Dreaming about how to make a great travel video and not sure how to start? Travel videos are excellent ways to breathe life into your holiday photos and memories. And, let's face it: videos attract a lot more engagement on social media than photos these days. You only have to check out social media trends for 2021 to see that everyone, from friends and families to brands and their marketing arms, is creating videos to share with and entertain their audiences.

Videos can make us dream of our next holiday, they can inspire new plans, or they can just help your followers get to know you better. Whether you're into adventure videos, interviews, photomontages, or a first-person, pared-down production, here are some easy steps to create your own amazing travel video. 

Learn from other travel videos

Remember the saying "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery"? If you have some social channels you already love to follow for their footage, especially travel videos, now is the time to get inspired. Watch the videos that do really well, either getting lots of likes or thumbs up, or engagement from viewers. Get an idea of what all these have in common and what features you'd like to use in your own videos.

You can also watch some reputable creative travel videos like the documentaries produced by National Geographic to get ideas of stories and angles you can take with your own productions (at a much lower scale, of course!)

Have a story

The single most important trick to making a shareable and memorable travel video is to link it to a story. Whether it's a quick account of your first-person impressions of where you are, or a bird's eye view of a flyover over a mountain forest, ask yourself: what's the story and what will my viewers take away from this video?

Research travel video ideas upfront

This is a tip that will not only help your video do well on social media, but will also make you more efficient. Before you head to the place you're planning to film, do your research about the area, what other good travel videos were done there, what angles you'd like to capture, and so on. Consider your itinerary for the day: will you stay in one place or move around? And how will you shoot that?

Move from the travel video ideas to the execution by sketching out how you'll make each frame stand out. You might use more than one camera or just your phone. Knowing all this in advance will save you lots of time and will give you awesome footage.

Plan a shooting schedule

Following on from the tip above, once you have your story and your travel video ideas are fleshed out on paper, make yourself super-efficient by drafting a schedule. It doesn't have to be a professional, Hollywood-style shooting timetable, it can literally be a 2-line sketch! But having it on paper will focus you on getting the best shots for your film. 

Pick the best songs for travel videos

Having a musical background makes your video more fun and engaging and it can sometimes alter the mood completely. Think about your favorite movie soundtracks for travel scenes, or nature sounds you can overlay onto your video with a good video editing app. In a pinch, just search for "songs for travel videos" online and refer back to your inspiration channels as well. You can also use your video editing app to get additional ideas for background music.

Make a creative travel video with color and depth

To really make your travel video stand out, add some extra focus points that take it from just an overview of a place to a more vibrant and engaging piece of filming. For example, if you're traveling through an Italian village with an open-air market, go beyond filming a wide-angle shot of the stalls and zoom in on the colorful vegetables and fruit.

You can make your video more unique with close-up shots, details, and one-of-a-kind angles focusing on stand-out elements of your trips.

Make it funny

Another way for your travel video to stand out is to make people laugh. We're not suggesting you become a comedian, but the best funny travel videos manage to capture interesting - and comical! - moments in their destinations. This will mean you have to be spontaneous and capture funny moments as they happen, then share them with your followers. So, keep your eyes open for shots that will generate some laughs!

Have a mix of content 

For your social media channel, diversity is key to keeping your audience engaged. Whether you're posting your travel videos to YouTube or TikTok, avoid always shooting the same style of video. Mix landscape views with close-ups, scenes with you talking to the camera with interviews, and make use of music and transitions to keep your viewers entertained. 

Enhance your travel video with clever editing

This is where a good video editing app can help you make amazing travel videos even from your phone. To make your video even better, add some effects and writing to convey additional information you may not think is coming out clearly. You may also want to use some of these travel video transition ideas: chapters or headings, music intros, cut effects, etc. There's so much you can do post-filming, so make the most of it!

Be consistent / have a theme

You might think this clashes with the idea of having a mix of content - it doesn't! Being consistent is all about defining your "why": what's your channel about and what are you sharing your videos for? Do you want to offer a new perspective on classic destinations? Are you looking for the quirkiest food venues? Do you want to become a world-class one-minute interviewer?

Whatever theme sounds good to you, weave it into your videos to develop your unique brand. 

Play with durations for different social media platforms

You don't need us to tell you that you can't expect the same results with a 10-minute YouTube video as with an Instagram story. But then again, if you focus on providing short snippets of life in a new destination, one-minute travel videos are ideal and you should post them to TikTok or Instagram. Adapting for different platforms will allow you to either focus on one type of content only, or diversify as much as you'd like. Play around with durations until you find what suits you the best.

Remember your audience

When shooting a travel video, think of who it's for: are they interested in the experience, the scenery, the people? Depending on the audience, you may alter the style and look of your travel footage. You could also repurpose your content and use a video editing app to cut parts of your footage into new travel videos dedicated to specific audiences. 

For example, assume you've shot lots of footage from a city break in Paris and you realize you could make a one-minute travel video with the "best of" scenes as well as an in-depth video about the cathedrals or restaurants or the music scene... All of a sudden, you have different videos from the same footage, addressing different audiences, and widening your reach.

Whether just starting out or looking for fresh ideas about how to make a travel video, this guide should give you some inspiration for creating new and engaging content you can be proud of. And, remember: start sharing, see what works, and adapt as you go along!