Her Family Thought She Was Traveling In Asia, Until They Discovered Her Secret

Setting Off

In her many enviable social media posts, Zilla van den Born looks like your typical gap-year backpacker. For weeks and weeks, her close friends and family followed her social media updates, watching as she travelled from one idyllic destination to another. But was Zilla’s adventure really what it appeared to be?

Exploring The World

While previous generations had to be content with travelling within their country’s borders and the occasional trip abroad, today’s young explorers are spoiled for choice. It’s now common for many privileged young people to visit exotic corners of the globe before pursuing their studies or chosen careers.

Living Through Social Media

Backpacker hotspots like South-East Asia and India have become more and more popular in recent years. In the age of social media, these exotic experiences are often reduced to filter-heavy Instagram shots of white sand beaches, extravagant meals and unknowing grinning locals. But do these pristine images really reflect these people’s experiences? Or does something darker lurk beneath?

Thrown Into The False World Of Modeling

Zilla grew up in Amsterdam in the Netherlands, a popular touristic city that has spawned its fair share of much-loved photo opportunities. When Zilla was just 16, she entered the world of modeling. She became fascinated with photo editing, discovering how photographers would distort an image of reality.

Desire To Experience More

Zilla soon began to carve out a career for herself in the creative industries, beginning a course in graphic design at the Art Academy of Utrecht in the Netherlands. Like so many of her peers, the 25-year-old was also drawn to the idea of travelling the world. She abruptly informed her family and close friends that she had decided to take a five-week trip around the islands of South-East Asia.

Waving Goodbye

In April 2014, Zilla arrived at the airport and bid farewell to her family. Then, she posted a photograph on Facebook of her departure, complete with a speeding train and a weighty backpack on her back. Soon, her page was filled with friends praising her for choosing to go out on her own adventure.

Social Media Updates

Over the next few weeks, Zilla continued to post frequent updates to her multiple social media platforms. The images showed off the sights of Thailand, Laos and Cambodia. to Zilla’s hundreds of Facebook friends, her journey seemed to be perfect…

The Land Of Smiles… Or Was It?

In one set of images, captioned “Thailand, the land of smiles,” Zilla is seen posing with a Buddhist monk. She shared choreographed snapshots of temples, statues and the breathtaking skyline of Bangkok. The young blonde also hinted at the palm-tree fringed sandy beaches that she hoped would make her the envy of all her friends.

Thailand Is Closer Than They Thought

In another Facebook post shared in May 2014 Zilla posted images of an underwater adventure on the popular Thai island of Phuket. Wearing a snorkeling mask and a revealing bikini, the teen is seen posing in the turquoise waters while surrounded by marine life.

Darker Side Of Social Media

Over the five week course of Zilla’s travels, the social media updates just kept coming. One moment she was pictured standing knee-deep in the pristine ocean, the next she was posing with beaming local children or eating delicious local cuisine.

Calling Home

Despite Zilla’s busy itinerary, the young traveler still managed to keep in touch with her family back home. From a room filled with exotic decor and Thai trinkets, she Skyped her parents with news of her adventures. When she finally returned home, her mother and father were eager to peruse the travel photographs that she’d promised to share.

In For A Shock

But when Zilla’s family and friends gathered to welcome her back from her travels, they were in for a shock. In an unexpected video, Zilla revealed that her entire trip had been a ruse. She had actually spent 42 days confined to her home in Amsterdam.

Secret Revealed

After leaving the airport, Zilla caught a train straight back to Amsterdam in a convincing disguise. She then spent weeks creating an elaborate hoax in order to convince people that she was indeed traveling the Thai islands. By using Photoshop and various props to transform her surroundings, she was able to pull the impressive illusion off.

Just An Illusion

Maintaining the hoax was an arduous and complicated process. Only Zilla’s boyfriend was in on her shocking secret. Zilla actually spent most of her time indoors, using photo editing software to place images of herself against backdrops of exotic locations in South-East Asia. The exotic meals she was pictured eating were actually all prepared in her very own kitchen.

Impressive Hoax

When it came to the snorkeling shots, Zilla adopted an impressively creative approach. By using footage take in her own pool in Amsterdam, she was able to snap underwater photographs without ever leaving the confines of her home. She then used her photo editing skills to add images of friendly marine life. For her Skype sessions with her family, she simply used decorations to create the appearance of a Thai-inspired hotel room.

Totally Fake Experiences

But not all of Zilla’s experiences were totally faked. The image that featured a Buddhist temple was actually real. She simply tracked a temple down in her local neighborhood. She then posed with a real monk – making it the most authentic photo posted during the entire elaborate hoax.

New Identity

In an amazing attempt to verify her experiences, Zilla even created fake online friendships in order to perpetuate the illusion that she was meeting people from around the world. By obtaining photographs of a female travel blogger and giving her a new identity, Zilla was able to stage Facebook conversations with this believable but fictional acquaintance.

Such Great Lengths

But why did Zilla go to such extreme lengths to convince people that she was traveling the world all while confined to her apartment? Zilla actually embarked on the mission as part of her university course, hoping to show how easy it is to manipulate and present a warped image of our lives on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram.

Manipulated By Social Media

“I did this to show people that we filter and manipulate what we show on social media – we create an ideal world online, which reality can no longer meet,” Zilla told the Daily Mail. “My goal was to prove how common and easy it is for people to distort reality. Everyone knows that pictures of models are manipulated, but we often overlook the fact that we manipulate reality also in our own lives.”

Pulled It Off

The public reaction to Zilla’s extreme experiment has been mixed. While online commenters have praised the creative skill with which she pulled off the scheme, some of her loved ones felt truly hurt and deceived. “If I had the chance to do it again, I don’t think I would,” Zilla confessed to BuzzFeed. “I really underestimated the impact of the project on myself and the people around me.”

Be Careful What You Believe

Zilla’s story acts a necessary tale of caution. Be careful what you choose to believe: the grass may not be as green as you believe it to be. Who knows? It could well be photoshop…