ONE bright morning, Amara, a middle-class influencer—aka her followers had not yet reached 10k—received an email from a new online travel agency (OTA) called TripLocal. They invited her to try a three-day Bali tour package in exchange for, “Just post five times on Instagram and tag us!”
Amara, who was hungry for Instagram content, immediately agreed without thinking twice. “Finally, a free vacation!” she exclaimed while imagining herself taking beautiful photos on a Bali swing with captions like “Lost in Bali Vibes.”
Day 1: Drama at Tanah Lot
The tour started at Tanah Lot. Amara, who wanted to make a cinematic video, immediately asked the tour guide, Mr. Made, to record it.
“Sir, record me, but please don’t forget the ‘slow-mo’ effect when I twirl my hair,” Amara requested.
Mr. Made, whose latest technology is an old Nokia, enthusiastically tried it. The result? A shaky video like an earthquake recording. His critical followers immediately flooded the comments column:
“Was Mr. Made breakdancing when he recorded it?”
“Cinematic? More like a disaster documentary.”
Day 2: Yoga in Ubud and OTA Error
The next day, Amara was scheduled for a yoga session in Ubud. In the middle of the ‘downward dog’ pose, a notification from TripLocal appeared: “Sorry, your activity was canceled due to a system error.”
“Canceled?!” Amara was confused, especially since she had uploaded a ‘story’ about “Waking up early for mental health”
Amara immediately contacted TripLocal customer service. After waiting 20 minutes, CS replied,
“I’m sorry, ma’am. We don’t know why the yoga canceled, but maybe you can go for a walk to the nearest rice field.”
“To the rice field? I need content, not harvest!” Amara replied in annoyance.
Day 3: Nusa Penida and a Viral Experience
On the last day, Amara decided to take a photo at an iconic spot in Nusa Penida. She planned to post something dramatic, like “When you let the ocean heal your soul.”
However, during the photo session, strong winds caused her hat to fly into the sea. Her content instincts told her to jump to save her hat, and the result? She fell into the sea in front of tourists who were enjoying the peaceful atmosphere.
Another tourist recorded the incident, and the video of Amara soaking wet while trying to pick up her hat went viral. The caption for the video? “Influencer vs Alam Bali, who wins?”
Her followers increased drastically, but most of them came to rewatch her plunge. Amara could only console herself, “At least I got engagement.”
Ending: Lessons from Bali and OTA
Amara returned from Bali with more drama than Instagram photos. TripLocal gave her a discount voucher as an apology, but she wasn’t sure she wanted to use it again.
Staring at her phone screen, Amara thought, “Being an influencer is hard. The important thing is to stay funny in front of your followers.”
She wrote the final caption of her trip:
“A vacation in Bali is full of surprises. Sometimes beautiful, sometimes wet. The important thing is, we keep posting.”
Moral of the story:
Sometimes, the best vacation isn’t about the destination or the OTA package, but the drama that can be told (or laughed at) on social media.
