While traveling by van has a somewhat idyllic appeal on Instagram, one passionate traveler has revealed that being on the road can sometimes be terrifying.
Katya Vorokhobova, 27, from Florida, has built a growing following on social media thanks to traveling around the world in her converted van and motorcycle.
But one of her The most seen The TikTok clips, where he uses the handle @tropicalrussian, capture the terrifying moment he heard gunshots while relaxing in his truck one night at a campground in South Carolina.
In the video, which has so far been viewed more than nine million times, Katya can be seen playing the guitar, before a gunshot in the dark makes her stop mid-song.
Katya Vorokhobova, 27, from Florida, captured the moment she heard gunshots while in her converted van in South Carolina and the terrifying clip quickly went viral.
In the superimposed captions, he explains: ‘The only time I feared for my life in my truck. I was minding my business, learning songs on the guitar… deep in the woods of South Carolina.
“I was very happy to find a secluded place by a lake, but there was no cell service.”
While playing the guitar, Katya said she “started to feel like there were people around,” so she lowered her voice to sing.
That’s when he heard the gunshot and gasped, ‘What the fuck.’
At first he said he didn’t know what to do, so he decided to stay calm and ‘evaluate the situation.’
The overlapping captions continue to detail Katya’s inner thoughts: ‘There are hunters out there, that’s a little strange.
“I’m going to close the doors of my van.”
Katya went to put away her guitar when two more shots were heard.
Katya works as a project manager for an environmental consultancy as well as a content creator.
Katya, who works as a project manager for an environmental consulting company as well as a content creator, reveals that she ended up yelling at strangers to “go hunt somewhere else and they left.”
Hunting is allowed in South Carolina, but only with the correct license and required permits.
After Katya posted the video of her baffling incident, it quickly garnered thousands of comments from concerned viewers.
One commenter wrote: “That’s not hunting, those were warning shots for YOU… you should leave the area, southern people are territorial.”
Another concerned viewer mused: ‘Parking a van next to a secluded lake with the doors open and no cell service is WILD!! This sounds like a horror movie waiting to happen.’
In response to the outpouring of concerns, Katya posted follow-up videos defending her actions.
Katya has gained a growing following on social media thanks to her travels around the world in her converted van and motorcycle.
In one clip, he explains: “A lot of times, just standing your ground and saying, look, I know my rights and I know I’m allowed to be here is enough.”
‘Most people are not murderers. I know the media likes to scare people.
‘(But) I try to stay away from all that stuff because I’m here living.
‘Of all the crazy things I’ve done, of all the crazy places I’ve traveled alone.
‘I have crossed borders on foot alone when I was a blonde girl and I am fine. So always listen to your intuition, but don’t let fear and paranoia stop you from living your best life.’
Katya is currently in Costa Rica where she rides her motorcycle throughout the country.
Unlike South Carolina, he says, he hasn’t had any problems so far and is “having the time of his life.”
‘I never felt unsafe. “I never heard gunshots in the middle of the night,” she concludes.