More and more people are getting into the video blogging (or vlogging) industry of a plethora of topics or niche. If you’re a traveler or an outdoor enthusiast and thinking of starting a vlog, then you came to the right place. Whether you do it as a hobby or to earn money, it’s important to know the basics of how to make one.

Here are some tips on how to make travel and outdoor vlogs that will capture many viewers.

Invest On A Decent Camera(s)

Newer smartphones nowadays have built-in cameras that can give you decent video quality that you can use for vlogging. But, if you’re in for the long haul and have the budget, it’s still better to invest on the best camera for vloggers like the Canon PowerShot Digital Camera. For a more convenient adventure and underwater shots, you can get the Best Action Camera. Step up the game by having aerial shots using Holy Stone Drone Camera. You can even invest in the Crosstour Dash Cam that you can place in your car to capture your road trip.

Show Yourself and Your Story

It’s not easy to face the camera and talk, especially if it’s your first time to vlog. It can be awkward but remember to just be yourself, smile directly into the camera lens, and share your story and your point-of-view (POV) of your trip. Treat the lens (your audience) as your friend and genuinely share what you got. Let the story flow, but make sure to have a script or pointers of what you want to share regarding your travel and outdoor adventure. Most of your viewers can see and feel your sincere interaction with them and will love you and your videos in the process.

Show What The Place Has To Offer

Location is very important in making travel or outdoor vlogs. Establish where you are exactly whether it’s at the beach in Miami, the Canadian mountains, cities in Japan, road trip to Kansas, the woods in Colorado, or in wherever local, regional, or international place you were, as long as you show the beauty of it on your own POV, including the scenery, locals, lifestyle, and food. Remember to also emphasize the background especially in panoramic settings such as on top of the mountain, so people can get a glimpse and appreciate what stretches on the horizon.

Involve Other People

You should engage and include other people in your vlog, to make it friendlier and more humanely. The locals, your family, friends, or travel buddies add flavors to your content. 

Discover Hidden Areas

More than the famous and common tourist spots, what will make your travel vlog extra special is by sharing to your viewers hidden or uncommon but equally interesting places that not many people know. The “secret spots” such as the virgin island, waterfalls in the middle of the woods, or a cave, are what many are interested in.

Make How-To Outdoor Contents

If you’re an outdoor enthusiast and wanting to start a vlog, then making videos teaching your viewers how to set up a certain camping tent, how to hunt or fish, or how to start a campfire is a big plus. You’ll be amazed by how many would watch instructional videos and get thousands to millions of likes and shares.

Get Accessories For Your Main Shooter

Now that you have a vlogging camera, you need some accessories to make the quality of your videos even better to attract more viewers. A sturdy Bontend Flexible Vlogging Tripod that acts as both a compact monopod so you can hold the camera while walking, and a tripod that you can place steadily to hold your camera if you want to focus on the specific subject or scene without the shaky movement. Speaking of, that’s a problem when moving around while recording, unless if your camera has an OIS (optical image stabilization) that lessens the shakiness. One tip is to walk slower to reduce shaky movements.

Record When Light is Available

One of the things about travel vlogging is compact and lightweight recording, without having to use bigger cameras, lights, and other equipment that professional TV crews use. As you notice, most travel and outdoor vloggers do it during the day or when natural/artificial light is available in the area not only because of video brightness but also for lighting and editing purposes (less hassle). Unless you’re filming for a dark or horror theme (which also requires light), people would stray from videos that are too dim.

Choose What To Film

There are a lot of things happening and a bunch of places to capture because you’re too excited to record and share it with everyone. But you don’t have to film everything and be glued to your camera all the time. Enjoy the trip, the experience, and live in the moment. You can capture bits, of course, but you’ll know by heart the proper moment when you can start talking in front of the camera and sharing your experience while on the trip. That’s why it’s important to have a script or at a list beforehand of what you want to film and the story you want to tell others.

Invest On A Quality Microphone

Aside from video, audio quality is also important in vlogging. Since you’re recording outdoors, unnecessary background noises can be heard and your voice can be inaudible, especially if you’re not using a good quality camera. Poor audio can ruin an amazing video, so make sure to filter the noise by buying the best Noise-Cancelling Vlogging Lapel Mic with wind muff.

Edit Your Videos

Your vlogs may be genuine, but don’t upload raw footage. Edit the video first, make it pleasing to watch, remove clutters, add some music, and a bit of effect, if needed, to make it more professional looking. You can use video-editing tools available out there and make your vlog content much better.

Choose Good, Fitting Music

You can incorporate some music to set the vibe of your vlog entry. You can use chill tropical music while on the beach, or adrenaline rushing when doing extreme activities. It’s up to you as long as the music fits the content. You can get free music on Youtube audio library or in any other royalty-free music websites (remember to credit the owner of the songs on your video description).

Keep Your Vlog Short

Don’t bore your audience with long videos showing the same (or multiple) things at once. Learn to cut your videos short and make it at least 5 to 10 minutes per content, or no longer than 15 minutes so as viewers won’t lose interest. If you have a longer trip and have a lot to show, you can make a part 2 or 3 for the next vlog uploads, but be sure to make it short as well and make the topic or perspective a bit different from the first part.

Be Consistent with Your Uploads

Consistency is always the key. Becoming a travel and outdoor vlogger is hard work, that comes not only by producing quality contents but also the quantity and upload schedule. You can do daily vlogs (if you can manage it), but upload content at least once a week or adopt a regular schedule that fits you. Just keep it consistent.

Connect with A Community of Travel and Outdoor Vloggers

Being with content creators of the same passion as yours will boost you, be able to learn more, meet new friends, and can even do collaborations for cross-promotion of both your travel vlogs. Learn from their experience especially when you’re starting as they can help with improving your content. One tip is to do a collab with newbies like you or those with the same number of subscribers as yours.

Have Spare Equipment

Travel vlogging requires a lot of recording and especially when going far outdoors for a couple of days. If you’re planning to do it as often as you want to, then you need spares to keep going. We’re talking about a spare battery for your main camera, the Best Portable Power Banks to charge your devices if you’re low on juice, SanDisk 256GB Memory Card for extra memory for your videos, and a Seagate 2TB Portable External Hard Drive to store your vlogs in bulk.

Being a travel and outdoor vlogger is not easy, but with the right tools and knowledge to start off, it can be manageable and fun. You have to produce quality content, be consistent, and keep on learning and improving your videos so more and more people will watch.