So how are they doing it?
- Thread starter Baldbiker
- Start date
I agree to the point. It's most definitely an adventure for them, but not in the traditional sense of what we would consider. They're rarely going to get lost in the moment, because they have to be constantly thinking about what is essentially work. There's no disconnect. Experience, sure, but it's still a job at that point. We can go on rides and forget everything and lose ourselves to the environment for days without any real concern. Not so much when you have to be always aware of camera shots, B-Roll, etc.
've had a previous employer fly me to Miami, Washington DC, Quebec City, Montreal, etc. You set up to get what you need done, and you do it, and then you forget about it and enjoy the rest.
Looking at what Itchy Boots does, six hours of footage shrunk down to 10 minutes of video, I'm sure there's plenty of time, maybe even too much time, where she's not even thinking of the camera and just in the moment.
But let's say she's only 2/3rds as into it as I would be, but she's doing it about 100x more than me. I'm no mathematician, but by my count, she's got me beat on time spent enjoying herself on two wheels, so I can't snub my nose at how she's doing it.
Looking at what Itchy Boots does, six hours of footage shrunk down to 10 minutes of video, I'm sure there's plenty of time, maybe even too much time, where she's not even thinking of the camera and just in the moment.
But let's say she's only 2/3rds as into it as I would be, but she's doing it about 100x more than me. I'm no mathematician, but by my count, she's got me beat on time spent enjoying herself on two wheels, so I can't snub my nose at how she's doing it.
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Remember to Have Fun! - Solar Bear 2020 Champion
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Amazing to see how many videos there are in the search "I quit vlogging".
Clickbait? Maybe. Burnout? Most likely.
I really think she has gotten a lot more focused and honed this skill. Her early videos, it was clear she filmed a lot of her ride. Her newer stuff, she seems to turn the cams on when she knows it will be interesting, and shows that bit, but less in between destinations.
I would be really interested in how much time she spends editing and her schedule. When I do rides longer than about 10 days. I put a down day or two in the trip, because the fact is, riding all day, every day for days on end wears on you. Filming or not. The is the reality of long term riding, is needing breaks. I plan to do a trip like hers, and I know that every 4-5 days with riding, I will take a day off the bike. I bet she does it similar to that, and the off day, she edits, uploads, and walks around and relaxes in the place she is stopped. Most long term riders do this, you just can't ride every single day for months.
On another note. Her success isn't 100% dedication. Its a mix of skill, dedication, and luck. I watched every video a guy made doing a 2 year long ride around the world and then AK - Argentina. He made fun videos, but never got above 500 subs. It wasn't for lack of dedication, he filmed, edited and rode around the world for 2 years, and never came close to Itchy's success. It is a mix of factors that had made her so popular, and not all of it is ever her doing.
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Remember to Have Fun! - Solar Bear 2020 Champion
- Aug 4, 2016
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Since there is this whole tug of war between chucking it all vs. being based in a real world most of us know (at least according to what folks have shared about their days jobs). I am going to throw a name out there that started being a biker vagabond long before social media. He is a good example of what @Dewey316 points out "It's a mix of skill, dedication, and luck." The last one really is important.
Scotty Kerekes aka Scooter Tramp Scotty. Been rolling around since 1995 everywhere from Alaska down to Mexico. I have read some of his stuff he wrote about his adventures and misadventures way before he started his YouTube channel. I can say it is not all sunshine, rainbows, and things looking so good. Some of the fellow drifters he meets along the way are interesting too.
Like he puts it -
"The point is, I did not hit the road to impress anyone but myself and had been out for years before the idea came to offer a glimpse of this offbeat lifestyle to the public. Even then it was only in attempt to inspire, entertain, and possibly share with those of similar interest."
"Before the road, I was a roofing contractor who lived in the ‘burbs with three bedroom house, two cars, truck, etc. The story of journey from that place to this is longer than can be told here ..."
Given when he started and that he wrenches at times throughout the years to pay the way - I believe his motivation was his own self. Over 20 years and still going.
Scotty Kerekes aka Scooter Tramp Scotty. Been rolling around since 1995 everywhere from Alaska down to Mexico. I have read some of his stuff he wrote about his adventures and misadventures way before he started his YouTube channel. I can say it is not all sunshine, rainbows, and things looking so good. Some of the fellow drifters he meets along the way are interesting too.
Like he puts it -
"The point is, I did not hit the road to impress anyone but myself and had been out for years before the idea came to offer a glimpse of this offbeat lifestyle to the public. Even then it was only in attempt to inspire, entertain, and possibly share with those of similar interest."
"Before the road, I was a roofing contractor who lived in the ‘burbs with three bedroom house, two cars, truck, etc. The story of journey from that place to this is longer than can be told here ..."
Given when he started and that he wrenches at times throughout the years to pay the way - I believe his motivation was his own self. Over 20 years and still going.
There's working hard, and there's working smart. The two are not the same. The success that working smart brings looks a lot like "luck" to those who don't see what goes on behind the scenes.
I run a website, YouMotorcycle. It's not a very big one, but it's about to hit three million pageviews. That sounds like a lot until you realize it took over a decade to get there lol.
Over the past thirteen years running the website, I've had a lot of people reach out to me. I've featured artists, models, contortionists, musicians, artists, authors, experts, and several adventurers.
Usually by the time they reach out to me, I'm sure they've already reached out to a couple dozen bigger publications before me. I'm sure I'm not exactly on the top of the list. I'm a small fish in the pond.
Itchy Boots was one of the people who reached out to me long before anyone heard of her. I'm sure she reached out to plenty of bigger sites too.
It's amazing how the ones who do the work, to reach out to a wee little site like mine, seem to get "lucky".
It's amazing how the ones who don't do the work, and don't do outreach, don't get "lucky".
It's almost as if those who aren't "lucky" think we live in a field of dreams world where "if you build it, they will come" as if there aren't a hundred or a thousand other people doing the exact same thing...
It's almost as if the people who are "lucky" think that it's their own responsibility to cold-call (or cold-email) everyone they can find because they know it's up to them to make their own "luck"...
Moving forward, when anyone emails me that they would like their content featured, I'll say no. I will not feature your content because you don't need to work hard to promote your content. All you need is luck.
(He said, facetiously lol)
I run a website, YouMotorcycle. It's not a very big one, but it's about to hit three million pageviews. That sounds like a lot until you realize it took over a decade to get there lol.
Over the past thirteen years running the website, I've had a lot of people reach out to me. I've featured artists, models, contortionists, musicians, artists, authors, experts, and several adventurers.
Usually by the time they reach out to me, I'm sure they've already reached out to a couple dozen bigger publications before me. I'm sure I'm not exactly on the top of the list. I'm a small fish in the pond.
Itchy Boots was one of the people who reached out to me long before anyone heard of her. I'm sure she reached out to plenty of bigger sites too.
It's amazing how the ones who do the work, to reach out to a wee little site like mine, seem to get "lucky".
It's amazing how the ones who don't do the work, and don't do outreach, don't get "lucky".
It's almost as if those who aren't "lucky" think we live in a field of dreams world where "if you build it, they will come" as if there aren't a hundred or a thousand other people doing the exact same thing...
It's almost as if the people who are "lucky" think that it's their own responsibility to cold-call (or cold-email) everyone they can find because they know it's up to them to make their own "luck"...
Moving forward, when anyone emails me that they would like their content featured, I'll say no. I will not feature your content because you don't need to work hard to promote your content. All you need is luck.
(He said, facetiously lol)
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Remember to Have Fun! - Solar Bear 2020 Champion
- Aug 4, 2016
- 4,226
- 4,743
- 113
- I ride a
- 2014 Harley Davidson (FLHTK) Ultra Limited
There's working hard, and there's working smart. The two are not the same.
I love hearing that cliche.
I love hearing that cliche.
I love living it!There's working hard, and there's working smart. The two are not the same.
I love hearing that cliche.
I live by "work smarter not harder". But let's not kid ourselves and act like luck doesn't play a part in success.
Look at how many fail vs how many succeed with the same drive to succeed. People can devote everything and not make it, but they're less heard of because nobody cares or ever heard of them.
I've worked with quite a few companies over the years that have either taken off and made it big or have slowly run out of resources trying to make it happen. A lot of people and companies never make it off of the sidelines because they weren't in the right place at the right time.
Back to the main topic. I can't speak for around the world vloggers, but I know a few who travel the states in different genres and they tend to use up their mobile data plans / pay overages, or if it's something not time sensitive, they are bulk uploading and scheduling videos out as they can at places along the way that have good connections.
Look at how many fail vs how many succeed with the same drive to succeed. People can devote everything and not make it, but they're less heard of because nobody cares or ever heard of them.
I've worked with quite a few companies over the years that have either taken off and made it big or have slowly run out of resources trying to make it happen. A lot of people and companies never make it off of the sidelines because they weren't in the right place at the right time.
Back to the main topic. I can't speak for around the world vloggers, but I know a few who travel the states in different genres and they tend to use up their mobile data plans / pay overages, or if it's something not time sensitive, they are bulk uploading and scheduling videos out as they can at places along the way that have good connections.
Im thinking if they are uploading while out there, and I'm positive some of them do, perhaps they have a satelite account, because in places like the middle of the amazon jungle or the Narobi Desert, you can't even get a cell signal much less any wifi, but maybe satelite works anywhere? Many of them often mention having to stop and pick up data cards at the stores in town, so it loads up their data allowance using satelite, maybe even roaming charges? Expensive! I don't know enough about the tech to be sure.
Did you watch the Itchy Boots 1.5 hour long live Q&A she did today?
Around the 11 minute mark she starts talking about doing the filming and editing all on her own.
She says she help for the thumbnails and for her online store.
I watched some of it. Particularly from the 11 minute mark you mentioned. She talks a lot about how she makes videos but very little about how she gets them uploaded. She did at one point say the words "I need to find good internet to upload them". So all I can figure is she is using her laptop and wifi to upload these huge files. It must sometimes take her a few days to do that. I know from experience if I use some wifi from a hotel or coffee shop the wifi signal is so weak I can barely do much more than check facebook.
What kind of device are you using man? When I spoke to Noraly three years ago she was on the latest Macbook. If she's on the latest and greatest tech, which isn't unlikely considering she always has new gear, new motorcycle, and the latest GoPros, her hardware, especially wifi components, will play a big part.
Realistically though, who cares about hotel internet? We' know she isn't reliant on it. She mentions in one of her videos one of the first thing she does when she gets in a new country is get a SIM card... Data plans on dirt cheap in a lot of the places she's traveling through.
I looked up Ecuador to give an example: 4G internet, 10 gb = $10
Her videos are rather long so I would expect them to be at least 10 gb... She can edit on a computer, transfer to an old phone, and upload as she rides for $10/upload when she's anywhere with cell phone service.
I'm assuming that like me, she's actually several weeks ahead of what gets uploaded (e.g. right now I already have my next two weeks worth of videos done)... so if she's ever in a spot with GREAT internet, she can just upload 2-3 videos in one go and schedule them out.
That's the part I'm trying to learn more about, and really the purpose of this thread. Im trying to understand exactly how it works if you just buy a SIM card on the road, which I'm pretty sure is what she does. How do you use it? You put it in the laptop? You put it in the phone? Then what? It allows you to upload your videos to youtube using the cellphone and cell tower service, based on how much data you have? Is that how it works? I know there is a special tool you use to remove and replace SIM cards in the phones, perhaps that's how.
But you are right, she most likely records in at least 1080p/60 but she might be going higher to 4k. Most people's PCs or cellphones don't take advantage of anything higher than 1080p so I can't really see the point, but as you can tell, I'm not a guru at this by any means. In any case, just trying to figure out how it's done mobile with these videos that can easily run 20GB or higher even in 1080p. Many of her vids are 25-33 mins long. I know for a fact with my Bell Internet at home, it can take up to 18 hours to upload a 10 minute video at 1080p. But I don't have Fiber here, just crappy 5/1 service on DSL.
Yikes, your home upload speed is not so good man. What file size is your 1080p 10 minute video?
We're on a 75mb/s download 10 mb/s upload with techsavvy. It takes about an hour to upload a 4.5 gb file, which is pretty average for one of my 4k videos.
Essentially with the SIM card you can tether your internet to your laptop. Fancy way of saying you wirelessly connect your laptop to your phone, and your phone acts as a modem, sharing it's internet with your laptop.
Her videos are in 4K, which I think everyone's should be, because it future-proofs your content.
Once upon a time youtube called 720 "HD", it doesn't anymore, I think you get my point.
Going back to the Ecuador example - 4G internet, 10 gb = $10
Let's say a 15 minute video is about 10 gb.
The upload rate for 4G can be 8 to 10 mb/s or about the same as what I have with techsavvy at home.
It will probably take her about 2-3 hours, and cost her about $10 to upload a video from on the road in Ecuador
Let's say a 15 minute video is about 10 gb.
The upload rate for 4G can be 8 to 10 mb/s or about the same as what I have with techsavvy at home.
It will probably take her about 2-3 hours, and cost her about $10 to upload a video from on the road in Ecuador
I'm planning on touring Italy in 2023. In Italy I can get unlimited 5G internet for the equivalent of $35 CAD (vs the $55 CAD I'm spending for 16 GB here in Canada). My upload speed will be 70x faster than even what I get from home, meaning my videos could take as little as just a couple minutes to upload from the road.... all for $35/month.
Plenty of high speed mobile data all over the world. Totally possible to do it all yourself like Noraly does.
Yep, the Georgian Bay triangle, which is only a few hours drive from Toronto, seems to be the forgotten hole that they didn't bother upgrading any internet. I have extensively researched all possible alternatives and I'm told even by Allstream which is kind of like a "broker" who has checked all possible internet sources says what I have with 5/1 service (5mb/s and only 1 line) is the best they offer here. It's aggravating because there is a small 2 horse hamlet about ten miles south of town that has fiber. I don't even think we can get Rogers cable here and based on their service track record not sure if I would want it, they are just as bad as Bell. So, Im stuck with what I have.
It has me wondering though, if I could figure out how to use the cellphone off my wifi at home to upload, would it be any faster? LIke in your diagram, I wonder if I could make it work that way.
P.S. You have to excuse my lack of tech savviness, I grew up without cell phones or internet.
Quick edit, I was mistaken 5/1 means 5 mb/s download and 1mb/s upload.
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