Tips to Help You Start Your Journey as a Travel Vlogger

Man has always loved traveling and exploring new places. Ever since the time of great explorers, documenting one’s travels was an important part of the overall experience. These days, with better technology, documenting one’s travels in the form of video logs (or vlogs) is becoming increasingly popular. Some popular travel vloggers are making millions off their travel vlogs. Here are some tips for people who want to consider travel vlogging.

Choose Your Platform Wisely

These days, there are several video sharing platforms. However, if you want to establish yourself as a professional vlogger, YouTube is the ideal choice for you. Being the largest video platform, most people looking for any video are more likely to search for it on YouTube. The fact that YouTube is owned by Google ensures that your videos posted here show up in Google search results as well, giving you better visibility.

In the case of travel vlogging, it is difficult to wind up a video in a minute or two. Considering the dwindling attention span of the average person today, a video longer than 2 minutes is not likely to be watched on Facebook. On Instagram, one would need to click on the ‘Continue Watching’ option and move out of the app to watch longer videos.

However, when a viewer is on YouTube, they have the specific intent of watching a video, and they are already primed for the experience that you will offer. This will ensure a better attention span of the viewer and result in higher engagement.

Decide on the Equipment

Before you begin vlogging, you need to be equipped with the right gear. An ill-captured video cannot be made into an attractive video even with the best of tools such as VideoCreek or iMovie.

Camera

As someone who will be traveling (often through rough terrain and unfavorable weather conditions), you need to have a sturdy camera, has good video quality but is not bulky. Shooting with a bulky camera often intimates people around, especially when you are filming your surroundings.

GoPro is the best option for travel vloggers as they are waterproof, easy to handle, tiny, and durable. The filming capacity is excellent, and you can shoot a time-lapse, slow-motion, and other creative videos in up to 4k resolution.

Mount Device

As a vlogger, the stability of your videos plays an integral role in deciding the overall video quality. To ensure that you do not compromise on that, make sure you use a dependable tripod. These days, there are several flexible tripods that double up as selfie sticks and those are the aptest ones for professional vlogging. 

Storage

As a travel vlogger, you will be filming for every day of the trip, and that would mean a lot of video footage and the need for devices to preserve them. The golden rule here is to invest in high-quality SD cards and hard disks. 

Samsung, SanDisk, Lexar, and Transcend are some of the top storage brands, and it’s worth the extra money to buy these SD cards and hard disks. Remember, if you lose footage due to story error, it will be near impossible for you to re-film them, and that is why it is always better to be cautious about the storage. 

Shoot the Video 

Now that you have a YouTube channel and all the equipment, set out on a trip and start filming. Here are some tips that you should keep in mind while shooting a vlog.

Be Authentic

When you are traveling and exploring a new place, you will not like everything that you see. It is important to be authentic and let your emotions flow free. If you say something inappropriate, it can always be removed at the editing stage.  While this may seem difficult at the initial stages, continuous efforts at being your natural self will help you get camera-confident and talk to your viewers just like you would do to a friend.

Make Your Vlogs Tell A Story

If you want to have your viewers engrossed in the video and watch it till the end, you need to plan out the flow of the video and stick to it while filming. Have a poignant intro where you capture the viewer’s attention and get them to be curious about the video. Considering that 20% of people starting a video does not go past the first 1- seconds, it is important for you to set the mood early in the video and have them hooked.

In the heart of the video, talk about how you are feeling and what is happening to you as you show your viewers around. That way, they will feel involved in the video and will stay tuned for more. In the end, have a proper ending that connects the story. The better you end the video, the higher are the chances of your viewers checking out other videos in your channel and subscribing to it. To ensure that you do not compromise on quality here, using an outro maker will be a smart choice. Check this link right here now.

Edit the Video to Perfection

It is important to ensure that you do not bore your viewers with too much rambling and cause them to give up on the video midway. Being passionate about something often causes one to talk too much and such fluff needs to be edited out. Understand that just because you filmed something does not mean that it should go to the final vlog.

When in doubt over an edit, ask yourself if the clip is adding value to the vlog and making it more interesting. The answer to this question should tell you what to do. Also, focus on audio editing and choose an interesting genre of background music that sets the mood of the video. The use of redundant and regurgitated sound is a big turn off for most viewers.

Like every other creative skill, vlogging is something that you will master with experience. As you are all set to set out on this journey, the tips discussed in this article will show you the way.