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The internet has taken a liking to one travel blogger’s quirky style of showcasing famous destinations ‘until it gets ugly’.
With views of her ‘travel videos’ running into the tens of millions, Natasha Gupta doesn’t even visit any of the places she showcases. Instead, she’s filming herself exploring countries via Google Earth, dropping a pin into random locations and giving an off-the-cuff assessment of each spot.
It may sound like just another ‘reaction’ video, and Jeannie D would have a fit if she saw this, but there’s something uniquely endearing about her ‘travels’, in an ASMR way.
Perhaps people are just tired of Instagram travel vids, which explains why, for instance, Gupta’s exploration of France has been viewed 6.5 million times and counting on TikTok. That’s a lot of armchair travellers.
It’s not even her best-performing video. Gupta’s similar exploration of the Philippines has been viewed 13.4 million times, while her Japan iteration garnered 17.6 million views.
Gupta describes herself as half Singaporean and half Indian. She moved to the UK as a kid and says she loves travelling. Her Google Earth videos were born out of her desire to explore the globe, within the constraints of her lifestyle as a Londoner in her early 20s. She doesn’t have the funds to fly across the world. But travelling via Google Earth is free.
Gupta also liked the idea of “showcasing that all these countries are beautiful in their own right” and of “challenging preconceptions” associated with particular destinations.
Since posting her first “exploring every country until it’s ugly” video this past summer, on her TikTok and Instagram, Gupta’s videos have been inundated with likes, views and comments from people from the countries she highlighted either agreeing or disagreeing with her takes.
“At first it was extremely overwhelming to receive that much attention and comments,” Gupta tells CNN Travel, though she was grateful to start making “a little money” off her content.
“What I was going for was something a lot more chill, just a girl in her room, having a bit of boredom and fun,” she says. “I’m not dressed up, I’m in my PJs. It was filmed probably at midnight, and I just edited it and posted it at 3 a.m.”
The simplicity of Gupta’s set-up seemed to resonate with viewers. And while in more recent videos Gupta’s discarded the pyjamas in favour of bright-colored tops and white shirts, she’s kept up “that kind of relaxed vibe that seemed to resonate with people.”
Gupta has posted 28 Google Earth-themed TikToks to date and plans to continue. Hopefully, she gets out of her flat sometime to experience the ‘ugly’ places in real life too.
[source:cnntravel]