Larissa D’Sa, through her Instagram feed, appears as a dynamic first-generation traveller, storyteller, and creator. However, when you speak with her, you discover the real woman behind the captivating and aesthetic travel videos is a person whose journey to travel the world began like many of ours, travelling to her ancestral home during festivals by train.
Beyond being an online personality with pleasing posts on gratitude and manifestation, Larissa D’Sa is what she is today because she embraced every twist and turn in her journey with openness and resilience. Though her storytelling has won awards, the way she shared her entire journey with SheThePeople is truly captivating.
Unexpected Journey Into Traveling
Larissa shares that her journey into the world of travel vlogging began unexpectedly. Starting at the age of 13 or 14, she never followed a straight path. “It's always been me trying something else, and today I'm somewhere else,” she shares. Her adventure began with YouTube, where she made DIY videos. Over time, her content evolved from DIY to travel when she started taking family trips to her native place in Mangalore.
Her first trip abroad with friends to Thailand solidified her love for travel. It was during this trip that she realised how much she enjoyed exploring new places with friends. "Maybe I should give it a little more push," she thought. Despite this realisation, travel was never a plan for her. Even today, she doesn’t make concrete travel plans but believes that "the plans come to me, and I just go with the flow."
Diverse Career Ventures
Larissa’s journey has been diverse. Apart from travel vlogging, she has worked as a graphic designer, ran a custom-made art brand called We Love Custom-Made, and even tried her hand in the hospitality industry by co-owning a restaurant. "Life has been generous with whatever it's given me, along with a lot of hardships that have come along the way,” she reflects. Each experience, from working as a graphic designer to being fired and pursuing YouTube full-time, has shaped her journey.
She’s ventured into various fields, including starting a brand called Feliz, which sold digital files and journals. However, after a few years, it didn't work out. She then moved to Goa and helped build a restaurant called Olala, which did well. “The hospitality industry is quite tough, and I thought my journey with that was done there,” she admits. Now, she focuses on her fine jewellery brand, Beyond Larissa, which has been in the works since 2020.
Passion for Travel and Recent Recognition
Amid all other roles, travel remains Larissa’s core passion for which she was nominated for National Creators Award in Travel Category recently. However, she enjoys exploring multiple interests simultaneously, "I feel I'm very much inclined towards travel. I feel that brings out the best version of me but at the same time, I am a person who doesn't do one thing. I like to divert and I like to look in a lot of directions at the same time."
Larissa D’Sa Reveals Why the Journey Excites Her More Than the Destination
Reflecting on her earliest travel memories, she fondly remembers family trips to Mangalore and Goa. She shares, "That's my ancestral house and going to Goa maybe during Diwali vacation. Taking that train journey with your family, sleeping overnight in the train and because back then we never travelled by flight, we travelled by train and it was always that journey like taking that train, having that tomato soup in the train during your travel and the chai that comes in the middle. The journey has always gotten me so excited. Obviously, reaching a destination and then you know being there is a different beauty and different excitement altogether but I feel the journey is what makes it exciting and that is what I also impart in my life accordingly."
Travelling hasn’t been without challenges. Larissa noted, "I hate monotony, and travel is monotony; nothing like having a variety in your day. So, when challenges come through while travelling, you always face them head-on."
Personal Growth and Influence of Travel
Travel has greatly influenced Larissa’s personal growth and outlook on life. "It has changed my perspective, how I look at life, and how I look at people,” she explains.
It could be anything from not taking anything seriously, not taking anything personally, looking at things from a bird's eye view and then understanding the situation and then coming up with a solution rather than just reacting to a situation. I feel these two things are the most major things that travel has taught me and I feel there's nothing in the world that can teach you what travel teaches you. It puts forth a lot of unexpected and unpredictable situations and you have no other option than to deal with them at that moment.
While she didn't have a specific character or movie that inspired her travel journey, characters like Julia Roberts in Eat, Pray, Love have given her validation. "Julia Roberts actually helped me to get out of that feeling and when I watched Eat Pray Love again, I was like, hey, you know what, I need to do this again. I need to get back into being myself, into feeling myself again and that's only possible when I travel. So, I took that leave and I went to Portugal," she says.
Travel Vlogs To Travel Channel
Larissa’s dream of hosting a travel show came true when she landed a show on National Geographic. She had always wanted to do something on a larger scale. Her persistence paid off when she got the opportunity to host Postcards from Meghalaya. "It was a sort of manifestation that I did for myself, and it happened now," she says, reflecting on her journey.
For those who want to start travelling but don’t know how Larissa’s advice is simple: "Just get out there and do it." She encourages starting small with whatever resources you have and not waiting for the perfect opportunity. "You are enough for a plan to happen," she emphasizes. With experience, confidence will grow, and travel dreams will become reality.
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