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Steve Thomas

Reuters

While many of us have been grounded for the past two years, there have been a number of adventure travel YouTubers out there braving the evolving “new normal”.
The world of travel blogging has become hugely popular on YouTube, with risk-takers racking up millions of views and subscribers.
But it can be a dangerous game, as British adventurer Benjamin Rich’s brief arrest in Kazakhstan on Saturday proves.
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Many of the major adventure travel YouTubers have been inactive during the pandemic, although others have thrived in the environment and post regularly from all over the world.
If you’re looking for inspiration, insights and entertainment here are six of the best channels to follow.
Bald and Bankrupt
British-born and Czech-based YouTuber Rich started his Bald and Bankrupt channel after filing from bankruptcy in the UK, hence the title.
Although he started out in India in 2018, “Mr Bald” has a fascination with the former Soviet states, and has travelled to some of the most remote and little-seen sites that linger behind the former Iron Curtain.
By nature this often leads him into sticky situations, which make for fascinating viewing – but also big consequences.
Love or hate his style he has a massive 3.53 million subscribers, and has travelled throughout the pandemic. Videos tend to be infrequent, and his most recent was from Lebanon, The Syria The Media Won’t Show You, has seemingly landed him in trouble.


Rich was detained and fined at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, after venturing into the area without the required permit.
In an online post, officials said Rich and Alina Tseliupa had been detained near one of the launch pads at Baikonur, which Russia rents from Kazakhstan.
Local authorities were determining “the exact level of participation in illegal activities” by the pair. Some of Rich’s videos feature a woman called Alina but it was not immediately clear whether she and Tseliupa were the same person.




















View this post on Instagram























A post shared by Mr Bald (@realbaldandbankrupt)



The most recent video on Rich’s channel was filmed in Syria and posted on April 24. In an Instagram post last week, Rich said “Syrian suntan and back in a country with Soviet mosaics” but did not specify where he was.
Baikonur, once a closed Soviet city, is now open to tourists who apply for permission from Roscosmos. It lies in the steppe around 1,100km (680 miles) southwest of the Kazakh capital Nur-Sultan.


Indigo Traveller
Nick Fisher is a New Zealander based in Europe, and is the man behind the Indigo Traveller channel, which has 1.39 million subscribers.
Fisher’s videos are relatively infrequent but are always well-produced and presented – and more importantly they stand out from most others in that they are stacked with genuine and well-informed purpose and intent.
Although he doesn’t wrestle crocodiles or skydive, his videos are full of adventure in the kind of locations few dare to venture to, such as Yemen, Somalia and Venezuela, where he puts himself on the line to tell real down-to-earth stories of the issues rarely reported elsewhere.


Gabriel Traveller
There’s a certain relatable and genuine charm to the videos produced by Gabriel Morris, a Canadian-born, American-raised budget adventure traveller.
Morris started travelling before the internet existed, and is very much the grandfather of travel YouTubers. He has 543,000 subscribers, and he posts at regular intervals, depending on the location and his internet access.
He travels almost full time, has been active throughout the pandemic, and his most recent travels are through India. Morris has a definite inclination towards trekking and presents vlog style on the realities of budget adventure travel.


Harald Baldr
Norwegian Harald Baldr is very much a man of mystery, and the fact so little is ever disclosed about him no doubt helps fuel the enigma that has earned his channel some 2.31 million followers since he started in 2015.
Baldr presents in English and specialises in long-form, first-person documentary style videos from remote locations – places often considered as dangerous, or on the edge of regular travel sensibility.
His last series was from a trek he took through Nepal, and he always seems to have a great embedded-style approach with local communities.
He tends to just appear for a series of videos now and then, his latest updates coming from the Himalayas three months ago, so something new is undoubtedly due soon.


Drew Binsky
With 3.17 million subscribers, Binsky is one of the giants of the adventure travel YouTube scene, and runs his channel like a well-oiled and mainstream television production.
A few years ago he set out to visit all 197 official countries in the world, an epic journey he completed 3 months ago in Saudi Arabia.
With a definite liking for the Middle East, his videos are usually filmed in the company of locals, which makes them informative and entertaining.
The adventure element of the channel really comes from the exploration of places we rarely see on other channels. Although his future travel plans are not stated, he still averages one video a week.


Fearless & Far
Canadian Mike Corey is the man behind the Fearless & Far channel, which has 1.05 million subscribers.
Corey likes to live life on the edge and in sketchy environments. From eating crocodiles in the Democratic Republic of Congo to scaling Mount Kilimanjaro and living with remote tribes, his videos are top-notch stuff.
In 2021 he presented his own eight-part television series on The Weather Channel called Uncharted Adventure.
Most Fearless & Far videos run for between 16 and 30 minutes, are action-packed and very informative, with two or three posted each month.


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Benjamin Rich poses at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Photo: Instagram/@realbaldandbankrupt

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Travel blogging has become hugely popular on YouTube – but sometimes it can be a dangerous game
Rich, whose ‘Bald and Bankrupt’ channel has over 3.5 million subscribers, detained at Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan



Travel blogging has become hugely popular on YouTube, but sometimes it can be a dangerous game – here are six of the best channels to follow.


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After Russia detains YouTube travel blogger Benjamin Rich, here are 5 other adventurers you need to know about

Travel blogging has become hugely popular on YouTube – but sometimes it can be a dangerous game Rich, whose ‘Bald and Bankrupt’ channel has over 3.5 million subscribers, detained at Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan

Bald and Bankrupt

Travel blogging has become hugely popular on YouTube – but sometimes it can be a dangerous game

Rich, whose ‘Bald and Bankrupt’ channel has over 3.5 million subscribers, detained at Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan