Vlogs are all over YouTube and they’re a fun way to get a peek into other people’s travels. For those unfamiliar with the term, a travel vlog is a conversational, informal travel video that’s published to social media. The word vlog is a contraction of video and blog.
These videos are often on the shorter side and act as casual travel video guides and a source of information for different destinations around the world. Travel vlogs give you first-hand insight into a destination and are often entertaining. They’re packed full of info an at the very least let you escape to a different place for a little while. The videos mostly emphasize food, lifestyle, adventure, activities, and accommodations while showcasing the vlogger’s personality and the essence of a destination.
How to become a travel vlogger
Being a vlogger seems like all fun and games, but if you want to do this professionally, it’s definitely work. It is fun and rewarding work but it’s still work.
Here are 3 main challenges you’ll face when you start making videos as a travel vlogger:
Getting seen. We all started from zero and it can take time to build up your following. Many people give up before they’ve given the whole travel vlogger thing a fair shot. You have to know how to create content and videos that people want to see and then know how to package that video so the content is engaging and attractive.
Ask yourself, “Why should people care about this video? What’s in it for them? Think about your content and figure out if it’s inspiring, educating, or entertaining the viewer. If not, change it up.
Money. From equipment like a camera and mic to the cost of travel itself, it’s not always affordable to travel. Yes, as you grow you might be able to partner with tourism boards and hotels, but in the beginning most travel vloggers self-fund their trips.
My rec would be to start local to wherever you’re living and go from there. You may not think your home city is interesting, but find a new-to-you aspect to show the world. The best travel vloggers can make any destination captivating.
The learning curve. As you start to learn how to become a travel vlogger, you’ll see right away there’s always more to know and do. Editing, social media, and filming techniques is just the short list. Take it one task at a time so you don’t get overwhelmed by everything there is to learn.
A successful travel vlogger covers everything from traveling tips and advice, destination guide and information, and much more. Through travel vloggers, viewers can travel anywhere in the world from the comfort of your home. Travel vloggers capture the pure essence of different locations. They capture the beauty of nature, the culture of the place, food and local practices, and make it look effortless.
Another great thing about travel vlogs is that they help you in your own travel decisions. Tourists can get an insider look at a place before committing to buying a flight or booking a hotel.
Travel vlogs allow the viewers to see everything in detail including the experiences and information about the prospective place they’re interested in visiting. Travel vloggers educate and show us the places they visit in a way that a travel guidebook cannot.
To get started with travel vlogging, all you need is a simple camera and passion. You will also need video editing software or an editing app so you can polish your clips and edit them into an engaging story. In the editing phase, you can add music, voiceover, subtitles and anything else your travel vlog needs to feel professional and polished.
Here are some tips for beginner travel vloggers.
Learn from other travel vlogs:
This step is essential to becoming a travel vlogger. It’s a constant learning process, so watch various travel vlogs from YouTube or any other social media platforms and learn how others approach vlogging. Let people’s videos inspire you but don’t copy them. Many travel vlogs are perfect for learning purposes and you can use the tips and tricks you learn from others’ videos to help inspire your own content.
Keep your videos short:
Always try to keep your videos short, engaging, and appealing. Don’t go on and on and show long cuts of footage for the sake of it. You’ll lose your viewers’ attention if your edits aren’t done with purpose. There’s no recommended length but a best practice is to keep the video well under 15 minutes unless there’s a good reason for it being longer.
People have short attention spans so pack as much as you can into a shorter video. Seven to 10 minutes is a perfect length. The talking segments in your videos should not take more than 30 to 40 seconds.
Don’t forget to add the YouTube end screen in the last 10 seconds of your video along with cards along the way to make your travel videos more engaging for your audience.
Travel as much as you can:
You must travel to your favorite destinations to create great vlogging content. But keep in mind it is not necessary to travel to expensive destinations. Just get started and hop in your car and visit the lesser known places in your town.
What’s boring and normal to you might be super interesting for your audience so no need to spend a lot of money and travel far. When you are just starting out, work with what you have and start close to home.
Create a captivating profile:
You can choose YouTube or a Vimeo account or any other platform to share your videos and make sure your profile on any of these platforms is flawless. That means make sure it’s complete and free of errors. Don’t forget to explain what you do, why, and what the viewer can expect and how often.
Take advantage of the “about” sections that platforms offer and link to any other platforms you have such as your blog or social media. If done well, you can reach thousands of people through your laptop, thus overcoming the barrier of distance between you and your end user.
Network with other travel vloggers:
Networking is the special sauce that will help your channel grow. Connect with other travel vloggers with similar size followings who are traveling to the same places where you are, those who you admire, etc.
Learn from them and be generous with your own time. If they’re open to it, maybe do a collaboration down the road so you can mutually benefit from each other’s audiences.
Don’t do it only for money:
Don’t go into travel vlogging for the money because you’ll be disappointed in how long it takes to build up your channel and you’ll quickly burn out.
Instead, work hard and let your following grow organically and see if money comes from it down the road. Travel vlogging is a great way to show your expertise and passion and monetizing that takes time and experience.
Be dedicated and consistent:
If you’re trying to become a successful travel vlogger, you must be consistent in your work. You need to keep looking for more opportunities for exciting content and then keep showing up consistently.
We all know that practice makes perfect, so let your audience know how often to expect new videos and when and then stick to that schedule. There’s nothing worse than a vlogger who is super motivated at the beginning and then disappears. Don’t be one of them.
Learn some basics of video editing:
You do need not hire a video editor to make your videos look professional. With so many editing apps and software available online, you can get professional-looking results simply and affordably.
Learn from other YouTubers and online tutorials about the best editing practices and then just open the software and start editing. You’ll learn as you go. The hardest part is just getting started.
Focus on sound quality:
Sound quality is so important, so check it before posting on any social media platform. The quality of your mic matters and viewers will be more likely to leave your video for low quality sound than they will over low quality video.
Bad sound is not forgivable! In some cases, when you’re speaking in your video, there can be background disturbances, echoes, a tinny sound, or other distractions that make viewers stop watching. Invest in a decent mic and your audience will thank you.
***
Finally, hope you enjoyed my list of the tips that every beginner travel vlogger needs to take into consideration in order to become successful. Videos are so trendy and popular at the moment and will be for years, so use them as a way to connect with an audience from any place around the globe.
Travel vlogs can get you the attention you’re looking for to build your brand online, educate people, and connect with others through a mutual passion. A profession and strategic travel video will help you to gain popularity and build a reputation reputation in the travel industry.
Above all, do it for the passion of it. If you aren’t in it for the beauty of the craft, your audience is less likely to connect with you and your channel won’t grow.
Here’s what I learned when my YouTube video went viral!
Leave a Reply