- A single adventure can change your life
She shared with us how what started as a passion that she shared with her family as a young girl has now become something special she shares with her husband, who is also an equally enthusiastic traveller, making them a pretty ideal duo.
What got you started on this travel journey?
My husband and I used to travel often since we have a long distance relationship. I’d have a panic attack if he didn’t visit me every now and then. However, things took a turn during the pandemic where he was restricted from entering Sri Lanka for a while because he was a US citizen so we kept checking for countries that were open for tourists and at the same time was convenient for me to get a visa. It was then my brother who was in Abu Dhabi invited us to come over to his home and I’m so thankful and blessed to have an amazing brother in my life. He accommodated us and gave us his vehicle and asked us to stay as long as we wanted. He is also the awesome photographer behind our couple pictures. He puts so much dedication and effort into capturing our best pics. Even though the pandemic was a horrible experience for many, it had definitely been a blessing and the most memorable time in my life.
What encouraged you to share your personal travel experiences with an audience?
Well, since this travelling journey of ours started, my sister kept on urging us to open a travel page even though we consistently neglected her. She’d never stop bothering us and apparently she never had another topic to talk about except for this, so my husband told me one day: “Okay! Why not give it a shot!” And that’s how this journey started which was largely due to my sister’s insistence so she deserves all the credit for this and to this day she’s my biggest supporter.
My sister is also a travel enthusiast. She’s been on Instagram around six or seven years maybe, so she is also one of my biggest inspirations then and now.
We would spend a minimum of 15 days in a country. I prefer to enjoy a bit of culture wherever it is that makes travel memorable, this is only possible when you spend enough time with people. And we always wanted to make the best of wherever we go so we can cover all the iconic places in a country. This also gives us enough content to create.
You’ve been jet setting around for a while, surely some of the destinations have made a lasting impression. What are some of the outstanding places you’ve been to?
My husband and I both have such chemistry when it comes to travelling.
The Maldives, Dubai, and Turkey are some of our favorite destinations. Dubai has a real vibe which I can’t wait to visit again and every single time I am awed, it’s a destination we would definitely revisit. And Turkey too, because the last time we visited wasn’t actually for travel purposes rather for private reasons, and maybe the Maldives when I’m old and planning to retire.
Another memorable destination was Seychelles though not for the reasons you’d think. In Seychelles our stay was 21 days, and we wanted to cover Mahe, La Digue, and Praslin but the worst part was we had a hard time finding good halal food. Everything was crazy expensive but not worth the price. We spent the three weeks pretty much surviving only on margherita pizza. However in Mahe, during the last three days of our visit, we found a restaurant called Copper Pot and we are still so grateful for that lovely Indian cook who made us delicious meals as per our request. He even made some upma early in the morning and packed it for us to have before our flight. Meeting such kind souls is definitely one of the reasons why travel gives so much hope to us.
It is passion right now but do you wish to create content full time in the future?
I enjoy creating content, especially reels. Right after the reels feature came out I hardly post pictures. It certainly gives me so much pleasure and happiness.
I am still working on my page and right now and I have no idea of being a full time content creator but who knows what the future holds right?
There’s an endless horde of content based on travel on the internet, what do you think makes your content special?
My page represents a hijabi travel couple edition which I am very proud about and believe is still unique in Sri Lanka. We also travel to corners of any country we visit, giving insight and travel worthy information to any person who loves to travel. I get so many positive DMs every single day and feel so happy to inspire others also to travel in this journey. We also visited some unique places within a short period of time so some of our content was new to the audience.
Tell us a little about your time during the pandemic, as unlike many, this is when your journey truly began.
The pandemic was a real blessing for us because many places that tend to be crowded were so isolated due to the pandemic, giving us time and peace to capture some nice pictures and enjoy the beauty of the destinations we travelled. We pretty much had some iconic places for ourselves. At the same time I am a full time student so some days travel tends to get a bit stressful, like once I had to do an exam while we were on our way to Dubai so this sums up my challenges and certainly proves my passion for travelling.
You’ve come so far, what is the next step in your travel journey?
Travel for me is a part of me. I’ll cross any ocean to meet my husband. I have a few bucket lists to tick off in Sri Lanka which I am currently focusing on. Our page is like a baby to both of us. We enjoy every bit of work we put out there and want to do better. My husband plays a really big role with all his own share of workload. He plans the locations and gets amazing pics and videos of me, edits them, and does most of the work and I post content and engage with people with DMs, their content, etc.
Our future plan is to travel wherever and whenever, as much as we can, and share our journey with our little family that is growing bigger and better every day. I’m so thankful for all the people who consistently support us in this journey. It is all those followers that keep us going and motivated to do what we are doing right now. I take this opportunity to thank each and every person that’s showing their continuous love for this page and humbly request them to continue to show their love for us. I also want to thank my little family; my mom, dad, siblings, my sister-in-law, and my dearest husband who keeps on supporting, cheering, encouraging, and standing with me even during difficult times to make these journeys possible. I am forever grateful for their presence in my life.
As an ending note, since either way we all end up making memories, then why not make some breathtaking ones that one day make us feel so glad that we chose to do it?
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