Late last year I had this urge to experiment with creating travel content. I had been creating videos since 2016. I always tried to experiment with the content I create and I guess this time it was my turn to try out travel content. I was lucky enough to travel during 2021 and I thought why not take an opportunity and create some content on Instagram.

So before trying it out I followed Instagram accounts about travel in Japan. I wanted to see what people are creating and what kind of content people like to watch. I found a variety of accounts. From native Japanese people to foreign content creators. But my focus was mainly on foreign content creators who made content in English. Because I would be doing the same. After searching for a week I found a good amount of accounts and I did see a few patterns in the content people created. Some accounts were widely similar while others niched down a lot. I also tried to look at smaller accounts rather than bigger accounts. Here are some of the things I noticed.

1. The first accounts I found were the photographers. Japan is a picturesque country and there’s a lot to photograph here. It’s a photographer's dream. I found accounts of photographers with different styles. But I also found a bunch of accounts that were based in Tokyo. Some of them with similar feeds while others mixed it up. I also found out how’s there’s a nice creator community in Tokyo. If you are a foreign content creator in Japan looking to collaborate then Tokyo is the place to be.

2. The other type of accounts that stood out to me was the travel accounts. These were the accounts I wanted to study. I found a lot of similarities among most of the accounts but the unique ones helped me learn a lot. They stood out with the content they created. I also saw a lot of focus on reels recently by these accounts. What also fascinated me was that these creators were mainly IG/Tiktok creators. They didn’t transfer their content to Youtube. The season and time of the year dictated a lot on how their feed looked. Depending on the season there are events in Japan and most of these accounts tried to cover those events. They tried to get their pictures from the previous year to create a guide for the events of the current year. I also saw that the accounts were active during the spring season for Sakura, autumn season for the fall leaves, and winter season for the snow photos. That was a pattern you could notice on most of the accounts. But they also put their spin on these different seasons. Some focused on travel within the big cities while others focused on the countryside. Some focused on the food while others focused on activities. There were also a few accounts just dedicated to architecture. Although I said before there were a lot of accounts looking similar, I did find a ton of unique accounts that inspired me a lot.

3. The last thing I noticed was the number of European creators. I expected to find American creators but I found more European creators based in Japan. I also saw how these accounts collaborated with their local tourist companies to promote tourism to Japan from those countries. Similar collaborations happened with creators from Southeast Asia.

I noticed a lot more but these are the three that came to my mind off the top of my head. But back to my story.

After some research, I went on a few trips where my focus was to create travel content. I wanted to create content specifically for my Instagram. I studied the accounts and now it was my time to create. I immediately realized how hard it is to create content while enjoying your trip. I couldn't do both. It was either me prioritizing creating content or enjoying my trip. The content wasn’t difficult to create but you had to sacrifice your own time. Plus you have to keep in mind that I wasn’t getting paid to create this content. A lot of the accounts I talk about started in a similar situation where they had to create content without any payment to build up their account. When you are doing that it’s hard to enjoy during your trips. I might be wrong because from the outside these travel creators do seem to be enjoying their time. But when I tried to do the same I realized how much hard work goes into their every post.

So for the last few trips of the year, I tried to focus on a different mindful approach to creating content on a trip. I decided to prioritize my enjoyment and put creating content in the backseat. I realized this suited my style. I could enjoy the trip while creating content when I felt like it. It’s not for everyone I enjoyed my trip more. But who knows, if I am getting paid for a trip to make content I might just be able to balance both.

This experience has made me respect travel content creators a lot more than I used to do. It's not easy to create any kind of content but travel content is a whole different ballgame. You have to be great at balancing your enjoyment while creating the best content for your audience. It also doesn't help that there's a lot more competition in that niche. Also as I mentioned earlier, travel content is expensive. So at the beginning when you are not getting paid or sponsorship you need to put in the work. It’s a struggle which I wasn’t ready to do.

That is why I appreciate what these creators are doing. Hats off to them. Although I started following the accounts for research and I kept following most of them. Their hard work inspires me to keep creating my style of content.

Next time your favorite travel content creator uploads anything, tell them how much you appreciate their hard work. Trust me, it will make their day.

These are some of the accounts I respect a lot because of the hard work they do. You can search and follow them if you want to follow travel content about Japan. I could add tons more but these are ones that I could find quickly before I ended the blog.

bluevagabond

abroadonadime

myspiritedway

tanya_roh

leadmetotravel

thetokyofoodie

juliexjapan

bassetts.bouken

ariel.land

thewanderingcam

linejka

yoko_lost_in_japan