Travel Blogger to Travel Vlogger Project
From beginners with smartphones, to professionals with multi-thousand dollar set ups, everyone is doing it these days.
Video Blogging that is.
We even dabble in it a little bit ourselves with adventure travel videos from Running with the Bulls, Diving in the Red Sea and biking in Spain. Check out our Youtube channel for more adventure videos too.
However, much like our own, most travel videos really do suck.
With the rise of online video, businesses have begun to sit up and take notice of Travel Vloggers. But travellers want to watch great videos.
This is why we have created a new partnership called the Travel Blogger to Travel Vlogger (TB2TV) program. We have joined forces with the incredibly talented Greg Brand and his team at Travizeo, the travel video agency, and the wonderful Kelley Ferro from Tripfilms, the worlds leading travel video community.
Greg approached me initially to help get more Travel Bloggers to start Vlogging, as he thought that most already have half of what it takes to become a great Vlogger.
They are passionate about travel AND they know how to research a good travel story.
What we have done is create a Travel Blogger to Travel Vlogger workshop and online course (in the making) for any Travel Bloggers who are interested in learning how to create successful and engaging travel video content. The first workshop is in Brighton this very weekend!
If you are interested then all you need to do is send us an email to hello@travizeo with the subject “Travel Blogger to Travel Vlogger”.
Include a little about yourself and your Travel Blog, why you would like to be a part of this project, and what equipment you already have to work with. Remember, even a smartphone can be used to create great travel videos. There are no barriers to entry and the best part is that we are very glad to say it costs nothing at all.
All you need to do is get yourself to the venue every time we have a workshop. At the moment the physical workshops will be held in Brighton in the UK, every few months. However, we welcome anyone from around the world to enrol in our online workshop so send us an email today.
Finally, we are looking for interested Tourism Boards, DMO’s and Travel Companies who might be interested in hosting a Travel Blogger to Travel Vlogger workshop. Basically, we can host a workshop wherever you are with the invited Travel Bloggers (soon to be Travel Vloggers) to visit and explore your destination over a 2/3 day travel video course.
At the end of the course the Tourism Board, DMO or Travel Company ends up with very unique and incredibly awesome travel videos that they can use to promote their area. If you are a PR company or are interested in finding out more then please email us at contact@fourjandals.com
Follow us on Twitter with the hashtag #TB2TV to be kept up to date. We look forward to hearing from you and getting started on this exciting project!
Category: Travel Blogging Tips
We have been wearing out our jandals (Kiwi slang for flip-flops) on our travel adventures around the world since 2009. We love all types of adventures that make us step outside our comfort zone, in comfort, including surfing, skiing, snowboarding, diving and cruising on our bikes. You can find out more 
Congrats Cole, I’ll be interested to see how this turns out
Cailin recently posted..2012 Travel Yourself Year in Review Video
Cheers Cailin! Fingers crossed we can turn it into a reality. Now I just need to find some more time…
Great idea, Cole! We’ve done a lot of videos over the past two years, and have tons of footage we’ve shot that we haven’t put to use yet. What would be REALLY helpful for us is a workshop on how to edit videos more quickly and efficiently, preferably without having to buy a $500 software package. For us, finding time to edit videos together has been a big stumbling block, but we’d love to learn more. Keep us in the loop, please!
Bret@ Green Global Travel recently posted..Top 5 Argentina Eco Activities (Outside of Patagonia)
Brilliant idea for a video workshop Bret! We have tonnes of footage too that we haven’t found the time to edit yet. Everyone I talk to though just says that they can spend 1 – 2 hours shooting film, then 8 hours editing and they end up with a 2 minute video. So much work involved in creating a unique and FUN video! Will keep in touch with more information as we build it up. The online course is still a work in progress!
Interested in your online workshops Cole – can these be done in our own time or is it a set schedule?
Natalie recently posted..Dudas Village : Introducing Rural Tourism
great point raised by Natalie, I would like to know whether we could take part of these workshops on our own time as well.
nomadic translator recently posted..A year in travel (and life): My 2012 roller coaster ride
The online workshops are still in the process of being designed to be honest! Once they are up we will be in touch Natalie
such a great project! I’m really looking forward to the online workshops, will definitely be taking part from sunny Florida. Keep us updated
- Maria Alexandra
nomadic translator recently posted..A year in travel (and life): My 2012 roller coaster ride
Will do Maria! The workshops online are still a work in progress so could be a couple of months yet…
Seriously guys? This is pretty amazing. Great concept. Great timing and opportunity to learn. Kudos.
Thanks Kurt! Hopefully we can make it successful. Just need some time to put it all together.
Great post Cole! I expressed interest when you first announced the idea for an online course, and would love to be included! Wish it could happen soon because I am heading to Cuba next week and Burma in February – I will try to take decent videos and see what I can do with them afterwards! Keep me posted.
The more raw footage you have Amber then the easier it is to create awesome videos. Just remember that even with 1 hour or more of videos you will likely end up with about 2 – 3 minutes of finished video. Takes a lot of work to edit something down into a finely polished video! We are definitely not pro’s at it either haha.
Well, I will try to take as much video as possible in Cuba! Thanks guys!
I noticed you are a Kiwi I thought the workshops might be near Wellington – guess not! I’m very interested in the online version though – I know I need to do more with video!
Lissie recently posted..My Non-Boring Travel Money Guide Is FREE
We wish we could hold them in Wellington… but currently living in Edinburgh. Should be back downunder in a few months though so maybe we can work together then!
Good stuff. I know I worked a lot with video in 2012 with our YouTube channel, and it’s about to get a lot more coverage in 2013 since we are live blogging the Destination Freedom retreat in March, April and May of 2013 here in The Riviera Maya.
We’re covering the entire three month journey of our participants as they get their location independent lifestyles off the ground, learn Spanish, launch their brands and as we take off on our adventure tour with Snail Adventures on the Spring Equinox at Chichen Itza, plus the daily adventures in and around Cancun.
Then we have the Summer retreat (July, August and September) plus the Winter retreat (November, December and January) before I turn all three of those retreats into a documentary in 2014 covering the growth of the retreat members and their brands/travels/lifestyles around the world.
Video is a powerful tool for those who use it…and it’s much more than just showcasing the adventure activities of traveling.
Thanks for sharing
T.W. Anderson @ Marginal Boundaries recently posted..Comment on Coffee, Capoeira, The Amazon and Beyond by Matheus
The retreats sound incredible! How am I only just finding out about them! Need to do some more research I think…
Good luck with it all though and will definitely be following along very closely. We are still trying to make better videos to increase our own ROI. It is the same as all social media. The more effort and time you put in, the greater the rewards!
Thanks for both your comments
Mostly it’s because I haven’t talked a lot about it publicly!
This first retreat was offered directly to my private newsletter members first before the public, and then I’ve only talked about it on the Google+ and Facebook pages. I’ve invited a few guest speakers (we have a major travel blogger who is going to be here in March with his own group on a tour, and we’ll be meeting up for a day trip and he’s mentioned his interest in guest speaking, but I’m keeping it under wraps for now! Plus a couple of web development and personal assistant friends of mine who are going to be talking/teaching) and we are rolling right along. But no…I haven’t done any major press for anything yet…that comes later!
Once we get into the first retreat I’ll be doing press for the Summer retreat, sometime in April after we finish up our adventure retreat and I have a bunch of photos + videos to share with the public of our progress
On the plus side, we already have two couples who have expressed interest in the Winter retreat back here in The Riviera Maya, and we’re looking forward to continue seeing it grow!
Hard part is deciding where we want to host the Summer retreat!
T.W. Anderson @ Marginal Boundaries recently posted..Comment on Destination Freedom – A Marginal Boundaries Retreat by T.W. Anderson
Sounds awesome! I know a lot of people will be interested in this sort of thing, not just travel bloggers too, so once you get to the stage of wanting a bit more promotion please let us know. Happy to have a guest post from you on our site and we want to hear more about the summer retreat anyway! Might just be a little out of our price range unfortunately.
But if it is in Europe then there is a greater possibility we could make it happen.
Cheers
Rock on.
Well, we are going to open it up (the “where” of the Summer retreat) to a vote in mid-April, I think, to see whether we have more people interested in Veliko Tarnovo in Bulgaria; Medellin, Colombia; or San Cristobal de las Casas here in Mexico. Wherever the next one is, we’ll be doing it somewhere mountainous because I’m not a fan of the blistering heat here in Cancun in the June to September months!
And I’m certainly down for a guest post about it all! I’ll probably hit you up for it in early April, after we’ve finished up the adventure tour for our 3-month retreat and have a good stockpile of video + photos to share around as promotion for the Summer + Winter retreats. Since this is our first one, we don’t have any group photos to share yet! Although we do have a pretty amazing line-up of guest speakers (which I announced a couple of days ago on our Facebook and Google+ pages) for this first retreat, including Wandering Earl, Hans from Pro Web Group, and Janelle from Virtual Assistant Info.
In the meantime, things are nuts here
I actually need to get back to doing Tip of the Day videos, and I’m looking forward to participating in the online workshops you guys are putting together for this initiative. Video is a great way to get people closer together, and I’m loving how well it helps with business also!
T.W. Anderson @ Marginal Boundaries recently posted..Comment on My Secret Life as an Expat Gamer – A Hobby That Travels Well by T.W. Anderson
Sounds great! We will be sure to keep an eye out for more info and definitely keep us in the loop.
Will update you about the Vlogger project as we continue to develop it as well.
I’ll also add that, from my own perspective, video format gives me a lot more ROI in terms of time investments. Every time I put up a video on YouTube I sell multiple copies of our eBooks, plus have significantly more traffic + signups to our various social media pages/newsletter/etc. And I’m not even a “big dog” in the industry yet.
People *love* video, regardless of what it is. You can do adventure videos, how-to videos, tip of the day videos, x destination videos, y activity videos, z people/culture/restaurant videos….it doesn’t really matter, because the current model for social media = people are in love with video content.
So from a purely business standpoint, it’s a great investment/something for people to pick up and learn, if only to help boost income. It’s also just one more notch in your social media belt in terms of finding fans, followers, customers, clients, co-workers, business partners and beyond.
I’ll be signing up, by the way
This is super cool. I wish I have more time to join though. If there’s part 2, I’ll join by then! Good work guys!
DJ Yabis | Dream Euro Trip recently posted..How much does it cost to travel in Spain for 7 days?
Will let you know once we get the online course organised!
Sounds cool, Cole! I know that if you’re interested in doing something, you should start right away, even when you feel you’re not well prepared. In fact, when travel bloggers are interviewed, the one common thing they agree to regret is that they didn’t start blogging earlier. Despite what I just said, I don’t feel I could take on another project right now myself, but I am looking very much forward to see more v-logging from you and others in the future, because videos ARE a lot of fun!!
Vera recently posted..The street art of Barcelona
I need another 2 or 3 of me to get these sorts of projects off the ground! But thanks for the encouragement Vera. I am hopefully starting on the first proposal for it this weekend… and I need to spend a few days editing videos
Well done, Cole. Will be a great project to watch and follow along with.
Michael Hodson recently posted..Check out a Trailer from last year’s UTC
Thanks Michael. I actually have a few ideas I want to chat with you about so will be in touch soon!
I need to get more involved with the video camera, but it really is a huge pain to edit the videos to anything worth showing – and then try uploading to youtube with china internet connections…yikes! Wish I coul get myself to Brighton but don’t think it will be happening this time around!
Dave recently posted..10 Travel Writing Tips When You’re Not Traveling
We always struggle with the editing part too! We get a few hours of footage then have to take 8+ hours to edit it down to 2 mins. It is crazy! Hopefully can get you guys involved in the project somehow.
Great idea. And thanks for saving us all from yet another poorly executed travel video which really is the modern equivalent of sitting through a too long, badly shot, self-indulgent slideshow from Aunt Merediths’ trip to Kissimme, Florida…
Karen @ Trans-Americas Journey recently posted..Best of the Trans-Americas Journey 2012 – Best Hotels
I see so many travellers walking around with their video cameras pointed at everything when they travel. I feel so sorry for their families and friends when they return home and show them EVERY little detail of their trip over 14 hours of video haha.
Sounds like a cool project! I’d jump in if I was around the area. Would love to improve my own video blogging attempts.
Matthew Karsten recently posted..Camera Shy Tarahumara [PHOTO]
I love your videos already Matthew! Your facial expression are priceless
This is great. We love doing videos, but must say we aren’t the best at it. Any improvements would be wonderful. We just have fun doing it. Can’t wait to see this move forward.
Heidi Wagoner recently posted..Mayor for a Day
Definitely sign up for it Heidi and good luck with your vids! We have a few exciting announcements coming soon for this travel video project