Trying to Find My Purpose, DETOURS.

[gilded mantle]

Im building a channel called detours. A travel channel. I want to see where life takes me and I am open to travel anywhere at almost any time to see what happens next.

https://youtube.com/@DetourswithJeff?si=ZnVyMN3aNRZMaOYi

I believe the travel creates experiences, which creates knowledge, which leads to a fulfilled life. I think everyone should experience travel, either big or small. I think it would be spectacular to do it where with i or the guest does not know what is going to happen in order to get their raw reactions.

I am documenting this journey and would like to hear thoughts on different things I could do. How I could monetize this, network with other creators to collaborate, either join them on a detour or bring others in a detour. If it’s possible to get sponsorships to go to any locations/destinations. To not only have a good story but to feature locations.

My problem is, where do I start to make this happen. I am slowly getting to 5000 subscribers but what’s the next step.

Any thoughts or help would be appreciated! What am I missing to really make this stand out.

[runic dagger]

Congrats on your success! I'm scratching to get to 1000 subs (currently at 780), but I have traveled A LOT.

I only watched your latest video and you have a really nice editing style.

My suggestion would be, can you build more of a story around your travel videos? You might want to check out Luc Forsyth https://www.youtube.com/@LucForsyth/videos he is a cinematographer but talks often about crafting a story with a defined beginning, middle, and end. (Mark Bone also has some good videos on this.)

*Edited to add - Luc has grown his following from 500 to 50,000 in under a year.

[gilded mantle]

I will absolutely check that out... Thanks... Maybe I am wrong but isnt time a beginning middle and end. Having one day in a cruise port... yes as I am typing that I see how vague it is and that I can do better. Well I am working on a twist to some of these to hopefully have even better story... Always working... I am publishing a new video right now that I think is one of my best, most well balanced videos... but we shall see how it does! https://youtu.be/r65T1hfpQ8k

[runic dagger]

That is a GREAT question! In a true story there is the "Hero's Journey" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hero's_journey where the central character(s) desire something, e.g., croissants at a bakery in Norway. But they run into obstacles, e.g., the Uber driver tried to kill us. And eventually overcome, e.g., we did finally make it and it was the best croissant ever!

That is a ^^^ weak example but you can read more on it... Also, I film talking head dog training videos for my wife so I'm right there with you on the struggle for story.

[gilded mantle]

Yes I think you are soooo correct that everything needs a solid purpose and goal. I’m going to have to focus on that more. I have seen the hero journey but maybe I need to rewatch it.

[runic dagger]

I should add, if your vids are meant to be educational then perhaps focus a bit more on teaching the audience about where you are at.

[torpid orbit]

Detours on a travel channel to me means that you go to one place, perhaps you'd find something of interest from another place/country then go film there and edit it succinctly as if its one video instead of two

For those seeking ideas try prompting Google Bard or chatGPT4:

Prompt:
"Give me 10 YouTube travel detour ideas"

Prompt:
"Give me 5 bucket list opportunities for each of those results"

[gilded mantle]

I think it might be time to get chat gtp4

[torpid orbit]

It's inexpensive in the bigger scheme of things, it's something like $20 a month plus taxes, in the UK this converts to £16.25 a month including taxes and the bank conversion charge on my last payment out.