Free-Float Free Agent: Camino de Santiago Diaries #28

[@danielle3988]

Loved hearing the morning chanting and birdsong. And just saying Cacabelos a few times makes me laugh. Last year I walked from Foncebadon to Ponferrada and it nearly blew out my knees. Brutal walk for me. Free floating is agreeing with you. May the sunny days continue to shine down on you and your friends.

[@storiestellr]

Foncebadon to Ponferrada is a tough one in one go, I’m not surprised! yes free floating works in the most excellent way, now in the modern, beautiful albergue in Fonfria. We share a beautiful room. Thank you! ☀️

[@mortenfoss1303]

I just love your videos. They have given me many hours of joy and entertainment.

[@storiestellr]

hi Morten, wow, thank you for the kind words, and the generous tip! it will buy me breakfast on the next Camino 😜 Most of all I’m glad my videos have brought you joy… since that’s what they’re for. Thanks! 😊

[@KaterOnBike]

Well done splitting up coming down from Cruz de Ferro, as doing it in one go is super tough on the knees. But what an amazing oak tree you found! Ponferrada, actually, has never been a favourite of mine, but you captured well what it kind of represents. Enjoy the next mountain 😊.

[@storiestellr]

yeah, breaking up the descent makes sense… plus the albergue was so nice! thanks kater

[@Caminohacks]

2 t-shirts lost in 2 days, that's quite the achievement, pilgrim :)

[@storiestellr]

I’m top shelf 😂

[@Cantairi]

Was it intentional? The v/o: “…after a great dinner cooked by the host” you cut to a shot of McDonalds. Or was it your German humour? I loved the silence before that bloody dog barked. That Albergue marked the end point of my Camino last year. Now only 20 more days before I return for my 7th Camino. Great video, Buen Camino.

[@storiestellr]

…it just kinda happened, and i left it thus 😂🤫 Nice, the countdown is ON!

[@blakesmith257]

Great video as always. Sorry about the mediocre food. If you ever did a Patreon account I'd pay for it. Your videos really are that good. I'm not sure what your monetary motivation is, but I'm sure it'd be nice for you to have help with editing at some point. Who knows if that's actually possible though since you're so immersed in coupling your thoughts with the specific shots.

[@storiestellr]

Hi Blake, Thank you so much for this enthusiastic feedback. I really appreciate it. So this is the situation: like any artist, I don't mind getting compensated for my work. And yet, doing so on KZbin without playing the KZbin game is a fool's errand. I refuse to make thumbnails with weird facial expressions that (supposedly) make people click on them. But so be it. I have monetization enabled on the videos, which means ads are shown before and/or after a video. But I have disabled the default, which is that ads get inserted every other minute or so. I’m actively sabotaging my income by doing this, but I can’t fathom the videos getting interrupted so brutally. And besides, with the tiny audience I have, it wouldn't add great riches to the tally anyway, I suppose. So I shall go on toiling laboriously into the void. But it's okay since, fortunately, I don't have to depend on it. Patreon, while in principle a good idea, I haven't considered for my work because it would add pressure to produce on a regular schedule. Which could in time become detrimental to the work itself. So while I applaud that there is a system like Patreon in place, I'm not entirely sure it would fit my work and personality. I have the SuperThanks function enabled on my KZbin account. So if you feel like it, serenade it. It certainly adds a sense of achievement if somebody clicks it (nobody ever does though 😂),But don't feel obligated at all… as to editing, i’d love to gain that time, but in my case, the editing is integral to the process, so i don’t think outsourcing would work, unfortunately cheers!

[@blakesmith257]

@@storiestellr It's like most art and businesses......you work for free for a long time and then start getting paid after the world deems that you are "established." I agree the thumbnail thing is bizarre. Appeasing the algorithm. At this point you're probably best off gaining as many consistent viewers as possible. At some point one of your long videos will really take off and that will be when you make better money. I get that Patreon would be a pain since you'd have to make a certain number of videos per month. It's better for people who actually live in there van or something and will definitely make a lot of videos. Oh well, you're getting the true riches anyway.....Camino Experience. I'll hit the super like button sometime. I never even knew how to do it, but have now done some minor investigating. You needing to do the editing makes sense. You make precise videos with a lot of care.

[@storiestellr]

yes - the true riches is this experience. exactly…

[@blakesmith257]

@@storiestellr you're experience rich! Soon people will rap about their Camino experience wealth!

[@storiestellr]

🤪😂🎉

[@blakesmith257]

Please don't hurt yourself with Camino pinching syndrome. It could easily lead to blood clots especially if you're only pinching in one area. It is best to disperse the pinches throughout the body. I know you don't want to engage in too much meaningless chatter, but from time to time you can ask another person if the experience is, in fact, real as opposed to a Camino Dream.