Then End of Adventure Travel?

I subscribe to a lot of YouTube adventure travel channels. It’s a good way to pass the cold winter months. Van dwellers, sailors, motorcycle riders -a whole gallery of travelers. 

A lot of them have gone dark in recent months. Has adventure travel lost its attraction?

I’m sure that’s true for some channels that have gone dark, but there are many reasons to give it up.

A lot of travelers have satisfied the travel itch. They’ve been on the road on the water for a while and did the the things they dreamed of doing. Many have gone on to other types of adventure. Some have aged out of that sort of lifestyle. If you start to get infirm or need regular medical care a home base is just about a necessity. 

Some of the young couples have had a major life change: they had a child or two. That changes everything. Traveling with babies is a whole other thing. Not only is it harder to do, there are limitations  on what you can do. It’s hard enough to deal with a young children without the added hassle of constant travel. 

Not to be discounted is the changes that happened at YouTube. Most of those channels just don’t pay as well as they used to. YouTube appears to be focusing on short form video -as if they want to be Tic Toc. 

Then there are people who are still traveling but decided not to have the added stress of maintaining a channel. I know from personal experience how hard that can be. It’s a hassle to do much more than to snap a few photos and maybe make a few notes in a journal. Filing and editing a 20 minute episode is a huge time and energy draw. Then there’s the hassle of trying to find a way to upload it to the Internet. 

I do miss some of my favorites, but I understand why people quit. 

-Sixbears