KOCHI: American travel YouTuber Nikolay Timoshchuk Jr’s love for Kerala is a nascent one. He was clueless about the state or its culture until a friend in Dubai got him curious about what seemed like lush green landscape dotted with coconut trees in the southernmost tip of India. Determined to visit what he later found to be a popular tourist destination, Nikolay packed his bags and landed in Kerala for the first time late last year.
He vlogged his way through the foreign but endearing place only to come back for more. Having recently hit two lakh subscribers on his YouTube channel ‘Back 2 Life’; Nikolay, who is currently staying in Kozhikode due to the lockdown, talks about life as an influencer, surviving the pandemic and his connection with the state and people.
“I taught at a school back home for little more than a year. I loved the profession and everything that came along with it but felt like there was something else out there for me. I felt like I could go out in the world and create something. That is how ‘Back 2 Life’ was born. It brought this idea that I can conquer what I want and keeps me accountable every single day. It is not just YouTube or Instagram; it is my lifestyle, I have to do, I have to be it. And that is the example I want to set,” says Niko as he is referred to by his friends.
Niko missed Kerala so much that he decided to come back in two months. “I have a lot of friends here now and the place is absolutely amazing. I love the food, I love the culture and I love the feel of being in Kerala.” With a substantial following among the Malayalis, Niko has brought out a rap music video about keeping the state clean as part of his current Kerala YouTube series. “I have a considerable say right now among the Keralite community so I wanted to use that to get a message across about environmental protection. For me it was like returning the respect I got from here.”
Despite having to stay back longer than expected, Niko’s videos and social media posts have been extremely positive. “I am staying in Kozhikode at a friend’s house which was vacant. I am by myself but I am not worried or sad at all. I am enjoying my time here just as I would anywhere else,” says the 26-year-old.
Having trotted most of the globe since he started his YouTube channel less than two years ago, Niko says Hawaii is his next favourite destination. But it seems Niko has not gotten enough of Kerala just yet. He plans to stay back even after things return to normal and Wayanad, Idukki and Thrissur. The YouTuber has big plans for his channel as well and hopes to cross a million subcribers on all his social media accounts by the end of this year.