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01-homepage
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02-experience-listings
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03-experience-detail
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04-booking-form
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05-demo-payment
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06-booking-confirmation
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07-testimonials
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08-mobile-display
Inspiration
Adventure experiences in Maharashtra are often spread across social media pages, messaging groups, and individual operator websites. Thus, comparing trips, understanding what is included, and knowing who is actually operating the experience can be difficult. With this project, I wanted to explore how a single marketplace could simplify this process by bringing verified adventure experiences (by local operators) together with transparent pricing, consistent information, and an easy booking flow. The goal is to make discovering and booking outdoor adventures across Maharashtra as simple and trustworthy as booking any other trip online.
What it does
MahaGetaways is a marketplace for discovering and booking outdoor adventure experiences across Maharashtra. Travellers can browse curated adventure experiences, filter them by activity or destination, compare pricing and trip details, view itineraries, inclusions, difficulty, and operator information, and complete a guided booking flow. After booking, the platform generates a booking reference and confirmation summary. The platform focuses on simplifying discovery and booking, while local operators remain responsible for delivering the on-ground experience.
How I built it
I built MahaGetaways using Next.js and React to create a responsive web application. Experience listings are stored in JSON files and loaded dynamically into the website. When a traveller makes a booking, a Next.js API Route validates the information, calculates the platform fee, generates a booking reference, and returns a confirmation. The project is deployed on Vercel, with Git and GitHub used throughout development to manage changes and version control.
Challenges I ran into
One of the biggest technical challenges was adapting the booking system for deployment on Vercel. During development, bookings were saved to a local JSON file, but this approach does not work reliably in a serverless environment. To address this, I modified the booking flow so it still validates user input, calculates pricing, generates a booking reference, and displays a realistic confirmation.
Learning to manage the project effectively using Git and GitHub was also challenging. As I continued adding new features and refining the website, I had to understand how to stage changes, write commits, and keep my local project synchronized with the GitHub repository. This helped me build a more structured development workflow and made it easier to track changes and recover from mistakes during development.
Accomplishments that I'm proud of
- Building a complete end-to-end booking experience
- Creating a clean and responsive interface across desktop and mobile
- Designing a marketplace that is easy to navigate, from browsing to booking confirmation
- Successfully deploying the application to Vercel
What I learned
This project helped me better understand full-stack web development, particularly the differences between local development and serverless deployment. I also learned the importance of design thinking, designing the user journey before implementing features. Having a clear booking flow made many implementation decisions much easier.
What's next for MahaGetaways
Future improvements can include:
- Real payment processing through Stripe
- Traveller and operator authentication
- Database and transaction storage
- Operator dashboard for managing listings and bookings
- Live availability calendars to manage capacity
- Email, SMS, and WhatsApp confirmations
- Verified traveller reviews collected automatically after completed bookings or on-ground experience
