How I Vlogged the Appalachian Trail - Tips for Vlogging a Thru-Hike

Here is my attempt to explain how to vlog the AT or any thru-hike. I go through all of the equipment (listed below) as well as the filming and technical processes involved. This is by no means the only way you can do this, but what I outline is how I did it. Below, you can see some of the things I forgot to mention in the video.

*Things I Forgot to Say in the Video*

Music - I used royalty free music in my video editor (PowerDirector). I would recommend downloading this ahead of time.

Timed Release - You can schedule videos to release whenever you want. My videos were delayed about 3 weeks and gave me plenty of time to edit and upload without feeling stressed.

Aspect Ratio - I had no idea what this term even meant when I started. For YouTube videos, you want to use a 16:9 aspect ratio as this will make the video fit the frame properly. If you are not using the right aspect ratio, you could get distorted video dimensions or black bars on the side of the video. Flip your phone horizontally when taking videos and photos for YouTube.

Photos - Take a ton of photos! Take photos of signs, shelters, highways, and anything else you can think of. You can also add photos to your video and lay text/music over it. I did this at the end of each video and it was actually my favorite part.

Equipment
Camera - Samsung Galaxy s21 Ultra
Tripod - Pedco Ultrapod 3
Microphone - wired earbuds with mic
Storage - Samsung T7 SSD Hard Drive 2TB
Video Editor - PowerDirector
Thumbnail App - Canva