More of a concern than a question: I heard Alaska roads can be very difficult to traverse. There are horror stories of bent frames, axles, tire blow outs, break downs, and more. Are you budgeted for that and do you think your aging trailer will withstand the trip?

@@rmangold Good question. And I think we should discuss it in our Q&A but many of the horror stories are from years ago. The road there, while not perfect, have improved greatly. Of course the further you get north....but at the moment we aren't planning to go to the arctic circle. I haven't found anyone who has made the trek recently, who also boondocks, who has thought the roads were terrible. In my research people who's last experience with Alaska tell me I need to have 3 extra fuel cans, 6 spare tires, and a spare part for everything (slight exaggeration on my part for effect 😁). And anyone who's gone within the past 5 years is like "The roads aren't quite as good, but they aren't terrible." -J

Best of luck to you all! I would add lots of prayer to your emergency kit too (sounds like you’re a couple with a strong faith). I see you’ve been to Michigan (where we live) and and our roads would be good practice for Alaska! 😅

@@rmangold Always keeping prayer in and out of the emergency kit! We loved our time in Michigan this last summer. Stayed in Mackinaw City and visited friends in Petoskey! Such a beautiful state. -J

Love your videos u guys seem honest and sincere so if u are r making that kind of $$ with almost 15k subscribers what would someone with almost 12 million subscribers make?

Thanks so much clicking, taking the time to watch, and leave a comment! 🤗 The youtube algorithm sometimes smiles on us...and sometimes looks the other way. 😂 We think we've figured somethings out but at the same time we know that views are never guaranteed so we are grateful for everyone who takes the time. -J

Me too this is the first time I've seen your channel. Looks interesting and very honest looking forward to what's next

@@lindabloomfield4879 We've done a lot since this video if you want to check us out! www.youtube.com/@OpenRoading/videos

Thank you. -J

If you tell me your bosses name I will block him or her from the channel so that they never see your comments and we can keep this relationship going... 😂 Again. Thank you so much for your generosity. Blows me away to be the recipient of it. Stay generous to those around you. It speaks volumes. I may be over reading things here but also don't feel guilty for having a job that pays you well. You have an in demand set of skills, there is nothing wrong with getting paid for those skills even if to you it seems simple. -J

@@OpenRoading LOL My boss is cool. My wife (the real boss) is the one we have to worry about!😄

Awesomeness

That was really sweet of you. 👍🍀🍀🍀

The unsolicited generosity of people has astounded us! -J@@debbiedebbie9473

Thanks so much for not just taking the time to watch but to take the time to leave such an encouraging comment. We truly aren't experts so there's no way we would ever roast anyone but ourselves. And the fun part is hoping that 5 years from now we can look back at today and point out all the crazy things we are doing wrong right now and have a good laugh. 🙂 Edit: AND an early congratulations on that Silver Play Button you are about to hit!! Nicely done! -J

Thank you so much. Craig and Victoria are two of the most down to earth people we know. I feel lucky that we got to know them and travel with them for a while in 2021 during a time when none of us were filming anything. -J

I love comments like these. There's truth but they can come across so funny. "Not to take away anything but ya'll weren't interesting until Trinity came around." 😂 We've said over and over that we know more people are here for Trinity than for us. But pretty much any channel out there can look at one video that "launched" their base. I will say that "we're broke" hit 10,000 views in the first few days (compared to our first 2 attempts where we struggled to get to 200-300) and every video after that was coming in between 1K-3K prior to Trinity. We got monetized before Trinity, and we've continued to grow with every video in our BT (Before Trinity) era. So I don't think we were THAT uninteresting. All that to say - yeah, Trinity was and is amazing, but one can't simply adopt a dog and expect it to be the key to KZfaq success. It's quite a bit more than that. -J

Interesting rebuttal.

Half agreement half rebuttal? 😂@@destinysisco3142

@@OpenRoading Fascinating. That was the first of your videos that I watched..! I did go ahead and watched two more, just now, and you two are great. Cheers

@@iancurnow9060 KZfaq really pushed that one out. We can see the "Reach" metric (how many times KZfaq shows the thumbnail to people) and for some reason youtube showed that thumbnail to soooo many more people than they typically show our thumbnails to. Even our most recent video (which has Trinity on it) is getting showed to LESS people than normal. If you try to understand the ways of KZfaq you always end up confused. LOL -J

Kalyn and I both were like "YOUNG COUPLE??!!! YAY!!" 😂 I so appreciate you taking the time to leave this encouraging comment. Thank you so much. We're hoping to eventually see the income from this be able to support us. Still got a lot of work to go to achieve that but no complaints here. After the 2 failed attempts every ad dollar feels like a miracle. -J

Thanks so much for all of that feedback. My brother messaged me after the truck one and said "Joe....people are going to relate to you hard on that one" and I was skeptical. Who wants to see a guy get frustrated with his failures? Apparently we all do 😂. Thanks for being so encouraging! -J

Thanks so much. That means a lot coming from people who not only have found youtube success but who have built an incredible community that goes beyond the meet-up. -J

I saw this last night and haven't been able to formulate a coherent response. We're stunned. Floored. Speechless. 🥹 How does one say a proper thank you to someone who has been so generous? Of course we would be happy to send you a post card...we better pick out a good one because it's most likely the most expensive post card you've ever asked for! Thank you for the exceptional value you placed on our efforts. We are so very grateful. At some point let's connect via email ( RVOpenRoading@gmail.com) and we can get your address for future connection. Again, thank you so much. And if you let us know that the decimal was in the wrong spot and it was supposed to be $4.99 - We totally understand that too. 😁 -J

Bryan! If you keep doing this I'm going to have to send you 1099 at the end of the year! 😂 I just...I genuinely don't know how to say thank you.🥹 Thank you, (see...doesn't feel like enough) -J

So so kind. Thank you. -J

THIS is exactly why we shared the context behind the number! "No two paths are the same" I get very frustrated when people share information like this without giving context. This third try could have not worked for us either. Keep learning, keep tweaking, keep going. Kinda my motto now. -J

Comments like these make my day. I COMPLETELY understand people watching a video or two and then never coming back because the channel content wasn't exactly the same or they changed directions a bit. That's completely fair. So when someone says "Hey - I came for this but stuck around" it just gives me all the warm fuzzies that we must be doing something right. Thank you for being so encouraging! -J

It is sooo easy to burn out. Even after seeing this lower level of success we still sometimes feel like we’re on a hamster wheel. It’s very important to find that elusive work/Life balance! -J

Thank you for the specific feedback. We certainly will think about it...there's certainly 2 camps on whether to do it or not. I think we've forgotten to do it in a couple of videos and I don't know whether or not we've seen a difference either way. As far as humility, we hope to keep that no matter the circumstance. I think, even if we ever get to the point of real youtube success, that it will be hard to forget where we came from. All we have to do is go back and look at our old content 😂. But then again, I've seen others lose perspective so I very much appreciate this direct encouragement. Thank you. -J

You the real ones 💯 ❤

First video I saw, was: we're broke! Does it help y'all if I watch all the older videos?

I’m going to go the other way… asking people to like and subscribe is best practice for growing your channel, which is why all top KZfaqrs do it.

Enjoying your videos. Excited about Alaska. I need that reminder to hit the like button and subscribe. So many times I’m watching a great video and completely forget to hit the like button. I appreciate the reminder.

Thanks so much. It's been an overwhelming couple of days as people have been so kind to us in the comments. Thank you for being such an encouragement to us. We're so excited about the next steps in the adventure. -J

I so love it when plans that you are making get confirmed by someone else! We're planning on entering Canada early May, Alaska in early June (weather permitting). -J

Thanks for taking a step back through time on our old content! It's a slog back there 😂 -J

Never did we ever think that we'd get comments like "You are one of my favorites." 🥹 We always wanted to put out good stuff...but that is high high praise. Thank you so much. -J

Thanks so much! Trinity has been such an awesome addition to the family. We never thought we would be "dog people" but man...we love her to death. -J

Me, too. 🥰🥰 Love that they rescued Trin. 🙏👏👏🐶

@@aslobos As she currently lays under Kalyn's desk while she's working...forcing Kalyn to put her own feet up on the couch....I'm glad too. 🤗-J

Thank you so much. 😊 Comments like this are more encouraging than you realize. I'm honestly a little overwhelmed by the love tonight. -J

That is 100% accurate. Spending time with ya'll was so worth it! Thanks so much for being amazing friends! -J

Thanks so much! That is exactly how we feel. Our backs were against the wall last September (financially) and to have come so far in just 5 months feels unreal to us. We're going to keep at this season of hustle and our hope is to not ever be back in the position we were last fall. -J

I'm gonna have to check her out for inspiration! Talk about a learning curve - learning to fly this thing AND use it to get epic shots...people sure make it look easy. LOL -J

ItchyBoots is my favorite!

Thank you so so much. -J

Glad it was encouraging. I think the hardest thing with youtube is the lack of guaranteed success. I think more than 50% of the channels got their break because of their hard work and always looking to better themselves - but boy can it be discouraging when you see the person get the one hit wonder and have a million subs. 😂 I will say though - the channels that stand the test of time seem to be the ones who put in the long term work. The one hit wonders die off if they don't have work/talent to back it up over time. -J

Thanks so much!! -J

"Isn't trying to win a soap opera award" I'm gonna try to convince Kalyn to stick that in our bio! 😁 -J

If you've seen how well we handle cold weather... you will know that we will want to leave. 😂😂😂 -J

Appreciate that! Man - there's so much beauty up here! -J

So glad you stuck around - and so glad Trinity is part of our fam. Couldn't imagine life without her now. 🤗 -J

Thanks so much for making us part of your Friday night 🤗 -J

Thanks so much Marilyn! We so appreciate feedback. And I'll take being called "super cute" to the bank every day of the week! -J

TASMANIA!!!! Wow! One thing I love about living in this area is making connections with people all over the world. Thank you SO much for taking the time to comment. Kalyn and I would love to do international travel someday! I don't know that Boquillas Mexico really counts all that much. 😂 -J

I think there is so much potential for using some of your own music in videos if you decide to do that! Let us know when you launch so we can watch a long. -J

Thank you so much. Awesome is a high bar! 🥹 (no pun intended with your youtube handle and all....but it works 😁) -J

Thanks so much! We are really finding a groove this time around. 🙂 -J

Thanks so very much! -J

Yeah, every channel is so different depending on niche, style etc. So far for brand deals we've only done some "free stuff" where we control 100% of what we do with it regarding content and the've been small things: Onnias lock (Unemployed) aPetsPanet hammock (Don't be Fooled) We're a little gun-shy on a full on sponsorship because we just want it to be a "heck yes" this is a company that we want to work with AND that really makes sense for the channel. We could have done about 100 ebike sponsorships and 50 power bank sponsorships at this point 😂 but we aren't ebilke people....and we already live off grid so we don't need a power bank so it's just not something we're comfortable pitching on the channel. Eventually we'd love to have a couple awesome sponsors but at the moment we're content to continue growing the channel without them until we find those matches made in heaven. -J

Thank you so much! -J

Thanks so much! -J

We'd be dumping our content into an empty void if it wasn't for ya'll's amazing support and encouragement. People taking time to watch and leave a comment means so much to us, replying is the least I can do to say thank you! If we start getting close to 500 comments on a video I'm sure I won't be able to respond to everyone all the time, BUT I'll don't want to ever get to the place where I only respond to a few. I want to respond to as many as I can, even if it takes me time to do so. -J

I understand the stall. Been there! If your journey is like ours (and not everyone's story is the same for sure) you'll know when the right time is. In September Kalyn and I both knew it was time to do our final shot and let the chips fall where they may. Keep working on ideas and you'll know when to start. -J

Thanks so much! I'm so glad you gave us a shot! -J

Thank you so much for taking the time to drop such an encouraging comment. 🤗 -J

Thanks so much for your kindness! I'm pretty sure you're stuck with just one new video per week. 😂 I know some other creators are able to put out more than that but I think I would lose my sanity if I tried. -J

Thanks so much Jason. I still haven't come up with the right way to respond to superthanks because they shock and amaze me every time. Thank you for your generosity to these two random strangers. 🤗 -J

We hope so! Thanks so much for watching. -J

Thank you! We hope so too but we are really enjoying the youtube journey along the way. -J

Thanks so much. I hope you find our travel content entertaining and fun. -J

Thank you so much. I love it when people let us know what their first video was. Trinity built herself a fan club FAST! 🐕‍🦺

We’re beyond thrilled at the progress and we’re having so much more fun this time around. -J

We really hope so! Thank you so much for being so encouraging. -J

Thank you so much. We will continue to do our very best and keep learning every day. -J

Thanks so much. We so appreciate you stopping by in the comments and by all means - if we're ever close by let us know! (We are much more real time on Instagram FYI...although at the moment are videos are a bit more "real time" than we'd like 😂 Feel like we are cutting it really close between filming and editing. ) -J

Thank you so much for being here! 🤗 - K

Story telling is absolutely key. If you can weave a good story you can go far on YT I believe. I'm still honing my skill at that. I'm lucky to have Kalyn who will flat out tell me "This section is boring me." 😂 -J

@@OpenRoading It's a gift to have a partner who can help you hone that skill with such precision. 😂

We can't either 😂. Through some weather circumstances (not terrible weatherm just weather that kept us from working on a project we are doing for the video) we're still in the middle of filming next weeks video 😬 But IT WILL BE DONE! Once we get through the next couple of weeks we will start to get ahead on the filming front again. -J

That's so kind of you. Thank you so much! -J

Thanks for stopping by! Craig and Victoria are awesome. -J

Thanks so much! It means so much to us when people watch right when the video comes out. 🤗 -J

@@OpenRoading I also loved the gate guards job very interesting

We can feel it! -J

So glad you were entertained while you got the info! That was our goal. Thanks for signing up for future shenanigans! -J

We have never felt more energized for creating content. I'll admit...being "stuck" in one place has had it's challenges for creativity of content creation 😂 but we should be moving on soon. -J

@@OpenRoading Being stuck is always an opportunity to explore!! Look into the local storytellers and share the stories!!

@@GregPrince-io1cb Have we told you about this road........ 😂 If it weren't for the gate guarding schedule we probably would get out more - but since I sleep to between 2 or 3 pm it only gives us 4ish hours before one of us has to be on shift - so we really don't have time to get out somewhere for more than our errands. -J

You have big goals for us! 😂 Of course I want a silver plaque but I'm thinking it's a pretty fair way off. So we didn't say this in the video (we try not to go too deep into the weeds) but we get paid by those skippable ads that pop up during the video. KZfaq takes around half of the money and the creator gets the rest (this of course after you meet their monetization requirements.) You can also do sponsored content where you do your own ad in the middle for a company. You negotiate those rates on your own with whatever company you are working with (we haven't done any of those as of yet.) -J

@@OpenRoading you will get there. I saw a channel get 30,000 subscribers in less than 1 month by doing complaint videos. “Yes I’m ashamed, but I did watch them”. Maybe some people like that, but I think there is more people that like the positive message you send and I for one, find it refreshing. I have more questions, but I’ll save them for a later video. I don’t want to seem like a stalker.

@@abgodden Hey! I pinned a comment asking for questions that we can answer IN a future Q&A episode!! Drop all your Q's right in there!! -J

We are ecstatic! When we set the goal we were optimistic but....everything had to go perfectly. When stuff started not going perfectly we genuinly thought "Well...it was a good goal but we're gonna have to tell people we're staying in the lower 48 for another summer to save up" or some such. Between January and incredibly generous people the gaps filled in so quickly. We're so humbled, grateful, and excited. -J

Thank you! So far so good! Supposed to be a pretty warm week this week once we get through Saturday night (20's...not terrible). -J

100000000% This is exactly why we stepped away in Act 1. Act 2 was more discouragement. We have found so much joy together over the past year which is interesting because never was our back more against the wall than it was last September. God has been so incredibly good to us (He always is). -J

Yep! Getting it. Not super concerned for the 3 or 4 clips in the meantime though. It takes a special kind of person to report someone for flying a drone within the proper airspace over the desert. The research I have done indicates that the FAA has really only gone after people if they are involved in a crash. But that said....getting it. -J

@@OpenRoading You would be surprised that some people will get jealous of your success and find a reason to try to hurt your success. I watch a lot of KZfaq and have seen this a few times already. I think at most you will get a phone call from the FAA, and they will talk with you and tell you to stop, tell you to get it. If you want to delete this comment or me to delete it just let me know. I'm not trying to cause in issue. Just trying to help new youtubers

@@edellenburg78 No, no problem at all. I'm in the process of getting the 107 and like I said...just keeping things pretty low key on it right now. Still have a lot of learning to do. It sucks that jealous people exist but IMO if someone is the type of person who's going to do that sort of thing....that could be part of the reason they're not seeing success. 😂 Comments like yours I really appreciate. You're looking out for us and giving us good information. I really do appreciate it. No need to delete anything. I'm not hiding behind anything and if people want to come after me and waste the FAAs time on a guy who is making $7 an hour on a youtube channel that has 2 drone shots in it.... then more power to them I suppose. lol We'll be fully compliant soon. -J

Don't forget permits for drones in national parks. I've seen other USA youtubers get massive fines over that too!@@OpenRoading

No flying drones in NP for us.@@lynettejwhite -J

Thanks so much for sticking around! It means so much to us when someone takes the time to let us know how they found us. 🤗 -J

Thanks so much for stopping by and dropping a note of encouragement! -J

So funny story. I believe you are 100% correct. But.....No video this next week. 😂 The project we are working on FOR the video is taking incredibly long and we are just crunching way too hard to try to get it done in time while we have about 3 other things happening at the same time. I promise you! It's not a flame out!!! BUT WHY DID IT HAVE TO HAPPEN AFTER VIDEO 18?!?!?!?!? 😂😂😂😂😂😂 -J

OK!!! I lied!!! We have a video going live to day! We worked our butts off to get it out in time but it's all scheduled and ready to go tonight at 7pm Central! -J

@@OpenRoading High fives, you got this!!!

@@dianeschmiane 🙌🏻

Haha. I feel like we kinda gave up twice 😂. Thanks so much for taking time out of your week to watch and let us know you enjoyed it in the comments! -J

Thanks so much! -J

Thank you so much Matthew. The encouragement we receive like this in the comments is the real amazing thing to me. Thank you. -J

Thanks so much. I don't feel like we persevered by giving up twice...but we did keep coming back! -J

You're welcome! -J

Awesome! -J

You're welcome! We just wanted to be open with everyone especially since we have been working toward a specific financial goal! -J

We are kind of amazed ourselves. When we set the goal it felt attainable only if everything lined up perfectly....and things didn't line up perfectly early on. We are so incredibly humbled and grateful. Thanks so much for the compliment on the decor. That is 100% Kalyn's doing with a little bit of grunt work from me. -J

Scotland!!! Our first comment from Scotland!!! 🙂 I think I'm a little bit excited because half of my family tree has deep roots in Scotland...which is kinda funny because my other half has deep roots in England....and my ancestors fought each other. Anyway - enough about my genealogy 😂 Thanks so much for stopping by and being so encouraging! -J

Thanks! And yeah, it’s pretty special! -J

Thanks so very much! -J

Thanks so much for watching! Trinity & Cody bring us so much joy each and every day! -J

Thanks so much! -J

First of all...Yes - Marissa's accent is awesome. I so love listening to a good genuine southern accent. But second of all...I so so so want to put this in our youtube bio now "not too flakey & somewhat handy" I'm not mad because I think you're being overly generous - especially on the handy part. 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 -J

Awe. Thank you! We so appreciate that you love our videos. Like's, comments, and shares are the best ways a channel can gain traction but we are always happy people just take the time to watch. Means the world to us. -J

Thanks so much. We’ve been so thrilled with our channels growth this year. 🙂 -J

Thanks so much! -J

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Biggest mistake we made was not learning from our mistakes. Me personally, (Joseph) I was not teachable. If someone who was knowledgeable in the field (VERY important distinction) gave advice I would just defend the way I was doing it. I just want to hit that distinction I mentioned really quick because you will get a lot of unsolicited advice along the way...Learn from people who know what they are doing and have proven it by having a successful KZfaq channel. Take anything else with an absolute grain of salt as they are just preference based opinions. -J

Honestly, this time around has been so different. We are both in better places (being a little older helps I think) and having people respond to our content has just really given us a lot more energy. -J

Thanks so much! -J

Thanks so much for supporting the channel! We so appreciate it! -J

Thank you! I'm so glad we made the topic fun. That was the goal! -J

We don't plan on stopping! This time around has been so different than the last two. I think a lot of our experiences from the first two attempts helped shape us into better people, into more of a team, and now we're having a lot of fun doing this, even when it gets a little stressful. -J