I'm the dad that films and edits all these videos.

Now I've thought of a long winded way and a brief way

to tell you about the 5 different ways you can support the Life Where I'm From channel.

So, to kind of get both of those perspectives,

right now I'm just going to summarize quickly, the 5 different ways

After that, I'll get into the detail.

First off, I've started to make mini documentaries about Japan.

If you'd like to support those, I've created an account on Patreon where you can do so.

Of course there are many ways to support Life Where I'm From that don't involve money,

One of the best ways is simply to watch the videos

So watch them, like them, comment on them,

and share them with others.

And if you hear something in the background, that's, that's the kids.

Now the third way to support is to join our email list.

Now this is a place where I can ask you questions and you can provide answers,

with the goal of making better content on Life Where I'm From.

The fourth way to support, and many of you are already doing this,

so thank you so much, is to contribute to the subtitles.

This ensures that all the different language speakers around the world

can really understand what's going on.

The fifth way you can support is by sending in videos about what life is like where you're from.

Many of you have already done this as well, so thank you so much for that.

So that's the summary, now let me get into the details.

This channel started off as just a hobby. It was a creative outlet.

A way to teach kids around the world

what life is like in different countries around the world.

There are many cultural differences, and I thought if you could show everyday life,

that those cultural differences that seemed strange, or weird, or odd,

if kids saw them, they would start to think of them as normal,

as something that's interesting, as something that's cool.

And this might sound kind of, like way out there,

but in a small way, I kind of wanted to contribute to world peace.

Because the more you understand, the more accepting we are of each other.

So, when we first started this channel, I thought it would be just a part time thing,

something that I could make a video in 1 day or so.

Well it turns out that was never the case,

videos usually take me about 2 or 3 days to make.

But the response from people has been so amazing that it's really worth the time.

And I thought that maybe we'd get a thousand or 2 thousand subscribers

by the end of 1 year, that was my hope, I really hoped for that

and now that we have hundreds of thousands of subscribers

and each video can get like a hundred thousand views

or something like that that is just, wow, I'm really floored by this

and so amazed that so many people are watching what we do.

So, thank you so much for that!

Having this audience of viewers is simultaneously super cool but also quite intimidating.

Right now I'm just talking to this camera,

but behind it might be, you know, thousands or hundreds of thousands of people watching.

That's just crazy, I can't even imagine what that's like.

I've always had this dream of connecting to people

through video and now that it's actually happening, it's,

well, I don't know. I don't know if I quite believe it.

But, in any case, I'm starting to make these documentary videos.

These mini documentaries that take a little more time to make.

And get a little more in depth than the videos I've been currently creating.

You may have seen a couple of them already.

One I made was about travelling in Japan with a physical disability

And there was one on this channel, where I showed what life is like

for a ramen store owner

I really enjoy making these videos,

as it takes a deeper look into what everyday life is like.

Many of you have asked what I do, and 3 years ago,

when the family used to live in Vancouver, in Canada,

I used to make videos for a living.

So this means I would take money from businesses or organizations

and I would make videos that they wanted to see.

I enjoyed doing those, but to actually make videos that I want to make,

and that you like to see, that's just a whole other level of satisfaction.

So now that I've moved to Japan, the work I do is mostly online.

So this is freelance work where my time really is money.

The more I work, the more money I make.

Well with the YouTube videos I make it's kind of the opposite.

The more I work on the videos, the less money I make.

So that you know the time involved, each regular video,

like a video I make with the kids,

that takes maybe 15, 20 hours to make, sometimes more,

sometimes less, but that's about the average

Now when I make these mini documentary videos,

that takes anywhere from 50 to 60 hours.

Again, sometimes more, sometimes less, but it takes a bit of time.

Doing the regular videos and doing the mini documentary videos,

well they take up a big chunk of my time each month.

I know this because in the past couple of months

I've scaled back my paid work, and I've tried to focus on just making videos,

and it does take up most of my time. And like I said I love doing this,

but it's just not something I can financially afford to do for the long term.

So that's where this ask is.

And the ask is that if you can financially afford to,

if, that's the big thing, if,

then I have created a Patreon account.

And if you don't know what Patreon is,

it's just a way that you can contribute

to the creation of these mini documentary videos on a monthly basis.

And you can support as little as a dollar a month, or a little more money if you like to.

Now if you do contribute to Patreon, I do have a few modest perks,

such as a monthly newsletter, access to deleted scenes, a live Q+A,

and some early access to some other things.

Just a bit of a warning, those perks may change based on feedback I get from you guys.

But, essentially what I'm trying to do is have my cake and it eat too.

Because I want most of the content to be freely accesible

to the vast majority of people.

But I do want to, you know,

give something back to the people who are financially contributing.

So I've tried to pick things that I wouldn't normally publish anyways,

but that still people would find of value.

So hopefully I've kind of found the right mix for that.

Ok, so that's the pitch for the mini documentary videos,

but what about the regular videos.

Well, there are lots of non-money ways to support them.

So let's start off with just watching the videos.

By watching the videos, by liking them, by commenting on them, by sharing them,

that makes the view count higher.

And the more views, the more people watch the ads.

The more ads, the more money that comes in.

I know a lot of people like to talk about YouTube money,

and while it's really cool to get some money in off of YouTube,

it's definitely not enough to offset the cost that it does take to produce the videos.

The next level of help is for those who would like to contribute

their opinions and ideas into what I'm working on.

So, for example, if you sign up for the email list,

which is kind of old school, I know, when I have a question I want to ask you guys,

I'll send you that email. And your response could be for something like,

hey, I have a person I'm interviewing, what questions should I ask them.

What do you want to know about a new house in Japan?

A great level of support that many of you are already at, is translating.

Translating the videos makes sure that all the different speakers of all the different

languages all over the world can really understand what's going on.

I know visually you can understand a lot,

but, you know, actually seeing the written word, that helps a lot too.

Now I do try to do the English subtitles.

And I say like try, and I'll put that in quotation marks,

because I often don't get the time to do so.

And the reason is, when I have the chance to make a new video

or spend more time doing subtitles, I usually go with the new video.

And that's because, I'm, for the most part,

the only person that can do the making video part of the equation.

And I know how much work translating is.

I know because I've tried doing them and it takes me a long time,

so thank you so much for all the people that are

spending all those many hours doing it.

Thank you!

The last, but definitely not least way to help out

is by contributing videos about what life is like where you're from.

And this way, when I got those videos and I edit them together,

I can truly show the world what life is really like around the world.

And that was the whole point of the channel when it was first created.

So to see you guys giving me videos and to watch them,

and to learn from them, and for my kids to see them too,

that is truly awesome!

So, thank you so much for doing that!

I've actually set up a static page on the lifewhereimfrom.com website

where you can see what the latest community project is.

So you can kind of get prepared before we officially announce it.

When I was growing up, the only instant and reliable way to access information about the world

were those big fat encyclopedias.

I mean, they were great, but man,

having the chance to make videos and have other people around the world contribute

to those videos, that's so cool!

Now, for those people that are contributing the videos,

I have to say I know it's intimidating to be here in front of a camera,

to speak in front of it, it takes so much work.

So I have to say that for those that have already done it, thank you so much!

And for those who are thinking about it, I mean,

I say it's hard, but, you know, you can always, just, just try.

Point the camera at yourself or point the camera at the subject and go for it.

I'd love to see it! Don't be too intimidated.

Thanks for watching, see you next time, bye!

What's life like where you're from?