Starting a Travel YouTube Channel in 2023: Is It Too Late?

Starting a Travel YouTube Channel in 2022: Is It Too Late?

If you’re reading this then there’s a good chance you’ve thought about starting a travel YouTube channel. Or perhaps you have recently started a YouTube channel and now you’re wondering if there’s still space in this ever-saturated online world for a new vlogging maestro. This is a question that I get asked a lot and so I want to take this chance to answer it from my own perspective.

Firstly, let me introduce myself. My name is Jordan Simons and I started a YouTube channel back in 2014 – that sounded a bit more like a YouTubers anonymous meeting than I meant it to. Anyway, that YouTube channel failed. I never put the time and attention into it and it didn’t really go away. So I started another YouTube channel in 2015 and now I’ve been doing YouTube full-time ever since. I have been making a full-time income from being a YouTuber for the past 4 years and have been lucky enough to travel the world doing so.

“That’s great for you, but now it’s too late.”

This is a sentiment I get from people all the time. People like to tell me that because I started in 2014 – a time not a lot of other people were doing it – it meant that I was destined for success and it must’ve been 10 times easier then than it is now. The truth is that I both agree and disagree with this. There were definitely less people that wanted to be YouTubers, but I wouldn’t say it was easier to make an income from it. In fact, there are more opportunities to make money online from video content creation now than there ever was before.

The reality is that yes, there are a lot more people these days with stars in their eyes dreaming of being the next big Travel YouTuber, getting paid $10,000s to travel to a paradise island or make the next tourism board’s advert for Brazil (kudos to Sam Kolder btw, mad skills). While that dream has become harder each year, purely because of the amount of competition out there, the dream of becoming a full-time content creator is something that is still very much attainable. That’s not to say you won’t be the next biggest travel YouTube star and set the world on fire with your new transitions and sexy editing style that no-one’s ever seen before, but it’s pretty obvious that not everyone is going to be the next superstar.

Become a Niche Travel YouTuber

What you can do however, and this applies to every sphere of content creation on the web right now, is become more niche. By this I mean, choose an aspect of travel that you love and make that your thing. The more generic your channel is these days, the less it will stand out and the more likely it will drown in the competition. After all, who needs to see another poorly edited travel vlog of all the nicely presented food you ate while in Bali? (*cough* definitely guilty of this myself *cough*).

Differentiate yourself. Position yourself differently to what is currently out there. Find your niche.

Now I know this is easier said than done for a lot of people. If you already know your niche and have found exactly what you want to focus your YouTube channel on, then congratulations as you have already won half the battle. If you haven’t found it yet, then really try to think about what it is you love about travel, why you want to start a YouTube channel in the first place and the kind of people that will be watching your videos. Try to summarise your YouTube and social media presence into one sentence, like a mission statement. Then, whenever you are not sure if a video or piece of content fits with your original mission, refer back to your mission statement to make sure it fits within your niche.

A friend of mine has done this fantastically well over the past year or so, relating all of her videos and content back to her specific niche of cute, food travel. Just look at her videos below and of course if you like the content then don’t forget to subscribe too!

Find a YouTube strategy

Gone are the days where you can just vlog any part of your day and the video might attract 100,000s of views. This was the case a few years ago and it led to a bunch of people doing daily vlogs as they travelled the world, as quantity was largely more important than quality at the time. These days however, it is definitely the other way around. There are already so many unprofessional videos out there and millions more uploaded every minute, so quantity just doesn’t cut it any more. What matters these days is quality.

That being said, there is no point in uploaded ONE really beautifully put together, mind-blowing video per year and then saying ‘but you said quality right?’ No, that will most likely get you no-where as most people will never discover that video. Instead, it’s about getting the highest number of really quality videos onto your YouTube channel. Each video should be the best of your ability and should be uploaded with a consistent and frequent schedule.

If I were you, I would try to ask yourself this question – how many videos can I get out per year that are my best work? The frequency will depend on lots of things but if the answer to that is once a week, then stick to once a week. If the answer is once or twice a month, then stick to that. The most important thing is to have a a frequent upload schedule of your best work, that way people know what to expect and when to expect it.

Always Be Improving

The most important thing when creating content on YouTube, and anywhere else for that matter, is to constantly be learning and improving. Each video should be better than the last, whether that’s from using a new editing technique, improving your filming or just tweaking your storytelling. As long as you are always improving then people will continue to watch your videos and come back in anticipation of the next.

This is a marathon, not a sprint. YouTube is going to be around for a long time, with video content more popular than ever – it’s going nowhere. Take your time to improve your videos and deciding to start a travel YouTube channel in 2022 will be the best decision you ever make.

So is it too late?

In case I haven’t been clear enough already, it is definitely not too late to start a travel YouTube channel in 2022 In fact, the perfect time to start is now. All you have to do is differentiate yourself from what’s already out there, follow a long term strategy and constantly be improving your content.

There’s no secret to success on YouTube – all you can do is continue to create content, work hard and eventually you will see the rewards.

Are you thinking about starting a travel YouTube channel? Let us know in the comments below.