At a time when most travel influencers fill feeds with perfect locations and luxury stays, a Delhi-based travel vlogger, Deepak Samal, 32, is making waves by doing exactly the opposite of that. He points his camera towards the broken footpaths, overflowing dustbins and double priced monument tickets and compares that side with the spotless streets of Beijing, Russia, and Singapore.
Not yet a mainstream influencer, but his reels do cross millions of views and spark debates in the comment sections.
His journey began after his breakup in 2014. It was a time when none of his friends or family were interested in traveling. "I was already addicted to traveling because of my ex-girlfriend. When we separated, solo travel was the only thing that made sense," he says.
By 2017, he traveled to 25 Indian states and took his first ever International trip to Thailand and Singapore in 2018.
By 2024, he finished 28 states, and 30 countries and with a passport that has no blank page to fill.
What made his content viral was a simple observation of Indians throwing wrappers outside at home and trying to become perfect citizens abroad. "Same people, same taxes paid, but outside they fear fines and image, so they follow every rule. Back in India? Same mess. That hypocrisy angered me," he adds.
Samal says while traveling to countries like Vietnam, Armenia, and Georgia, he saw cleaner roads, better footpaths, organized traffic, cleaner rivers, and people who follow civic rules, which it made him ask why India, the world’s fourth-largest economy, is still struggling with such basic systems.
He mentions this comparison does not come from negativity but from pain, because despite India’s massive potential, many problems have remained unchanged for decades. That’s why he makes these videos as he believes the first step to fixing anything is acknowledging it, and that even centuries-old issues can gain attention when a single video goes viral.
He started filming direct comparisons between India and other countries Such as Delhi’s choking AQI vs Beijing’s transformation from polluted to 15 AQI days, Indians jumping zebra crossings at home vs waiting patiently in other countries, and Foreigners paying ₹1,300 to enter Taj Mahal while Indians pay ₹50. “We punish the very people we want to invite,” he mentioned.
He further mentioned that, as tourists in China, we pay the same as locals and enjoy the same amenities, like free, uncrowded buses, clean toilets, and no one treating us as outsiders. People just go about their business, and we go about ours, with everyone minding their own affairs.
One of his reels on the comparison of Taj Mahal and Great Wall of China, made rounds across the social media. "Some politicians talk of renaming or destroying it because of religion. I said the Great Wall of China has four lakh workers buried inside it, yet Chinese call it their pride, not a graveyard. History can’t be changed; only cleanliness can," he added.
Samal openly admitted that he hates "Indian-crowd hotspots," as he believes, many Indian crowds are loud and do not respect local culture or rules.
“Right now everyone is rushing to Vietnam. I went to China instead, to study why they became the fastest-developing nation while we lagged.”
When Deepak Samal completed his journey through 25 states in 2017, he witnessed an India that felt different—more united, more welcoming. But today, he says, the atmosphere in some states has changed. You can feel like a foreigner not because of language or culture, but because people have begun discriminating against fellow Indians from other states, shaped by shifting policies and attitudes. “This wasn’t the India I travelled through years ago,” he reflects.
"I feel bad for what is happening, and that’s exactly why I makes these videos—so that someday, someone in power will understand my intentions and take action," he adds.
Samal emphasizes that his intention is not to criticize India but to remind us of the nation we are capable of becoming. He firmly believes in India’s potential. “We were looted for 200 years, yet we still rose to become the world’s fourth-largest economy, that alone shows our strength,” he says.
His hope is for a future where politicians no longer divide people, much like the British once did, on the basis of religion or caste, but instead focus on solving India’s real challenges.
To illustrate this, he often points to comparisons in schools, roads, and civic behaviour. For him, these aren’t complaints but reflections of how Indians have slowly lost basic civic discipline. People rarely consider how their actions affect others. India, he feels, was never like this. Our festivals and culture were meant to unite us, yet today we often see news of violence during festivals triggered by religion or caste tensions. This, he says, is not the India he remembers from his years of travelling across the country.
While talking about the weakening of the Indian passport, Samal mentioned, "Because many Indians overstay visas, do illegal work, or try to migrate illegally, the Indian passport has become weak and many countries reject Indian visa applications, and every genuine traveller now gets treated like a potential criminal.."
"US, Japan, and Australia visas were rejected even though his passport is full of travel stamps," he added further.
His US, Japan, and Australia visas were rejected within two months despite a spotless travel history. At Georgia’s border he was questioned for 40 minutes and photographed ten times, which he describes as, “pure humiliation because of our collective image.”
As everyone has to pay a price for voicing their opinions, Samal also goes through the same. But the way he deals with them is quite unique then others, as he pins his troll or hate comments on the top and lets them reach out to others as well.
In an industry built with sugar coated aesthetics, he is one of the voices to say the uncomfortable truths out loud. Since he does not earn from brand promotions as of now, he isn't forced to promote things that he doesn't believe. This makes his content unique from others in the same industry.
“I don’t need a million followers. If just ten people start using dustbins, waiting at zebra crossings, and demanding better from leaders because of my videos, that’s a victory for me,” Deepak Samal says further.
Samal wants India to improve safety for women, cleanliness, good roads, no cheating or scamming of tourists, and same ticket prices for Indians and foreigners at monuments. He believes if tourists feel safe and happy in India, many more will come and the country will grow faster.