My Life Changing Trip To The Gambia, West Africa

I have already filmed a video on my channel about my trip to the lovely country of The Gambia; but wanted to tell people about it on a different platform and talk about points I haven’t before.

So! I jumped on a plane from London to Banjul (quite a small airport it was). I was very young and really didn’t know what to expect. Not only because I lived and I am currently living a good life, with no worries such as when I will drink water next, if my clothes will get washed and if I will eat – but because at that age, you don’t really think of that. You’re kind of in a bubble. Unfortunately some people and when I say some, I mean a few billion people around the globe have a hard life and really do struggle. As soon as I landed, the airport looked ok. It wasn’t until I jumped in the car that was taking me to where I was staying, I was completely shocked. Pot holes in the road, animals running lose, falling down buildings, people begging. I remember thinking, why is this place like this?

Of course as soon as we turned a corner, we saw the glamorous and prestigious hotel me and my family were staying at. In a way, as much as it was sad. I was happy knowing that my money was going into this economy and helping this country! We went down to the beach, a really looked after beach. We saw some local people, in ripped and dirty clothes – I wanted to cry. They were fascinated by our phones and the difference in fashion, they loved it all.

I hope to return again one day, I pray that the country has improved and to see a difference. I would only visit again to help the people that live there and change their lives.

My whole trip sounds very upsetting and sad by the truth is, by visiting these places you’re helping them! It’s lovely to visit popular cities like London, Dubai and New York City. But they’re not struggling like some cities in parts of Africa. It will seriously change your view on the world – we think we don’t, but we do: we take everything around us for granted. Until it’s taken away or something is shown to us to show how lucky we are, we don’t realise.

Q&A – Most Popular Questions I’m Asked About YouTube | Massimo Peluso

1. How has YouTube been for you?

It’s been crazy! I’ve been viewed across the world and people have shown an interest. I’ve said this in many videos before: I didn’t know what to expect going into this. I prepared myself for people being mean and perhaps hating my videos, but it has pretty much been the opposite.

2. Does it scare you to think that your face has been viewed by strangers?

I don’t think anyone can truly comprehend the idea that strangers (& so many) are watching them. Even to this day, I sometimes think about it all. My channel is considered small, but the diversity in my views is fantastic – I’ve been viewed by over 113 countries. You get used to it for sure.

3. What’s it like to have some young viewers?

One of my biggest age demographics is the 13-17 bracket, I guess because of my age being 18 (as a main contributor), they may feel they can relate to me as we are similar age and therefore enjoy watching me. I feel like it’s my responsibility to kind of be a good example and being sensible: no swearing, no violence etc. I know it sounds silly, but being that young – you look up to a lot of people. I know I did being 13!

4. What has been your favourite part and your not so favourite part about doing YouTube?

Favourite is when I filmed, edited and uploaded one of my videos (Oxford Shopping) thinking it might get a few views, up to 100 perhaps. And then I was proven wrong and it now has over 520! You never know how people are going to react to your videos. My not so favourite time is when people leave horrible comments. They eventually delete them or I delete them. But going into this industry where you’re creative, people will have opinions. It’s how you deal with it and attitude is the main thing.

5. Where do you see yourself in 5 years time on YouTube?

I hope I develop a larger fan base; I have a small one at the moment and also have even more countries viewing! My channel is projected to reach around 30,000 views total in a years time – but who knows, it may reach a lot more. I hope I continue to do it for years to come.

My Trip To…New York City!! | Massimo Peluso

As I am so in love with travelling and admire every aspect of it; I thought I would kick start my first travel experience on my blog, by talking about my trip to NYC! If you follow my social media accounts such as Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube to name a few, know that I took a trip to the BIG APPLE. I honestly did not know what to expect. Of course I have seen popular movies, televison shows and documentaries set in the city, so therefore had a tiny idea on what the city had to offer. But as soon as I landed in JFK International Airport (flew in from London), I was speechless! The skyscrapers literally scrapped the sky, lights were shining bright off the Empire State Building and One World Trade Center; I felt like I was home.

I took a car journey from the airport to Midtown Manhattan, this is one of many hotspots. Including Times Square, Broadway, amazing restaurants and TV sets! I stayed in Waldorf Astoria Hotel, part of the Hilton chain. It was lovely. The staff were attentive, the rooms were spacious and it had a very old New York City look to it that you see in the movies. Highly recommend to anyone visiting. Our flight was in the evening, so we arrived in the US very late, tired and jet lagged! We dropped our bags off at the hotel and thought it would be great to walk the streets and get a feel for the place. We walked down to the Rockefeller Center, people were ice skating, music was loud and people laughing – it was great. We then had a quick hot dog from a stand, one word: heaven.

I could talk for a long time about every single activity I took part in, but two moments that really stand out (I cannot just do one!) was taking a boat tour around all of the boroughs, I could not stop listening to the tour guide, not just because of his strong accent, but because of what he was talking about. I never really truly understood how old New York City is, the tour guide spoke about the awful day of 9/11, how many immigrants poured through in one year which was over 1,000,000 people passed through Ellis Island and how quickly the population has increased & how many buildings have popped up. The boat tour was a few hours, it took us to every borough such as Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Staten Island and The Bronx. We also passed by Jersey City. We saw a lot of film studios and TV sets such as where Gossip Girl is filmed. The other activity of course is visiting the 9/11 memorial. It was very peaceful and it was good to pay respects. The fountains are very deep, wide and are very far apart from each other which I did not see in photos before visiting. It was crazy to think I stood where it all occurred, such as disgusting act.

I will be returning in the future, and I hope that from reading this has persuaded you to visit the diverse and concrete jungle of NEW YORK CITY. I will be talking about other aspects of my trip in a later blog!

 

 

 

Dealing With Being Judged by The YouTube World & Being In Front of The Camera | Massimo Peluso

Coming up to a year and a half now, I created a YouTube channel and became a partner with YouTube. If someone said to me before I joined that I would start filming/creating videos for YouTube, I wouldn’t have believed them. Although there are numerous positives, It never appealed to me and I did not want to get into it. I focused mainly on the negatives, which is that people receive hate comments.

My main focus when uploading is the variety of viewers I receive, such as Mexico, United States, United Kingdom, France, Spain, India, China, Canada, just to name a few out of the 110 countries that have viewed! That is what motivates me to upload, of course the dislikes and the occasional hate comments does put me off; but I have learnt to get over it. You cannot impress everyone, and thats fine!

Another point I would like to discuss is being in front of the camera(s). If you compare my first Travel Guide to my most recent one, a lot has improved: Editing, my confidence and showing more of my personality. How I get over being nervous in front the camera(s) is to talk to them as if they are your friends, once you think that, you will forget they are there! It takes times to get used to them.
I was super nervous filming my first ever video of me facing the camera – which was my 6th video I posted, 3 of the first videos didn’t include me and the other 2 were only brief second shots of me. Truthfully, for the first 20 minutes before I pressed record; I really picked myself apart. My family and friends know that I like to improve anything and everything as much as I can. For most of it I was sat on my desk chair swivelling around thinking about what people may say if I upload this, will I receive dislikes? Will I receive negative comments? Will I get a lot of views? Will people be interested? How shall I position the camera? How should I speak? What should I wear? ALL of those questions!! over 150 videos later, and I’m still doing it.

My advice to anyone who wants to start YouTube, just do it! You will never know if you do not try. If you love it, great. If you don’t, then its a learning experience. I never really had second thoughts about it. I created my channel, and then uploaded shortly after. Never overthink, it gets you nowhere.