A video capturing a man's unique way of exploring the world without leaving the living room has gone viral on TikTok.
The clip was posted by Bree Casabar (@breemalae), a 23-year-old single mom based in Salt Lake City, Utah. The video has garnered 1.5 million views since it was posted on December 18.
A note overlaid on the video says "Every night after work my dad 'travels' to different places on YouTube. My mom comes downstairs to ask them where they are traveling tonight."
The poster's parents, Damon and Holly Casabar, work in personal development, the TikTok user told Newsweek. Casabar said her dad has "always wanted to travel, but his priorities have always been to care for his family."
Her parents have been "traveling on YouTube" for the past year or so, using it as a tool to "manifest their travel dreams," she said.
The daughter said she saw how much her dad has "a passion and goal to travel" and was inspired to post the viral video not realizing it would get any traction.
A caption shared with the post says: "Someday, I hope to be able to make enough to take my parents on a trip. That's the goal."
The viral post comes as 57 percent of Americans were reported to be preparing for winter travel, with 96 percent planning to travel as much as or even more than they did last winter, according to a TripAdvisor report released in November 2024.
New York was found to be the top domestic destination for U.S. travelers this winter, with Las Vegas, Honolulu and two Floridian cities among the top five locations, according to TripAdvisor.
'Travel Dreams Come to Life'
Though her dad has traveled a few times, the poster of the viral clip said "he gets caught up in his work" and "never has a break and works basically every day."
"So, when he's on 'vacation', he still works off of his laptop and doesn't allow himself to have a break," the daughter said.
According to a later video shared by the single mom, Casabar surprised her dad recently with a trip on Christmas Day. "Companies like Hilton and Airbnb reached out [after seeing her other video] to help make that dream come true, and I ended up surprising him on Christmas," she told Newsweek.
In the video, the dad is shown opening a card from Hilton, the hotel group, offering him complimentary hotel stays. The card reads "Dear Damon, we know how much you like to travel to different places on YouTube and want to help your travel dreams come to life...we know how hard you work, you deserve it."
The dad says "I'm like in shock here," after reading the card.
Her parents' "ultimate goal" is to have a travel-based career, "which I hope can happen," the poster said, noting "my hardworking parents deserve it so much."
The places on the couple's travel bucket list include Thailand, New Zealand, Costa Rica, the Philippines, other tropical islands and Europe, Casabar said.
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