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Ever found yourself in a new city, surrounded by unfamiliar faces and cultures, wishing you could strike up heartfelt conversations and make lasting memories? Well, this is your lucky day! Join us as we dive headfirst into the fascinating world of travel, friendships, and content creation. Drawing from our own experiences as an extrovert-introvert duo, we explore the importance of keeping your curiosity alive, and the art of balancing social interactions and solitude on the road. We'll share some of our favorite tips and techniques for striking up conversations and building connections in unfamiliar places.
Creating authentic, engaging travel content is an art, and we're here to share the secrets of our craft. From the pros and cons of scripting to capturing the essence of each destination, we unravel the complexities of planning and creating travel vlogs that resonate with audiences. We stand by the belief that genuine curiosity and a desire to understand diverse cultures are cornerstones of powerful content creation. We'll also shed light on the journey that has made us passionate creators, sharing our evolution from our early days to the present, and how our love for meeting new people and videography continues to enrich our travels.
While the charm of travel lies in exploring diverse cultures and meeting new people, staying healthy is equally crucial for a fulfilling travel experience. Sharing from our own travels, we unveil practical tips for staying fit on the road, from running or walking to explore new places, using hotel stairs for workouts, to making the most of fitness apps like Peloton for short exercises. We also delve into the challenges and motivations associated with training for bigger goals while on the move.
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/chrisandsara
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chrisandsara_ | @chrisandsara_
Website: https://www.chrisandsara.com
Call or text us a question or comment: +1 (423) 825-9572
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Get inspired by world travelers Chris and Sara with "What No One Tells You," their conversational podcast. Each episode is a fun chat with friends sharing personal experiences, insider tips, and riveting stories. The show is elevated by amazing guests from Youtubers, ultra marathoners, bloggers, and adventurers who bring their unique energy and perspectives to the table. With Chris and Sara, you're sure to feel a part of the group, ready to embark on a new adventure. Explore the world one story at a time and join the conversation today.
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Hey y'all! We're Chris + Sara (or as you know us, Let’s Be Us), a husband and wife digital nomad travel duo currently working and traveling full time with our pup, Kramer. We've always dreamed of traveling full time, and in May of 2018 we took the leap and made it happen! Today we're balancing work and fun everywhere between the Pacific and Atlantic. From hiking and cycling to tacos and coffee, we're trying to see and experience as much of this world as we can! While our home is currently on wheels in our DIY Sprinter van, our travels take us all around the world.Be sure to hit subscribe here on Youtube and follow along on Instagram for more daily fun! Oh, and be sure to say hi while you're here. :)
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NOTE: There were 2 speakers identified in this transcript. Speaker separation errors can arise when multiple speakers speak simultaneously.
0:00:00 - Chris
We are coming live from the van or the truck.
0:00:03 - Sara
It's not a van. We've been there before.
0:00:05 - Chris
We are coming live from the truck again. We're recording a second episode because we're heading out of town and we're not going to have our podcasting equipment with us where we're going.
0:00:15 - Sara
Yeah, we'll be. Technically, we have enough podcast episodes already to get us through that trip. But just as a buffer, Just as a buffer.
0:00:21 - Chris
I'd like to be ahead this time. I feel like we need to answer some questions.
0:00:25 - Sara
Yeah, that's what we're going to be here, talking about answering some of the other questions, because you have sent in some really good questions. They're a little bit all over the place. This episode is going to be we'll do timestamps.
0:00:35 - Chris
Yeah.
0:00:36 - Sara
Below so you guys can earn time codes below so you guys can jump to a section If you guys are interested in some. Maybe not the others, but people have had some pretty good questions, from running to creative storytelling to making friends on the road. It's a lot of good stuff so we're just going to jump right into it. And if you're new around here, we're Chris and Sarah. Oh yeah, let's probably introduce ourselves.
0:00:57 - Chris
We should probably do an elevator pitch, because we haven't done that in a podcast in a while.
0:01:00 - Sara
We're not. There's not an intro in the podcast.
0:01:02 - Chris
Not really. No, it just says what no one tells you, and then we just jump right into the conversation.
0:01:06 - Sara
Like that's an oversight.
0:01:07 - Chris
You know well, right now we're Chris and Sarah and we are travelers who happen to have a YouTube and an Instagram. We document our memories and we have a podcast now.
0:01:18 - Sara
Yeah, so this podcast is a fun way that usually we trap people that we are inspired by or that we're friends with and we get them to talk to us for an hour and call it podcast, and really it's just an excuse to hang out. But these episodes are just answering questions. Hopefully they're helpful to you.
0:01:33 - Chris
Yeah.
0:01:33 - Sara
Hopefully it gets your brain thinking and getting excited about other things.
0:01:36 - Chris
Well, and it and it's called what no one tells you, because we really want what no one tells you, we want the answers. Everybody has heard the same cliched answers this podcast, hopefully isn't that.
0:01:49 - Sara
I'm sure there's some cliche somewhere. I'm sure this is so. These are the questions that you all have sent in Um, so we're just going to jump right into it. Which is developing curiosity and making friends while traveling.
0:02:07 - Speaker 4
Hey Chris and Sarah. This is Jen in Georgia. I have watched you on YouTube for quite a while and I'm excited about your new podcast. The question I have is my husband and I have recently purchased an RV and are doing weekend trips right now. I'm curious how you develop curiosity, because I think, for some people, entering new places can be intimidating. You know, one of us is naturally extroverted, the other one is not, and so engaging with people is one of the ways that you have found community within your travel life and also, you know, just met new people who represent their culture, and so I'm just curious how did you develop that curiosity and how did you do that when it was uncomfortable?
0:03:06 - Chris
Thanks, Jen, this is a great question and I feel like the answer. You're not gonna like it, but it's just be awkward.
0:03:14 - Sara
It is. It's hard, but you're this is coming from an extrovert and introvert, I don't know. I feel like we're both a little bit of each.
0:03:19 - Chris
I feel like we're a little bit because you, I feel like you, you can turn it on and then, when you're tank to pleats you need your space, like you have to retreat to your space.
0:03:31 - Sara
But I also I feel like I get more energized again by being around people like I love being out in the woods. But I go crazy being out in the woods for more in the few days Like I have to be in town, being around people like I don't like being all the way off forever. Yeah you're the kind of the same way.
0:03:46 - Chris
Yeah, I like, I want to be around people too, but I, I need, I need a long time, I need I'm able to turn it on, I'm able to talk, talk, talk, talk, talk and like, let's smile, let's do this, and then, as soon as we're done, I'm, I just want, I want to put in a podcast, I just want to zone out, I want to just have my little alone time difference between us, though, is you're better at Taking people on, like the text messages and the calls and the questions like that doesn't bother you like.
0:04:15 - Sara
To me I feel the pressure. Okay, like that's not, let's know, we don't, this isn't about us.
0:04:20 - Chris
Like we got to answer.
0:04:21 - Sara
Jen's question. Let's answer Jen's question, all right. So the question in there is she wants to know About how to develop curiosity, how to make friends on the road. Chris is right, you just have to be awkward. That's never fun. In fact, I absolutely hate it, unfortunately. I'm a very awkward person. Naturally we both are, so that's pretty much our day in and day out lives, um, but I think for us, specifically on the road, since you guys just got an RV, I would recommend, when you pull into a campsite, pull into a national forest and you can see somebody next door, go over, say hi, like I know it's awkward to say, hey, I saw your license plate is from Tennessee, we're from Georgia. I'm like, yeah, so nice to meet you.
0:04:59 - Chris
Yeah, create or come up with the most generic thing that you can think about, whatever topic that you want. So, oh, yeah, you're from Tennessee. Oh, I heard that you have great mountains and the snow keys, you know. I mean, come up with some weird topic and they will answer it and like sometimes you'll look like an idiot, other times you won't, but at least a conversation is starting and then if you have a smile on your face and just Because I mean, at the end of the day, what's the worst that could happen, they say no there's some really rude people.
0:05:28 - Sara
There's some, okay, I mean, everybody knows this like it's not like they're making friends for the first time. She's speaking specifically to being on the road, specifically when one person's an extrovert and one's an introvert. Yeah so I don't want to say here's how to make a friend 101, because I mean if that were the case. You don't need our help on that, you guys are plenty social, but I I think you're right, you're honest.
0:05:47 - Chris
something though oh, but I think at the campgrounds it's easier to meet people, because you're walking and some people, a lot of people, will be hanging outside their camper, a lot of People, and it just kind of it's sort of this inviting atmosphere of like, hey, I, how are you like instantly the barriers, or are the barriers are put down and you don't really have to think about it too much, you can just go yeah, but you can tell which people are receptive to having a conversation, which ones aren't.
0:06:15 - Sara
Typically, the ones who are willing to talk will have their chairs positioned towards the road or wherever you're at, and They'll maybe have a fire going, and you can tell they're not trying to like close themselves off, close themselves off. So one thing about what you're saying, though, is that some people yeah, most people are nicer than what you ever expect, but some people may not want to have a conversation. Maybe being out there is their quiet time. You can tell which people are wanting to have a conversation. This goes for anywhere, camping, whether you are in a national forest or you're in a national park or any sort of campground. The people who have their little lawn chairs positioned to where it's an inviting posture, those are the ones you go over and say hi to, like to say hey, you know, and find that common denominator.
For us, the icebreaker is always Kramer. A lot of people travel with their pets, and so they'll say hi to Kramer, will ask about their pet and that, and that's just sort of like our natural way to start a conversation, or I feel like we have like these five little questions, or a few Little questions in the back of our mind at all times of how to start a conversation to ask about them. It's just a good practice. I'm not great at it, I'm working on it.
This is something like the more we travel and the more we meet people I try to get better about like always turn the conversation back on them. Like learn, always turn the conversation back on, then learn about them, because one it kind of takes the awkwardness off of you to talk, but you really get to learn about that person. Then you find that common ground faster by allowing them to talk about themselves. So for me I always ask like where are you from? Like I'm always curious, like you're traveling? Like where are you from? Sometimes it's like who we meet the other day and there's a bug flying around your head who do we meet the other day? And they were from Kentucky and Chris was like well, I'm from Kentucky.
0:07:48 - Chris
And then you guys, yeah, you guys, your families are both from the same small town. Like you just find these awkward conversations. And he, I'm like, oh, you're from Kentucky. He's like, yeah, I'm from Mule and Berg County. I'm like, there, obviously you are, because nobody knows where. Mule and Berg County?
is you know if you're from Kentucky and I have family that lives in Mule and Berg County and Instantly his face like lit up and he was, like you know, mule and Berg County. I'm like, yeah, I'm the one of the only five people in the entire world, besides everybody, that lives in Mule and Berg County.
0:08:15 - Sara
But I think that's the most important question. People love talking about their hometown. They do it's a.
Everybody has one, so like people can easily ask you to, but you're traveling, the idea of place is really important. You can ask what places have they been? Where are they going, where are they coming to? I mean just those. There's something about camping in RVs or camper vans or whatever your end. There's like this common shared community idea. So whether you're traveling in some crazy million plus dollar Bus or you're in some tiny little camper or a tent, there's that common shared interest of being somewhere new and I think if you can find a few questions about around travel, maybe ask them what they do, why they're traveling.
Do they have family in the area? What do they enjoy doing while they're on the road? For Chris, he enjoys kayaking, so if you love kayaks in their car, that's a conversation starter. You just find those things that-.
0:09:06 - Chris
You have to be curious. Like you genuinely-.
0:09:08 - Sara
She's asking how. To be curious, though.
0:09:10 - Chris
I know, but you genuinely want to know about their life. You know, or at least you want to hear their answer to, what they believe in, or you know where they're from, or whatever. I mean it just comes down to the fact of do you really care, like when you listen.
0:09:26 - Sara
Be authentic and I know it's such a cheesy cliche, but if you can come up with a few really authentic questions, find out what you're curious about. Like, are you curious about where they're from? Are you curious Maybe you're a parent or a grandparent. Maybe ask if they have greenheads, or maybe you know, I wouldn't just straight up ask do you have greenheads?
0:09:41 - Chris
Because they may be 30 years old and that'd be insulting but or you see, maybe they have starlink on the top of their RV and you're like, hey, does that thing really work? You know and in the back of your mind you already know what works. You already know. But you're at least having this conversation to hear their thoughts on it you know I put a lot of pressure on every person I meet.
0:09:59 - Sara
I'm sizing them up of like will you be my best friend? Like I feel like not best friend, but I want to know like, are we going to be really good friends? Like the second I meet you? I hate when people are like, oh, you're not friends, you're just your colleagues, or you're not friends, you're just acquaintances To me. I meet you, we have a some cheered interest. We're friends Like I don't care if people only talked one time to me. Like I will go above and beyond for you. Like I will do the best I can to be your friend and that's your personality.
It is my personality and I know not everybody's like that, so I don't expect that everybody to be that way for me. So, while I am always in the mindset of I want to find out as much about you as possible so we could be friends, like I want to learn about you, I want to be your real friend, even if we never see each other again. But you don't have to put that pressure on yourself and I'm bad about remembering that, but I'm trying to remember it more of. I can have a conversation with somebody and we don't have to be best friends. We can share a great dinner together at a campground and then we make never cross Pasigun and that's okay.
For a while you have that community, but then you'll also find that the people you gravitate towards and you really feel a connection with you'll keep finding each other. You'll stay in touch. There's a thousand ways to stay in touch these days. So, like I said, be curious. But to be curious, I think you really need to find out. What do you want to get out of being on the road? What are you? Why are you guys RVing? And then from that you could probably find a few questions that you want to ask that would maybe help you pursue a few friends you know like, to really find out who would you guys connect with and if one's an extrovert, one's an introvert. When I'm not feeling extroverted, I like Chris do the talking and I sit there and laugh, and then vice versa. But I think keeping it low key, it doesn't have to be crazy extroverted throwing yourself into massive potluck dinners at the campground which are a real thing.
0:11:37 - Chris
Yeah, they are a real thing and it makes us jealous when we walk by the campground and everybody's invited to this potluck except for us, because you know we just got there that day Find those common questions and then just put yourself out there.
0:11:48 - Sara
It'll be awkward. But you know what? If it's awkward, just drive the RV the next day. You're not stuck there.
0:11:53 - Chris
That's the beautiful thing about the RV you just drive away and you have a good story to tell your friends. You feel like you won't believe what happened at this campground this night. You know, it's just yeah it's easy.
0:12:01 - Sara
It's never than making friends with your next door neighbors at home, because, like you, can't pick up your house if you make it really awkward, which we have done.
0:12:07 - Chris
It is true. It is true, yeah. So I feel like traveling it's low barrier, there's low risk, you can do it.
0:12:14 - Sara
Yeah, that's a good point. All right, you guys can do it.
0:12:18 - Speaker 3
Chris and Sarah. Hello, this is Aaron and Todd, and first I just wanted to say congratulations on the podcast. Long time subscribers of your channel on YouTube and I must say you guys have been a not only an inspiration to our endeavors but a fantastic wealth of information in the travel space and van life space. So with that out of the way, I have two questions. Number one is related to travel vlogs. So on our channel we are almost, we are at the precipice of being able to monetize, and so our channel 15 second elevator pitch is about how to travel chief using credit card miles and points.
The question is, once we get to our luxurious international destination using credit card miles and points, how do you guys go about crafting a vlog in the location that you've gone to? So we would make a video on how we got to Spain for $26 using points, but then, once we get to Spain, it's like running gun vlogging and sometimes we struggle on what do we think our audience would like to see in this location. So if you could give, give me some feedback on your approach to vlogging in your destination. Looking forward to your comments.
0:13:47 - Sara
So Todd and Aaron's question about what to film, this is kind of Totally different question than making friends, but I like the creative questions and this is one question.
0:13:57 - Chris
I don't feel like we're the best answer because we're always learning and changing so funny that he said run and gun, because I'm like that's exactly what we do.
0:14:04 - Sara
Yeah, you don't earn from there with term running gun, that's you running around the camera and getting what you can yeah, and I fit you know what, though I feel like that's a lot of people.
0:14:12 - Chris
It is that's a lot of creators, it's a lot of people creating. They just you capture as much as you can and then you hope you, you have something.
0:14:21 - Sara
Yeah. So I think there's two different ways to go about travel content specifically, and that is, there are creators out there who will script the drama from every single line almost, and they'll go into a place, make it look candid, but it'll be completely planned and everything, everything down to the thumbnail, is planned before they even get on location. And you know, I that's probably the stress through the stress free option. Do it, but I view that as it's probably not the most authentic form of travel content. If that's what you're after, then I would probably not recommend that. If you guys are just after making a really great story and travel is a theme, then by all means script it out. You'll save yourself a ton of headache. There have been a few moments we've scripted out, like our talking, our FAQ series are scripted out and those are so easy, like you're.
On it you know what you're doing. But if you guys it sounds like you guys are going to a place and the travel is the experience and obviously you're traveling because you love it and if that's where you're at, I'd say Do your basic research of a place. That's what we do. You do your basic research, you find a few things that are popular and then I also try to dig a little deeper into things that Maybe I haven't seen on Instagram or I haven't seen on YouTube or something.
A lot of times it looks like me going to Google Maps and just zooming in on areas like oh, this looks like a mountain range, let me see what's in this mountain range. Oh, that looks like a really cool hotel or that looks like a really cool National Park, and then I'll just kind of learn more about it. That way, google Maps is like my best friend for research. But in that I'd say, plan a few things and then from there, just allow yourself to experience it, because if you're planning out every single shot, trust me, you're gonna miss the experience, and that's happened us sometimes.
0:15:54 - Chris
A lot of times and I think one good, one good rule of thumb that we have implemented is that we try to film our experiences. One day, yeah, you know, and then maybe the next day or even before we film our experiences, we will go get B roll. So one day is just strictly B roll. We're not talking to the camera, we're just trying to set the mood. We're getting all these different shots because if you're trying to get B roll and try to film your experience, experiences and, you know, run around town, it's just too much like you can't, you can't do everything. So if you have set days of where, where you're filming Specific things of you know, hey, we're gonna film all our B roll of this city or this place or whatever today, it just takes the edge off.
0:16:38 - Sara
It takes the edge off, so much it's easier for him, though, because he wears a black t-shirt every single day. It's harder for me when I wear at least a little variety.
That's what the pros do because it will film like B roll one day. Then we go back and actually the talking head experience, talking over it part another day. I have to match my outfit or sometimes I just like don't care anymore and I just you'll notice discrepancies and you're wearing a different. Alphas is all supposed to be the same day. That's what's happening. But Chris is right, we like to go in and we like to do the B roll first, typically because the B roll, you're enjoying it, you're more present.
I enjoy the B roll more because you get a little more artistic with it. You go in, you get the up close shots, you get a really experience. You try a lot of things, find out what you really love and what's worth featuring, because sometimes you may get B roll stuff and be like I don't really think that's worth putting in the video, but it was fun for a moment. You experience it authentically the first time and then you go back and then you do the talking head to show people what's up. Or the other option is to do a voiceover. We'll do a combo of the three, yeah, but I think there's sometimes like you can't go through and Do every experience twice, like we didn't try on handbox twice in Korea we didn't do a food tour and Guangdong market twice.
0:17:42 - Chris
And you don't know what you're going to experience when you do. When you do these things, you know you want to experience that, but you can't script it. You can't script that the dress doesn't fit or that it you know, or you just do something wrong or say something stupid, or you know you can't do that. So that's the hard part about what we do is that you, while you have an idea, that's great, but at the end of the day, you just have to be flexible and go with it. You know when it, when it comes to filming experiences, because you especially if you want it to be authentic, because I feel like you can watch people and you're like that that just seems really scripted, like why did that happen so perfectly?
0:18:22 - Sara
everything always goes wrong with you guys.
0:18:24 - Chris
Yeah, it's like okay, that's because it probably is scripted and it's not real.
0:18:27 - Sara
But it gets really good views. So if that's what you're after, like, don't listen to us because our views are not that good right now.
0:18:32 - Chris
Yeah, yeah, so that I mean that's kind of our advice, like we go at it, as we want to be as Authentic as possible on camera and I think, another thing.
0:18:43 - Sara
You've probably been able to see this in some of our videos, where we're More interested in a place than others, and that's not because we didn't think a place was good, it's just that some things really peak our interest when we get there more than something else does. So I say always, always, always, do what you want to do. Do not just do what you think is going to get searched on Google, because Google plays a part in YouTube. You can play the SEO game, but ultimately, if you're getting viewers and they can tell that you're not super engaged in it and you're not being your real selves with it, they're not gonna subscribe for following your journey. They're gonna get their information.
The watch yeah but they're not gonna stick around for a long time and we've fallen into that. We've gotten some viewers off of SEO and, trust me, they don't stick around. I so do what you want to do. Don't just go on the 10 most popular restaurants on Google or Yelp or whatever when you're going to a town and then do all those in one video and then throw it up on youtube in a video and then, yeah, you'll SEO the heck out of it. But are you having fun? Like those 10 places may be great, but if it's not really what you do in real life, it's not worth it. You get one chance to go to these places for most people.
0:19:46 - Chris
Yeah and I think I think another thing is just try to make the best video possible, like the give a good story, do something. If you do, if you put your heart into it and you're like I'm gonna make this as best as I can, people will notice and people notice when sometimes, sometimes, but they will over time sometimes yeah.
0:20:09 - Sara
But they can tell when you don't, they can tell. They can also tell we get comments a lot. When it's a one that we got really excited about, they're like oh, I can tell you guys are really excited about this.
0:20:17 - Speaker 4
You're like, you're glowing, like you're really enjoying this and it's nice to hear that people can tell a difference.
0:20:22 - Sara
Maybe it's not good. People can tell the difference when we're really excited about something and also we're gonna really not, because even if it's a good video, sometimes you don't look like you're totally there. It'll show. So I'd say, deciding what to film that was the question how to decide. I'd say Find a few things that are like your guiding points of like. Okay, we want to feature 10 things in this video. Here are three things that we think we should fit in that are in different areas of town, and we'll just wing it from there. That's what I would do, that's typically what we do, and then sometimes Something completely random will happen and it's a great opportunity. If you see something and your gut says, oh, this could be a really cool once in a lifetime opportunity, all right, this really interests me. Just go with it, because you're always going to wonder if it was a good thing that you should have Gone to. This is like more of travel advice versus just filming advice, but I think goes for everybody goes for the same and have your phone on you.
You know yeah your phone's always handy, I mean yeah, have your phone.
0:21:13 - Chris
If you have an iPhone and Android, whatever, pull it out. Maybe you don't have the camera. Pull out the phone because, guess what, you're still capturing it and people will still watch it. Yeah, and phones have gotten really good yeah it doesn't have to be artistic, it just has to be captured.
Yeah and I have to tell myself that and I struggle with that every day, because a lot of times I'll pull out the camera and I'm like, yeah, this shot it just stinks, it's not very good, I don't want to do it. And then I miss the entire moment and I just don't do it and and we have to like suffer. And then when I'm when we're editing, it's like, oh, I don't have footage for that. I'm like if I had only pulled it out at that moment, it would have been better. You know, it just would have been better. So just film everything.
0:21:54 - Sara
Everything without letting it get in the way. This is where you and I differ sometimes is you always want to have the camera and I like to just absorb it and oh yeah. Be present.
Sometimes the camera can get in the way, but absolutely at the end of the day, make what you want to make, and for us, I know that the videos that we captured and really enjoy the memories the most are the ones that we go back and rewatch for our memory's sake. Yeah, we do something just because we think it'll make a good video.
We don't go back and watch those, not usually now and then we get some quirky one that actually is a funny memory. But general, generally speaking, the ones that Are truly what we want to do, those the ones that Are the ones that are worth making. Oh, one more point on that I think also that YouTube in general there's so many creators out there right now, but especially the travel industry is so saturated that if you want to stand out, you can only be yourself Like you can copy someone else and someone else's style and what they're doing and go watch other people's youtube videos and do you stop by? Stop of exactly what they're doing? And I don't think that's what you guys doing.
That's not what I'm saying. I haven't seen your stuff yet, but I don't think that's what you're after here, because you're curious about what to make and how to make it good. But I'd say that. But there the industry is so saturated right now and that the ones that stand out are the ones that seem a little bit different. And that goes for us too. Sometimes, when we just do things that are more cookie cutter, it doesn't stand out.
0:23:15 - Chris
No, you have to be. You have to be a little different and you have to be yourself true to yourself.
0:23:22 - Sara
All right, so this question comes from Linda and she was wanting to know if we could talk a little bit about our passion for Videography and photography. She asked specifically for Chris to speak about it, but I guess it's both of us this is a 50-50 game, say it like I don't know why.
0:23:36 - Chris
No offense to Linda, but a lot of people think, yeah, I film quite a bit, but Sarah films quite a bit too, and Sarah takes a heck of a lot of better photos than I do, and but every a lot of people always ask me and I'm like I'm probably not the best person to ask, like I were both in this. It's a team effort and so yeah.
0:23:57 - Sara
Chris is more that just it like and this isn't like Linda is not the first person, linda, you're not the first person. Also like we totally get this for, not offended by any means, but it's. This is where we're both like a little bit of teamwork, where Chris is like a really magnificent editor, like he is the editor. I'll throw in my ideas, I'll pick songs, I'll give an idea here and there, but for the most part he takes the video and runs with it. Like we'll talk about the storyboard a little bit and a vision we have for it, but at the end of the day he's the one who's hitting all the keystrokes and making the video happen. I'm not but the actual capturing it, the video and the photo.
0:24:29 - Chris
I think I'm probably more not along the cameras than, oh, you're 100% Not like.
0:24:34 - Sara
I think I enjoy the actual in-camera process of creating you do that what we're saying is that it's a 50-50 thing, and so I'm gonna just it both and I know that's just. It's a super common misconception about both of us, because Chris is the video editor and so a lot of times we give credit to Chris, but from the creative side in camera. I think this is both of us addressing this one.
0:24:53 - Chris
Absolutely.
0:24:54 - Sara
So super common misconception actually. So, chris, will let you talk first, though, because I talk the most. What inspires you to create? Where did you start? Oh, we share the story of the first wedding you captured. Can we just go back that far?
0:25:11 - Chris
Why do we need to venture back that far?
0:25:13 - Sara
so both of us started video and photography. Yeah way back in like middle school, high school, we got our first cameras.
0:25:18 - Chris
So I grew up in Kentucky and my high school was a very agricultural school. Is that right?
0:25:25 - Sara
It's a county school.
0:25:26 - Chris
Yeah, we had a national tractor day at my school. I didn't fit in with the tractor kids. I fit in with the AV kids was 4h, really big 4h was huge.
0:25:34 - Sara
I was home to like and say that and FFA.
0:25:36 - Chris
Ffa was huge and and so I just didn't fit him in that crowd and I always loved making videos. I loved watching movies. My favorite movies were, back to the future, indiana Jones, star Wars, all of this and I love it. And then when I finally started to like do it in high school, like I got to do the video announcements, I loved it. So I I One of my, one of my very first jobs I get cried out every time you start to tell this One of my very first jobs was Filming a wedding, and I'm like I have made it.
I'm 17 years old and this, this lady, you were 17?
0:26:13 - Sara
I was 17. I thought you were at least 20.
0:26:15 - Chris
No, I was 17 years old. This lady was like I would love for you to film my wedding and I'm like I love the camera, I know how to film it. Of course I'll do this. I had no idea what I was doing, but I was gonna do it anyway, and Unbeknownst to me like this lady was having a very large wedding at a very large church.
0:26:33 - Sara
Who hires who who's having a large wedding Hires a 17 year old boy.
0:26:38 - Chris
She spent all her money on this venue in this wedding and she forgot to pay for the videographer is literally what happened. I know that's what happened. So she paid me like 50 bucks, I don't know something. And I get to the wedding and I go to the sound board where the the lighting guys are, and I'm like, hey, is this how the lights is, this, is this how it's going to be? And they're like, yeah, absolutely, I'm like perfect, and it was just me filming. So it was me and I had three cameras and two were on a tripod and then I was holding one and then the wedding started and then, all of a sudden, the lighting board guy Felt, moved, and he lowered the lighting to set the mood and all of my cameras were just they were set on the wrong setting wrong. And so the bride is walking down the down the aisle and you can't see her. I feel so bad. Now I'm zooming in and it's just like she's like one pixelated blob, just just like walking down the aisle. And so weeks go by after the wedding and I'm editing her video and I know Exactly. I know exactly what she's about to see and I handed her the DVD and she's like I can't wait to watch it and I'm like I can't wait for you to watch it too. And then she never called me back after that.
I did get paid my 50 bucks first, but I feel so bad. But yeah, that was my first Experience filming, but after that but I still love creating, though. I loved, you know, watching music videos and I'm like, how did they do that? You know, I would watch Jack Johnson and he would do this Is walking backwards or whatever that song is, and but it was filmed backwards, it. But he, he filmed it backwards and they played it forward and it was so cool and I'm like how did they do that? It's so cool. It's uh, it's on his banana pancakes album that I say down.
It's not, no, it's before that. Oh, but in pancakes Um yeah, um, I was waiting, wish and wizard. Yeah, yeah it's that song, yeah, yeah and so everything. So he filmed it and then played it forward and Weird, I haven't seen so cool and I remember watching that.
I'm like I want to make things like that. And eventually I started just making things, you know, because people were paying me and Um, and then it became a means to an end, you know, and it just sort of morphed into I really like doing this, I enjoy what I'm doing, and people were paying me to design business cards or paying me to edit a video, and I just kept doing it. I wanted to learn more.
0:29:07 - Sara
Yeah you're good about chris is really fun to Fun but also annoying to watch tv or a movie with, because he'll sit there and he'll pause it and say Wait a minute, how'd they do that? He'll break it down and shut by a shot over sitting there and I just want to hit play. But it keeps him creative and he enjoys breaking it down like that's a whole different side of creating than I just like. I enjoy talking to him about it but I don't get that. I like the in-camera stuff. I'm sorry I had you rehash that wedding story. I just I know it has nothing to do with your passion.
It could have killed your passion, I could have killed. But you know what? You know what really Funny you know what?
0:29:38 - Chris
I didn't even think about this until now. What really like drives my passion? Not really drives it, but what it was the moment I'm like I love doing this. I made a video and it was a recap video for a conference and I got to watch it the same day, like I edited, and then they played it To like 500 people the same day and all these people were laughing or they were crying. You know, like whatever the whole video was, and I just remember I'm like I'm making people feel things and I loved that.
0:30:08 - Sara
Yeah, you, yeah, for sure. I think that's one thing that we share is we'd like people making people feel things, whether that's a happy emotion Generally, we want you to feel happy when you're watching your stuff or seeing your stuff, but also, like sometimes you want to convey a more difficult emotion, and being able to do that's important.
So there's the music, so there's lighting sometimes I don't know, whatever it is. I think being able to pull people's emotions out is largely what's important to us with capturing a story and sharing it. That's something we're constantly learning and trying to get better at, because we want you guys to feel what we're feeling in that moment. That's so hard to do when you may be thousands of miles away, maybe you'll never or have never been to this place, but it's really we want to be able to. You can't so say we're in the Washington forest. You may never have been to Washington, you may never go there, but we want you to understand how crisp the air feels and how strong the tree smell and how beautiful the sunset is, and so we have to play with the story to kind of make you understand what that's like. So that's where my passion comes from is trying to convey to you a story, or to tell a story through the photos or videos, and light Lighting is a huge thing for me.
I like to pay attention to light. I had an art teacher years ago who said just pay attention to light, so don't do anything this week. Just watch the light and take note of how it hits against something. Watch is it hitting from the side, is it hitting from the front? And then, when you start really slowing down and paying attention to the light, you start to see things in a new way and I really loved that and being able to capture light. Light is so hard to capture. That's one thing, but also I love. I always wanted to do photography so I can travel, like that was. My thing is. I wanted to be able to tell stories of people in far away places, people and things. So we've both talked about how we got creative and how we like photography and videography. What continues to drive us, I guess, like is there anything in particular that?
0:31:55 - Chris
I think, what continues to drive me, if it makes me feel something or if I see I really shouldn't be emotion based, but I know I am.
0:32:08 - Sara
Every artist is.
0:32:09 - Chris
Yeah, and I think hearing other people be like that really resonated with me. Thank you, yeah, that's what drives me. I don't have to hear affirmation all the time. I think it's just did I feel good? Did I make the best thing that I could out of that? Do I feel accomplished after that? That feels good.
0:32:29 - Sara
Yeah, I don't think you rarely get affirmation. We get YouTube comments, but besides that, I mean those are amazing. We thank you guys for when you do tune in. But most of the time, even if we didn't get comments, we'd still like creating because we wanna know that we I don't know made you feel something. Linda, that was a good question, like I like talking about why we're creative or what inspires us to be creative, because I think it's a good reminder why we do it. Sometimes you get stuck in like the business side of it, but asking ourselves why we create is a good. No, that's a great question.
0:33:00 - Chris
It is a great question. I think getting to know the why behind you do anything is really important. So if you're watching this, the sun is setting here and you'll notice that the cameras are getting darker and darker and unfortunately we don't have a team running each camera and changing the lighting because of the sun. So we're gonna probably do another question and then probably wrap it up.
0:33:21 - Sara
So the next question comes from our friend Bethany, who asks how do you all stay healthy while traveling? Is it hard to keep workout routines while on the road?
0:33:29 - Chris
Oh, my word, that is a hard question because, yeah, it is hard to keep workout routines on the road, especially when you're traveling to new places and a lot of the culture is food, and I will stand by that. You know, like you will. So much good food, so much good, I mean, no matter where you go, they're like what is something somebody tells you about a place? Go here to eat, you have to try this. This is the best donut in the world and On the hunt for that one still, I know. But, and I feel like for us, we have to constantly remind ourselves every day is not vacation while we're traveling, that's true.
0:34:01 - Sara
There's a big difference between vacation and travel.
0:34:03 - Chris
Yeah.
0:34:04 - Sara
Yeah, okay, so a couple of practical things. We started using what running is like the easiest thing ever. Running and walking are the easiest things to ever to do around the world and it's a great way to see the places you're going. So sometimes we'll just walk eight miles in a day and that might be our entire workout, because we've walked eight miles and 90 degrees in Rio de Janeiro wherever we're at, and that's the workout for the day. But more often than not we will go to hotel stairs, like that's one of my.
Like hotels or Airbnbs, if you stay in a high rise, everybody has an emergency, like fire escape, and generally don't set off the alarm when you go into it. So we go to the stairs. Like, specifically, mexico City, we had like a 13 floor hotel. We just up and down, up and down, up and down. That was like our workout when it was either too hot or it was dark outside. We didn't feel comfortable running outside because we didn't have a gym. So finding stairs, going for walks, also hotels. I know we've talked about how excited we are to be back on the road and truck, but if you are not in an RV or a truck or a van or something and you're looking at Airbnbs or hotels. We always look for ones that have decent gems because, that allows us to stay healthier easier.
0:35:13 - Chris
Yeah, and I think one of the things that we have on our phone that we use all the time at home and on the road is the Peloton app. We pay for Peloton and they have really good like 10, 20, 30 minute workout videos that are like you can pick if you have any gear or maybe you don't, and they kick our butt sometimes.
0:35:35 - Sara
Yeah, they're good. We started using that before we ever got the bike, and that was just. I was trying out different apps. I've tried so many in the past. Nike has a lot of free workouts and theirs are great, but I had worked through so many of those and I wanted to change. So last year we joined Peloton and that's when we loved those workouts so much when we were traveling that we ended up buying the bike because we had been so consistent with that for so long.
We thought, hey, we like this, let's keep, let's go ahead and invest in the bike, but it does, yeah, so like they have like cardio and strength and yeah, I think it's like 20 or 30 bucks a month, but considering a gym membership at home was like $85 a month. It's not that bad.
0:36:07 - Chris
No no, and I think for us, especially when we're traveling, we're out, probably if we do it more in the morning, it'll more likely get done, especially if we, before we, go out and have a full day of travel and do all this, because otherwise, whether you're driving a long time or maybe you're in a different city internationally, it's hard to get motivated after you've done all the activities to come back and be like okay, I got to work out for an hour. Now you know.
0:36:35 - Sara
It goes when you're at home too, though doesn't it?
0:36:37 - Chris
Yeah, yeah, yeah yeah.
0:36:38 - Sara
Yeah, I think, yeah, I think that they just gotta get done. I know we're obviously the perfect people to listen to about this topic, since we're the picture of health here, but, believe it or not, in our better days, we have spiked across America multiple times and we have run marathons and done sports teams Like we've done it all. We enjoy being active people Like we enjoy eating, but we also really enjoy being active, and I think the one downside of traveling for me is that it is so much harder to train for something in a larger capacity, like since we've been traveling sensibly.
I don't think I've trained for how we did, but I also really didn't put that much effort into training for a full marathon.
0:37:18 - Chris
It's hard.
0:37:19 - Sara
It's so hard because you're constantly changing towns, even if you're in one place for two weeks and two weeks you have to move on and it's trying to figure out where safe to run or the time schedules when you roll in the town like it's already dark. I will not run it dark stuff like that. It is not to make excuses, but it is much harder to set larger goals when you're traveling consistently. So instead of while I miss training for a marathon or I wanna train for a bike tour again or something and that will hopefully happen soon In the meantime we're focusing on just like getting healthy as a like, for enjoying the sake of getting healthy, versus like a goal.
So while usually the goals motivate us, right now we're having to look at okay, I don't get a train for some really fun marathon, I just get to be healthy for the sake of being healthy and that's where we're at. So there's a lot of different ways to stay active, but ultimately, walking is a great way to see a place when you're traveling and it's good exercise. Or running We've done running before. Sometimes we'll just like put on our running backpacks that we do like we have like the hydration backpack that we wear for really long runs, and so, as we'll put that on, we're gonna say we'll put a couple of snacks in there and put our keys, and then we'll just go and it's. I love those days.
0:38:26 - Chris
And then whatever workout app that you wanna download, and it doesn't have to be a Peloton. We enjoyed the Peloton app, but there are plenty of YouTube channels. There's plenty of apps out there that you can take on the road with you and makes it easy.
0:38:39 - Sara
Yeah, we always carry I say we always. We haven't gotten one for this truck yet but a yoga mat, and then we used to carry one small pair of dumbbells and a kettlebell, which is extra weight in the truck, we know, but it's also our help. So we kind of prioritized the weight in the truck for that.
0:38:53 - Chris
Yeah, I mean you have the running weights too, oh.
0:38:54 - Sara
I do have like little tiny running weights. I love those things actually. I forget what they're called the egg weights. I think mine are two pounds, but they're designed for running, so they just give like that extra little bit of workout. I don't remember what like the estimated percentages that you workout or burn when you're using these things, but I love those. So if I am running short on time and I don't have time to do, you know, arm strengthening after I go for my run, I'll carry those weights. I do carry those weights on most runs, though, and it's just like a little bit of extra tension. It keeps the upper body engaged. I love those things as we're like, I think, like $30, but I've used those for years now.
0:39:26 - Chris
That's one more thing. Yeah, all right, so that's what we do.
0:39:29 - Sara
As always, it is important to please leave us a review. I hate to be that person begging. We've always been really good about not like leave that thumbs up, you know. Be sure to hit that like button or smash that like button or whatever they do on YouTube. But for podcasting especially, it's important on YouTube. But podcasting if you haven't already, please just give us a quick rating and or a comment review on iTunes. Itunes and Spotify both take ratings. Itunes takes reviews too, and it could be just a sentence. Doesn't have to be a ton, but it does help get us in front of a lot of people. Itunes does prioritize those who bring in a lot of reviews.
0:40:03 - Chris
And, as the sun is going down in the forest, turn to silhouettes. And if you have a question that we didn't answer or maybe you think that you know we would be somebody, maybe or maybe you think that we would have a good answer for you you can email us at hello at christencerracom or you can call the phone number 423-825-9572 and you can leave a voicemail or text message there and then hopefully we'll do another episode like this where we answer your questions.
0:40:33 - Sara
And if we missed your question. We do have some that we didn't get to, but if we missed your question, we're still gonna try to get to that, so stay tuned for that.
0:40:40 - Chris
All right, we'll see. You guys See ya.
0:40:42 - Sara
Thanks for listening to what no one tells you. With Chris and Sarah. If you have a comment or question that you want answered on the air, be sure to send us a message to hello at christencerracom, or you can call or text our phone number at 423-825-9572. Thanks for listening.
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