Happy New Year! As always, let’s take a look back at the past year of the channel and look forward to 2024.
By every measure, this was a RECORD year for the channel! 49 flights (53 when counting sightseeing trips), makes it by far the most flights since I started counting back in 2016, surpassing the prior high of 44 in 2019. We hit 1 million views (currently 1.4 million) , 5,000 subscribers (currently 6,117), and views, watch time, and subscriber growth are all up from 2022!
Most popular videos & views in 2023:
• Trenitalia Frecciarossa: 49,244
• Italo Premium: 37,675
• British Airways A380 Economy: 36,900
• Frontier: 36,676
• Heathrow Express vs Elizabeth Line: 34,541
As you can see, 3 of the top 5 videos are TRAINS! Where are my flight review peeps? And all of these videos are older videos, not anything even filmed this year.
In back half of the year there were two disappointments, perhaps linked. One day I logged into studio to see a note that my account had been flagged for “invalid traffic.” Basically, YouTube thought some of my views were illegitimate and demonetized them. They wouldn’t say which views or videos. This is an unfortunately common bug impacting a lot of creators recently, and of course there is no explanation or recourse. Overnight, the revenue I received per each view declined by 50%. It is very evident on the graph exactly where this occurred. Revenue really only recovered at the end of October. The back half of the year also marked a noticeable decline in views week over week. Even though I was putting out new videos, they simply weren’t getting the same number of views. “Escape to Paradise” and “The King in the North” just haven’t immediately resonated with viewers, at least not yet. Impressions were so low it was clear they weren’t even getting sent to subscribers. I'm not too worried as my videos often take years to get any traction in the algorithm.
Is this frustrating? Sure. Do I honestly care? No. I’ve never had the intention of “making it big,” and this channel will always remain a passion project.
So what is there to look forward to in 2024? A ton!
I finally did some PC and camera upgrades. Now rocking a Ryzen 5900X and RTX 4080. Upgraded my cameras to an iPhone 15 Pro Max, DJI Pocket 3, and Sonly a6700. So beginning with “An American Interlude” and “Figaro Went Yodeling,” all videos will be shot, edited, exported, and uploaded at 4K 60fps.
I’m currently working on the most time-intensive single review I’ve ever done, covering 16 flights in a single video. I'm only 1/2 way done at this point.
I just finished editing and uploading “Figaro Went Yodeling,” (six flight and two train reviews) and as of now there is content already complete thought OCTOBER 2024. And I haven’t even started filming yet in 2024! Does that mean we go weekly at some point?
While I am traveling to Mexico in January and again in February, the first big trip of the year will be in March 2024. It will be the most crazy, around-the-world trip I’ve ever done. Nine flight reviews, and at least three train reviews. And yes, it was inspired by a song from a low-cost airline, that’s so bad I just had to take it. It’s called “Around the World with You.”
I know I said to expect Avelo, JSX, Breeze, and JetBlue A220 last year. Sorry I lied. Well JetBlue pulled the A220 from Chicago, and I was hoping of also tying it in with the new Amtrak Avelia Liberty Acela trains, which are still in development hell. So those flights are possible, just at some point.
Have a safe and happy New Year everyone, thanks for watching, commenting, liking and subscribing, and I’ll see you on the next one!
Travelog
Happy New Year! As always, let’s take a look back at the past year of the channel and look forward to 2024.
By every measure, this was a RECORD year for the channel! 49 flights (53 when counting sightseeing trips), makes it by far the most flights since I started counting back in 2016, surpassing the prior high of 44 in 2019. We hit 1 million views (currently 1.4 million) , 5,000 subscribers (currently 6,117), and views, watch time, and subscriber growth are all up from 2022!
Most popular videos & views in 2023:
• Trenitalia Frecciarossa: 49,244
• Italo Premium: 37,675
• British Airways A380 Economy: 36,900
• Frontier: 36,676
• Heathrow Express vs Elizabeth Line: 34,541
As you can see, 3 of the top 5 videos are TRAINS! Where are my flight review peeps? And all of these videos are older videos, not anything even filmed this year.
In back half of the year there were two disappointments, perhaps linked. One day I logged into studio to see a note that my account had been flagged for “invalid traffic.” Basically, YouTube thought some of my views were illegitimate and demonetized them. They wouldn’t say which views or videos. This is an unfortunately common bug impacting a lot of creators recently, and of course there is no explanation or recourse. Overnight, the revenue I received per each view declined by 50%. It is very evident on the graph exactly where this occurred. Revenue really only recovered at the end of October. The back half of the year also marked a noticeable decline in views week over week. Even though I was putting out new videos, they simply weren’t getting the same number of views. “Escape to Paradise” and “The King in the North” just haven’t immediately resonated with viewers, at least not yet. Impressions were so low it was clear they weren’t even getting sent to subscribers. I'm not too worried as my videos often take years to get any traction in the algorithm.
Is this frustrating? Sure. Do I honestly care? No. I’ve never had the intention of “making it big,” and this channel will always remain a passion project.
So what is there to look forward to in 2024? A ton!
I finally did some PC and camera upgrades. Now rocking a Ryzen 5900X and RTX 4080. Upgraded my cameras to an iPhone 15 Pro Max, DJI Pocket 3, and Sonly a6700. So beginning with “An American Interlude” and “Figaro Went Yodeling,” all videos will be shot, edited, exported, and uploaded at 4K 60fps.
I’m currently working on the most time-intensive single review I’ve ever done, covering 16 flights in a single video. I'm only 1/2 way done at this point.
I just finished editing and uploading “Figaro Went Yodeling,” (six flight and two train reviews) and as of now there is content already complete thought OCTOBER 2024. And I haven’t even started filming yet in 2024! Does that mean we go weekly at some point?
While I am traveling to Mexico in January and again in February, the first big trip of the year will be in March 2024. It will be the most crazy, around-the-world trip I’ve ever done. Nine flight reviews, and at least three train reviews. And yes, it was inspired by a song from a low-cost airline, that’s so bad I just had to take it. It’s called “Around the World with You.”
I know I said to expect Avelo, JSX, Breeze, and JetBlue A220 last year. Sorry I lied. Well JetBlue pulled the A220 from Chicago, and I was hoping of also tying it in with the new Amtrak Avelia Liberty Acela trains, which are still in development hell. So those flights are possible, just at some point.
Have a safe and happy New Year everyone, thanks for watching, commenting, liking and subscribing, and I’ll see you on the next one!
1 year ago (edited) | [YT] | 19