Lakdeepanie Peiris, also known as @life_of_a_travel_girl, is a travel content creator on Instagram. This week, we reached out to Peiris to share with us her journey becoming a popular travel influencer on social media.
Peiris shared that she is someone who’s very passionate about travelling, a soul who dwells in nature, a free spirit, as it were. As many creatives do, she too has a day job, and while it’s certainly not easy, and working in the finance sector can be quite hectic, rife with stress, she said she has found solace in her many excursions into the unknown, stating that it has served a welcome respite from the hustle and bustle of Colombo.
“Though I sit behind a desk at my day job in the heart of the city, travelling is my true passion. My dream is to see the world, collect beautiful memories, and share these amazing experiences with the world,” she said, adding that travelling is not only a hobby, but a means that has also served as a great stress reliever.
“Travelling to new places, meeting new people – all those experiences have made me a better person. I have become more empathetic and more grateful towards our world. I like to think I have a better understanding about people and nature than I did before,” she shared. She said that these numerous experiences have helped even in her work life.
Peiris shared that as she explores the many wonders of our island, it is her pleasure to share them with others. “To me, showcasing all these beautiful getaways of our island is my way of giving something back to the community. I’m still a novice at this, but I feel like I’m doing a good job so far,” she went on to say.
Having started travelling in around 2016, Peiris shared that “it’s crazy to think how it all started five years ago”, looking at how it has transformed from simply a platform where she shared love for travelling with a few like-minded people, to seeing some of her audience plan their trips based on her recommendations. She said with this audience response of people being inspired by her content and the gradual growth of her follower base, she too began to make a concentrated effort in creating content, targeting her audience.
“I put a lot of effort into my account to keep a theme, and although some days it may not seem like it, I’m still trying my best to share interesting pictures with you guys. I am not the best mobile photographer myself, but I think I am doing better now. And I am hoping to be better and do better,” she said.
Sharing with us her travel ethos, Peiris said that her goal is to help others feel what she feels, share the happiness and love that travelling has brought her. She commented that there are many creators who cater to the high-end travel market, whereas she tries to cater to everyone, “especially to the low to mid-end markets because I believe travelling shouldn’t be expensive”. She said that there’s many places one can travel to on a shoestring budget, and so she seeks as many such places as she can and shares her honest, unbiased reviews, because “that’s what makes my page unique. I really hope to motivate you more to go out there and see the world because it really is the best thing ever!”
Looking back, Peiris shared that an unforgettable moment in her travel journey was her trip to Dothalugala. Stating that the trip was one of the most terrifying experiences in her life, facing an incredibly challenging hike to the top, her group lost their way, and as they followed their offline map, they were led to a steep slope. As they gradually crawled down the slope, they heard a sudden loud noise akin to a large object rolling right past them.
She shared that she was absolutely distraught, tears streaming down her face as she called out to her friends who had monetarily gone silent. Somehow they made their way down, however they were not out of the woods just yet, as one of their group suffered an injury and as they were now incapacitated, they were left with no choice but to spend the night in the jungle. Peiris said they spent the night without any food, water, and even their phone batteries had run out of power. Nevertheless, they survived a whole night with minimum resources while also protecting their injured friend, barely getting any sleep that night.
We asked Peiris about how she spent her time during this pandemic and how she has adapted, to which she said: “If you are a content creator, surely you have had to adapt to this new reality. My content is mostly travel-related, meaning it has been almost impossible to go out and create. I’m currently sharing a lot of ‘throwbacks’ and it’s encouraged me to edit photos I hadn’t had time to even look at before. I’ve tried to adapt as best I can by snapping shots in my back garden!”
As for the future, Peiris shared that her bucket list “is not a day-by-day or year-by-year thing”, stating that it is full of experiences she wishes to experience in her lifetime, and the list is never empty or full because as quickly as one item is ticked off, another takes its place. “I’m currently planning the biggest adventure of my life,” she said.
Instagram: @life_of_a_travel_girl