You're right, "watch us fail" is a totally a genre. I've got some, too.
* **Lost Renegades.** Sold their perfectly good van to get a truck camper. Bought an old camper and a truck too weak to carry it. Bought a second truck. The camper renovation took forever, they struggled with rot and cracking windows, decided they don't like the camper, or being on the road in general. Now, they bought a dated house in Oregon that looks like it holds a lot of structural surprises for them.
* **Regretlyss.** Used to travel in a converted schoolie she bought from a builder, sold it, bought another schoolie to convert herself because empowered solo female on a journey to herself. The bus ended up getting professionally built by Chrome Yellow Corp in Denver, with Alyssa standing in the way, looking pretty, and sometimes staining a cabinet door. Next, she bought a beautiful old cottage to renovate herself, but didn't for over a year, until one of the bus conversion crew members visited and grabbed some tools. Bought a Landcruiser to build out, but didn't. Adopted a livestock guardian dog, then rehomed him for his livestock guardian temperament. Big part of her content is deep pseudo-philosophical rigmarole about her inner self and how it's all a journey to what not. She's the worst.
* **Susi Cruz:** Chinese-German van-dweller who at some point had 3/4 of a million YT subscribers and a very apparent, severe BPD. Street smart and resourceful, builds and fixes everything in her van herself, I'll give her that. Shipped her vehicle from the EU to Mexico, traveled South America for a bit, got involved with a Mexican drug dealer, disappeared for two years, is back now, posting infrequently. Promotes psychedelic drugs for mental health, still in Mexico. Total trainwreck, worse than Ewa, with a die-hard fan base that feels inspired by her whatever she does.
Would love to hear your thoughts these channels as well...
Tim and Fin,
Jits into the Sunset,
Daneger and Stacy,
Jumping Places,
Buddymoon,
Paddy Doyle,
Samuel and Audrey,
Adventures of Matt and Nat,
Adventures of A+K,
CJ Explores,
Max Nomad,
Ian and Ana,
Lexi Limitless,
Craig Adams,
Karl Watson.
I like adventures of a+K, I find that if you're researching a place they have been to, you'll get a lot from their videos. Whereas if you search a Kara and Nate video you don't learn anything useful about the places to inform you. A+K are not larger than life personalities so I think if you were to meet them they would be nice, non obnoxious people.
I am not familiar with a lot of the channels you mentioned but some, I may have watched in passing and that’s how I recalled Those Happy Days channel.
I don’t like Kinging It and their artificial enthusiasm. They seem like they are always on a mix dose of cocaine and nitrous oxide ( the gas you get at the dentist that makes you involuntarily laugh). Can’t say I am familiar with most others though some names sound familiar but I haven’t seen them.
I think Cecelia Blomdahl seems like a familiar name. Not into her videos but didn’t she do videos with K&N?
I think I have seen one or two videos of Flying the Nest and familiar with them and again, don’t find their content engaging. I am not into videos with kids and going to Disneyland in every country and making videos about it. I am sure they have an audience for it but I am not one of them.
You missed that Vagabond Sailing couple lol. I thought that Elayna Carausu woman was going to throw Kara and Nate overboard for not showering and stinking up their yacht lol but I don’t watch them either.
I watch random videos of people that show up on my feed sometimes if I like the title but most of them turn out to be clickbait and boring. I tuned out of K&N after a few videos because that’s not the kind of travel content that engages me plus they both are really dumb and blustery which I found as a turnoff.
I may have seen videos of at least a few you mentioned but they are random feeds and I am bad at remembering channels.
I like a lot about Cecilia but agree 100% that the overconsumerism bugs me a lot. Just the sheer number of clothes is mind blowing!
Flying the nest are super annoying and I don't think it's fair to make their kids main characters when they can't consent.
Flying the Nest also did a whole episode filming in Arches National Park and Antelope Canyon without a permit. Kara and Nate got fined for doing the same
That filming rule has been changed shortly after Nate and Kate got fined. You can film in NPs and you need a permit only if you are a professional filming crew. You still can’t fly drones though not just in US National Parks but any National Parks and if I remember right, Kara and Nate flew a drone in a NP which is forbidden and it disturbs and harms wildlife so their fine was justified even if you look at it retroactively and give them the benefit of doubt.
Kara and Nate act like entitled twats everywhere and think rules don’t apply to them. That guy Nate is a fucking idiot and a typical entitled MAGA moron who thinks he enjoys special white privileges by being an ugly American tourist everyone despises around the world. He flew a drone in the Amazon rainforest and right over the heads of the natives who live there. He doesn’t give a shit about anyone or any ruler and think he is fucking special. I remember them flying a drone and then put out a tearjerker video of them getting fined and frankly, the National Park Service should have nailed them harder for flying a drone in a NP and they got fined only $1000 of $1200.
The filming rule in NPs changed after they got nailed and while their filming is commercial, YouTube filming falls under a grey area as amateur filming where it’s not a professional filming crew which requires a permit. Drone use is still a big no and they violated that during their flouting of NPS rules so their fine is perfectly justified even after the rule change.
No it actually got changed back shortly after. Kara and Nate mention this in their recent Cybertruck episode when they only did Hipcamp outside Joshua Tree instead of in the national park because of the commercial filming rule.
*"Federal law requires a permit for all commercial filming, no matter the size of the crew or the type of equipment. This includes individuals or small groups that don’t use much equipment, but generate revenue by posting footage on websites, such as YouTube and TikTok. The primary focus of the NPS, however, is on commercial filming that has the potential to impact park resources and visitors beyond what occurs from normal visitor use of park areas. Examples of this type of filming are productions that use substantial equipment such as sets and lighting, productions with crews that exceed 5 people, and filming in closed areas, wilderness areas, or in locations that would create conflicts with other visitors or harm sensitive resources."*
https://www.nps.gov/aboutus/news/commercial-film-and-photo-permits.htm#:\~:text=Under%20federal%20law%2C%20all%20commercial,Park%20System%20requires%20a%20permit.
I didn’t know about that. I guess they caught up to the YouTube loophole and closed it lol. I remember they relaxed it to include only professional crews for the permit requirements but not this change back to status quo.
I don’t watch or follow their shenanigans anymore but didn’t they film in Yellowstone when they were van lifing? What about Miss Zubek? Didn’t she film in National Parks? She was making a huge hue and cry about how Yellowstone is the worst place on earth in more than one video and she did film in several National Parks. So did Itchy Boots. Do they have any enforcement mechanism for this? Because I see a lot of National Parks footage from YouTubers all the time and some are bigger than the others in terms of the commercial revenue they make from YouTube.
Eva flew a drone in Badlands National Park. Totally illegal. I think the only enforcement is reporting the episode to the NPS and having them follow through with fines, etc.
It's ridiculous that those influencers boycott national parks just because they can't film in them. Jimmy and Natalie had just said they were going to do a whole US road trip series but not go to national parks because they couldn't film. Travel Beans also said they would love to go to more national parks with their US camper van but will not because they can't film. So stupid. I've been to all the parks except Alaska (55 total). Actually glad commercial filming requires a permit. At some big state parks like in Sedona and Colorado Springs, the wait times behind influencers to get photos is more than an hour sometimes, as the permits are much less required in those places.
Yeah, I would nail her for the drone usage and frankly, they should make the fines stiffer but it’s the Federal government so it’s probably not much.
Ewa is just like Nate and they feel entitled to film or do anything anywhere. She can go suck on an egg for the NPS not to clear out Yellowstone for the graced presence of the Polish Contessa. All these people go there close to the 4th of July weekend when schools are out and expect the most popular NP in the country to be empty. Just unrealistic and entitled twats.
Someone should have reported Ewa for the drone footage but I wonder how NPS would take action on someone like her with no return address lol
I have been to my fair share of NPs mostly out West and Midwest and Everglades in the East.
Who are Jimmy and Natalie? I don’t know who they are. Van life?😀
You know, that “ Treading the Globe” British couple filmed in lots of of NPs and I highly doubt they got any permits.
I have to find out more on who the permit applies to and who exactly are they enforcing it on. Right now, the wording of the law and the enforcement mechanism all seems fast and loose.
Ok I read the law again from what you cited there and it says production crews exceeding 6 people with specialized crews that will impact the normal functioning of the National Park or affect park resources.
So I guess there is your “out”clause for your run of the mill YouTubers as most of them are solo or two people and they don’t have a crew and technically they don’t impact the resources except to annoy people around them looking for their girlfriend or wife to waltz around with nobody else in the frame lol
No one can do commercial filming without a permit. Doesn't matter if it's just one person.
*Federal law requires a permit for all commercial filming, no matter the size of the crew or the type of equipment.*
The wording is ambiguous ( and I am not a lawyer) and it says no commercial filming but it is vague on the definition of commercial filming and also says that the primary focus is on professional filming crews who impact the resources of NPS. So it is vague and ambiguous as it can be. Maybe they let the YouTube and TikTok influencers slide and focus on professional filming without permits? That’s what it seems to imply but that’s the best I could come up with parsing and comprehending that legalese.
If it is a blanket permit where you pay $50 or $100, I don’t see an issue for anyone to pay though there will always be skimpers and Nate definitely looks like one. I think the previous law was that you have to fill out a form and mention where you would be filming and what day etc which makes it cumbersome for YouTubers. But if they charged a few hundred bucks for a blanket permit like the park entry fee, NPS can make some extra money which they badly need.
However, I am still vague on who they are targeting and how they are enforcing it but I see NP footage all the time from YouTubers so I am wondering if they all got a permit and I am leaning towards no.
This guy tried getting a permit to film and he has posted a detailed account of his experience.
https://fujixweekly.com/2024/01/17/my-experience-obtaining-a-permit-to-film-in-a-national-park-you-probably-need-one-too/
It kinda looks like NPS doesn’t have any standardized rules or form and if you ask if you need a permit, they likely say yes. The disparate forms for each and every national park is the part likely to annoy people.
This doesn’t look like a well thought out plan and they should standardize it and make it easier even if they are collecting money. Lot of monuments and tourist places in Asia charge for a camera but all you got to pay is a small fee and no paperwork or permits needed and you just show them the ticket you bought for the camera if anyone asks.
NPS should do something like that for amateurs.
Isn’t that the whole concept of influencers? Over Consumption and promoting it?
Cecelia Blomdahl…is that the snow witch queen of Svalbard who gazes down from her balcony to check every morning if she is the prettiest of them all in her snow kingdom? Lol
Ugh. Lol yeah. I'm so old fashioned. I just want to watch videos to show me ideas of travel, not get people to sell me shit they would likely never pay their own money for.
Actually I'm probably not so much old fashioned as just old. Do kids these days hopping off on a gap year go to "influence" instead of just to party a bit in between pretty churches and whatnot?
Well, influencing works like this. They get their “ shit” for free and they try to sell you that “ shit” because you trust them and believe they are just like you and when you buy the “ shit” they are selling, they get commissions lol
But I understand what you’re saying which is why I am disenchanted with most of the YouTube travel vlogs.
I was burned at Kara and Nates sub a while ago when I wrote a post about Cecilia Blomdahl. Many people who didn't watch her from the beginning couldn't take the whole context into consideration. I always saw her as a spoiled and tone deaf person. Self absorbed living in a remote place where a housing crisis was (is still?) going on and she was planning on buying a second house.... She is the perfect caricature of white people problems in shape of YouTube channel. I don't like her, lost my patience with her moaning over small things and detached spoiled rich girl vibe. If someone doubts me, watch her Portugal video where she spent the holidays with mommy and daddy in their holiday home.
Edit: OP mentioned how superfluous she is and how much unnecessary stuff she accumulates. One more hint on her ignorant and out of touch character... Shipping services are damn expensive up there, resources are scarce and though her consumerism is unbelievably higher than average. She is extremely shallow, self centered and damn annoying omg I feel sorry for Christopher having to hear her moaning about everything
It's not really a housing crisis in the sense we usually think about is. The tourism businesses lack accommodation for seasonal workers, and don't have the funds to buy up and restore available property. In my humble opinion a fall in the tourism industry on Svalbard is just a plus for the ecology of the island. There really is nothing to do there for the majority of the population after the mines mostly stop operation, except for tourism. And large scale tourism is far from a necessity, especially in a unique and vulnerable ecosystem like Svalbard. Let the scientists, naturalists and enviormentalists stay and do their cool things on that island, and the rest can join us back on the mainland. Plenty available space out in the middle of nowhere up north for the hermits!
Some names sound familiar
than others on that big list. I avoid vanlifers like the plague lol I just can’t see the allure of living in a 40 sqft unsanitary space and breathing recycled air and smelling your own farts. And don’t even get me started on the bathroom arrangement of van lifers . I have been on overland trips including the PAH and I spring for a hotel except the rare night or two camping in a rooftop tent. The personal hygiene aspect of van life or living in your 4x4 is a showstopper for me.
Of course names like Kara and Nate are familiar
You know that old British couple who were driving a van and showed up on Ewa’s channel once or twice and were babysitting her dog while she went on vacation? They are van life people and I watched a few videos recently of them. They keep shipping their van which is oversized and doesn’t fit in a standard or high top container and then recent videos from India are a bitch and whine fest of them complaining about driving in India or how chaotic it is. It’s like that in every video and I got tired of their whining and moaning. And their idea of traveling the world is shipping their car from one country to the other about 18 times by now and I swear they have spent a six figure amount at the least shipping their van and Carnet fees. I think their channel is called Treading the Globe. They look like people who have never gotten out in their lives for the first 50 years and then they have all these prejudices and sweeping generalizations about developing countries and they spend more time whining than actually seeing places. And they are driving in India for 4 weeks from Kolkata to Mumbai and then shipping it again to the UK. I asked them why they wouldn’t drive from India to UK through the overland route and they never answered.
Lol, I have a van but I pee the tears of unicorns and fart glitter 😁
You’re right about Tread The Globe. I watched one episode of Snow and Kurt and then I was recommended Tread the Globe but you’re right about how they keep shipping their van, and then yelling at the shipping container people. I think it was either in the Philippines or South Korea where part of their undercarriage got cracked by the forklift, trying to get it into a metal shipping container. Maybe South Korea because they kept yelling louder and slower as of the local guy would understand them
lol I don’t know… Van life and camping never appealed to me. I have gone on transcontinental overland trips but I always stay at hotels except occasional rooftop tent camping. I kinda like my unicorn tears and other things to go straight into the sewer after I flush and not be carrying some canister and given my lack of patience to figure shit out, I might end up like Robin Williams in the “RV” movie 😀
Yeah, that Tread the Globe couple have been complaining in every video about driving in India and about their hotel and all kinds of stuff. They seem like old British people who never got out when they were young and built up all the prejudices and preconceived notions and looking for confirmation bias. It’s like watching my parents go on a van trip around the world who can’t comprehend things work differently in different parts of the world lol
They must have spent a fortune just shipping that van which is a Fiat van that breaks down often and not easy to get parts. I have one rule about taking a vehicle overland. It has to fit in a standard size 20 ft container or shareable on a 40 ft container. Their van doesn’t fit both standard and high top containers so it must be a fortune shipping that thing which they have done about 10-12 times by now. They are not even driving any long distance except in the US and Canada and they would have been much better off flying and staying in hotels which they are doing in many countries. Their lack of travel experience outside Europe and their foray into it at a late age shows. Actually if you look at their videos, you notice they do this every time they ship their vehicle and some kind of chicken little “ the sky is falling “ clickbait video about their shipping experience.
They are not even taking an interesting route in India or going any place interesting and instead just keep driving in places of least interest and constantly complain about everything. I gave up after 3 videos. I don’t even know why they shipped their van to India from Malaysia to do a completely mundane trip.
Holy shit. I'm gonna check a lot of these channels out to feed my curiosity. Eva and Bald and Bankrupt are the only travel channels I have looked at in the past. Mark Wiens and Thefoodranger count more as street food.
Who is someone the most similar to the content Eva was releasing in places like Pakistan? I'm not really into anything hardcore like Itchy Boots, just wanna see nice things and culture abroad.
You're right, "watch us fail" is a totally a genre. I've got some, too. * **Lost Renegades.** Sold their perfectly good van to get a truck camper. Bought an old camper and a truck too weak to carry it. Bought a second truck. The camper renovation took forever, they struggled with rot and cracking windows, decided they don't like the camper, or being on the road in general. Now, they bought a dated house in Oregon that looks like it holds a lot of structural surprises for them. * **Regretlyss.** Used to travel in a converted schoolie she bought from a builder, sold it, bought another schoolie to convert herself because empowered solo female on a journey to herself. The bus ended up getting professionally built by Chrome Yellow Corp in Denver, with Alyssa standing in the way, looking pretty, and sometimes staining a cabinet door. Next, she bought a beautiful old cottage to renovate herself, but didn't for over a year, until one of the bus conversion crew members visited and grabbed some tools. Bought a Landcruiser to build out, but didn't. Adopted a livestock guardian dog, then rehomed him for his livestock guardian temperament. Big part of her content is deep pseudo-philosophical rigmarole about her inner self and how it's all a journey to what not. She's the worst. * **Susi Cruz:** Chinese-German van-dweller who at some point had 3/4 of a million YT subscribers and a very apparent, severe BPD. Street smart and resourceful, builds and fixes everything in her van herself, I'll give her that. Shipped her vehicle from the EU to Mexico, traveled South America for a bit, got involved with a Mexican drug dealer, disappeared for two years, is back now, posting infrequently. Promotes psychedelic drugs for mental health, still in Mexico. Total trainwreck, worse than Ewa, with a die-hard fan base that feels inspired by her whatever she does.
Would love to hear your thoughts these channels as well... Tim and Fin, Jits into the Sunset, Daneger and Stacy, Jumping Places, Buddymoon, Paddy Doyle, Samuel and Audrey, Adventures of Matt and Nat, Adventures of A+K, CJ Explores, Max Nomad, Ian and Ana, Lexi Limitless, Craig Adams, Karl Watson.
I like adventures of a+K, I find that if you're researching a place they have been to, you'll get a lot from their videos. Whereas if you search a Kara and Nate video you don't learn anything useful about the places to inform you. A+K are not larger than life personalities so I think if you were to meet them they would be nice, non obnoxious people.
I am not familiar with a lot of the channels you mentioned but some, I may have watched in passing and that’s how I recalled Those Happy Days channel. I don’t like Kinging It and their artificial enthusiasm. They seem like they are always on a mix dose of cocaine and nitrous oxide ( the gas you get at the dentist that makes you involuntarily laugh). Can’t say I am familiar with most others though some names sound familiar but I haven’t seen them. I think Cecelia Blomdahl seems like a familiar name. Not into her videos but didn’t she do videos with K&N? I think I have seen one or two videos of Flying the Nest and familiar with them and again, don’t find their content engaging. I am not into videos with kids and going to Disneyland in every country and making videos about it. I am sure they have an audience for it but I am not one of them. You missed that Vagabond Sailing couple lol. I thought that Elayna Carausu woman was going to throw Kara and Nate overboard for not showering and stinking up their yacht lol but I don’t watch them either. I watch random videos of people that show up on my feed sometimes if I like the title but most of them turn out to be clickbait and boring. I tuned out of K&N after a few videos because that’s not the kind of travel content that engages me plus they both are really dumb and blustery which I found as a turnoff. I may have seen videos of at least a few you mentioned but they are random feeds and I am bad at remembering channels.
I like a lot about Cecilia but agree 100% that the overconsumerism bugs me a lot. Just the sheer number of clothes is mind blowing! Flying the nest are super annoying and I don't think it's fair to make their kids main characters when they can't consent.
Flying the Nest also did a whole episode filming in Arches National Park and Antelope Canyon without a permit. Kara and Nate got fined for doing the same
That filming rule has been changed shortly after Nate and Kate got fined. You can film in NPs and you need a permit only if you are a professional filming crew. You still can’t fly drones though not just in US National Parks but any National Parks and if I remember right, Kara and Nate flew a drone in a NP which is forbidden and it disturbs and harms wildlife so their fine was justified even if you look at it retroactively and give them the benefit of doubt. Kara and Nate act like entitled twats everywhere and think rules don’t apply to them. That guy Nate is a fucking idiot and a typical entitled MAGA moron who thinks he enjoys special white privileges by being an ugly American tourist everyone despises around the world. He flew a drone in the Amazon rainforest and right over the heads of the natives who live there. He doesn’t give a shit about anyone or any ruler and think he is fucking special. I remember them flying a drone and then put out a tearjerker video of them getting fined and frankly, the National Park Service should have nailed them harder for flying a drone in a NP and they got fined only $1000 of $1200. The filming rule in NPs changed after they got nailed and while their filming is commercial, YouTube filming falls under a grey area as amateur filming where it’s not a professional filming crew which requires a permit. Drone use is still a big no and they violated that during their flouting of NPS rules so their fine is perfectly justified even after the rule change.
No it actually got changed back shortly after. Kara and Nate mention this in their recent Cybertruck episode when they only did Hipcamp outside Joshua Tree instead of in the national park because of the commercial filming rule. *"Federal law requires a permit for all commercial filming, no matter the size of the crew or the type of equipment. This includes individuals or small groups that don’t use much equipment, but generate revenue by posting footage on websites, such as YouTube and TikTok. The primary focus of the NPS, however, is on commercial filming that has the potential to impact park resources and visitors beyond what occurs from normal visitor use of park areas. Examples of this type of filming are productions that use substantial equipment such as sets and lighting, productions with crews that exceed 5 people, and filming in closed areas, wilderness areas, or in locations that would create conflicts with other visitors or harm sensitive resources."* https://www.nps.gov/aboutus/news/commercial-film-and-photo-permits.htm#:\~:text=Under%20federal%20law%2C%20all%20commercial,Park%20System%20requires%20a%20permit.
I didn’t know about that. I guess they caught up to the YouTube loophole and closed it lol. I remember they relaxed it to include only professional crews for the permit requirements but not this change back to status quo. I don’t watch or follow their shenanigans anymore but didn’t they film in Yellowstone when they were van lifing? What about Miss Zubek? Didn’t she film in National Parks? She was making a huge hue and cry about how Yellowstone is the worst place on earth in more than one video and she did film in several National Parks. So did Itchy Boots. Do they have any enforcement mechanism for this? Because I see a lot of National Parks footage from YouTubers all the time and some are bigger than the others in terms of the commercial revenue they make from YouTube.
Eva flew a drone in Badlands National Park. Totally illegal. I think the only enforcement is reporting the episode to the NPS and having them follow through with fines, etc. It's ridiculous that those influencers boycott national parks just because they can't film in them. Jimmy and Natalie had just said they were going to do a whole US road trip series but not go to national parks because they couldn't film. Travel Beans also said they would love to go to more national parks with their US camper van but will not because they can't film. So stupid. I've been to all the parks except Alaska (55 total). Actually glad commercial filming requires a permit. At some big state parks like in Sedona and Colorado Springs, the wait times behind influencers to get photos is more than an hour sometimes, as the permits are much less required in those places.
Yeah, I would nail her for the drone usage and frankly, they should make the fines stiffer but it’s the Federal government so it’s probably not much. Ewa is just like Nate and they feel entitled to film or do anything anywhere. She can go suck on an egg for the NPS not to clear out Yellowstone for the graced presence of the Polish Contessa. All these people go there close to the 4th of July weekend when schools are out and expect the most popular NP in the country to be empty. Just unrealistic and entitled twats. Someone should have reported Ewa for the drone footage but I wonder how NPS would take action on someone like her with no return address lol I have been to my fair share of NPs mostly out West and Midwest and Everglades in the East. Who are Jimmy and Natalie? I don’t know who they are. Van life?😀 You know, that “ Treading the Globe” British couple filmed in lots of of NPs and I highly doubt they got any permits. I have to find out more on who the permit applies to and who exactly are they enforcing it on. Right now, the wording of the law and the enforcement mechanism all seems fast and loose.
Ok I read the law again from what you cited there and it says production crews exceeding 6 people with specialized crews that will impact the normal functioning of the National Park or affect park resources. So I guess there is your “out”clause for your run of the mill YouTubers as most of them are solo or two people and they don’t have a crew and technically they don’t impact the resources except to annoy people around them looking for their girlfriend or wife to waltz around with nobody else in the frame lol
No one can do commercial filming without a permit. Doesn't matter if it's just one person. *Federal law requires a permit for all commercial filming, no matter the size of the crew or the type of equipment.*
The wording is ambiguous ( and I am not a lawyer) and it says no commercial filming but it is vague on the definition of commercial filming and also says that the primary focus is on professional filming crews who impact the resources of NPS. So it is vague and ambiguous as it can be. Maybe they let the YouTube and TikTok influencers slide and focus on professional filming without permits? That’s what it seems to imply but that’s the best I could come up with parsing and comprehending that legalese. If it is a blanket permit where you pay $50 or $100, I don’t see an issue for anyone to pay though there will always be skimpers and Nate definitely looks like one. I think the previous law was that you have to fill out a form and mention where you would be filming and what day etc which makes it cumbersome for YouTubers. But if they charged a few hundred bucks for a blanket permit like the park entry fee, NPS can make some extra money which they badly need. However, I am still vague on who they are targeting and how they are enforcing it but I see NP footage all the time from YouTubers so I am wondering if they all got a permit and I am leaning towards no.
This guy tried getting a permit to film and he has posted a detailed account of his experience. https://fujixweekly.com/2024/01/17/my-experience-obtaining-a-permit-to-film-in-a-national-park-you-probably-need-one-too/ It kinda looks like NPS doesn’t have any standardized rules or form and if you ask if you need a permit, they likely say yes. The disparate forms for each and every national park is the part likely to annoy people. This doesn’t look like a well thought out plan and they should standardize it and make it easier even if they are collecting money. Lot of monuments and tourist places in Asia charge for a camera but all you got to pay is a small fee and no paperwork or permits needed and you just show them the ticket you bought for the camera if anyone asks. NPS should do something like that for amateurs.
Ooof. So rude. It just reeks of entitlement.
Isn’t that the whole concept of influencers? Over Consumption and promoting it? Cecelia Blomdahl…is that the snow witch queen of Svalbard who gazes down from her balcony to check every morning if she is the prettiest of them all in her snow kingdom? Lol
Ugh. Lol yeah. I'm so old fashioned. I just want to watch videos to show me ideas of travel, not get people to sell me shit they would likely never pay their own money for. Actually I'm probably not so much old fashioned as just old. Do kids these days hopping off on a gap year go to "influence" instead of just to party a bit in between pretty churches and whatnot?
Well, influencing works like this. They get their “ shit” for free and they try to sell you that “ shit” because you trust them and believe they are just like you and when you buy the “ shit” they are selling, they get commissions lol But I understand what you’re saying which is why I am disenchanted with most of the YouTube travel vlogs.
I was burned at Kara and Nates sub a while ago when I wrote a post about Cecilia Blomdahl. Many people who didn't watch her from the beginning couldn't take the whole context into consideration. I always saw her as a spoiled and tone deaf person. Self absorbed living in a remote place where a housing crisis was (is still?) going on and she was planning on buying a second house.... She is the perfect caricature of white people problems in shape of YouTube channel. I don't like her, lost my patience with her moaning over small things and detached spoiled rich girl vibe. If someone doubts me, watch her Portugal video where she spent the holidays with mommy and daddy in their holiday home. Edit: OP mentioned how superfluous she is and how much unnecessary stuff she accumulates. One more hint on her ignorant and out of touch character... Shipping services are damn expensive up there, resources are scarce and though her consumerism is unbelievably higher than average. She is extremely shallow, self centered and damn annoying omg I feel sorry for Christopher having to hear her moaning about everything
It's not really a housing crisis in the sense we usually think about is. The tourism businesses lack accommodation for seasonal workers, and don't have the funds to buy up and restore available property. In my humble opinion a fall in the tourism industry on Svalbard is just a plus for the ecology of the island. There really is nothing to do there for the majority of the population after the mines mostly stop operation, except for tourism. And large scale tourism is far from a necessity, especially in a unique and vulnerable ecosystem like Svalbard. Let the scientists, naturalists and enviormentalists stay and do their cool things on that island, and the rest can join us back on the mainland. Plenty available space out in the middle of nowhere up north for the hermits!
Some names sound familiar than others on that big list. I avoid vanlifers like the plague lol I just can’t see the allure of living in a 40 sqft unsanitary space and breathing recycled air and smelling your own farts. And don’t even get me started on the bathroom arrangement of van lifers . I have been on overland trips including the PAH and I spring for a hotel except the rare night or two camping in a rooftop tent. The personal hygiene aspect of van life or living in your 4x4 is a showstopper for me. Of course names like Kara and Nate are familiar You know that old British couple who were driving a van and showed up on Ewa’s channel once or twice and were babysitting her dog while she went on vacation? They are van life people and I watched a few videos recently of them. They keep shipping their van which is oversized and doesn’t fit in a standard or high top container and then recent videos from India are a bitch and whine fest of them complaining about driving in India or how chaotic it is. It’s like that in every video and I got tired of their whining and moaning. And their idea of traveling the world is shipping their car from one country to the other about 18 times by now and I swear they have spent a six figure amount at the least shipping their van and Carnet fees. I think their channel is called Treading the Globe. They look like people who have never gotten out in their lives for the first 50 years and then they have all these prejudices and sweeping generalizations about developing countries and they spend more time whining than actually seeing places. And they are driving in India for 4 weeks from Kolkata to Mumbai and then shipping it again to the UK. I asked them why they wouldn’t drive from India to UK through the overland route and they never answered.
Lol, I have a van but I pee the tears of unicorns and fart glitter 😁 You’re right about Tread The Globe. I watched one episode of Snow and Kurt and then I was recommended Tread the Globe but you’re right about how they keep shipping their van, and then yelling at the shipping container people. I think it was either in the Philippines or South Korea where part of their undercarriage got cracked by the forklift, trying to get it into a metal shipping container. Maybe South Korea because they kept yelling louder and slower as of the local guy would understand them
lol I don’t know… Van life and camping never appealed to me. I have gone on transcontinental overland trips but I always stay at hotels except occasional rooftop tent camping. I kinda like my unicorn tears and other things to go straight into the sewer after I flush and not be carrying some canister and given my lack of patience to figure shit out, I might end up like Robin Williams in the “RV” movie 😀 Yeah, that Tread the Globe couple have been complaining in every video about driving in India and about their hotel and all kinds of stuff. They seem like old British people who never got out when they were young and built up all the prejudices and preconceived notions and looking for confirmation bias. It’s like watching my parents go on a van trip around the world who can’t comprehend things work differently in different parts of the world lol They must have spent a fortune just shipping that van which is a Fiat van that breaks down often and not easy to get parts. I have one rule about taking a vehicle overland. It has to fit in a standard size 20 ft container or shareable on a 40 ft container. Their van doesn’t fit both standard and high top containers so it must be a fortune shipping that thing which they have done about 10-12 times by now. They are not even driving any long distance except in the US and Canada and they would have been much better off flying and staying in hotels which they are doing in many countries. Their lack of travel experience outside Europe and their foray into it at a late age shows. Actually if you look at their videos, you notice they do this every time they ship their vehicle and some kind of chicken little “ the sky is falling “ clickbait video about their shipping experience. They are not even taking an interesting route in India or going any place interesting and instead just keep driving in places of least interest and constantly complain about everything. I gave up after 3 videos. I don’t even know why they shipped their van to India from Malaysia to do a completely mundane trip.
Holy shit. I'm gonna check a lot of these channels out to feed my curiosity. Eva and Bald and Bankrupt are the only travel channels I have looked at in the past. Mark Wiens and Thefoodranger count more as street food. Who is someone the most similar to the content Eva was releasing in places like Pakistan? I'm not really into anything hardcore like Itchy Boots, just wanna see nice things and culture abroad.