had been boasting as to the quantity and power of the weapons tested.)

Three years more of very labor intensive focus, Spirit of India began to grow. By August of 2001 the company was poised to launch a very exciting season with an abundance of journeys for individuals as well as several contracts from major organizations.

All that changed on September 11. We lost our sales for the entire year of 2001 and the first part of 2002. All of the loss was due to panic people felt, which was exacerbated by the US media. There is nothing different going on in India today than before 9/11. Interestingly, the one group that did go, two weeks after the attack, was our Yoga Journey.

It was a long, dark winter and a time of deep soul-searching about what to do concerning the company. "There was no income from Spirit of India, but I did not want to just walk away from it. In order to have offerings for the following season, much work needed to be done. I continued to work every day Mon-Fri on Spirit of India and then did whatever jobs I could find on weekends to survive."

By May 2002, calls were beginning to come in with requests for travel in the new season (which begins in October and runs through March). But in June, the US government decided to announce a travel warning to India based on the India-Pakistan conflict at the Kashmir border. The phones completely stopped ringing for two months.

"At this juncture, I took another leap of faith. I traveled to Vietnam, Cambodia and Burma on a gruelling scouting tour in July. I saw the sites, inspected the hotels; learned sooo much."

And thus, Spirit of Asia is now in full swing, offering travelers an expanded range of destinations and special tours.

Spirit of India continues to offer its comprehensive and diverse journeys within India.

Spirit of Asia and Spirit of India are operated as one company by founder/owner Barbara Sansone.

(888) 367-6147 - Intl (415) 381-5861
P.O. Box 446 Mill Valley, CA 94941

all text & photos © 1997-00, Barbara Sansone