- YouTuber Ken Aaron Doescher talks travel, power cuts, and staying positive in Sri Lanka
YouTuber Ken Aaron Doescher of Ken Abroad was recently in the news when he released a video titled “I’m Thinking About Leaving Sri Lanka Soon”. The title wasn’t entirely a surprise considering all the struggles Sri Lankans and most likely tourists are experiencing in the country these days, so we caught up with Doescher to ask him what he thinks of the country and his travels here.
30-year-old Doescher is from northern Germany. After having pursued business management and entrepreneurship, he started to travel around Southeast Asia in 2019. So far, he’s been to Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Singapore, and Malaysia. “Now in Sri Lanka, it is my first time in South Asia,” he shared, adding that he plans to travel to more countries in Southeast Asia and South Asia in the coming years.
Here are some excerpts of the interview:
How did you get into travel vlogging?
When I first came to Southeast Asia in 2019, I did an exchange semester in Bangkok. It was the final semester of my master’s studies and during that time I also started my YouTube channel. First, it was just a hobby, to film some of my experiences during that exchange semester in Thailand but after that semester, I decided to stay in Southeast Asia and to put more effort and time into the YouTube channel, because I had so much fun doing videos and sharing them. I always loved travelling and I used to follow many other travel vloggers, so it became my goal to travel full time and make videos about it too. For two years now I have been putting in a lot of work into my channel and it has become my full-time job now and I am really grateful for that.
When and why did you decide to come to Sri Lanka?
I made that decision in December last year. I was in Thailand at that time and wanted to see a new country. I was keen to go somewhere completely new, to a place where I have never been before. In December, not many countries in Southeast or South Asia were open for tourism. Sri Lanka was, with very easy entry rules. So, I just decided “let’s go to Sri Lanka”. I booked the flight, applied for the visa, and came here early January.
How has your experience been so far?
Overall, my experiences here have been great so far! The people here are awesome, super friendly, hospitable, and welcoming. As a foreigner I feel very welcomed here, especially in the rural and local areas. This is my favourite thing about Sri Lanka. I am not a big fan of tourist areas and places where there are tons of tourists, I prefer seeing local places. And in these local places, I met nothing but friendly and welcoming people so far in Sri Lanka. I also really enjoy the beauty of nature here; Sri Lanka is a very diverse country. You have beaches, the ocean, green jungles, and beautiful mountains. So, for the past two months I’ve really enjoyed my time here.
You recently released a video on your channel saying you’d like to leave Sri Lanka sooner than you’d planned. What are your reasons for this?
These daily power cuts of six to eight hours made me think about leaving Sri Lanka sooner than planned. I am really dependent on my laptop and thus electricity and my plan was to travel around Sri Lanka to film videos. With all these daily power cuts, that gets really hard. I filmed that video a few days ago and I thought about it again and by now I am pretty sure that I will stay until the end of my visa, which is in three-and-a-half weeks.
What has your experience been like touring Sri Lanka during a challenging time – with an economic crisis, fuel crisis, power cuts, etc.?
I know it’s a challenging time for everyone in Sri Lanka. I talk a lot with local people and I have many comments from Sri Lankans in my comment section on YouTube. What I hear is that these times are not normal and very hard for many people here. I feel bad for the locals here because I met so many friendly and awesome people. As explained above, it is of course also challenging for me. I am not here to just spend a holiday on the beach. I want to travel around the country, film videos, and upload them to my YouTube channel to share my experiences here with the world. And that is of course challenging without electricity for several hours daily, but I am not complaining about it. I can’t change it, so I try to make the best out of it and adjust to the current situation here, same as the locals also have too.
Would you recommend other tourists like yourself to come to the country right now?
Yes, I would still recommend coming here, if you are just coming for a holiday. Spending time at the beach or the pool doesn’t require electricity. Transportation is also still possible, although fuel prices are going up. But coming from a Western country, the currencies are still strong here, so it shouldn’t be that big of a problem for tourists.
What are the top five things you enjoyed about Sri Lanka?
- The welcoming people here
- The cultural diversity. There are many different cultures and religions here, which makes Sri Lanka very interesting
- Beautiful mountain scenery in central Sri Lanka
- Wildlife Safari at the Udawalawe National Park
- Coconut roti
What are the top five things you disliked about your experiences here?
I can’t even name something here. Overall, I am happy with all my experiences here and I don’t regret coming here despite the current situation.
What’s your message to tourists worldwide about Sri Lanka?
Sri Lanka is a beautiful country to visit. It may not be as popular as other nations nearby, but it has a lot of potential to become more popular in the next few years in my opinion. Everything is here: mountains, beaches, national parks, diverse wildlife, awesome food, welcoming locals, an interesting culture, options to go snorkelling, diving, and surfing. It is definitely possible to spend an amazing and interesting holiday here as a tourist.
YouTube: Ken Abroad
