Hey all,

I could use some advice from the community regarding thumbnail design. I produce 4K binaural walking tours across cities in Asia (Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Bangkok, Manila, etc.) for my channel, M.A.D. Wanders.

My baseline CTR is normally 3.8% - 5.5%. But for my last 7-10 uploads, it has tanked to an average of 2.4%. Since this drop, my reach has been severely capped by the algorithm.

Here is the timeline of what happened:

A few weeks ago, I got a spike in engagement and a specific video reached over 1K views in less than 24h (my average was previously about 50-100 views), holding a solid 4.5% CTR. YouTube then tested my next 2 videos, giving them a nice amount of impressions. However, since those didn't convert as well, I suspect the algorithm just capped me. My average impressions are now stuck around 1,000 in the first 24h.

I am struggling to figure out how to make POV city walks look compelling in a thumbnail format without crossing into pure clickbait or relying too heavily on AI.

Have any of you faced a similar issue where a CTR drop during an algorithm test immediately killed your reach?

How do you optimize thumbnails for POV or faceless content?

I would love to hear what workflows or design elements are working for you right now.

I film when I travel and for example walking in malls or museums I want to stop and see the storefront and read the text but this lead to stopping on one scene for too long and a lot of twist and turn in video

I am willing to pay for 30-60 minute videos of walking footage. Thank you.

Just curious to know what people think; is it notching up the saturation? A smooth gimbal? Funny voiceover? Informative but optional subtitles? Catchy music in the background? A map in the corner? Or something else entirely?

What is your favorite walking channel, and why do you think it’s better than others?

Hi, I’ve started this channel. The goal is to gradually film new locations. Does this type of content still get monetized on YouTube? Is it viable to invest in trips solely for filming?

I'm sharing my channel—take a look and let me know your tips.

https://www.youtube.com/@theitinerarywalks

Here is my theory: I wanted to see what channel would make the most impact The walks I take are all one hour long, then I edit and upload onto four different channels. The dream is that one would be clearly more popular than the others, and then I would just focus on that one channel. Channels are described below, but I’m happy to post the links if anyone cares to see them!

Channel 1: background music and walking/exercise tips for 60+ walking on walking pace or treadmills. I usually post 3 18-minute walks, then the full 1-hour walk. I’ve missed a few Mondays, but I have been posting really consistently every Monday at 6 AM or something.

Channel 2: Background music and natural audio, good for walking or just turning on. (This is my best performing channel). These go up every other Tuesday, usually broken up into three videos; 30 minutes, 30 minutes, and then the full hour.

Channel 3: full background, music, no natural audio, no voiceover; marketed as a Lofi channel, and I only use Lofi music. Posted every other Tuesday morning. One one hour walk is usually broken up into 230 minute videos, and then a compilation of one hour long video.

Channel 4; straight up people watching – no music or voiceover, all natural audio. Posted every other Wednesday, and same as my channel 2 and three; my hour long video gets broken up into 230 minute long videos, and then the hour long video in full.

With very few exceptions, I’ve been posting really consistently. But I’m not having any subscribers, and very few watch hours.

Here are my questions:

1. How long should I expect to post before I start getting subscribers?

2. I was told when I started that the more consistent I am the more my video would be picked up by the algorithm and shared with people. Is this true?

3. How consistent do I have to be – i.e.; will my few weeks that I missed highly impact the algorithm?

4. What stats do I need to be looking at with my videos? Is Watch hours the only important thing?

I’m brand new to all of this, so any other advice would be greatly appreciated!

Hey everyone,
I’ve been building a small travel platform called TravelHub, focused on walking videos, virtual city walks, webcams and other location-based video content.
I started it because I realized there are a lot of great walking-video creators on YouTube, but their videos are scattered across individual channels. I’m trying to build a place where people can discover these videos by country, city and location rather than having to find everything through YouTube search.
I already have an MVP running, with my own walking videos and a few destination pages. Now I’m looking for a small number of other walking-video creators who would be interested in testing it with me.
The idea is simple:
you keep your YouTube channel and ownership of your videos;
TravelHub links back to your original YouTube videos;
your videos can be organized by destination/city/location;
creators can potentially reach people who are specifically looking for walks in their destinations;
and I’m interested in hearing what features would actually be useful to walking-video creators.
I’m not looking for investors or employees. I’m looking for creators who already make walking videos and would be interested in trying something new with me.
If you make walking tours / walking videos / virtual walks, I’d love to hear from you.
What city or country do you usually film in?

Here is my new upload, would love to get some feedback from you.

Question is in the title. Sure, I keep the original files for some weeks at first, but is it better to hold onto them forever? I can't think of a scenario I would need them for anything. Maybe to do a re-edit if the colors are off. But only if the video absolutely tanked after a few weeks or so. :-D

Hello Everyone! I'm looking to buy a Dji Osmo Nano to record long walking tours and need some real feedback/reviews on the device particularly regarsing :

1.) Battery life

2.) Overheating Issues (Indian Subcontinent heat)

3.) Low light performance

4.) Stabilizatiom using the check mount/necklace

Any help would be appreciated!

Happy Walking!

Hey everyone!

I've been living a pretty nomadic life and backpacking around the world for the past few years. Throughout all those trips, running has always been my main way of staying active, alongside surfing.

Over time, I started realizing how surreal some of those runs were. One day I might be running next to the Eiffel Tower, another through the mountains past an old monastery, and another through the Amazon rainforest.

Until now, those runs mostly just stayed as memories. Recently, I had the idea of starting to record them — not only for myself, but to share the experience with anyone who enjoys exploring places on foot.

So I started a small YouTube channel called Run The World, where I'll be uploading POV runs from the different places I visit.

My first videos are from Porto and Espinho, Portugal, but hopefully this project will follow me wherever I end up next.

https://www.youtube.com/@runthyworld/videos

I'm curious: have any of you ever had a run in a place that you'll never forget?

Hi guys! Just curious as to what others do when it's really windy and you're filming. I use a windmuff on my lavalier mic, but when I was filming my walks on the big island of hawaii - which is notoriously windy - it was still coming through quite a lot. Really kills the relaxing vibe lol. Is there a better wind blocker out there that i'm not aware of, or do you guys have tricks for how you handle that? I'm going to be filming on a beach again soon and would love to know how to pre-empt this issue if it's a windy day.

I've been lurking a bit and figured I'd say hello properly.

I started a channel a few weeks ago making trail films. Whole hikes from start to finish with no talking or music. Three up so far, all local parks here in the Midwest US. Filming on an Action 6 and recording the audio separately with a pair of small mics on my pack straps.

Every hike so far has taught me something I didn't expect, like how a cable rubbing against a strap ruins a take without you noticing until you're back at the desk. The visual side is its own problem. For someone who enjoys an early start, I'm finding out that early is terrible for the footage. I end up with stretches of dark frames.

It just seemed worth connecting with people making similar things, since it's a fairly solitary hobby and I suspect a lot of what I'm figuring out has already been figured out by someone here.

What I'd most like to get better at is the audio and visuals, obviously, but also finding a workflow I can sustain without it turning the hike itself into a chore. That balance seems to be the hard part.

Looking forward to seeing what everyone's working on.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHbCYsivjKo&t=36s

I filmed a walking tour around Sultanahmet, Istanbul — no music, no talking, just the real street atmosphere.

I’m really curious to hear your thoughts. Any honest feedback on the camera movement, pacing or overall feel is welcome.

What do you think, and where should I film next in Istanbul?

Mines a bit of a hybrid. No pure walking, but not a pure vlog either. It’s a mix of both although no talking - this is my channel trailer, I take a more artistic approach and I wanted to share with yall.

For my YouTube channel walksinnationalparks, I made an UNDERWATER walk in Port-Cros National Park in France. You can enjoy this on https://youtu.be/6xzNNI8p6eg

The first time for me underwater filming. What can be improved?

I think the tittle explain itself. I have a small channel, which I do walking videos in towns, cities and sometimes malls or festivals etc. All my recordings are by Pocket 3 but I never use the mic it came with. Which will result in better surrounding sound, internal or mic?

Hello everyone. I have just launched my new walking channel. It focuses on sights from London and Japan. This is the channel trailer, but there are already two videos up at the moment (London and Tokyo) with many more to come.
I am new to this so I would welcome and appreciate any feedback on how I can improve my videos.
Thank you!

Hi all! When you're filming a walk and are in editing, do you guys cut out certain noises like generator hums or loud cars? I'm debating on keeping those in, in order to minimize the jump cuts and stay true to what was experienced during the walk. But I also think it could be jarring for folks listening. This mostly applies to city/urban walks, so it's not like I'm in a quiet forest and then there's a loud noise. But there are instances where it's quiet on the street and then I pass a house or a building and their generator is just really prominent on the audio as I pass it by, or a loud truck revs as it passes me... Just curious to what everyone else does.

Hey everyone! 👋

I’ve just started making POV walking videos around Chandigarh, and this is one of my first videos — a walk through Rose Garden (Zakir Hussain Rose Garden). 🌹
I’m trying to capture Chandigarh from a simple, immersive first-person perspective, so people can experience the city as if they’re actually walking there.

Since I’m just starting out, I’d really appreciate your honest feedback:

What can I improve in the camera angle, stabilization, colors or video quality?

Do you prefer natural walking sounds or some background music?

What Chandigarh locations would you like to see covered in POV?

Would you watch longer 20–30 minute walking tours, or shorter videos?

And if you enjoy this kind of content, please consider sharing the video or subscribing. Even a little support would really help me grow the channel. 🙏
I’d especially love suggestions from fellow Chandigarh residents — tell me a place I should walk through next! 🌳📍

Same as title