Travel blogger struggles to deal with the fame after reaching 4,000 Facebook followers

A travel blogger who yesterday notched up his 4,000th Facebook follower is having trouble coming to grips with his newfound stardom.

The 29-year-old Australian blogger – who operates under the pseudonym The Tragic Traveller to protect his identity from his hordes of adoring fans – celebrated the milestone with a cute Facebook post. However, things quickly got out of hand as more than 20 people – just over half of whom are friends or relatives – reacted to the post.

Now, having gone viral, the semi-employed writer doesn’t know how to handle the accolades.

“It’s just so overwhelming to have made it to the big time,” said the travel blogger, whose website still hasn’t made a single cent in profit. “Now I know how JK Rowling and George RR Martin must feel. It’s tough.”

Despite only averaging 12 likes per post, the blogger seems convinced he’s headed down the same path as troubled stars like Lindsay Lohan or Robert Downey Jr.

“Whenever I walk down the street it feels like everybody’s staring at me,” said the blogger, who doesn’t realise people look at him funny because of his foul body odour and ridiculous haircut, not his fame.

“All I wanted was to somehow make millions of dollars by fabricating ludicrous travel stories and publishing them on my site, which is like a cross between The Onion and The Betoota Advocate, only much worse,” added the man, whose most successful post ever wasn’t even about travel. “I never asked for all this attention.”

Desperate to confirm his status as an A-list celebrity, the blogger paid an independent investigator to test his fame among his key demographic: long-term travellers. However, the results weren’t great.

When shown a photo of the travel blogger, eight out of 10 hostel guests positively identified him. Unfortunately, all eight were convinced he was the homeless man they’d seen digging through the dumpster outside their dorm window.