One particular social media influencer who has been trying his best to give back to the local community is Christian LeBlanc, the man behind the brand Lost LeBlanc. With 666K followers on Instagram and almost 1,8 M subscribers on Youtube, this Canadian influencer is one of the most famous travel influencer on the platform.
His beautifully taken pictures are professionally edited and made even more interesting with high quality audio. Other than the technicalities, the contents themselves are top of the notch and full of inspiringly useful information. For the past couple of years, Bali has been the place he calls home; and, despite of being locked out of the country for almost 9 months in the early pandemic time, he has now been back in the island.
Realizing his power to make a difference, LeBlanc had made a series of videos showcasing the beauty of Bali, and some of our closest neighbors, The Gilis and Lombok Island. In these videos, LeBlanc helps promote the island to his fellow travellers, especially in this desperate time. One particular video follows him and a group of friends giving donation to a village near the famous Lempuyang Temple, which, like so many others, have suffered terrible loss of jobs and livelihood due to the death of the tourism this past year.
Although it may seem wrong for some people (why does he have to let everybody know about the donation?) it’s actually one of the best ways to tell and show people about the way they can help Bali in the pandemic. With that much followers and subscribers, surely many of them have come and fallen in love with Bali; and LeBlanc’s videos have given them a sad reality of the island the Gods have probably deserted. Hopefully, people will be able to see for themselves just how much Bali is suffering, and maybe start to give a small amount back to the communities that have welcomed them warmly.
Another video in his Youtube channel follows LeBlanc to a neighboring isles The Gilis, in which he escaped Bali during Nyepi and head off to Gili Air instead. The video is loaded with so many beautiful footages of the clear blue seas, along with the fishes and turtles he managed to meet in the dive spots. While going around the island on bikes, he also shows us the eerie villages as they are almost empty and so lacking of tourists. Nyepi day is one of the happiest times for the islanders since foreigners come flooding from Bali in order to avoid the day of silence.
In another video, LeBlanc treats a group of kids from a Balinese orphanage to a breakfast at a local Mc Donalds before going to a water park overviewing Mount Batur. Seems like a pretty good guy, right? This happy occasion ends with a gelato session before going back to the orphanage, where a caretaker proposed for a photo and video-making lessons for the kids. LeBlanc answered the proposal with a taunting message for camera and laptop sellers, asking for donations to make the idea comes true.
All and all, we have to say that we really appreciate what LeBlanc has done for the local community. That after receiving so much from the island, he remembers to give some back. That he tries to help Bali tourism back on its feet, and does it in a very professional way. If you are one of his followers or subscribers, and if you followed his lead by making donations for the local communities, we thank you, too. We can never tell you how much it means to us. To them. To the island we love so much. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you. Stay safe, stay healthy, and we’ll see you soon.
