Ones to watch: Adventure-loving travellers to make you get up and go

In the dawn of the Victorian era, new-world explorations were regularly featured in newspapers and Jules Verne novels. Scott of the Antarctic and other pioneers were known the world-round, and now we have a new wave of explorers who are rising to fame through YouTube. These days, people can travel to every corner of the globe in virtually no time at all, and as an intrepid traveller myself, I was keen to investigate which of the modern Christopher Columbuses are worth watching.

Mr. Ben Brown

• Subscribers: 487k
• Avg. views per vid: 77k
• 30 day growth (subscribers): 22%

As a skateboarder, biker, kayaker and filmmaking enthusiast, Ben Brown has some great talents at his disposal to make him a great watch. He tends to post on a daily basis, uploading short-films and vlogs from the countries he explores. So far, Ben’s checklist includes countries from South Africa to Canada — and he was even involved in the epic Rickshaw Run series alongside fellow vloggers FunForLouis and JacksGap. His very popular ‘Visual Vibes’ video strand is a personal favourite as Ben recognises the beauty of the places he visits by making videos void of narration and speech. The ‘Visual Vibes’ video from Canada (featured above) has seamless editing and breathtaking scenery, which is typical to Ben’s style — making it a much more immersive experience for the audience.

Hey Nadine

• Subscribers: 217k
• Avg. views per vid: 10k
• 30 day growth (subscribers): 1%

Nadine, a Canadian-born traveller on YouTube, recently returned from an expedition to East Asia and has since embarked on another trip to Argentina. However, her most notable video comes from a conservation program she was involved in in South Africa; ‘The Cheetah Project’. The project itself helps to rehabilitate big cats and breeds cheetah in order to help their dwindling population. Nadine’s video, however, has been viewed nearly 500,000 times as it features some fantastic shots of the cats on a successful hunt for antelope as well as close up shots of them chasing a drone.

High On Life

• Subscribers: 237k
• Avg. views per vid: 11k
• 30 day growth (subscribers): 25%

The boys behind High On Life are simply a group of mates who just love to travel. And they really love how it makes them feel. In trying to explain what being ‘high on life’ means, they say it’s “the feeling of internal glow” and “a vibration of gratitude and love” which you can only get from skydiving and watching sunsets. All of their videos contain their very own parables and life lessons, and while it’s all a bit too flouncy for my liking, some of what they actually do is truly awe inspiring; from kayaking down old sewage pipes to boarding down volcanoes. They also have some great tips on the places you should be going in a lot of South American countries which are very handy.

Hopscotch the Globe

• Subscribers: 63k
• Avg. views per vid: 6k
• 30 day growth (subscribers): 2%

Kristen Sarah (aka Hopscotch the Globe) provides some very useful tips for people travelling the world, while documenting experiences of her own. However, the videos of hers which are bound to grab anybody’s immediate attention are the nuggets of advice she provides. These include (but are not limited to); travelling on a budget, how to stay safe when travelling alone, and — more importantly — how to poop on an Indian train. Evidently, Kristen answers the questions people really want to know about — making her a great creator to follow.

Kick the Grind

• Subscribers: 12k
• Avg. views per vid: 5k
• 30 day growth (subscribers): 16%

‘Kick the Grind’ host, Mike Corey, creates perhaps some of my favourite videos on YouTube — which makes it somewhat surprising that he only has 12k subscribers. Mike ventures to some of the most remote places and does some of the coolest things. If you want to see somebody eat weird and wonderful foods of the world (including silkworm pupae) or swimming with pigs — then Mike is your man. And for anyone interested in discovering what the world looks like underwater, Mike has some fantastic videos filmed off the coast of Mexico.

Samuel & Audrey

• Subscribers: 28k
• Avg. views per vid: 2k
• 30 day growth (subscribers): 22%

The case for Sam & Audrey’s inclusion in this ‘ones to watch’ list is simple. They tell you where to go, what you should eat, and what you have to do. The couple convey pure enjoyment from what they do and manage to help out fellow travellers in the process. Their channel is great for guides to Bali, Barcelona, Korea and many other places. In fact, for anyone interested in Korea, I recently stumbled upon another channel which documents the South Korean Penis Park very well — so that’s certainly worth a watch. It’s very informative and…well…it’s a park full of penis statues. What’s not to like?

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