Artist and U.S. Air Force veteran Kristopher Anderson knows how to grab your attention — and keep it. His cinematic TikToks chronicling his travels have garnered him more than 300,000 followers eager to learn more about his adventures. So when several fans encouraged him to enter Marriott Bonvoy’s “30 Stays, 300 Days” contest, he listened.
If he won, he would have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to act as a TikTok correspondent for the loyalty program. The 30-year-old would go on a series of at least 10 trips around the world over the course of 300 days. How could he resist?
“People kept tagging me [on Marriott Bonvoy’s video],” he says. “I thought, ‘Oh, man, that looks crazy. It would be dope to win.’”
But it wasn’t merely his love for exploration that inspired the South Carolina native to apply for the dream gig.
He was also driven by the honor it would be to inspire others — especially within the Black community — to travel, a feat he feels is best accomplished by example.
“I’m a black male traveling by myself in these places that people seem to fear,” he says. “But when you see the love people from different cultures show me in my videos, and [I am] having genuine experiences, it has a greater impact.”
Kristopher continues, “I think it’s better to show people rather than just talk on social media about how you can go wherever you want, or you can do this, or this is my opinion.”
A chance encounter Kristopher had in London and captured for Marriott Bonvoy’s TikTok is a perfect example. What began as his desire for a cool pic inside a traditional-looking barbershop led to a lengthy discussion with the barber about life, art and travel.
“This is one of the reasons I love to travel so much,” Kristopher says. “Even though I was by myself, I felt like I wasn’t [alone] because I met a person I’d never met [before], and we just had a genuine conversation.”
Kristopher’s journeys with Marriott Bonvoy have also fed a creative awakening first ignited three years ago by an inner voice that convinced him to study photography and enroll in a Bachelor of Fine Arts program at Art Academy University in San Francisco.
Thus, it’s no surprise Kristopher sought art in all of its forms during his travels.
In Chattanooga, Tennessee, he stayed at The Edwin Hotel, Autograph Collection, which houses a vibrant collection of 75 works, mostly created by local artists.
As a fledgling composer who has taught himself piano to score his own videos, Kristopher then visited Nashville to immerse himself in the wealth of live performances.
“It was a whole scene with a bunch of people just doing their thing,” he says of the city’s dozens of bars featuring musicians and buskers on every street corner. “It was just cool to see how much music encompasses the culture.”
In Paris and London, he roamed through the museums. He saw the “Mona Lisa” at the Louvre and, as a fan of Greek mythology, strolled through the Galeries des Antiques, home of the Venus de Milo.
He learned a few things, too. As a man used to operating at full throttle, it took seeing the works of the old masters like Rembrandt and Michelangelo up close to discover a valuable truth: It’s okay to slow down.
“I’m learning that what makes you a great artist is patience,” he shares. Great work and attention to detail take time.
As a whole, Kristopher’s incredible journey underscored a philosophy he’s always held dear.
“What matters is human connection,” he says. “Be the energy that you want to receive. If you want to have a great experience, and you want to have a good time and meet good people, that’s how you should be towards people. Stay open, joyful and interested.”
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