Time for another trip video. This episode: Morocco.

Thanks again everyone. I do have a few tips I will share. I do not do these videos professionally - just a fun hobby that started about ten years ago and I've made one for each major trip we've taken since then. They started out as photo slideshows set to music, and evolved into more of a video production over time. I learn a ton from each one of my videos, and I think they get better every time I make one. 

My biggest tips would be:

You don't need anything fancy to get started. Use your phone (I still use mine all the time) and use whatever free software you have access to (this is the first movie for which I did not use iMovie, the free package that came on my Mac for video editing). The most important thing is just to start.

Watch Youtube. I watch a ton of travel vloggers and am inspired by what they do. You can copy ideas they have for how to start a video or end a video, which can be some of the most challenging parts to complete. Search for "_______ family trip" on Youtube and fill in the blank with your own destination. You'll get lots of ideas.

Don't watch *too much* Youtube or else you'll let comparison be the thief of your own joy. There are creators out there who spend all day waiting for the lighting to be perfect to get a shot, or waiting to be the last tourist at a location to get a shot without anyone else in the frame, or who have scripted out the action in their shot. If you're documenting a family vacation, it's simply not practical to put your travels on hold in order to achieve that. You'll also see creators who have spent years in formal training with their editing programs, doing slick transitions and really creative things. I've never done any kind of edit other than a simple cut from frame to frame. It's not fancy, but it tells my story.

Include your friends or family or yourself in the shot. It's just more interesting to watch something that features people rather than simply panning the scenery around you. 

Music will make or break your video - especially for travel videos. Find some music to use that's evocative of the location. If you're going to post to Youtube, make sure it's royalty free music! I also generally keep my music upbeat because I like fast paced videos that hold your attention better than slower paced ones.

Finally, if it's a family vacation (as it is for me), recognize that your first priority should be the vacation, and the video should come second. Sometimes you need to put the camera away and just enjoy yourself. Sometimes that means that someone will say something funny, or something crazy will happen, and you won't have that to use in your video. Be OK with that. In the beginning you will naturally over-shoot, but over time you will learn what sorts of footage you will be likely to use and what you won't. For myself, I typically edit the majority of my footage as simple 2-3 second long clips, so I don't often record a scene for longer than that. Another trick is to pick up a Gopro or other small unobtrusive camera, turn it on and forget about it - just walk around with it on and let it capture whatever comes your way. At the end of the day, you can always delete the footage if it's dull. But you might get lucky and capture something fun. Just make sure your vacation is dictating the video and not the other way around.