When I started my travel YouTube channel I did so with the idea in my head that these videos were for no one but myself. I honestly couldn’t care less if other people watched them, although I’m tickled when they do. I just wanted to be able to look back and be reminded about how I felt those days on the road.
I get some criticism from time to time that the videos show too much of me talking and not enough of the places I’m visiting. However, in many ways I used the video camera as my friend in Africa. I used it as a way to get thoughts off my chest and for something to talk to. As much as these videos are for me to look back and reflect, they were also there for me when I was feeling alone, or just needing to vent.
Anyways, this video was especially emotional for me to edit now months after the incident. I can remember how down I was in the DRC, and obviously as close to death as I was, I was about as low as you can get on the road. Kinshasa too was incredible difficult, probably the most challenging place I’ve ever been. Then, arriving in Lubumbashi, and later Zambia, was so euphoric and such a high. It really did feel like I had made it. And looking back, this was the start of my recovery.