Did the Blog Become a VLOG?

Wow. I haven't posted anything since January 2021! One could say it is because I haven't had anything interesting worth blogging about happen. One would be wrong!!

It's been quite a year! Everything was at such a halt last year so plans that had to be put on hold all suddenly started to happen. And then unexpected plans came to life. But instead of writing about all of them we sort of developed a new family hobby. We? Yes, my 5 year old daughter and I! 

She loves watching other kids on YouTube so she wanted to start vlogging and making her own videos. We experimented with it in November 2020 with our mother daughter trip alone to Walt Disney World. No idea what we were doing, but we sure had fun with it! So much fun that it has become a thing. We mostly vlog our vacations, but we have added in other little things like trips to the Wildlife Safari or even a shopping challenge and school graduation. So yeah, life hasn't stopped - it is just very different, like it is for all of us. 

I actually spend quite a bit of time editing our videos. From our latest trip I have an obscene amount of data. I filled my phone and had to airdrop files to my iPad multiple times so we would have available space left on my phone to keep making videos and taking photos. But why do all of this? Because it is fun! Katura and I have so much fun watching our old videos. We always laugh and reminisce together. It seems we each always come up with a new memory that the videos help bring back to the surface, and then we like to share stories with each other about it. I keep learning more and more about things she has done without me just from us watching our videos together! 

So yes, the world CAN watch them, but we make them for us and don't really expect others to join. What are they like? Some money-making YouTube people have a lot of promotions in them, sometimes subtle, other times too in your face. Some vloggers seem to try to be the next Travel Channel host. Some never stop using selfie mode. We aren't like them. I guess our style of vlogging is bringing viewers along with us like you are part of our travel party. Heck at times we talk to you, we ask you questions, we ask you for help, we offer to carry you so your feet don't get tired! There is no goal of raking in views and likes and subscriptions and comments or money. We just do it for fun and a way to remember our trips. 

It is so funny how just a little video ... they are too long for some, but trust me, I edit!! I usually have an hour worth of footage that I reduce down to try to get to 25 minutes or less!! .... anyway... a little video can bring back so many memories and emotions. What might be nothing to a viewer feels so different to we girls that lived it. The video I just edited of the Disney Dream leaving Port Canaveral, oh my gosh... I can't even describe how it felt at the time and how it feels watching it. Walking onto that ship was just I don't even know the word. I'm not lying when I say I started crying before we even got to the ship and I could see all the crew eagerly awaiting our arrival. Then they say your name and it gets so real! When we were on our verandah and heard those Disney horns... goose bumps central. Leaving the Port there were so many people at the beach and docks and local restaurants there to wave and cheer as we went by. We directly interacted with so many of them and it just felt so surreal. Like we were in a movie but it was our real life and it was happening. And this is why we vlog. We get to keep reliving those moments that make words escape my fingers.

We happily invite you to join us on our vacation! Lucky for you it is completely free and you don't have to worry about your suitcase weighing too much or smelling any smells of sweating laundry and dirty shoes!   

Our YouTube Page can be found here.