“You have an adorable family. You really should start a YouTube channel.” I remember hearing these words from a friend, the year before we decided to move to Mexico. The thought to build a YouTube channel crossed my mind for a second, but it quickly vanished when I faced the reality of my family, work, and business responsibilities. I was unable to see a space on my calendar to make time for creating consistent video content. Vlogging as an activity that could enhance my life was a far-fetched idea.
“It was a long and tedious process,
somewhere between 10-12 hours to create a five-minute clip, but something about it spoke to my inner voice of creativity.”
From my experiences dating back to 2009, I knew that building a YouTube audience would require a significant amount of time and energy. Looking for ways to cut expenses in our destination wedding, my wife and I decided to buy a camera and record our beach ceremony ourselves. I was made responsible for editing the wedding video and posting it on YouTube for our family and friends who were unable to make the trip to Mazatlán, Sinaloa Mexico for our ceremony. Creating the edited video was a long and tedious process, somewhere between 10-12 hours to create a five-minute clip, but something about it spoke to my inner voice of creativity. From that experience nearly nine years ago, I knew that I enjoyed the process of making a video, but could not see how to make consistent content for YouTube.
I decided to dabble in creating video as a hobby until that lead to creating over 500 videos! Reaching that milestone was the sign that there was something more to creating this type of content to share with others, and that I needed to make time for it in my schedule. In 2016, I completed a goal of sharing 365 videos of my journey in the martial art and cultural practice called capoeira. It wasn’t easy, and there were some moments when I wanted to quit, but something about the process transformed it from a hobby into a component of my life’s callings.
“To this date, I have not been paid one red penny for a video
that I have spent countless hours on filming and editing.”
It was not the potential of making money from this craft, which attracted me to committing to improve in this skill. To this date, I have not been paid one red penny for a video that I have spent countless hours on filming and editing. However, I am grateful for this creative outlet because it causes me to pause and give thanks. Whenever I review hours of video to tell a ten-minute or less story, it becomes more feasible to acknowledge the experiences I have been blessed to share with my family in this life. The vlogs have also become an educational tool for families and individuals interested in creating a location independent lifestyle abroad or in the United States.
My family channel, La Vida Lindsay, is a platform to share our triumphs and challenges that come with building entrepreneurial lifestyles while raising three young children abroad. I continue to produce the vlogs without compensation because it forces me to appreciate the life I have acquired by deciding to get uncomfortable and work toward the acquisition of my dreams. Vlogging serves as an act of gratitude because it causes me as the content creator to reflect, appreciate, recreate, and share.