Video
Day In The Life Of A Youtuber In Sri Lanka 🇱🇰
· 23 min · Watch on YouTube
Day In The Life Of A Youtuber In Sri Lanka 🇱🇰
A deliberate day-in-the-life from Weligama, and the most informative video in the cluster about how Harry actually lives on the road: surf at 7:30, breakfast, a co-working space, an interview, and dinner in Mirissa with Mac, Ali, Luke and another creator.
Obs: this page is based on auto-generated subtitles. The surf instructor’s booking details are published in the video description, so under the bundle’s rule on advertising she is not named here.
Where he is living
Not the $7 hostel bed of the previous video — a room of his own at 3,000 rupees, which he says he did not book himself and doesn’t explain further.
- Basic and fine by him: spacious, fans rather than air conditioning, and wi-fi that isn’t working well.
- On a main road, but his room is at the back, so the noise doesn’t reach it.
Surfing
- Weligama is one of the best beginner beaches in the country, per his instructor, for two reasons: the size of the waves, and that you don’t have to go far out — which makes it safer.
- 3,500 rupees for the lesson, planned at 90 minutes and run as 60 with a break.
- He pays over the going rate on purpose. You can get a cheaper lesson by asking someone on the beach, and his reasoning is that a lot of the cheaper instructors are not good, and this one clearly knew what she was talking about.
- The lesson is mostly unlearning. He has surfed before without ever being taught, and the session goes on correcting habits he had built — which is his own stated lesson: bad habits are very hard to unlearn, so get taught before you have any.
- The technique, as coached: don’t lie too far forward or the nose digs in and you go over; arch your back; paddle; pop up on a three count.
- He gets up, briefly, and blames his balance. His plan is to swim and surf every morning instead of using a gym.
The working day
- A co-working space 100–200 m from the beach, which he says exists because the town is full of digital nomads.
- A television interview for a Pakistani channel, fitted in later in the day.
- Vegan and health food everywhere — the surf-town default. Breakfast is a smoothie bowl (banana, pineapple, mango, passion fruit, coconut milk) and a cacao-caramel frappe. He says he could do this for a while but not permanently.
- He is reading a book on how to start meditating, having tried and failed several times.
Mirissa, and dinner
Five to ten minutes’ drive from Weligama, and busier: he says it is very touristy and he has hardly seen a local. White sand, hanging lights in the restaurants, palm trees, and fresh fish laid out at the front — tiger prawns, butterfish, red mullet.
- A prawn curry with rice, dal, vegetable sides and poppadom-like crackers, which he rates and finds barely spicy.
- About $16 a head, which he calls a lot for Sri Lanka and then explains: this is a beach restaurant in a tourist town, the prices are what they are, and you should not come to this stretch expecting local prices.
- He says outright they came for the setting rather than the food, and the sunset is the thing he keeps filming — one of the best he has seen.
Two smaller notes: the drive over turns into tuk-tuks overtaking each other, and he says on camera not to copy it; and he and Mac are both sunburnt because neither of them has used any sun cream.
Key moments
[00:30]The room, at 3,000 rupees, and the wi-fi that isn’t working.[02:02]Why Weligama suits beginners.[02:35]The lesson: nose position, arching the back, the three count.[04:40]Unlearning what he taught himself.[05:11]3,500 rupees, and why he didn’t take the cheaper option.[05:42]The co-working space, and the digital nomads.[08:16]The meditation book.[09:19]A TV interview for a Pakistani channel.[12:42]The overtaking, and his warning not to try it.[14:49]Mirissa beach and the fish stalls.[19:31]The prawn curry.[22:09]About $16 a head, and why the beach costs more.