Meet Mayank Khamesra: Exodus Leader of the Year 2025
"Mayank Khamesra was traveling when the call came: he'd won Exodus Leader of the Year 2025. Nearly two decades guiding across India and Nepal have shaped his calm, story-rich style and a strong sense of responsibility. From family celebrations to animal rescue in Udaipur and why Varanasi is “the soul of India”, meet the man behind the award."
Mayank Khamesra was on the road from Udaipur to Delhi when his manager, Arvind, called with the news: he’d won our Exodus Leader of the Year 2025. And for a moment, he’s convinced it can’t be real. “I was like, ‘No, sir… you must be joking.’”
“It was a very sweet surprise,” Mayank says. “I did not think I would ever make it to the top, number one spot.”
The timing, naturally, was slightly chaotic: an hour before departure, bags packed, head already in travel mode. But the award itself feels fitting for someone who’s spent nearly two decades guiding across India and Nepal, calmly holding the details together, while making room for the moments travelers will talk about long after they’re home.
And for Mayank, it isn’t just his award. He sees it as his family’s, too – his wife and children, who’ve adapted to life with him on the road. “When I win,” he says, “it’s them winning it as much as me winning it.”
But the celebrations didn’t start straight away. Mayank kept the news to himself until the end of his trip, because if there’s one thing he takes seriously, it’s his responsibility to his travelers.
Once he got home on December 27, his father had already arranged a proper celebration: uncle, brothers, friends, all gathered in the courtyard for what Mayank calls “a men’s party”. “That’s what we do in India,” he smiles.
Then came the best kind of celebration: a six-day road trip to Gujarat with his wife and children. “It was a party as well of its kind,” he says. In true Mayank-style, it wasn’t a lounging-on-a-beach kind of break; it was full of curiosity and small discoveries, the kind he builds entire trips around.
They visited Rani ki Vav, one of India’s most extraordinary stepwells, and the Sun Temple, then explored a city Mayank describes as founded by Krishna, home to an important Krishna temple.
He made sure the children got a proper wildlife fix, too, by taking them to the Wild Donkey Sanctuary and India’s first marine park (founded in 1985), where they found themselves spotting puffer fish, crabs, and octopuses.
This is also how Mayank wants to use his prize money: not for anything flashy, but for more of what matters. “A lot of it,” he says, “is going to parties with family and friends and trips in the summer, when the kids are out of school”. It’s wonderfully consistent: quality time with family.
But the award comes with another meaningful part too. As Leader of the Year, Mayank can also donate half of his prize money to a charity of his choice, and for him, that choice is clear.
“I’m thinking of donating it to Animal Aid,” he says, “which is an NGO based in Udaipur, involved with rescuing and caring for street animals.”
He’s known them for over two decades, and the connection is close: a cousin is dedicated to the organization, and a high school friend works with them too.
What Mayank loves most about Animal Aid is their impact – the kind you can actually see, day to day.
“You don’t see any street animal limping in Udaipur,” Mayank says. “Whenever anyone sees any dog, cows, or animal in distress, you just give them a call, then they come around and immediately treat them.” It’s the kind of practical kindness that makes you feel hopeful, he admits.
Mayank is also keen to shine a light on ethical wildlife experiences that travelers can be part of.
From January onwards, travelers on select Exodus cultural and wildlife itineraries can stop at the SOS Elephant Conservation and Care Centre near Agra, a visit that adds context and meaning, not just another photo.
In Mayank’s view, travel should always leave something behind: a deeper understanding, and ideally, some genuine support for local work.
If Mayank seems like someone who’s always been built for guiding, he’ll tell you it started young, inspired first by his father, his best friend, alongside another “idol” who showed him what leadership looks like.
“That man is Adam Hobbs,” Mayank says, “a British driver and tour leader with Encounter Overland, who now lives in Denmark.” Encounter Overland ran the kind of epic overland routes that feel almost mythical now – including London to Kathmandu, a six-month journey through Africa and the Middle East, then across India and into Nepal.
Mayank met Adam through his father, and as a teenager, only 16 or 17, he was invited to join the India leg of the trip. It wasn’t polished travel. It was the real thing: shared cooking, shared responsibilities, and a lot of rough camping. “Eight out of ten times we were in a rough camping,” Mayank says. “There is no exact itinerary; you rough camp in the middle of nowhere.”
The biggest lesson wasn’t about routes or logistics. It was about temperament. Adam took every challenge – breakdowns, the unpredictability of the road, with the steady ease of someone who’d seen it all before.” Mayank says. “That was life every day.”
That steadiness is now one of Mayank’s defining traits. But it’s only half his secret.
Because for Mayank, guiding isn’t just about getting people safely to the next hotel, it’s about bringing India to life in a way that feels personal. “There’s the itinerary, then there’s my work as a storyteller,” Mayank says. “Travelers arrive interested in India, but I love the moment when that interest becomes keenness, a curiosity to understand our culture.”
That’s where Mayank lives. The Taj Mahal will always be impressive. Jaipur will always be beautiful. But what makes a trip unforgettable is the layer beneath: the folklore, the small customs, the human moments that don’t come with a ticket.
“Our folk tale stories are endless,” he says, and if you’ve ever traveled with him, you’ll know it’s true. He’ll tell you why people hang marigolds, what a certain gesture means in context, and why a temple queue isn’t just a queue. He doesn’t just explain India, he helps you feel the rhythm of it.
And he knows that rhythm can be intense for first-time travelers. India is glorious, but it’s also busy, loud, hot, and occasionally, determined to test your patience. But Mayank’s solution is simple: make people feel comfortable with him first, then with India. Once that trust is built, everything else follows: curiosity, openness, and connection.
“I represent India,” he says. “So, my first challenge is… how quickly can they feel comfortable with me? Because once they feel comfortable with me, then they will connect with my country. I am their cultural link.”
His guiding style is warm and transparent, the kind where people feel safe asking anything – and do. “There is no question that can really make me feel uncomfortable,”
Mayank says. “You can really ask me anything you want.” It’s an invitation to fully engage, not tiptoe. And it turns strangers into a group that feels, at least for a while, like a small community traveling together.
In a way, it’s also how Mayank understands India itself: intense at first glance, but full of meaning once you let yourself lean in.
Which is why, when you ask him about a place that fills him with pride, he doesn’t hesitate.
“Varanasi is very close to my heart,” he says. Many know it as the spiritual capital of Hinduism, but Mayank calls it something bigger: “the soul of India.” “The whole country unites in one place,” he says.
Varanasi can be overwhelming, he calls it one of the “craziest cities” in India, but he loves its contradiction. “Outside, it’s so much turmoil,” he says, “but there is a deep peace inside.”
And that’s what Mayank thinks Varanasi gives you: a shift in perspective. In all that noise and movement, you find a stillness – and a reminder to stop holding back from the present.
He sometimes tells travelers: “The fear of death doesn’t allow people to live completely. In Varanasi, that fear can soften… and when it does, you start to enjoy the moment.” It’s classic Mayank: a thought that sounds simple, but carries something deeper, offered gently, without making a performance of it.
After nearly 20 years, he still talks about guiding like a student, not a finished product. “Every day with every trip, with every new challenge… always there is learning,” he says.
Perhaps that’s the real reason Mayank is Leader of the Year. He hasn’t gone on autopilot. He pays attention.
He still wants travelers to fall in love with India, not just tick it off their list. And he still believes the best part of any trip happens somewhere after the itinerary is finalised, when the interest becomes keenness, and the stories do what stories are meant to do. Bring the adventure to life.
