What it’s Really Like Being a Travel Content Creator: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
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Being a travel content creator is often times glamorized on Instagram. And don’t get us our wrong, it comes with some perks. But in today’s highly requested episode of the Passports and Coffee Podcast we are going share what it’s really like being a travel content creator. Let’s talk about the good, the bad and the ugly!
So before we get into the juicy details of what it is like to be a travel content creator, let’s first explain what a content creator is. A content creator makes and provides content for digital channels, such as Instagram and YouTube, that targets a specific audience.
We are both content creators in the travel space. We share our adventures and travel tips and tricks with our respective audiences. Our audiences are like us, full time corporate world millennials who are looking to escape the 9-5 one adventure at a time. We think it is important to share what it is like to live a healthy work-life balance and that you too can prioritize travel while staying on a budget.
Why we started YouTube?
One of the most popular questions we both get asked is how and why we started a YouTube channel.
Cheraya began her channel as a way to document her year long sabbatical. It was a way to give her friends and family assurance. As you can imagine as Cheraya was embarking on her travels, there was a sense of anxiety and fear for her safety as she was traveling the world alone for a year. But most importantly, it was a way for her to look back at her year. It was a way to relive all of her memories.
Kayla traveled extensively prior to starting her YouTube channel and the idea to start documenting her travels on YouTube came from all of the questions about her travels from friends, family and co-workers. Kayla thought it would be better to show them her travels instead of just talking about them. So one year, Kayla’s dad got her a GoPro from Christmas and that is when Kayla’s YouTube channel started. What started off as quick 2 minute montage videos with no subscribers has now grown to a travel community of almost 4,000 travel enthusiasts.
How do we come up with content ideas?
So how do we come up with our content ideas? This is a good question. Both of us come up with content ideas differently. Cheraya comes up with her video ideas for “selfish” reasons. For her they are videos that she personally wants to make depending on where she is traveling to. But she feels like the her subscribers have trust in her to produce the video that they want to see.
Kayla on the other hand has a very different approach to creating content. When Kayla is planning on traveling to a destination, she will search YouTube to see what videos are trending for that destination. During her research on a certain destination, if she notices that there is a certain video she is searching for and can not find it, she will plan on making that type of video. For example, when planning a trip to Peru there was not many videos on PeruHop. Kayla saw this as an opportunity to create the video that she was looking for knowing that others were looking for the same type of video.
With that being said, Kayla also likes to create videos for “selfish” reasons as well. For example, if you have been following along her adventures, you would know she is obsessed with bears and has been dying to see one in the wild. So she created a whole video about bears and finally seeing them in Smoky Mountains National Park. Was this video a huge success? No it wasn’t. But it was a video that she wanted to create for herself.
Another way we come up with content ideas is by traveling to destinations that we know will perform well and creating as many videos as possible. The one destination that will always perform well is Mexico. Mexico content does really well. So we have both traveled to Mexico and created several videos that we knew would would perform well for our channels.
Do we create content specifically for our subscribers?
We feel like this question is one where we try really hard to make sure we are creating content that our subscribers want to see. Because lets face it, if it wasn’t for our subscribers, we wouldn’t be able to have to ability to create the content that we do.
Kayla is really good at engaging her subscribers across her social media platforms by asking what they would specifically like to see in a destination, creating polls on her Instagram story and making sure that they feel like they are part of her decision making when it comes to her content. Kayla is fully aware that not only is she creating videos for her own personal memories but she is also bringing her travel besties along with her through her YouTube videos and she wants to make sure they are videos that they would want to see. Her goal is always to inspire fellow corporate world millennial to book that trip so her content reflects that.
What is it like to have a video perform well on YouTube?
Here is the thing with YouTube, the algorithm like most platforms, it is always changing. Sometimes it is hard to determine what video will perform well and which one won’t. With that being said, there are some strategies that you can implement to help a video perform well. Some of those strategies include a click bait thumbnail, a tittle that ranks in search and a video with SEO (search engine optimization).
You can have a video that has amazing SEO, a great title and a thumbnail that would make someone want to click on it, but that doesn’t always mean the video will be a success. A lot of the time the success of a video is pure luck.
So what is it like to have a video perform well? Let’s put it this way, it feels like you have hit the jackpot! We both have videos that have performed really well either right off the bat or has steadily gained views since it’s upload to make it one of our top performing videos. It feels great when you see a video doing well because you know you created something that people enjoy watching and it also lets us know that our hard work has paid off.
How do we deal with Hate comments?
Putting yourself on the internet opens you up to criticism and hate. Even with our small following, compared to other larger influencers and content creators, we have not escaped the wrath of the internet.
So how do we deal with criticism, rude and hateful comments? We have very different approaches to how we deal with the rude comments and criticism but we both collectively can not believe how incredibly rude people can be on the internet. It blows our minds that people can so freely leave a hateful comment on someone’s video or post that they would never consider saying to our face.
Kayla’s approach to hate comments is to laugh it off and then respond with a snarky comment. Cheraya on the other hand is the nicer one who does not engage and typically deletes the comment.
Does the negativity affect our mental health? Simply put, no it doesn’t. When you put yourself on a platform the be judged you need a certain level of confidence knowing that not everyone is going to like you or appreciate the content you are producing. But we are fully aware of how these rude and hateful comments can negatively affect someone’s emotional well being and mental health.
How do we overcome the fear of filming in public?
Let’s face it, pulling out an actual camera with a microphone can bring a lot of unwanted attention. And this attention can cause us to feel nervous to film in public, so how do we overcome the fear?
This is something that we still work hard to overcome every time we film. We wish we could say we are so confident that we don’t let the side eyes and weird stares bother us, but it does. Over the years, we have come up with ways to make filming in public easier.
A great way to help us overcome the fears of talking to a camera in public is to wake up early and film when no one is around. This has allowed us to feel more confident in front of the camera, as well as get those b-roll shots with no one in the frame. Another way is one of Cheraya’s favorite maneuvers and that is to hide behind a bush or building. It’s also easier to film when you are with someone else who is also talking to a camera. You won’t feel so weird or out of place.
Today, we live in a very digital world. When you are traveling, everyone is glued to their phone. People are talking to their Instagram stories or creating TikToks out in the open. So it’s safe to say most people are not paying attention to you as you are filming and if they are, we remind ourselves that we will never see these people again and move on.
What are the Pros and Cons of Content Creation?
There are so many pros and cons that come with content creation and its something that you need to weigh before thinking about getting into content creation.
Lets first talk about the pros of content creation. One of the biggest pros of content creation is documenting all of your travels to look back on. It is amazing to have this video memory of where you have been. There are so many memories that we have captured and forgot about until you rewatch your videos.
One of the biggest cons for both of us is feeling as if we are never 100% present during our trips. When we are traveling, sometimes it’s hard to disconnect from this mindset of always creating content. Instead of seeing the world with our eyes, we see it through the lens of our camera or phone. Being so focused on making sure we film everything sometimes hinders our experience of a destination.
Another con of content creation is carrying heavy equipment. People fail to realize what it takes to create a YouTube video and amazing instagram posts. What you don’t see is us carrying a 20 pound backpack up a mountain with camera(s), a drone, a tripod and a microphone. There are a lot of moments where we wish we just had our phone and took a photo or two to share with friends instead of having to film everything.
The last con is the burn out. Burn out is real. When you are constantly in the mindset of always creating content, eventually the ideas stop coming, it takes longer to edit a video and you no longer feel inspired.
When we feel uninspired we have to remind ourselves it is ok to take a break, refocus and remember why we started this in the first place.
We are so glad that we were able to give you a little more insight on what it is like to be a travel content creator. Creating content is a lot of hard work. It is made to look easy on the internet but that is far from the truth.
We hope that you enjoyed this little inside look at what it’s like to create YouTube videos while traveling. Now that you know how we document our trips we want to know how you document yours!
Thank you for listening!
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Kayla: YouTube | Instagram | Facebook | Blog
Cheraya: YouTube | Instagram | Facebook | Blog