South African-adian Robin Esrock has been to over 90 countries on 6 continents, pioneering online travel through his blog (www.moderngonzo.com) and as host of the 40-part National Geographic TV show, Word Travels. He has written about online travel videos for newspapers in North America, Asia, Australia and the Middle East. Robin has been kind enough to answer some questions and give a bit of advice for Starship Monkey readers.

-Where are you now?
Just returned from Cuba.   Since the World’s Most Dangerous Hike video, I’ve visited about 20 countries worldwide, primarily with my TV show, Word Travels (www.wordtravels.tv), and blogging on my website (www.moderngonzo.com).

-Did you ever think your YouTube videos would be so successful?
When I first set off travelling in 2005, Youtube didn’t exist.   There was no way to put up video without spending a lot of money in storage and bandwidth.   So when Youtube came out, I could finally pull all these little clips together and share them.  When I pitched my TV show, my first Youtube clip served as a demo of sorts.  You can see it here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaQ1mg18BYI . Without it, who knows if the project would have moved forward, and today I’ve been to over 90 countries!   So no, I don’t think I could have imagined the impact of that Youtube clip.  
 
-What do you think the key to making an entertaining video is?
Good humour, good music, good editing, good hosting, and good content.   The same  factors that apply to making good television, incidentally.  But keeping the length down is key otherwise people click elsewhere.   I personally think music makes all the difference. For my hike in China, I scored it with amazing music from a friend of mine, Max Serpentini.
 

-Do you think its important to have someone talking on camera rather then just doing a voice over?
I think it’s important to have a face that people can relate to.  Otherwise videos can become very impersonal, and if you’re trying to establish a brand that people will keep returning to, I like seeing a face.   Think about Where in the World is Matt.  It wouldn’t be the same if it was just the locations, voiceover and titles.    

-Do you do any planning for what you want to say to the camera or do you just wing it?
Totally wing it.   What you see is pretty much exactly how it went down.  My latest clips though (like http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjEuitA7KrQ)  I try and get a point across.
 
-Any tips on how to be an interesting presenter?
Be honest with the camera, speak to it as if it were a good friend back home.  Don’t worry about hair and make up and looking good – just focus on being real and connecting with the experience.
 
-Could you give us some details on the camera kit you used?
Don’t be shocked.  For the Mount Hua vid I used a 5 megapixel Canon SD400 camera, and it’s video function.  I’ve since upgraded to a fabulous Panasonic DMC ZS3 point and shoot, which is 12 Megapixel but also shoots 30 fps HD video.    All my clips are put together from point and shoot video.  Unless it’s from the TV show, in which case we use a Sony XD Cam and a brilliant Director of Photography named Sean Cable.  For a tripod, I use rocks, sweaters and balance.    Hey, it works!

-What do you think is important when deciding what camera and equipment you should use?
Here’s the thing. I see a lot of people lugging about heavy and elaborate equipment, but it becomes a pain in the ass to actually use it.   There’s no shame using point and shoot cameras for video,especially now that they take HD footage.   And chances are you’ll use it a lot more.  The main thing is to get the shots and keep the sound clear.  Use the equipment you’ll actually use, as opposed to just lug about all day.  
 
-How do you stay motivated to take video when your half way up a mountain and feeling pretty tired?
Or when you’ve been to 8 countries in 8 weeks and are so jetlagged you can”t tell your ass from your eyeball?   It’s about having a unique opportunity to share the adventure with people who can’t, and probably never will, get there.   What a privilege! If I had known that over 350,000 people would watch my journey to Mount Hua, I would have put a lot more into it.  As it was, I was just trying to survive!  I try to think of the people who will watch this many years from now, including me, wondering, what the hell is this guy doing!?
 
-Have you ever had any videos that you thought would be great but totally bombed?
Not bombed, but certainly not discovered yet.  I recently put up a super fun clip about my adventures in the Brazilian wetlands (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRAQT3sG6KU) which has yet to yield much traffic. I change the titles a bit, which sometimes has more impact.   

-Any tips or “not to do”s for the readers?
If your goal is to make a cool travel video for yourself, fire away.  If it’s to reach as many people as possible, adhere to the basics (clear editing, good music, short length etc).   Find interesting content, make the kind of clips people will be interested to see.   If you build it, they will come, or at least we can hope.    Take short clips on the road, and log them clearly, which will definitely help with editing.

-Where to next?
Really looking forward to my 3-week hike to Mount Everest later this year, which we’ll be Youtubing all the way.   But next up is an adventure to Prince Edward Island on the East Coast of Canada.  I’ve got a back log of video adventure to edit and not enough time in the day. But good to know I have enough footage for dozens of future Modern Gonzo travel clips.

You can fine out more info about Robin at www.robinesrock.com