My Year As A YouTuber | 2023 Highlights

My Year As A YouTuber | 2023 Highlights

Hey everybody how’s it going welcome to another video my name is Abby and this is spend more time in the wild a channel a platform a community entirely dedicated to inspiring and empowering people to get outside for the benefit of mental and physical health now I’m super excited because a I’m Outdoors it’s

Great so much of this time of year AKA winter in the nor hemisphere for me is editing I’m sat at my desk on my rly gym ball having a very poor posture it’s supposed to be better than that but it’s not just owning up to the truth and I am

Editing editing editing and I’ve come outside today on this rather windy brisk uh Winter’s morning to talk to you about 2023 the year is done V tour it is over but what a year it was and one of my favorite things to do at the end of each

Year or beginning of a new year actually because that tends to be when it actually is uh is reflect on the year just passed and the way that I really enjoy to do that best is to create a highlights reel so the goal here is is

Not to be like oo look at what I did it’s amazing the goal is to be like look at what you can do in 365 days it’s to highlight the big things it’s to highlight the small things it’s to celebrate the beauty of the wild places around us and to inspire

Us to not only get outside more in the year to come AKA 2024 in case you haven’t quite arrived yet but also to protect these amazing wild places as we head out to explore them you know there’s there’s so much to be said for mental health issues very often coming

From a lack of meaning and purpose and I think absolutely getting outside and booing Expeditions and goals and challenges is an amazing way to uh inject meaning and purpose into our lives but to then add on a sense of stewardship and responsibility for leaving the world a better place than

When we arrived is just one of the most stimulating exciting things I personally have ever introduced into my life all those millions of years ago cuzz I’m a fossil now age 27 that don’t know why I said that never mind anyway the point is I am here to

Talk to you about 2023 and normally what I do is have a big long spiel and I I drop different pieces of footage in whilst I’m talking about each Expedition and the challenges and the things that went really well and the things that were really difficult but I just I want

To keep this short and I want to keep this humble in this year’s reflection so I’m just going to give you a little Spiel and then this will be followed by a 3 and 1/2 minute highlights reel showcasing some of the best footage I captured from a wide array of different

Experiences encountered in 2023 so before we go backwards let’s just start in the present we are in 2024 and every single year I set myself a word it’s not something I try to consciously think about it’s something I really allow my subconscious to generate in December time I start to open my mind

And my body and my soul to whatever word is going to be downloaded and the word for 2020 24 I’m fairly certain is the word I’m meant to be living by is intentionality and it’s super cool because I feel like a lot of 2023 was actually a very intentional year for me

I was living very intentionally but my word for 2023 was honesty and looking back it’s a amazing how much my year or how much of my year was generated by this word honesty it kept me humble it kept me present it kept me grounded it

Allowed me to find and and hold on to phrases like no is the new yes and less is more and I gave myself wholeheartedly to every single thing that I invested my time and energy into in 2023 and quite frankly it was a resounding success and

There certainly has been no new year new me Shenanigans going on here because I just want to carry on from 2023 into 2024 and I’m really excited about the year ahead a little daunted and I’ll come to that in a second but I am excited so 2 23 brought with it a very

Very intense filming schedule there were seven Expeditions on the calendar six of which I completed one of which I got two days in and decided to pull out if you followed my channel throughout 2023 you’ll know what these trails are but in case you haven’t here they are super

Super quick form so I started on the Afric con way in the Scottish Highlands Glenn Afric headed over to Sky and did the sky Trail dropped down to snowdonia for the snowdonia Slate Trail headed to the dolomites for the alter v1o that was rather nice headed across to Shaman to

Walk to zermat on the oat routs actually that’s the one I got two days in so I can’t say I finished that trail more to come stay tuned then I headed back into shamoni to base myself with Adventure Base funly enough to climb Mont Blanc and Grand Paradiso the highest mountain

Within Italy and the highest mountain in Western Europe bonga trip watch the video it’s out it’s greato amazing and finally I finished on a personal Expedition which was the Kung slayen 3 and 1/2 Weeks 460 km through Arctic Sweden an absolute Dream from true it was amazing it’s changed my life forever

And I’m so grateful for the lessons and the learnings on that trail of which I applied 1,00% intentionality so that was 2023 workwise and then within all of that there were loads of different things mixed in I started scuba diving I got my Advanced Patty qualification I

Got my rescue diver qualification I got five or six different speciality courses under my belt so I di to my local UK Club a lot I dived a couple of times in the south of Italy as well absolute low point of the year was I had a diving

Accident where I nearly lost my life um that was terrifying but I lived so yay I’m definitely really trying to rebound from that moving into 20124 psychologically that has destroyed my confidence in the water uh which I started building up from 2020 because I’m very scared of water particularly

The ocean so I’m a little bit back to square one now um but also I’m not because I have covered a lot of ground or water um and I know that I can gain that back it’s just going to be a bit of a grind so that happened highs and lows

I pushed myself ended up in a bit of D situation but that’s still a lot of experience under my belt and it was amazing to connect with my local dive Community we had a family trip to Iceland in windso we saw the Northern Lights on three or four different nights

Consecutively that was amazing we saw the ponies we saw fantastic wild landscapes in winter conditions we saw whales humpback whales that was amazing um and so on and so forth lots and lots of amazing other things happened had an amazing birthday trip um in Italy on the

The coast this this beautiful place for snorkeling um and oh my gosh the list goes on you know I’m so blessed but amongst all of these amazing travel experiences which is something I’m so passionate about I love exploring I love visiting new places and I particularly love human powered Adventure AKA not a

Vehicle but your own feet and a bit of hard work but there there have also just been some fantastic Wildlife experiences some really grounding experiences as well that haven’t involved me traveling a million miles away from home I’ve Loved just hanging out with my little dog Bobby who’s turned 15 years now I’ve

Loved spending some great time with my family and the year ended with a wonderful Christmas as well um I faced some really tough stuff in 2023 from my own personal identity Journey more of which I hope to share on this channel moving into 2024 as I learn to find my

Voice and I find my confidence and address these things but I think most of all the word honesty has really empowered me to go you know what the greatest gift I can give myself and I can give the world is to be myself is to

Not shy away is to not apologize but to live authentically and to live wholeheartedly and it’s a shame because so much of society and societal expectations is cultivated around masking our true self it’s about performing it’s about meeting expectations and we can’t have any of that if we plan to just be ourselves

It’s not about doing it’s about being and through some of the challenges that I faced on the trails and the hardships and the the mental obstacles I learned so much and really really have come to terms with a very frightening Journey that I’m on but a very exciting

Empowering Journey as well and my goal with the films that I’m editing and that I’ve produced I produced and editing get it in the right order um is to obviously Empower you so I am just a vessel I am a digital Storyteller that’s what I Define

Myself as I go onto these Trails I share my experience as vulnerably and as authentically as I possibly can with the goal of empowering you to overcome your life’s obstacles because there will be obstacles right now if you’re living in an absolute Heyday good for you but hate

To bring a downer on it there’s going to be tough stuff coming because there always is from grief from work challenges from Health obstacles whatever it is it’s hard and so much of what we go through is invisible whether it’s mental health whether it’s chronic pain whether it’s identity Jour Journeys

Whether it’s something else entirely and the greatest way that we can breathe life and hope into the things that we face is to talk about them and so on that note of Hope and communication here is my three and a half minutes highlight R from 2023 showcasing some of the best

Footage I captured last year it’s a real mive job to P together these little rails because I go through every single shot and I Whittle it down and I Whittle it down and I Whittle it down and I Whittle it down and I’ll keep saying that but I’m not going to keep saying

That because it’s quite annoying don’t know what this hand movement is takes a long time but I’m so proud of the result and I really hope that it gives you a shot of motivation a punch of power um and just real buzzing energy as we move in to

2024 the world is a scary place but there is so much space for growth both outside and in and to be honest where do all Journeys begin but in so use nature as your meth for use nature as your inspiration use Adventure as your place for empowerment and come back to this

Video come back to all of these highlights reals come back to all of my documentary films and let them inspire you because 2024 is your year you have got this there are awesome things lying ahead stay Brave stay courageous stay connected and stay intentional so without further Ado enjoy

Your adventures in 2024 and until next time stay wild I’ll see you soon a yeah Oh Okay You look at That How can I even capture this I literally have no Idea He

Well folks, that’s a wrap! The 2023 filming and hiking season is over. 7 major trails captured on film, all either in edit or already released onto my channel. They were: The Affric Kintail Way; Skye Trail; Snowdonia Slate Trail; Alta Via 1; Haute Route; Mont Blanc and Gran Paradiso; and The Kungsleden. It was a year to remember and now I am super excited to share this highlights reel from the year.

If you enjoy my films and want to give back, please do help me out by donating £1 or more via PayPal: https://paypal.me/SMTWILD?country.x=GB&locale.x=en_GB

– Like, Subscribe, share, and click that bell!

– Follow me on Instagram for reels, images and live sessions: @abbiebarneswild

– Want to support me making new films? Join me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/spendmoretimeinthewild

– Join one of my in-person events across the UK: https://www.spendmoretimeinthewild.co.uk/wildwalks

MONEY SAVING DISCOUNT CODES JUST FOR YOU:
~ Terra Nova & Wild Country Tents: https://www.terra-nova.co.uk/aff/1348
Get 20% off full price tents with code: ABBIEB20

~ ZPacks Backpacks and Tents: https://zpacks.com?aff=146
Sadly no discount for customer but if you use this link I get a 5% kickback – thank you!

~ FREET Barefoot Shoes: https://freetbarefoot.com/?ref=Y1rXhPgXX_A3K
Get 10% off all shoes with code: Abbie10

~ CICERONE Guidebooks: https://www.cicerone.co.uk
Get 10% off with code Abbie10

~ TENTMEALS dehydrated meals: https://tentmeals.co.uk
Get 10% off with code WILD10

– Check out my codes for Deals, Discounts and Outlets: https://www.spendmoretimeinthewild.co.uk/dealsanddiscounts

– Find out more: https://www.spendmoretimeinthewild.co.uk

– Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/spendmoretimeinthewild
– Twitter: @AbbieSongThrush
Tag: #SpendMoreTimeInTheWILD #staywild #abbiebarnes

— Camera Kit —
Sony A7iii | Canon M50 | Rode VideoMic Pro | Rode Micro | Boya Shotgun Mic | Rode Wireless Go | GoPro Hero 7 & 8 | Manfrotto Compact Aluminium Tripod | K&F Concept Carbon Fiber Tripod | A whole bunch of different lenses

Stay WILD!