365 days travelled. 20 countries visited. And what a year it was.
In May 2023 my partner and I both took a break from our corporate jobs to live out a dream - spend a full year travelling the world together. Despite the risk, we knew we'd look back on this as the best year of our lives. We bought a new camera to document the year through vlogs and cinematic reels, posting to a joint instagram @chelsandlars to keep our friends and family updated as well as a passion project to fuel our creativity.
The first 3 months were spent living in a budget chevy as we travelled from west to east Canada and back, camping at Walmart parking lots to save money. From Aug to Oct we then travelled 10 states of the US, from Cali to New York, right down to Florida. We arrived in Mexico for Day of the Dead in early November, then made our way down Central America, exploring Cenotes, Mayan ruins and hiking volcanoes. We then flew to London in Feb, then spent 3 months backpacking across Europe. In May 2024 we stopped in Bali to celebrate a friend's wedding, before arriving back home in Sydney, exactly 365 days since we'd left.
Not only did the trip allow for personal growth, but allowed us to significantly upskill our videography, editing and colour-grading, using the programs Aftereffects, Premier Pro and Davinci Resolve. We challenged ourselves to post at least 6 times a week. Through this, we were able to test Instagram engagement strategies, finding out what reels garnered the best organic reach, engagement and follow conversion rates.
