A content creator has faced heavy criticism after a video of her swimming in the sea in the midst of a thunderstorm has done the rounds online.
Talia Schreiber, 21, filmed herself splashing around in the Caribbean Sea in the middle of the night during an intense storm earlier this month, smiling at the camera as it switched to shots of the lightning flashing in the sky, with several roars of thunder heard.
An Economics major at the University of California, Santa Barbara in the US, Talia has been travelling during her summer break from school, venturing across South America and ended up camping at Cabo San Juan beach in Tayrona National Natural Park, Colombia - which you can see in clips during her viral video. You can view the video here:
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Talia was with three other travellers at the time when she decided she needed to take a late night dip in the sea.
She posted the footage of her late night swim, which has garnered tens of thousands of views, with users on the social media app quick to criticise her for doing something they viewed as 'one of the dumbest things' they had seen, as you could die from carrying the same thing out.
Reflecting on her actions, the backpacker said that it may not have been very responsible, but highlighted that she was 'willing to take the risk' on her trip.
The British Red Cross states that as water conducts electricity, you should avoid any situations if a thunderstorm beckons.
"If you hear thunder or lightning, then immediately exit any body of water; this includes swimming outdoors in a lake, river, or the sea or an activity like kayaking. If you are in a boat or vessel, you should return to shore as soon as possible," they advise.
The Met Office also state on their website: "If you're outside during a thunderstorm, you should avoid water and find a safe, low-lying, open area away from trees, poles, and metal objects. You should also avoid activities like boating, fishing, or golf."
At least two people are killed by lightning across the UK each year, but Talia is still unfazed about it all and is sticking by her guns.
"I guess swimming in a storm is not the most responsible thing to do. But the lightning, it wasn't that close, it was pretty far away and it's very common in Colombia," Talia insisted.
"I made sure not to swim super, super far out or anything like that. Honestly, I was willing to take the risk. I think when someone watches a video, a lot of the time they don't know the entire story or they can only see what's pictured in the video."
She then went on to highlight that she's stayed alive so far on her solo travels to 20 countries, and that she is not 'as naive' as she may appear online.
"I respect people's opinions, I always love the feedback but it's also not going to change anything I decide to do in the future," she stated.
Speaking more on her actions, she said that if you 'take a deeper look', you'll realise that the things that 'seem really scary or dangerous', aren't really, according to her.
"Sometimes you just need to take the risk to experience those powerful feelings and just be present and grateful."
She was having a day off from volunteering at a Colombian hostel when she filmed the video, revealing that it was 'exciting' to see thunder and lightning as she was from California.
"It was like the perfect tropical storm. There was this thunder cracking and lightning constantly for hours and I was like, I need to swim," she explained.
"So I was swimming in the sea and it was so peaceful and it was just so grounding and it made me feel so present because there's nothing like nature to make you feel so alive."
Talia spoke more about experiences like this which makes her want to keep travelling, and explained how hearing the waves and the storm was 'beautiful', and made her feel 'grateful to be alive'.
"Just so alive and at peace almost, just very content. It just felt like all the pieces of the puzzle in my life were fitting together and I just felt very at peace and grounded and present," the student added.
She revealed that she swam for around an hour, though the storm raged on all night.
In the comments section of the video, a lot of people didn't feel the same as her, as one said: "Looks nice but it's not the smartest thing to go swimming in a thunderstorm," with a skull emoji.
Another wrote: "One of the dumbest things I have ever seen! Holy s**t"
And a third commented: "Not gonna have many more of these if you keep taking dips with your cell phone during thunderstorms lol. That lightning is close too."
Topics: Travel, Social Media, Viral, TikTok, US News
Joshua Nair