There are many reasons to create impressive traveling videos from your last journey. Besides beautiful photography and spoken words, creating a motion picture is the best way to tell your story. Even though we do not like to admit it, most of us take a lot of pleasure in impressing our friends and relatives. And after going on a vacation packed with adventure and fun, the best way to have an impact is by showing off some cool traveling video that you edited yourself. But how can you do this yourself?

Nowadays it is so easy to create these kinds of videos! Smartphones are getting more powerful every year, and there are plenty of cheap options on the market. So if you have a smartphone, you have the ability to film something and share it with their friends. Editing your videos in a video editor makes them even more unique, and therefore will make you stand out yourself. You do not even need expensive equipment to get you started!

Only take short videos to be stitched together

I like to take shorter videos - approximately 10 seconds - and then stitch a bunch of those shorter clips together. The reasoning behind this is that the human attention span is not very long, so keep it short unless something really exciting is going on.

By stitching multiples snippets together, you will create something interesting. Do keep it in a logical order, so that your friends can follow the ‘storyline’. You can film the same scene from different angles, perspectives, and distances. A great approach is to show some details, then maybe an overview, and then some people doing various activities. Keeping your hand steady for a long period of time is also hard, especially without advanced equipment. That is another reason why I like keeping my videos shorter rather than longer.

Use free or low-cost apps to create stunning movies

Editing traveling videos really is not as hard as you might expect. There are so many free tools to create cool clips, all of them with a different specialization and complexity. I would recommend taking some time to find out which application works for you. Figure out what is best for your set of skills and your level of patience. My personal favorite app is called Splice by GoPro. It is a pretty fast, well-working application. On top of that, I find it easy enough to create new videos and to add additional clips and pictures. It allows me to access iTunes for background music and also has an online sound archive. Other benefits that you can use are good transitions, simple filters, overlay text, and that you can cut and stitch videos to your liking.

Telling a story is more than just a series of videos

As I wrote before, people, unfortunately, get bored pretty quickly, and you want to keep them focused and fascinated. So my suggestion would be to trim all your videos to the bare minimum unless you really have captured a spectacular moment on film.

Stitch the traveling videos together in a smart sequence: For overland trips, begin the feature by showing your starting point, followed by a shot of you driving on the road, and end with some scenes of your final destination. Add some overlay text or a voice-over, to explain to the audience what they are watching. You have to keep in mind that most of your viewers probably have never experienced what you have seen and try to show them. It should be clear to them what is going on. Selecting the right audio is one of the most important tools to really draw people in. Think about it: If you choose a popular, upbeat soundtrack, the perspective will be totally different than if you decide on a slow, dramatic tune.

First, enjoy the moment and only then make a video

Never forget that editing videos is mostly for your own enjoyment (unless it is your professional, paid job)! What YOU think of your work is a lot more important than impressing your friends and family. And while you are traveling, live in the moment! If all of your memories are on your digital drive, but not printed in your brain, they are not worth a lot. Enjoy what you are seeing and doing on your trip, before automatically grabbing your phone out of your pocket. That being said, telling your stories is a great way to inspire others, show them what they can expect of a place and trip, and how they can do it too.

Simply put, traveling videos are amazing instruments to tell your story and to share your adventures. Every trip and experience is unique and personal and is a tale worth being told. Pictures are great, but watching videos gives people the feeling they are experiencing the adventure themselves. They also are often just more fun! Keep your experiences true and realistic, and simplify if necessary - you still want your viewers to understand what is happening. But really, the best way to get started is just to start filming and see what happens! Traveling videos can be the deciding factor for people to explore more, and you can be that deciding factor!