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Travel Matters | by Stephen & Andie

How To Support Our Work As Creators

THANK YOU!

The most incredible part of this journey has been getting to know the community of amazing people who have been supporting us along the way. We are so grateful for you, and especially for you clicking the button to learn how to support us.

We have so much fun doing what we do, and it provides us with unforgettable experiences. But behind the scenes, it’s actually a lot of hard work! From planning where to go and what to do, lugging gear and filming in all kinds of conditions, editing, blogging, and sharing on social media almost constantly as we go, it’s a lot more than a 9-5 job. But we wouldn’t have it any other way! It’s your support that makes it possible for us to keep creating, and below are several ways you can help. 

SUBSCRIBE AND FOLLOW

As much as we hate to admit it,
numbers matter. 

HOT TIP: watch Stories on Instagram to follow us in real time, get previews and behind the scenes, and see what we’re up to that doesn’t make the vlog!

     

SHARE!

This is a big one. There’s nothing like word-of-mouth, so if you enjoy a particular video or post, we’d be so grateful if you would share it with a friend!

SHOP OUR AFFILIATE LINKS*

When you click any of our links to shopping, app, and service sites, and you make a purchase of anything at all on that site, we may earn a small commission from that sale! It doesn’t cost you anything more and it helps us keep creating content! Win-win!

If you’re looking for a great place to start, why not check out our Resources page?

 

INTERACT

? Likes and comments let the algorithms know we’re worth seeing. Plus, we really enjoy conversing in the comments of our posts and videos, getting recommendations from our community, not to mention getting to know everyone who’s online with us.

? Watch our videos all the way through – watch time is important to Youtube, so if you watch all the way through, it lets them know to suggest us to new viewers.

? Swipe through all of the images on Instagram – it’s another algorithm thing.

➡ Click the links – yet another algorithm thing that lets them know people are genuinely interested in what we’re sharing!

? The more our own community spends time and interacts with our content, the higher the algorithms rank us and the more likely they are to make us visible, both to our own community as well as to new people who might be interested in what we do!

JOIN OUR
MAILING LIST

We send weekly(-ish) updates to let you know where we are, what travel we’re planning, and what videos and blog posts we’re featuring each week.

It’s a great chance to be a part of our inner circle, be among the first to know, and to provide us with your tips and recommendations as we go!

Click the heart below to sign up!

 

*A personal note about shopping: out of concern for the environment, we strive to purchase only that which we genuinely need and will use for a long time. We encourage our readers to do the same. 

DID YOU KNOW?

YOUTUBE ADVERTISING

To make a portion of the advertising revenue that appears on our videos, we must have at least 1000 YouTube subscribers and 4000 watch hours within the last 12 months. Our current count:

456 Subscribers

1086 Watch Hours

(As of 7/27/21)

 

 

SHOPPING AFFILIATE LINKS

To help us earn money from affiliate links, you don’t have to buy the items we link to!

All you have to do is use any of our links to navigate to shopping sites. From there, you can search for any other product you are interested in buying, and when you make any purchase at all, we receive a small percentage just for having “directed” you to the site in the first place!

You

Get Our Monthly Newsletter

We'll send you all of the inside scoop: where we are, what we're working on, and our latest posts and vlogs!

We're all about sharing the love and knowledge when it comes to travel, but we respect your privacy and we'll never share your info.

Our Latest Vlog:
Today we explore the Amazon jungle by night. Our flashlights reveal plenty of creepy crawlies, including unusual insects, cute frogs, a variety of spiders – including a bizarre one that looked like a robot, and Andie got her wish when we saw not one, but two tarantulas! Stephen was relieved to not run into any snakes, but later that night he was jolted awake by an an uninvited “guest” in our bed!

Only 2% of the #Amazon Jungle is in Ecuador, and part of that is in the #Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve, which is where we visited during our Ecuador trip. It was our first visit to the world's largest rainforest, and we already can't wait to go back and see more!

This is the sixth video in our first-ever international series! Quito, Ecuador was the first international trip we took together back in 2011. Eleven years later, it’s where we filmed our first international series and first drone footage for our channel! 

We spent two weeks in Ecuador this time, including Quito, day-trips to Mindo and Cotopaxi National Park, the Amazon, and one of our top-3 bucket list destinations: the Galápagos Islands! 

If you’ve missed our previous Ecuador videos, you can catch up on the series here:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbuSS3LLcHKhYj7iiXC3xGbaeGl3sS0zf

A very special thank you to our travel agents, Angelica and Christian, @TerraSurTravels!  
https://terrasurtravels.com

VLOG no. 69

*Please note that all info is based on our own experience and we do our best to be accurate. However any details may (and often do) change at any time, and you may find differences in your own travels. Please research all schedules, fees, rules and regulations, and other details by contacting the responsible agencies directly prior to your own patronage. Thanks!

📍LOCATION: Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve, Ecuador, South America

✦ PLACES VISITED IN THIS VLOG: 

Cuyabeno Dolphin Lodge
https://www.cuyabenodolphinlodge.com/

**this video is not sponsored, nor have we received any product or in-kind consideration. We just like to provide the info and especially shout-out the small businesses we patronize.

PREVIOUS VIDEO ▶ The Amazon Rainforest | Travel Vlog | Ecuador Series, ep. 5
https://youtu.be/dU_CH0HwZHE

📷 OUR GEAR: https://tinyurl.com/ourvloggear

✔ TRAVEL ESSENTIALS: https://tinyurl.com/travelssentials

NOTE: Some of the links here may be affiliate links, which means when you buy something we may receive a small commission. There is no additional charge to you, and it really helps to support us as creators, so thank you!

☕️ NEW! Sponsor one of our local coffee stops via our Buy Me A Coffee campaign, and we'll shout you out in a future vlog!
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/stephenandandie

🕺🏻 SUBSCRIBE: https://www.youtube.com/user/StephenAndie?sub_confirmation=1

💃🏻 SUPPORT OUR WORK: https://www.stephenandandie.com/how-to-support-our-work-as-creators/

We are so grateful for your support. Thank you for watching, subscribing, and clicking!

________________________________

💌 NEWSLETTER
Get our weekly newsletter for all the latest and to help us plan our adventures! 
https://mailchi.mp/stephenandandie/newsletter

________________________________

CHAPTERS:
00:00 Intro
00:28 Lagoon Swimming
01:00 Caiman Search
01:38 Baby Snake
02:30 Claustrophobia
02:43 Night 2
03:58 Venus & Sunset
04:18 Nightwalk in the Jungle
04:54 Big Creepy Spider(s)!
04:29 Nocturnal Bird & Frogs
05:57 Tarantula!
06:27 Another Tarantula!
07:03 IT WAS IN OUR BED!

________________________________
♫ MUSIC: EPIDEMIC SOUND

Like our music? We use Epidemic Sound! If you use this referral link and end up subscribing, we get a free month. It's a great way to support our channel, help us keep creating, and get something for yourself, too!

https://www.epidemicsound.com/referral/b6kdl8/a
________________________________

ABOUT US:
Married in 2008, we love to #travel and explore whenever possible. Fast forward to 2020 and the global pandemic that left us "safer at home" and without jobs. In need of something to do, we quickly learned about videos and editing and started to #travelvlog! Some of the places we visit are old faves, most others are new discoveries, and we're excited to take you along with us as we share them all. Thank you for watching, and don't forget to subscribe! 

✈️ WANT TO SUPPORT OUR TRAVELS AND CONTENT? 
There are many ways you can help keep us on the road, and most of them are FREE!
https://www.stephenandandie.com/how-to-support-our-work-as-creators/

★ Check out our TRAVEL BLOG!
https://travelmatters.stephenandandie.com

Connect with us on the socials for behind the scenes, real-time travel, video previews, and other fun stuff!:

📸 INSTAGRAM:
https://www.instagram.com/stephenandandie/

🐦 TWITTER:
https://twitter.com/StephenAndAndie

👱🏼‍♂️ FACEBOOK:
https://facebook.com/StephenAndAndie

©2022 Stephen & Andie | Travel Matters
THE JUNGLE at NIGHT | Ecuador Travel Vlog | Ecuador Series, ep. 6
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TRAVEL, FOOD, CULTURE, CLIMATE
Follow Our Mission to See ALL 50 STATES! 🇺🇸 🚐

Stephen & Andie | Travel Stuff
Oregon’s got #mood for days! Oregon is state no Oregon’s got #mood for days!

Oregon is state no. 22 in our mission to see ALL 50 STATES (plus DC & Puerto Rico)! Our first sleep and first morning of #vanlife was in Astoria, then we headed to Cannon Beach and were bowled over by the foggy views of majestic Haystack Rock. 

👉 LINK IN BIO 👈 to see more of the beautiful Oregon coast in our latest vlog, “First Night In Our Van!”

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#traveloregon #cannonbeach #oregoncoast #cannonbeachoregon #oregon #haystackrock #travelmatters #all50states #vanlife
We fell in love with Oregon! Swipe 👉 to see why We fell in love with Oregon! Swipe 👉 to see why!

After buying our Sprinter in Portland we headed for the Oregon coast to spend our first night in her in Astoria. The next day we explored town and also made our way to Cannon Beach. Both were nothing short of stunning! Our drives through the state just got more and more beautiful and we couldn’t stop thinking how grateful and excited we are to be new #vanlifers. 

This is going to be an amazing year!

📷 Our first coffee on our first morning after our first night sleeping in our campervan. 📍Astoria.

📷 Isn’t she lovely? 😍 That’s Haystack Rock behind Andie. You might recognize it from movies like Point Break and GOONIES! 📍Cannon Beach.

📷 Having too much fun watching a pile of giant sea lions sleeping peacefully. 📍Astoria

📷 Loving our lives! 📍 Cannon Beach

👉 Link in bio 👈 to see all of this and more in our latest vlog “First Night In Our Van!”

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#oregon #oregoncoast #astoria #cannonbeach #haystackrock #lewisandclarkrvpark #vanlife #sprintervan #sprintervanlife #all50states
Hello #vanlife! 🚐 We’re so excited to finally Hello #vanlife! 🚐 We’re so excited to finally share this news with you – we bought a camper van! *Join us at 12:15pm EST today (Monday)* for a live chat during the Premiere of our new vlog, where we spill the tea.

After months of behind the scenes planning and hunting, we settled on this beauty at the end of October: a 170” wheelbase, high top Sprinter, located in Portland, OR. In this video we fly to the Pacific Northwest to make the purchase and begin our two and a half week, cross-country journey from Portland back to North Carolina. But not before grabbing a rainy day lunch at one of Portland’s food cart havens – Cartlandia. Some hot grits from Grits Gone Wild warm us up to send us on our first outing in our new home on wheels.

We couldn’t be more excited, and this trip already kicks off our mission to see all 50 states (plus DC and Puerto Rico!). You’ll be seeing this cross-country trip, plus another month-long run in her over the holidays –  all in our upcoming vlogs!

Now — any guesses what we named her? 
Hint: any fans of the movie Role Models? 😜

PLACES VISITED IN THIS VLOG:

@gritsgonewildpnw 

#cartlandia

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#sprinter #sprintervan #sprinter2500 #campervan #vantravel  #vanlifers #roadtrip #roadtrippers #travelmatters #travelvloggers #UStravel #USAtravel #youtubers #DIY #Ace #kissmyvanthia #vanlifeusa
$150 train ticket from New York to… New York? $150 train ticket from New York to… New York? 

We REALLY loved our first time doing some train travel in the U.S. together! We rode the Hudson River Rail aboard the 20th Century Limited – the last two remaining, fully restored, 1940s train cars from what was “The Most Famous Train In the World” in its day. 

Our journey took us from Penn Station in Manhattan up to Albany and back. 

Sit back and enjoy the views! 👉 Link in bio 👈 to see the vlog!

📷 1: on the platform in Albany

📷 2: Penn Station, NYC

🎥 3: enjoying the VIP lounge at Penn Station pre-boarding

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#newyork #traintravel #hudsonriverrail #20thcenturylimited #1940s #vintagetrain #hudsonriver #travelmatters #travelvloggers #youtubers
California sunsets just hit different. 🌅 We we California sunsets just hit different. 🌅

We were Angelenos for literal decades and we still can’t believe how many iconic places in California we took for granted and never visited! Morro Bay is just one of them, and we’re SO STOKED that a recent cross-country road trip (big announcement on that front soon!) took us right past the area. Naturally, we looked at each other, said “Morro Bay?,” and turned the 🚐 around to head back just in time for a gorgeous sunset. 

Now we’re even more determined to hit all the spots that we took for granted and we’ll always find excuses to make our way back through Cali! Yosemite, Redwoods, Death Valley – we’re talking to you! 

What other spots do we need to hit? Shout ‘em out in the comments!

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#morrobay #sunset #centralcoast #SLO  #SanLuisObispo #california #southerncalifornia #daytrip #roadtrip #californialandmarks
We saw ALL THE MANATEES today! This was our second We saw ALL THE MANATEES today!
This was our second attempt at @bluespringstatepark within a couple weeks. We saw zero manatees the first time, and committed to returning after spending some time in Southern Florida. Turns out, we happened upon some manatees in the marina @evergladesnps, but the water was so murky we could only see parts of them… if they surfaced. 

Today was the day we got to return to Blue Spring. The weather was much cooler this time (great conditions for spotting manatees in the springs), and when we pulled up to the entrance, the sign read “MANATEE COUNT *288*” For context, there was no count on the sign for our previous visit, so… YAY! 

Can’t say exactly what OUR manatee count was, but we easily saw dozens in a short amount of time – from adorable little babies to giants! The water was crystal clear. It was so serene – watching them graciously glide through, only occasionally making a splash. Hearing that beautiful sound when they surfaced for air. Today was an AWESOME day, and we’re so thankful that we had the flexibility to come back and spend some quality time with these beautiful, unique creatures. 🥰

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#manatees #bluespringstatepark #centralflorida #orlando #florida #therealflorida #wildlife #statepark #bluespring #bluesprings #manateestatepark #bluespringmanatees #travelmatters #travelvloggers
Is this seat taken? Nothing says “classic New J Is this seat taken? 
Nothing says “classic New Jersey” like Asbury Park! We visited the boardwalk for the first time this summer as part of our DIY food tour of New Jersey. 

A killer coffee roastery? ✅
Cereal pancakes? ✅
Disco fries? ✅
$27 milkshake??? ✅

LINK IN BIO to see all that, plus a unique Jersey twist on “the slushee” in our latest vlog, now live on YouTube! 

This is state #20 in our mission to visit all 50 states (plus DC & Puerto Rico) - join our adventures! 

PLACES VISITED IN THIS VLOG:
@buddysjc
@roastd.coffee
@thetopsdiner
@coneywaffleasburypark

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#newjersey #asburypark #newjerseyfood #foodtour #jerseycity #fortlee #jerseyshore #travelvlog #travelmatters
As you set your goals for 2023, don’t be afraid As you set your goals for 2023, don’t be afraid to be the orange fish. If an idea or dream scares you or feels too different, it’s probably the one you should go for!

We spotted these guys while snorkeling in the Galápagos Islands. See the full vlogs on our YouTube channel. LINK IN BIO!

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#fish #schooloffish #galapagos #galapagosislands #ecuador #travelmatters #travelvloggers #wildlife #conservation #underwatervideo #snorkeling🐠 
#newyeargoals #lifegoals
We saw so much cool wildlife in the Galapagos! See We saw so much cool wildlife in the Galapagos! See the full vlogs on our YouTube channel. LINK IN BIO!

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#galapagos #galapagosislands #ecuador #travelmatters #travelvloggers #wildlife #conservation #sealion #bluefootedbooby #tortoise #frigate #iguana #crab #fish
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©2022 Travel Matters by Stephen & Andie