Story of Lost LeBlanc: Office employee to travel influencer!

Travel videos and photos are probably one of the most popular types of content on social media—here at Pilot, we wholeheartedly agree! Who doesn't want to look at far away paradises to escape a bad day at the office?

Because of this love for travel content, influencers that focus solely on travel have become big! Not only can travel influencers work while they travel, they also get money just because they do travel. Talk about a sweet deal!

If you are interested in online travel content, we reckon you’ve already heard of Lost LeBlanc. He’s a super-popular YouTuber with almost 2 million subscribers. Not only does he visit interesting locations, he also makes sure all of the digital content he captures is breathtaking and interesting.

Who Is Lost LeBlanc?

Lost LeBlanc, better known to his friends by his real name, Christian LeBlanc, was born in Vancouver, Canada, in 1993. He is a travel vlogger and content creator.

He has nearly 2 million subscribers on YouTube, over 660,000 followers on Instagram, and more than half a million followers on Facebook. As of November 2021, his videos on YouTube have been watched over 170 million times—pretty impressive stuff!

But how did he get to that point?

How Did Lost LeBlanc Become a Vlogger?

Back in 2015, Christian was working a 9-to-5 job for an accountancy firm, but he’d started to feel stressed out and depressed by the whole thing — it just wasn’t what he wanted to be doing.

He explained his feelings in one of his videos: “I lost my drive, my ambition, to the point where getting out of bed every day became a battle.”

He was feeling unwell and having strange reactions to the stresses of his life — things like muscle spasms and even short-term memory loss. He looked around his office and had the realization that nobody around him was living the life he wanted.

So he decided to do something about it.

In November of 2015, Christian handed in his resignation and booked a one-way ticket to Bangkok. He taught himself how to make and edit videos, and saved up enough money to keep himself afloat for a little while, assuming that he’d hopefully be able to pick up some money along the way.

Safe to say, he was successful!

Since then, he has grown his online following and has become a huge success. He’s worked with big-name brands like Nikon, Google, Samsung, and Air Canada, and is now also teaching other people how to make a successful career out of digital content creation.

What Kind of Videos Does Lost LeBlanc Make?

Lost LeBlanc makes content in the form of videos, Instagram posts, and blog posts. 99% of them are about travel!

For the most part, this means his YouTube channel covers travel topics related to a variety of places. For instance, some of his past videos have been about places to visit in Bali, travling in the Philippines, and beaches in Thailand!

He often includes his girlfriend and friends in his videos, giving his subscribers a personal insight into his life. With lots of personality and an array of topics, no wonder he's so popular as a trave vlogger.

In addition to these classic travel videos,he makes videos that tell his subscribers how they too can become successful travel YouTubers. Learn right from the master with videos on subjects like how to edit a travel video, how to make money on social media, and how to make a travel vlog.

It’s probably this combination of pure travel content with how-to guides that makes the Lost LeBlanc channel so successful.

How Does Lost LeBlanc Make Money?

Unlike many travel bloggers and vloggers, Lost LeBlanc has been pretty upfront about the ways he makes money. It’s mostly through sponsorships, partnerships, and paid-for ads on his YouTube channel.

According to Christian, in the first year of his work as a content creator, he made a profit of $10,000. By year three, he’d reached a six-figure profit, and by year 4 he was dealing with figures of upwards of $1 million.

These days, in addition to posting videos about travel in and of itself, he has online courses that teach people how to become their own bosses and earn money by traveling the world. He has more than 1,000 students and supplements his own income by selling his top tips for becoming a well-paid travel influencer. 

What Equipment Does Lost LeBlanc Use?

Early in his content creation journey, Lost LeBlanc approached camera companies to ask them to lend or gift him the camera equipment he couldn’t afford. Panasonic obliged and sent him a Lumix GH4 camera and a lens for him to use to document his trips.

Since then, he has tried and tested a huge variety of cameras, lenses, and drones, and has made video reviews of many of them.

According to a video he posted in 2017, he uses a Canon EOS-1DX Mark II as his main camera, with a Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L II lens. He still recommends the Panasonic GH4 as a great camera for anyone just getting started on their content creation journey.

As far as drones go, Christian is pretty clear about what drone he wants to use. He speaks very highly of the DJI Phantom 4 PRO drone, claiming that it perfectly bridges the gap between a drone for consumers and a drone for professionals. He also uses the DJI Mavic Pro when he needs something a little more portable.

Get in On the Lost LeBlanc Lifestyle

Lost LeBlanc is showing his fans that it’s possible to see the world and make good money doing it. As well as making beautiful content himself, he teaches more than 1,000 people how to create their own content and become their own boss.

Ready to dive into your next adventure abroad? Whether you're looking to go on a short vacation or begin your journey as a digital nomad abroad, you'll need a solid plan to make sure everything is a success! That's when it's a great time to have a trip planner.