Vlog-style YouTube video by Nate and Kara Buchanan documenting travel from Texas to Vancouver after speaking at their first conference (TravelCon). The clip covers pre-talk nerves and rehearsal, highlights from the conference and their first joint talk, a post-conference family visit in Tyler (meeting niece Galilee), airport/road-trip moments (Buc-ee's, airport lounges, boarding), and the decision to fly to Vancouver to help move a camper van from Vancouver to Calgary with friends, with plans to visit Banff and Vancouver Island.
Chapters
It's going to be fine.
It's going to be good.
It's going to be fun.
We're going to do it.
I'm not going to be nervous.
It's going to be okay. Yeah, I might still be nervous.
Last time you saw us, we had just arrived in Austin, Texas. Fast forward one week and we have just arrived at the Dallas airport. But a lot has happened since the last time you saw us.
We thought we would fill you in. Our first four days were spent at travelcon, which was so much fun. There were so many amazing speakers. And we gave our very first talk.
We just practiced for the last time. And we go in two hours. We're about to head over there.
I think you'll be. Ow, my toe. Ow.
Little more coffee. Our 30 hours from Kyrgyzstan has really caught up with us. Typically, we're like, oh, yeah, we never get jet lagged. But neither of us slept very long last night.
We need our brains working at peak level.
This morning we got here a little early. We wanted to check out our room, see if our computer connected smoothly.
We're visualizing success. No idea how many people are gonna be in here.
Public speaking is, like, my least favorite thing in the world.
But things can be great. It's one of those things, though. It's my least favorite thing in the world, but at the same time, it pushes me further outside of my comfort zone than anything else. And so I like to force myself to do it every once in a while because I feel like it's healthy to do that to yourself.
What a man.
And then I drag you into it.
Who's seen one of our videos before?
Wow.
So we've got this whole, like, introduction to ourselves at the beginning because we're not that narcissistic. I thought that everybody would have watched our videos. YouTube is so super oversaturated. With over 400 hours of video being uploaded to the platform every single minute.
How can you stand out on such a huge platform? Some people refer to this as the algorithm.
Wait, what happens when you hit Country Hundred?
That's the big question of the day. We're going to wrap it up. It's time for everybody to get out of here. Thank you so much for coming.
We really appreciate it.
Turns out I think our dog went pretty well. So maybe we found a new career in public speaking.
So after the conference wrapped up, we did just do something weird.
We did Paris.
After the conference wrapped up, we drove three hours north to Tyler, Texas, where my sister and her husband live. And we spent a few Days with them and our new niece, Galilee.
It was the best. What's up, sweet girl? Hi.
You missed the whole car ride. I thought we were are going to have bonding time. Freedom.
Freedom.
Hi. Are you nice and rested?
So we've just made a pit stop at this place called Buc EE's, and apparently it's a Texas institution.
It is huge. And it's kind of a combination between a gas station, convenience store and a Walmart, right?
Oh, there we go. Oh, it's been so long since I've had an icy.
I honestly can't even remember.
What'S happening. Oh, immediate brain freeze. Oh, what did I do?
Don't dump it out.
Oh, my head hurts so bad right now. It's still coming out. I thought this was gonna be, like, a great reminder of my childhood.
I'm sorry that we didn't vlog more the last few days. And it's not that we don't want to share our personal. It's really just we're not normally with other people. Like, we meet new people all the time, but we're not, like, with people that we love very often.
So when we are, we're just trying to, like, soak up every minute of it and just be really present.
Okay, we got 30 minutes into our flight boards, and we're gonna go find a lounge.
Well, we took the Skylink train over to terminal D to go to our favorite lounge in America, this Centurion Lounge, to find that it is closed for two more days for renovation. Then we went to their temporary lounge, which is at full capacity. And so we're just going back to our gate now.
We've heard about lounges being too full, but we've never personally experienced. Experienced it. And it's quite the bummer. We realized this is very much like a first world problem.
It's gonna be okay.
It was an expectations thing, though. You first you think you're going to like your favorite lounge, then you're going to a temporary lounge, and then you can't even get in. So we just, like, kept going downhill.
Please hold on. This train is departing.
Make sure you have all of your belongings and watch your step as you exit. Exit here for the 16.
The good news is we're not having to run to our game. You'll be right on early. First flight is to Denver and we got new backpacks. If you follow us on Instagram, you already know that and have seen our review.
We got five minutes, and I'm hoping to, you know, make up another five minutes or so.
If we can.
So we'll do our best to get you there as quickly, but more importantly, as safely as you can. Thanks for choosing the Friendly Sky. Sit back, relax. Enjoy the flight.
Sam.
We just realized we hadn't explained why we're going to Vancouver. So we thought we would take this time, since we have a really short layover, to explain how we ended up booking a flight to Canada, because it is kind of random.
So when we landed in Austin a week ago, we thought we were heading back to Asia, but we hadn't booked our flight yet. Then our friends Heath and Alyssa called.
And they were like, we have a friend who needs a camper van moved from Vancouver to Calgary. Would you be interested?
And we were like, interesting.
Then they said, we'll be driving to Calgary, too, and we can caravan. It will be so much fun.
We can visit Vancouver Island. We can spend some time in Banff. Have you heard of Banff?
And we were like, yes, of course we've heard of Banff.
And they were like, this is the best time of year to visit Western Canada. The leaves are changing, the bears are out, the tourists are leaving, and we might even see some snow.
And then I looked at Nate, and I was like, forget about Asia. Let's go to Canada.
Okay, that might not have been verbatim, but it's pretty much what happened.
And here we are, about to board our flight for Vancouver.
Sit back, enjoy the plate. We'll keep you updated when it changes. Thank you.
I love this. So tranquil.
Are you working tomorrow?
I think this is a Canadian thing. It is 10pm we just landed, and we're both super hungry. So before we make any bad decisions, we got some snacks, and it's the only restaurant in Arrivals.
Can you tell me again? McLeod code?
Right. Yes.
Thank you.
Oh, yeah. How are we gonna end the vlog? We just got to our Airbnb. It's just right down the road from the airport. Because tomorrow we're going back there to pick up a camper van to drive into Vancouver. But now we're going to sleep.
They told us this was way too many spots.
But we've practiced it, and it's under the time limit.
3, 2, 1. And they're like, we have a friend who needs a camper van moved from Vancouver to Calgary. Would you be interested?
Is that too much?
You just looked at the camera.
Oh, okay.
Okay, gotcha. I said five times takes. Okay, that was practice. I'm gonna go over the top.
Do it, do it, do it, do it.
Oh, gosh. And they were like, this is the best time of day.
Sorry. I was listening for that. And then I was like, first movie you've been in. Oh, big y'.
All.
Ooh, Got my tortilla all in your face. Hey.
Hey. Camera shy. Yeah. Hi.
Hey.
Are you sleepy?
Okay. Cuz I feel like it's in middle of us.
Yeah, it is recording.
How's it look? I feel like it's pointing too far down.
Okay.
Does it look good?
It's a little crooked. We just realized that we hadn't explained why we're going to Canada. Oh, that plane is pretty. Going across the sunset. Wow.
