Bon Vivant: The Fantasy Life of Travel Photographer Christina Tan

Many of us have fantasized about leaving our mundane life behind and running away to explore the world. A life filled with exotic countries, an array of newly acquainted cultures and untold adventures evidenced by the constant flow of the new stamps that fill our passport. Most of us secretly covet the jetsetter’s life of five star hotels, Michelin star restaurants, and unforgettable excursions. Christina Tan is such a person that leads that life that most can only dream of. She is a bold bon vivant who left her unfulfilled life behind and has risen to become one of the world’s top regarded photographers and influencers. She vicariously takes her hundreds of thousands of social media followers with her around the world with each click of her Nikon and each post of her spellbinding photos and luxury travel experiences.

Born and raised in Jakarta, Indonesia, Travel Influencer and Digital Creator Christina Tan is a force to be reckoned with in today’s luxury travel and lifestyle industry. Inspired by movies, books and travel magazines when she was a student; Tan was motivated to make travelling a full-time career.

What started out as a hobby ended up becoming much more than that. Tan was regularly taking part in beauty and fashion shoots as a photographer, but travel excited her even more. She had always loved landscape photography and sought out the best opportunity to showcase her talent via creating her own Instagram account. There, her passion for photography and travel came together in perfect harmony. Tan set up her Instagram  and began posting photographs of breath-taking landscapes from her personal travels.

It wasn’t long until some of the world’s most renowned travel brands began to approach her, including Travel + Leisure and Forbes Travel Guide. Travel + Leisure were so impressed with Tan’s work, they offered her to be a social ambassador for them. Forbes Travel Guide began posting her photos on their platform. From then on, her success has been on the rise.

However, Tan didn’t initially set out with the aim of becoming an influencer. She started out with the intention of merely showing the places she was visiting via her beautiful photography. But, to her surprise, her work was gleaning more and more attention from brands and people around the world. “For me, it’s just naturally evolved”, she says.

Tan then noticed that her Instagram following was rapidly increasing after posting photos of the enchanting island of Santorini, Greece. Santorini was once a place less travelled, so her audience were loving everything about the pictures.

Tan now travels up to 180 days a year, taking photos of both iconic and otherworldly locations from all around the globe. When it comes to the set-up, the composition and the editing, she does it all. She even takes the photos she’s in herself using a timer. Tan continues to provide jaw-dropping daily content for her colossal 575k Instagram following and never fails to amaze.Her Instagram handle can be found at @sassychris1.

Tan has been bestowed with a clutch of accolades in her career, thanks to her incredible eye for detail and creative concepts. She currently works as an ambassador for Nikon Indonesia Official, and has achievedworld-class titles such as Travel + Leisure Top 8 Luxury Travel IG, and Forbes Travel Guide Top Travel IG.

One of Tan’s favourite past travel destinations was the perfect kick-off into 2020, where she travelled to Saudi Arabia to attend a one-of-a-kind,experience at the winter festival in Al’ Ula. During her stay, Tan attended a concert and took part in an aircraft tour on board a vintage 1940’s plane. “It looks like something from Mars”, Tan describes the beautiful sights from her view in the sky. Tan then indulged in lunch at a pop-up restaurant surrounded by grand, sculpture-like rocks. After enjoying fine cookingprovided by a French chef, nothing came close to her quaint hotel room: a fully equipped RV situated in the heart of the rocks. “Everything is just amazing. I think they are so advanced”, she says.

With Saudi Arabia already being beyond her expectations, Tan further shared that the places she visited are not normally open for the public. As they are part of a UNESCO Heritage site, they were opened exclusively for her trip. “For me, luxury is not all about expensive stuff or money. It’s about access for me. To be able to access places that not everyone can be”, she explains.

Tan is an advocate for following one’s dreams in life. For those looking to get travel inspiration or pursue a career in travel, she shared some words of wisdom in the form of a quote by Ray Bradbury:

“Love what you do and do what you love. Don’t listen to anyone else who tells you not to do it. Imagination should be the centre of your life”.

After working her way up the luxury travel ladder, Christina Tan’s career has taken off in so many exciting directions. Her work’s stunning aesthetic has earned her a spot in the world of travel photography, and no doubt she will be taking part in many more projects in the near future.

Story by Melina Notidou | Photos Courtesy of Christina Tan