See how the 'stern tourist' from Belarus, who became famous 12 years ago, lives now
On the morning of December 2, Igor Varakhobov, a resident of Vitebsk, woke up famous. Thousands of people on Threads were discussing how a tipsy young man was walking home. However, he is far from the first Belarusian to become an internet star overnight. More than ten years ago, this happened to Vitaly Zyalkouski, a native of Maladzyechna.
It all started when a user of the American website Reddit noticed similar photos of the Belarusian on VKontakte. In them, he was always serious. Then, the photos of the «stern tourist» went viral. His friend Leonid told «Zerkalo» how the man is doing now.
Vitaly gained worldwide fame in March 2013. At that time, the American BuzzFeed, the British The Sun wrote about the 32-year-old Belarusian, and he was also featured on the Broken News Daily show on Yahoo.
— More than 150 media outlets wrote about my photos and caricatures during four months of popularity. There were offers to participate in advertising projects from Volkswagen, travel portals, — he said in 2018. — A successful presentation of the Samsung Galaxy S4 was another round of popularity — four television projects: two English-language and two in Minsk. User-generated images, which appear in newspapers as often as my photos, are no less popular.
Back then, Vitaly was dating a girl named Tatiana, who later became his wife. The Belarusian was serious even in his own wedding photos.
Tatiana and Vitaly Zyalkouski after marriage registration. Belarus, 2018. Photo: Vitaly's page on vk.com
More than 12 years have passed since the stern tourist's star ignited. The traveler is doing well, says Leonid. He still lives in Belgium, in Antwerp, and works as a chief engineer in a design bureau.
— Tatiana is an economist, — says the interlocutor. — Six years ago, their son Sergey was born. In Belarus, this name is very common, but in Belgium, as far as I know, it is considered quite exotic. The boy is in first grade, loves to build things and watch the creation of large models.
Vitaly still travels a lot. Photos from new trips periodically appear on his VK page. This autumn, he published photos from Spain and Estonia. In the shots, the tourist is still as serious.
— He said that on average he visits about ten countries a year. He tries to include new cities in his trips, but there aren't many famous places left in Europe where he hasn't been, — Leonid describes. — And for him, they can't compete with his beloved Italy or Spain. Vitaly doesn't see the point in traveling outside of Europe, in particular. He says everything is here. Besides, as far as I know, he usually flies for three to four days to see a city and visit the sea. He combines city breaks with nature.
According to the man's friend, in 2025, the traveler also visited Finland and Croatia, and spent a lot of time in Belarus.
Vitaly Zyalkouski in Estonia, 2025. Photo: vk.com/zelkovsky
Leonid once asked why his friend publishes so few photos from his trips now. He replied that he has already visited most of the beautiful cities in Europe and taken selfies there, so now he photographs himself less often. But if there's an opportunity to take a good shot, he takes it.
— By the way, Vitaly said that some people still recognize him. Mostly these are those who used the internet during the peak popularity of the stern tourist, — the interlocutor recalls. — There was a case when a man approached him in a store and asked if he was the same Zyalkouski. Both Vitaly and the salesperson were a little surprised by the unexpected encounter.
Leonid says that his friend loves not only travel. Among his hobbies are sports (cycling, basketball, weightlifting) and fishing. This year, the Belarusian bought a fishing rod, but so far he hasn't traveled anywhere in Europe with it.
— Vitaly, as a person, is not stern, but on the contrary, curious and very sociable, — concludes the interlocutor.
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