A solo traveller who receives “a lot of hate comments” has taken a savage swipe at one of her bullies.
Leonie Buchegger is regularly the subject of trolling, which she believes is due to the fact “her lifestyle and personality doesn’t feed everyone’s imagination of how a woman should be”.
But the 21-year-old, who has 551,000 followers, always stands her ground.
She recently clapped back at a comment in a video that has since attracted 1.6 million views.
“Who’s even going to reproduce with you lol. I don’t think you’re going to have any kids, sis, just being honest here,” read the comment from the troll.
Leonie replied: “Not everyone can, including you.”
A series of stitched-together clips of Leonie having fun on her travels accompanied her response, as she further addressed the comment in the caption.
It read: “Who do you think you are, and what exactly was your goal with that comment.
“This screams immaturity, insecurity, and desperation.
“Dude, if you think you can put women down by leaving useless remarks like that, I’ve got news for you – it won’t work on me, not in the slightest.
“My self-worth isn’t tied to male validation, and I don’t exist to look ‘reproductive’ or ‘attractive’ to anyone, especially not men.”
Leonie’s journey has been travelling the globe for four years, visiting over 60 countries by herself.
Her adventures have taken place in Europe, the US, South America, Asia and Oceania.
“I get a lot of misogynistic comments because my lifestyle and personality don’t feed everyone’s imagination of how a woman should be,” she told Need To Know.
“I’ve learned to distance myself from them and take them with humour, I like to provoke social norms and challenge people‘s beliefs.
“The hate comments don’t hurt me because I know that they are only a reflection of these people.
“All they do is project their [the trolls’] insecurities, fears, guilt or shame, jealousy and so on.
“I recognise that and don’t take it personally.”
Leonie, who hails from Vienna, Austria, is currently in Peru.
Being a solo traveller has helped her become stronger, more confident and open-minded.
She said: “I‘ve had mostly good encounters [in real life] and would say the world is full of kindness.
“There have been times when I was stranded with no reception, no nothing in the middle of nowhere, and I wouldn’t have made it without the help of kind strangers.
“As I always like to say – strangers are just friends you haven’t met yet.
“[But] as a young woman solo in the world, eventually you will be confronted with people who care more about themselves than your own well-being.
“The positives of travelling solo are [that] you learn to embrace solitude, get to do life after your own schedule, explore and experience an eventually new version of yourself, meet other like-minded people who took the leap and probably make some lifelong friends along the way.”
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