We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Alex Armitage a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alex, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

In late 2020 I started making YouTube videos full-time. Not long after that, my relationship ended and I was left with the decision to move out and sign a lease or try something less conventional. Since then I’ve been living and traveling full-time in my SUV for almost three years. I’ve done this all while continuing to create Youtube videos every single week.

I’ve driven to the arctic ocean of Alaska, all the way to Florida, and then to the eastern most point of North America in Newfoundland. I’ve gotten to share heartache and happiness through my channel, continually focusing on the beauty of the world with as much genuine human experience I can sprinkle in. My channel mainly focuses on landscape photography but ventures into travel, mental health, and life on the road.

Living on the road was a risk I never thought I’d take and it has been some of the most rewarding yet challenging experiences I’ve ever had.

Alex, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Landscape photography specifically started out as an escape from the world. Taking my camera out and shooting for only myself with no purpose other than my own enjoyment and challenges. It didn’t involve people, it pushed me to explore much of the world I wouldn’t have otherwise known was out there. It still does that to this day. There’s nothing more therapeutic than watching the sun come up to show off the beauty of the world all while providing the challenge to me, the photographer, to capture it. I get the pleasure of waking in some absolutely majestic spots and privilege to share it with an audience.

My channel focuses on sharing these experiences with those that can’t get out as much, or simply want to learn from my experiences vicariously through me as best as possible. Even though I spend a lot of time alone out in the world, creating videos tends to make me feel like I have someone to talk to, even if the response isn’t until I hit upload.

I’m most proud of the niche I’ve found in the space. Specifically trying to be as human and genuine as possible. I don’t put on a personality in my videos. I’m just me and I talk about the ups and downs of life on the road as honestly as possible. I think this connects with some people, and is what gives me pause within myself to keep making content. Maybe I’m not the best, the fastest, or most known. But I genuinely feel as though I’m talking about topics that should be more transparent, like mental health.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

The best advice I can give is there are no shortcuts. If you choose to grow in a way that just generates numbers – you can certainly do that. But it will come at the cost of not having as much of a connection with your audience. The reality is you can have 100k followers by following trends and doing whats popular. But it won’t necessarily translate to revenue.

In the same vein you can have 1k followers who are all true fans. People you’ve garnered trust and relationships with, even if they are parasocial. Even though it’s a much smaller number, it might be all the monetary support you need because they actually believe in you and connect with you as a creator.

The reality is, you have to ask yourself if you want to be followed for something you can provide, or you want to be followed for you as a person. There are no shortcuts.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

Creating YouTube videos is extremely fulfilling because there is direct input and response. Unlike many jobs where you do tasks and never really see any results, there’s feedback and fulfillment from everything you create on YouTube.

When I published a video, I get gratification for everything I did. The photos I took, the narration, the lesson – whatever it may be. Comparing this to a job where you work on a small piece of a bigger picture. There is no gratification or response. In many cases you might not even know if what you worked on was relevant.

To me this is the most rewarding aspect creatively. Everything I put in has a purpose. I have direct feedback to the work I create.

Contact Info:

• Website: alexarmitage.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/alexarmitage_
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/thealexarmitage
• Youtube: youtube.com/alexarmitage

Image Credits
Alex Armitage