Where are you at the moment?
In Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. I arrived here from Mongolia about four weeks ago. I plan to head to Egypt in another week or two.
How has the year been for you?
I would say it has been quite good. I have reduced the number of videos I make since last year. Instead of producing 10 videos from a single destination, as I used to, I now try to make one really good video. Occasionally, I also produce documentaries lasting an hour or half an hour. For example, I made a documentary about Cambodia's civil war after visiting the country. I also released a video about Turkmenistan this year, which I had filmed last year. Both received a positive response from international audiences. So, I am now giving this type of content particular attention.
Prothom Alo :
How many countries have you visited so far?
I cannot give you an exact number, but it must be around 80.
Apart from the first video that went viral in 2020, have any of your other videos received an unexpectedly strong response?
Since that first viral video in Bengali about travelling with a Bangladeshi passport, almost all my videos have received an excellent response. A month after the first video went viral, I uploaded a vlog about surfing in Hawaii, which also gained popularity very quickly. Since then, three or four of my videos have gone viral every year. For example, the video about Kuwait, featuring the hottest city, was one I knew would go viral shortly after I released it. And it did. I receive a good response to all my videos.
Prothom Alo :
When you share detailed information about a destination, do you gather it before visiting, or do you try to learn about it after arriving?
Before visiting a place, I read books and other materials about it and prepare a script. However, once I get there, I also discover many things that I may not have found in books.
You used to handle everything yourself, from filming to editing. Do you now have a team?
I now have a team. I still handle the planning and scriptwriting myself, but I usually hire someone to assist with filming. A few people in Bangladesh help me with editing, three of whom work full-time. Several others work with us on a temporary basis. We have to edit different types of videos for Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and YouTube. It involves a lot of work, and my team handles these tasks. I try to do only the cinematic edits myself.
Prothom Alo :
Recently, you appeared in one of Drew Binsky's videos on Netflix, showing the traffic congestion in Dhaka.
Drew and I made that video together. We did not produce it exclusively for Netflix; we also released it on YouTube. We planned it well in advance and worked together on the script. Drew handled the filming and editing, while he left much of the decision-making about where we would go and what we would do to me.
How did you get in touch with Drew?
We connected through Instagram. We spent almost three days filming for the video, starting early in the morning and continuing until night. Apart from the challenges of managing the crowds, it was a good experience. These days, whenever I go out in Dhaka, I have to wear a mask and disguise myself. However, since several other members of our filming team accompanied us, we did not face too much difficulty.
Prothom Alo :
Do you face additional challenges when travelling abroad with a Bangladeshi passport? I often see you raising questions on social media about visa complications in different countries.
I spend almost half the year arranging visas for different countries. Even as I am speaking to you now, I am emailing three embassies to ask when I can expect to receive my visas. I have been waiting for 15 days after submitting an application to one country. Unless I receive that visa, I cannot travel to another country.
With a Bangladeshi passport, I can probably obtain visas to around 50 countries without much difficulty. When Bangladeshis apply for visas to countries they do not usually visit, the respective embassies often fail to respond properly. In many countries, even after obtaining a visa, I face additional difficulties at immigration. Officers take me aside from the queue and ask me various questions. Immigration authorities in several countries have allowed me to enter only after conducting background checks.
What do you do if you find yourself in trouble while travelling somewhere?
I generally try to conduct myself in a way that helps me avoid trouble. Over the past five years, I have not visited any place that I considered potentially dangerous. However, I have travelled to a few places where I had concerns about my safety, such as parts of Africa and northern Mexico. I did not carry expensive, large cameras when going outside in those places. Sometimes, I hired security personnel through local tour companies. I also chose hotels with good security arrangements.
Prothom Alo :
Can you name a place in the world where you never expected to find a Bangladeshi but eventually did?
I once went on a trip covering four African countries. On the very first day in Seychelles, an island nation in East Africa, my drone crashed. With a population of only around 100,000, how could I possibly find another drone there? If I ordered one online, it would take about two weeks to arrive, but I had to travel to Madagascar just three days later. So, without much hope, I made a post on Facebook. What happened next was astonishing. I found a Bangladeshi man who was a recreational drone pilot. I bought his drone. I then learnt that, out of the country's population of 100,000, around 5,000 were Bangladeshis.
Have you ever had any unusual experiences while travelling?
I once travelled to Mongolia with a German friend, where we stayed with a Mongolian family. Their house stood in the middle of a vast open field, and they owned 40 horses. The children in that area had never seen a foreigner before. They were extremely surprised to see us. They could not relate to our skin colour, physical appearance or any other aspect of our looks.
Prothom Alo :
You left your PhD midway to explore the world. Do you plan to return to academic studies?
I hope I will not have to. I really enjoy what I am doing now. I also enjoyed my academic studies, but they were not nearly as exciting as my current work. I have never felt such a sense of fulfilment in anything else. I believe what I am doing now has a purpose. I never found that sense of purpose in any of my previous work.
Rate the top 10 destinations you have visited.
It is difficult to narrow them down to exactly 10 favourite destinations. However, among the countries that come to mind at the moment, my favourites would include Brazil, Mexico, Türkiye, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Guatemala, Italy, Serbia, China and Sri Lanka.
Prothom Alo :
Where would you like to see yourself in 2030?
I would like to continue travelling in the same way over the next 10 years. I also want to expand my team a little and undertake productions with slightly bigger budgets.