I’m Aakash Nambiar, a Kerala born, Dubai based endurance runner and slow traveller. I curate small, unhurried journeys through the India most people rush straight past.
01 / barefoot
I started running in 2014 for a slightly ridiculous reason, I wanted a photograph with Milind Soman at a Pinkathon event. I got the photo. What I didn’t expect was that running would quietly rearrange how I move through the world. Soon after, I took off my shoes and never really put them back on.
Along the way I built a career in advertising and ad tech, including a stretch with Amazon, while chasing the next horizon whenever I could. Today I’m a TEDx speaker, an ultra runner, and the person behind Barefoot Mallu.
I’ve travelled through more than 34 countries, from Mongolia and Georgia to Iran, Lebanon and Afghanistan. Not to tick off destinations, but to understand people, cultures, and the many different ways there are to live a life.
Advertising taught me how to capture attention. Travel taught me how to pay attention.
From a TED stage to newsrooms across the UAE, India and Europe, here’s a little of what’s been written and said.
How a barefoot habit grew into a whole way of seeing, and moving through, the world.
The run that turned “Barefoot Mallu” into a name people remembered.
Read the storyRunning long for something larger, ocean conservation across Dubai.
Read the story104 km barefoot through Dubai for a greener tomorrow.
Read the storyAn Indian endurance runner turning kilometres into a climate message.
Read the storyA long, honest conversation about feet, freedom and finding yourself.
Read the interviewThe barefoot mission, covered all the way over in the Portuguese press.
Read the storyI don’t collect destinations. I travel to understand people, cultures, and the different ways there are to live.Aakash Nambiar · Barefoot Mallu
Small, unhurried and sustainable journeys for people who want a deeper connection with the places they visit, not rushed itineraries or tourist checklists, but days built around conversation, nature, local culture, movement and the kind of encounters you remember for years. A few people at a time. Slowly. Intentionally.
A handful of people at a time, so everyone has room to breathe, and a real conversation with the place.
No box ticking, no 6 a.m. coach horns. We linger where it matters and quietly skip the rest.
Home cooked meals, family run stays, and time with the people who actually live there.
Walk, run, wander, sit still. We meet a landscape with the whole body, often barefoot.
Going slow is not only a feeling, it is a lighter way to travel. We keep groups tiny, move overland at an unhurried pace, stay with local families, eat what the region grows, and leave places exactly as we found them. Aakash has run hundreds of kilometres barefoot for the climate and the ocean, and that same care runs through every journey.
Cross the Atal Tunnel out of green Manali and drop into the raw, high desert valleys of Lahaul and Spiti. Glacial streams, turquoise lakes, centuries old monasteries, carved Kinnauri temples, long village meals and cold barefoot mornings on warm rock. This is the Himalaya at walking pace.
New journeys, including ones through Aakash’s native Kerala, are added here through the year. Register your interest and you’ll be the first to hear when dates open.
Dates being finalisedManali to the high desert, tunnels, glaciers, monasteries and slow mountain villages.
Register interest
Coming soonBig passes, glacial lakes and quiet, wide open Spiti, with plenty of time to just sit.
Register interest
By requestTravelling as a family or a few close friends? Tell us your dates and we’ll shape something around you.
EnquireUse the interactive viewport below to explore the majestic Lahaul Valley. Click and drag (or swipe on mobile) to look around in a full 360-degree virtual space.
A few frames from the road north, tap any to look closer.
Tell me a little about you and I’ll be in touch as journeys open, with dates, details and everything you’d want to know. No spam, no pressure. Just an invitation, when the time is right.
Takes under a minute. Marked fields are required.
Your interest has reached Aakash. You’ll hear back as the next journey opens. Until then, travel slowly.
