YouTube creator niche: wilderness and off-grid living

Destination Adventure is a great example how the destruction of gatekeeping is enabling people from all walks of life to build audiences.

This week I thought I’d do a single creator case study with a bit more analysis, rather than a long list of say 20 or so creators in a particular genre, with not a huge amount of analysis of their individual propositions.

Which would you rather each week: a list of 20 or so creators without deeper analysis of their operations, or a deep dive into a single creator or niche to give further understanding of their successes?

Thanks for your feedback! So, please meet Canadian Dustin Porter and his channel, Destination Adventure.

He is one of quite a few creators sharing their experiences living in vans, camping or enjoying the wilderness; another example is Foresty Forest with 438k subscribers and 81m views.

The reason for highlighting Dustin is that more than just being a creator, he is a great example of the major transition underway in TV and the creator economy right now. Growing up in a small rural town in Canada, he had no obvious route to realise his aspirations of becoming a film maker. Though a combination of his own entrepreneurialism and grabbing the opportunity that YouTube offers to build and own an audience without having to seek permission from any gatekeeper, he now has achieved his ambition to make films and share his stories with the community he’s created.

There will be many, many more Dustins, and they will come from anywhere and everywhere. So read on, to find out how he’s grown a specific niche audience which in turn has opened up brand and sponsorship relationships.